Gardening and kitchen revelations

We have had gale force winds around here and I didn't get much done over the weekend.  Finally, around dinner, the winds stopped, the sun shone, and I put in all my seeds into the ground.  Ahhhh.  I feel much better now. I'm particularly excited about my French pumpkins, affectionately called the Cinderella pumpkin.  They are an heirloom variety that the carriage in Cinderella was made from.  It's a large, flatter shaped pumpkin and looks just beautiful.  I'm crossing my fingers and praying for just one beauty this summer!!!

I also decided something...instead of pining away for an expensive Bosch mixer, an expensive grain mill, and a horde of hard grain, I decided to break out my bread machine and make dough so I can bake it in the oven. I think we often times get in a rut of "I have to have..." something in order to accomplish something.  Why not make dough and then bake it in the oven???  I finally dug the machine out of the small appliance cemetery in the garage and put it to work!!! It's been in the garage because with my family of six, one little bitty loaf of bread equates to one slice per person...not exactly worth my time and effort.

So I decided I was making rolls for my family and you know what, they turned out gorgeous and delicious!  No more feeling sorry for myself because I don't have the newest, most efficient fandangled gadgets out there.  I think back to the prairie women who did it all by hand and cared and nurtured for their families amazingly well with what little they had.  They are truly inspiring and help me when I'm not feeling like I'm homesteading very well.

I hope your homestead is running smoothly!  Dust off some of those small appliances and put them to work! You just may be surprised with what you turn out!!!