Autumn Apple Sticky Bun (recipe)

I tend to read cook books like novels. Yesterday I watched as my daughter flipped through our weathered copy of Bread Baker’s Apprentice. Clearly, that book gets a lot of love in this house! She was thoroughly entranced in the images of fluffy brioche, croissants, pizza, “mama, what’s this PURPLE bread?” “that’s a sourdough with blue cheese and walnuts…” “oh, I like purple bread! mmmmm.” She asked which ones we had made and which ones we could make.  Then she grabbed the next cookbook, Rustic Fruits Desserts and flipped and dreamed about eating all the other yummy things, I certainly was..  We finally decided on mixing up two recipes we had tried before with apples.

Sweet Chocolate Pearple Cake [recipe]

PEARPLE?  Pear and Apple (pearple) are showcased in this lovely chocolate bundt cake.  We were gifted some beautiful pear tree drops from a hundred year old tree in South Tamworth.

How to make Hard Apple Cider [infographic]

Homebrewing is so IN right now, isn’t it?!  I love homebrewing and take pride in the fact that a majority of the alcohol consumed in our home is not only responsibly consumed, it’s like 75% or more completely home made!  But brewing beer can be time consuming and requires ingredients that aren’t always that local.  Cider, on the other hand, well that stuff practically grows on trees!  Boo ya!  Want to make some hard cider? We’ll show you how!

Fall Fun for Families

Every chance we get lately, we are outside! There is something about Autumn air and the chill of the mornings! I LOVE IT. Every moment we are not working on the homestead, we are trying to savor all of Autumn’s wonderful sights, smells, and traditions.  Here are a few things we like to do this time of year. What are you doing to embrace Fall?