Maple Pumpkin Pie with Salted Pecan Brittle

Pumpkin pie is a holiday favorite.  I love traditional pumpkin pie, but I'm always happy to find a new twist to it.  The filling of this pumpkin pie has a touch of maple flavor and is a lighter filling, more like a chiffon.  I've already made it twice for two different parties, and everyone was asking for the recipe.  It's a winner!!!  (The bonus . . . you'll also love the recipe for the Salted Pecan Brittle.  Yum, yum!)

Old Fashioned Peanut Brittle - a Fall Favorite

Peanut brittle is an old fashioned candy that is irresistible and unforgettable. I started making it  years ago, and it has become a fall favorite in our home.

You'll be surprised how easy it is to make!  Your family will love it, your friends will rave about it, and you'll want to start a new tradition of making it every year. 

Here's the recipe and tips learned along the way. 

Cleaning the Hen House

Keeping backyard chickens does not have to be complicated or difficult.  If you're able to let your chickens out in a run or to free-range, it's even easier.  An important part of having chickens is to provide them with a shelter that is safe, draft-free and clean in order to keep them healthy and productive. 

The Sweetest Applesauce!

We eagerly look forward to canning applesauce as soon as we turn the page of the calendar to the month of September.  Our main motivation for canning is so that we can have those wonderful tastes of summer and autumn deep into the winter.  We also want to save money by growing fruits and vegetables or by looking for the best value.

We have an old apple tree in our back yard that does not produce well, and the apples aren't so great for applesauce. So we do our legwork each year looking for the best tasting apples at the best price. It's fun, especially when we find it!  We strive to make the sweetest applesauce .... without adding sugar!

Harvesting June Strawberries

A Journal During the Coronovirus Pandemic
Reflections and Inspiration from Maple Grove
June 21, 2020

We are enjoying a bumper crop of strawberries this season. . . another of God's blessings to brighten the mood for all that our nation has been going through.  Strawberry varieties fall into three classes. June-bearing plants produce one monster crop of large berries once a year, usually in June.  Ever-bearing plants produce smaller crops of smaller berries, but bear throughout the summer.  Day-neutral plants have three peak periods of bearing. Strawberry plants have a short life span (3-4 years), and we just replanted our patches last year with June-bearing strawberries.

Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Salad

I love fresh fruits and vegetables, and I love summer because they are plentiful. Combining them in a salad makes a perfect lunch or light dinner.  You can select those that are your favorites or use what you have on hand.  Serve it with a light lime dressing and your choice of herbs and cheeses to make it your own. For this salad, I used strawberries, grapes, cucumbers, red bell peppers, fresh basil, feta cheese and a light lime dressing. Other options may include tomato, avocado, mango, kiwi, Romaine lettuce, cheddar cheese, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese.

Re-Entering Society

A Journal During the Coronovirus Pandemic
Reflections and Inspiration from Maple Grove
June 14, 2020

While taking a walk this week, we happened upon a mother duck guarding her brood of 15 ducklings.  Ducks will typically lay a clutch of 10-15 eggs, so this mama had a full nest. The mother duck leads her brood out of the nest about 10 hours after being hatched.  From the appearance of these little ones, I would guess this was their first time out, a very hazardous time for them. She was patiently guarding them while we paused to admire and take photos.

Sheltering in Place

A Journal During the Coronovirus Pandemic
Reflections and Inspiration from Maple Grove
June 7, 2020

It is the first week of June and the twelfth week since the sheltering-in-place order was given.  Our area has just entered the "green phase" of re-opening. Shops and restaurants are beginning to open, and people are getting together again. It's a beautiful time of year with everything growing greener and flowers blooming.  We've been shooing the Robins away from building nests on our porch rafters and window sills.  They love to build in areas where overhead cover such as roofs or overhangs provide shelter.  I was caught off guard when I discovered a Robin's nest in my Clematis plant.

All the Colors of the Rainbow

A Journal During the Coronovirus Pandemic
Reflections and Inspiration from Maple Grove
May 31, 2020

Today is the last day of May, 2020, and it is the eleventh week since the stay-at-home order was issued. This past week had many emotional highs and lows. Our Pennsylvania Governor announced on Friday that our county is included among those that will enter the "green phase" of reopening, but this good news was overshadowed by some horrific news.  Late in the day on Friday, however, God reminded us of His eternal love by displaying a beautiful rainbow in the sky.

Growing Pumpkins Vertically

Do you grow a vertical garden?  I have used trellises, poles and fences to grow vegetables vertically, primarily tomatoes and pole beans, but last year I wanted to try my hand at growing pumpkins vertically on my garden fence.  I have a small garden, 16x16 feet, so I thought it might be a challenge, and it was.  But to my delight, it actually worked!

Growing Vertically and Horizontally

A Journal During the Coronavirus Pandemic
Reflections and Inspiration from Maple Grove
May 24, 2020

We are now in the tenth week since the stay-at-home order was issued, and we are glad to have entered what they call the "yellow phase" of reopening the country with some eased restrictions. That is a bit of relief, and we are hopeful that we can continue to move toward what we think of as "normal." It would also seem that the winter weather is finally behind us.  What a month of May it has been. Nothing has seemed normal.  With no more frost warnings in the forecast, I was able to plant my Kitchen Garden this week.  I had started tomato and pepper plants from seed back in the middle of March, and I was so happy to transplant them outdoors. I have a small Kitchen Garden, 16x16 feet, so I practice the square foot and vertical methods of gardening.  Last year I decided to try to grow pumpkins vertically. That was a challenging experience, but mission accomplished!