Custodians of Beauty

So far I've used my dehydrator to make dried strawberries, mango, apple slices, and fruit leather. The dried fruits are great trail snacks, but what's even better is homemade beef jerky.  Now, although I can't take the credit for making this mouth-watering jerky, I can say it was fun documenting the process. My brothers and husband joined forces to create the ultimate dry-aged beef, which they've dubbed, The Brother's Jerky . Mmmm, tasty dry-aged beef. The meat packaging alone was worthy of a photo. They purchased 6 lbs of beautiful London Broil at Whole Foods. The very low fat content makes for beef jerky that doesn't spoil so fast.  The butcher sliced the meat thinly, which made it easy peasy for the jerky making. Meats! The makings of a delicious, lip' smackin' marinade.  Jerky strips were divided out into bags and the marinade was generously poured into each bag. After massaging the meat (the br...

Grandpa had a sandbox in the backyard nestled between his grove of apple trees. When we visited, the cousins would play making all sorts of food concoctions. When I reached the tender age of 5, my food specialty was "woobab pie." It didn't matter that I put grandpa's apples in my sand pie, it was still "woo-bob pie." We don't have a rhubarb patch yet, but I'm hoping to grow one when we move in to our first house. I picked up 1.5 lbs of rhubarb at the local farmers market. For about 5 stalks it cost $4.50. Is rhubarb always this costly? Meh, it's worth the extra bucks.  Instead of using a crumb crust which my recipe called for, I used my husbands delicious pasty crust. They are buttery, light and flakey. We had a few extra doughs frozen from the last time we baked pasties, so I thawed two for my pie. The Rhubarb pie recipe I used is from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook .  My little helper adding the sliced rhub...

Tried one of my Pinterest recipes today. Peach Frozen Yogurt. It didn't turn out as creamy as I expected. The consistency is more like a thin smoothie. Tangy and sweet; this would make a  refreshing beverage for a summer day. Here's how ya make it. Ingredients: 1 (16oz.) bag frozen peaches or 4 cups fresh peaches, frozen solid 5 tablespoons of honey 1/2 cup plain yogurt 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice Directions: Add the frozen peaches, honey, yogurt and lemon juice to the bowl of a food processor. Process until creamy, about 5 minutes. Serve the frozen yogurt immediately or transfer it to an airtight container and store it in the freezer for up to 1 month. (If you freeze for later, remember to bring out the frozen yogurt 15 minutes before eating to thaw. It's pretty hard to scoop when frozen solid.) Next time, I will try using fresh peaches (still frozen) instead of store bought ones. This will give the dessert a sweeter,...

The first time I saw this book, it was featured on Shower of Roses . I've found so many good books through this blog. Bernadette: The Little Girl from Lourdes is a book in the series, The Life of a Saint. It is the story of a young girl who encounters the Blessed Mother in a grotto and discovers a miraculous spring. The book is a narrative on the life of St. Bernadette. The watercolor illustrations by Adeline Avril are lovely. The characters in her story are sweet and endearing. I was captivated by her use of unusual perspectives and angles. You feel as though you are watching from afar or from up above as the story unfolds. The cave where she sees the Blessed Mother is covered in leafy green fauna. I love the detail in her illustrations and they way her watercolor scenery bleeds out onto the white space of the page.  Bernadette with her rosy cheeked friends. Although my little ones are a bit young (and impatient) to sit through a r...

Pyrography, such a fun word to say.  Pyrography is the art of decorating by burning marks on wood (or other material) using a heated brass-tip tool. The word pyrography comes from the Greek words, "pur" meaning fire and "graphos" meaning writing. So, there you go, Pyrography is writing with fire! Muahahaha! Did you ever burn holes into leaves as a kid? Watching for the smoke as you held the magnifying glass in the sunlight. Yea, well this is the glorified version of that passion.  Once you get started, you can't stop. I had to hold myself back from scouring the kitchen to find more wooden things to burn.  My first project was for my soon-to-be husband. A midst other old fashioned hobbies (like straight razor shaving) h e had developed a love for shoe shining.  I wanted to make him a storage container for all his shoe polishing equipment. The container needed to be large enough to fit his brushes, waxes and polishes.  My mom always has stuff around ...