#homestead
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, back by popular demand, the “The more I know” T-shirt!
Last time we ran T-shirts, this one was the only shirt to sell out. So, if you missed out last time, here’s your shot!
T-shirts are printed through TeeSpring.com, which has a great reputation for quality clothing design.
T-shirts cost $24.99 before - HOWEVER, I’ve marked them down to just $19.99 because I love you guys!
So click here —> “The More I Know” to buy your shirt today!
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Sausage is definitely something that is on my list of “Never Buy Again Foods”:
Most store-bought sausage rolls contain all sorts of icky things like MSG or corn syrup. Sausage is super simple to mix up at home, so there is really no reason to buy the store-bought versions with all the added junk…
We acquired a large meat grinder a couple years ago, which has definitely been worth the investment as we process our own deer, antelope, beef, and hogs.
When we cut up our hogs this winter, it was a crazy-insane day, so I didn’t have a chance to season any of the sausage as we went. Instead, we just ground up the meat scraps and fat and put them in one pound packages. I’ve been seasoning it as I need it, which has given me the chance to try a bunch of different sausage recipes, and *ding ding ding* we have a winner folks!
(Note: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. Which means, if you make a purchase after you click, I may receive a small commission. It doesn’t cost you any more, but it does help to cover the costs of running this blog, so thank you!)
Savory Maple Breakfast Sausage
Adapted from the book Home Sausage Making by Charles Reavis
You Will Need:
- 3 pounds of ground pork (or ground turkey, venison, beef, or antelope will work. Just keep in mind that sausage usually has a higher fat content, so regular burger will tend to be on the drier side.)
- 1 small onion, minced very finely
- 1 Tablespoon sea salt
- 2 teaspoons dry, ground sage
- 1 teaspoon dry, ground mustard
- ¾ t. black pepper
- ¼ cup real maple syrup (not the caramel colored, high-fructose stuff!)
Mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl. I just use my hands– it’s messy but effective.
If you like, you can stick it in the fridge for a couple hours to help the flavors develop, or, you can use it right away.
There are several mouth-watering ways to use your wonderful lump of seasoned pork:
1. Cook it up as you would ground beef and add it into soups, skillet meals, breakfast burritos, or casseroles.
2. Shape it into a log, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and store in the fridge for up to a week (or place in freezer for later). Slice off a patty when you need it.
3. Shape into individual patties to freeze or fry up.
I’ve personally been enjoying option #3.
I got this nifty set of biscuit cutters off of Amazon, and I found that they work wonderfully for cutting out sausage patties as well as homemade biscuits. (Especially if you plan to slap your sausage patty between two halves of a homemade Buttermilk Biscuit. Oh yeaaah…..)
They are easy to fry up when we are in the mood to have breakfast for dinner, and I also made up a batch of these DIY McMuffins to stick in the freezer. The possibilities are endless!
Ready for the freezer. I place a square of waxed paper between each patty so they wouldn’t stick together.
- See more at: http://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2013/07/making-sausage-at-home.html#sthash.GPOdSbDa.dpuf
Abandoned log cabin realness. Upstairs loft at the McGovern Residence, this is how it looked when we first arrived. Exciting changes to come.
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In the mid 1970’s Bill and Evelyn McGovern, my grandparents, purchased 28 acres on the Tucannon River in Eastern Washington State. Together, along with a rotating team of family and friends, they built a cabin in which they would live for the rest of their days. For the next 22 years, the property grew to support various outbuildings, a workshop, guest quarters, a large organic garden, chicken coop, and livestock pens. After widowing in late 2000, Evelyn kept up the property as best she could until deciding to sell in 2009.
Recently through a twist in fate my parter, Derrick, and I were able to buy the cabin back. We’re working tirelessly to restore the property to it’s former glory and over the next few years we will turn The McGovern Residence into a multifaceted artist resort with organic farm, studio space, bed and breakfast, and cabin rentals. We’ll also be developing the McGovern lifestyle brand of bath, body, and home goods made with natural resources gleaned from the land. The entire process will be documented along the way and we are beyond excited to share the experience with everyone here and on Instagram. Say hi if you like what you see; we’re always on the lookout for members of the same tribe.
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Expectancy (2021)
Homemade pine syrup recipe
A few weeks ago we made some pine syrup. We collected the fresh pine buds in my parent’s garden. I never tried this before, but the results tase good so far.
What you will need?
- Fresh pine buds (silver or spurce is the best, try to forage them when they are young, light green)
- Sugar
- A big jar
- Time
After I washed the pine buds I layered them into the jar with the sugar. One layer should be half an inch tall approximately. (Or at least it was in my case)
Then close the jar and all you have to do is just wait until the sugar melts. This can take several days or even weeks. If you want to speed up the process a bit, you can also add 1dl of water to the jar after layering. Mine looked like on the image above after 2 weeks.
After most of your sugar is melted just strain the syrup and you are done! I don’t really know how long they can last tough. Officially the syrup should be fine up to 3 months if covered. I keep it in the refrigerator, just to be safe.
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Let me introduce my very first zucchini this year! In fact, my first zucchini ever on a balcony. I’m feeling proud.
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KEEP INSURED: Homestead Fire Insurance Company issued this Map of New York City as a promotional piece in the 1860s or ‘70s under the slogan “Keep Insured.” The hand-colored lithograph wall map shows Manhattan from the Battery to the northern end of Central Park, along with a section of Brooklyn and Roosevelt Island. The map is decorated with engravings of the company’s Nassau Street headquarters and a small illustration of firefighters putting out a blaze. Tell us you saw it here and get a 20% discount! More here: https://georgeglazer.com/maps/newyorkmaps/homestead.html
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