Local Food - Common Sense Home

25+ Healthy Asparagus Recipes Plus 4 Ways to Store Asparagus

April 18, 2018 by Laurie Neverman 18 Comments

Spring asparagus is a wonderful blessing after a long winter. Those first tender stalks are absolutely delicious raw, straight out of the garden. If you have large home patch – or want to take advantage of the seasonal abundance in stores and farm markets – it's great to have an assortment of asparagus recipes on hand and to know how to preserve asparagus for later use. This post features over 25 healthy asparagus recipes, including soups, salads and main dishes, plus instructions on how to store asparagus and preserve it for later use. [Read more…]

The Practical Greenhouse Guide – DIY Greenhouses Done Right

April 14, 2018 by August Neverman Leave a Comment

There are many ways to extend your growing season. We cover many of the basics in “Protecting Plants from Frost – 12 Ways to Beat the Cold Weather“, but in this post we're focusing on greenhouses. There are a ton of DIY greenhouse options online, but many won't hold up to extended use, or they skip some recommended components (like good ventilation). In this post we're going to give you the information you need to choose the right greenhouse option for you – from cheap mini greenhouses to large hoophouses and earth sheltered greenhouses. We'll talk about greenhouse costs, types of greenhouses, locating your greenhouse and planning for operation. [Read more…]

Easy Horseradish Sauce with Fresh Horseradish Root

November 9, 2016 by Laurie Neverman 29 Comments

My first foray into horseradish sauce happened as a result of conversation with my son's piano teacher, Miss Betty. (Some of you may remember her from her rye bread and pickle recipes.) Betty and her husband have a huge patch of horseradish, but this year her husband said he didn't want to make homemade horseradish sauce because it was too much work. (They are getting up in years, so the digging and cleaning is becoming more of a chore.) Never one to miss an opportunity to learn to try something new in the kitchen, I told her that we'd be happy to give her a hand. [Read more…]

Preserving Apples – How to Make Applesauce, Apple Leather and Dried Apple Slices

September 12, 2015 by Laurie Neverman 22 Comments

“Hey, could you use some apples?”

“Sure, I'd love some.”

So started around two weeks (off and on) of preserving apples. There were (I would guess) around two to three bushels to start with, which we made into sauce, fruit leather, popsicles, and cinnamon/sugar dried apple slices. [Read more…]

The Nourished Kitchen Cookbook Review

May 14, 2014 by Laurie Neverman 111 Comments

When we were running the family catering business, we often repeated the phrase, “The eyes eat first” – meaning that our food had to look good as well as taste good. “The Nourished Kitchen: Farm-to-Table recipes for the Traditional Foods Lifestyle” is a feast for the eyes as well as an inspiration to savor traditional recipes with a modern twist. I have the pleasure of receiving a review copy as we head into the perfect time to experiment with these farm to table options.

The Nourished Kitchen: Farm-to-Table recipes for the Traditional Foods Lifestyle

The Nourished Kitchen cookbook is written by Jennifer McGruther of www.nourishedkitchen.com, an award winning traditional foods website. Her years of managing a farmers market and teaching traditional food preparation shine through in this beautiful new book.

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