Blueberry Pie: A Heart of Home recipe

Blueberry Pie

3 1/2 cups of All Purpose Flour

2 sticks of chilled unsalted butter

1 TBSP of white sugar

1/2 tsp of salt 

16oz of Frozen Wild Maine Blueberries, defrosted
1 TBSP of white sugar
                                                      2 TSP of Lemon Juice
                                                      2 TSP of butter

1) Make Pie Crust
Shift flour into a cool bowl. Cut butter into very small pieces, adding a handful at a time to flour and enfold. Once all the butter is folded into the flour, add sugar and salt. Fold. 

Using ice cold water, add 1 TBSP of water at a time to flour mixture until dough comes together. Then, roll dough into a ball and place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes. 

2) Make Pie Filling
Place defrosted blueberries into a medium bowl and sprinkle with sugar. Add lemon juice and gentle fold until incorporated. Allow to sit at room temperature, cover in plastic wrap.

3) Rolling Out The Crust

Preheat Oven to 425 F

Remove dough from fridge. Cut your dough ball in half. Place a dry kitchen towel a large cutting board to avoid spilling while rolling your dough. Dust cutting board liberally with all purpose flour. Dust your rolling pin and hands with flour. This will prevent your dough from sticking. Roll out your dough until it is large enough to cover a 9 inch pie dish. Prick the bottom crust across it's surface with a fork. Roll out your top crust and set aside.

4) Fill the Pie
Add blueberries and use a spatula to gentle level the filling. Cut remaining butter into small pieces and dot the blueberries evenly as possible.

5) Cover the Pie

Cover pie with top crust. Crimp the edges with your thumb and forefinger or use a fork. Using a sharp knife, slice vents in top crust. Dust pie with a pitch of sugar.

6) Bake The Pie

Bake Pie at 425 F for 15 minutes. Then reduce temperature to 350 F and bake for 40-60 minutes, until juices are bubbling around the edges. When done baking, remove pie from oven and cool on a cutting board for 60 minutes or until just warm.

!!Excellent served with just a drizzle of heavy cream!!

Makes 12 servings

Mhmmmmm Blueberry! Enjoy!

What Seeds May Come

This may very well be a sacred text for gardeners everywhere. :)

 I got this at Dollar General off of Old Knoxville Hwy heading toward 140. Not only am I blown away by the diversity and opulence of the seed selection in these pages, I'm also delighted to know they accept cash orders like New Pioneer Magazine.
 

Makin' Plans

Earlier in the week I promised a new Heart of Home recipe. Today I will devote some time and consideration into deciding what that new recipe should be. I have a few ideas, each sounding equally pretty, easy and delicious.

I have narrowed it down to four contenders, two in each fruit category. 


*Apple Upside Down Cake
*Apple Pie with Cheddar Cheese Crust

* Blueberry Pie
*Blueberry Pound Cake

Decisions. Decisions.

Good work

A clean kitchen =  A happy heart

Normally, Sunday would be my time of resting. Saturday errands and light work would be done and this day would be set aside to do the little things that make my smile. Life, however, often has something to say about my plans. Saturday's kitchen cleaning was completed this morning but the end result is a very proud me sitting upstairs and relaxing, calloused palms rubbed smoothed by white vinegar and steel wool. A little lemon oil lotion smooths that abraded feeling you get when you've been scrubbing stove covers.

Yesterday, Rhi and I ventured out to our favorite thrift store. This N' That vendors market in Maryville, in the old location of Southland Books, is a haven for previously owned treasures and the avid antique hunter.  After hearing Jenna Woginrich go on about the virtues of Fire King glassware in her memoir, Made From Scratch: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life, I set out to find my own. I never found any Fire King glass but I did find F.T.D glassware. Particularly, a avocado green glass goblet with an oak leaf relief. I bought this glass for $2.00 and later, looked it up on Ebay.com to compare its worth. Turns out my cup goes from $8.00 to as much as $22.00. :D

Needless to say, I'm pretty pleased with the purchase.

Another purchase I am pleased about is a heart shaped cake pan I paid $3.00 for.

It might not look like much but I used to have a heart shaped cake pan when I was a preteen. I made countless chocolate cakes in that humble pan, covered them in whip cream and berries for a simple but delicious summertime dessert. Next week I will feature a Heart of Home recipe using this heart shaped pan. I'm thinking of something simple and lovely, in honor of Mother's Day.

Speaking of simple and lovely, below is a picture of the  surprise my husband left for me in our room.

A pink rose in a screw top jar, its humble...its lovely...its country...

It's one perfect way to say "I love you."

Scotch tape....its one simple way to fix holes in your screens. LOL.

May is my favorite month of the year. It is true spring, warm sun and gentle, cool wind. Plants are growing, babies of all kinds are being born and my birthday is just around the corner. The honeysuckle is starting to bloom around the parking lot at work and my Iris is in it's full purple glory. More about my Iris is to come later in the week.

Happy Sunday to everyone and I hope Beltaine was good to all of you who celebrate it. :D

When Opportunity Knocks, Let it in.

It just so happened that today a want ad popped up on the East TN Livestock Exchange. It was for a position with Smoky Mountain Arabian Park, an Arabian stable in Lenoir City. Colin referred me to the ad and I have already reached out to the contacts with Horse Haven of Knoxville. An opportunity to break ground in what it means to work with horses. That is a young woman's dream come true; finding an entire herd of unicorns to care for and maintain.

A herd some sixty strong.

So I bow my head and bend my heart in prayer tonight. Please, by all who Gather, give me this opportunity. Grant me this boon.

Trials

The Heart of Home has been quiet of late, I know. It gets this way when trials come into the lives of the Clan. Some of these trials have been good lessons, others have been hardships.

However, this Clan does not lose sight of it's ultimate goal....

 

The Homestead

I put my head and shoulders into the yoke of work, for I have miles to go and miles on my heart.

Winds of Change

As I sit on my bed, Winter Chill Wood Chuck cider by my lap, I listen to the sweet notes of Lonesome River Band and the soft, steady fall of the rain. The last gasp of winter seems to be hovering just on the horizon, a chill coursing down from the mountains into the lows of the valley. They are not the long winds of change a-blowing. My workplace environment is becoming very hostile and I have started look for a new place of employment. I've put in a few applications but it is very frustrating. I try to concentrate on things other than the stress the needful change creates in me. Things like being grateful for the rain, no matter how cold it is because it means more flowers in the coming weeks. The delicious dinner in my belly, the cold cider on my lips slowly easing away the aches and trials of the work day. The promise of Friday so near and a week's good pay. The sweet smile of a handsome young man, the laughter of my family downstairs as the storm rolls slowly in. My cat, Durellen, who curls up on my bed, purring so deep and so steady.

Oh yes, I am blessed. No need to tell me that my troubles are small, few and far between.

This change will come and bring with it new challenges and new pleasures. Spring has given me many gifts in her infancy, maybe Summer will be just as kind.

Every day above ground is a good day, for we are grateful for the time we have been given.

Plans and Petals

I found these lovely yellow dandelions on my journey out to the park behind Four Corners here in Rockford, Tennessee.  


I cannot tell you, my beloved readers what it means to me for spring to be here. Winter is a needful time but it is a hard time on both the body and the spirit. However, Spring always returns and this year was no different.

The flowers are blooming, the ground softens and the Clan makes ready for honey bees, garden expansion and other home related projects as the weather improves. Many plans are in the works for this year of 2015, which already feels short.






Both Seamus and I are working on novels, this will be my first were it is his fourth. Colin readies himself for a large project at Intelikenetics and Ang works through a new prescription of medication.
Rhi looks toward boot camp as she contemplates her career in the Navy and Keiran struggles with the growing pains familiar to everyone who was ever 16.

Briar Rose will be three years old this year and I start contemplating preschool, toddler beds, doctor's appointments, and we continue doing GREAT with potty training.

My girl is really eager to master her hygiene skills. I couldn't be more proud of my little Rose.

Happy Sunday to all. :D

She came back!

Spring came back to me. At last, my heart can rest because my beloved is here.

Crocus flowers are often said to be the first sign that Spring is here. These lovelies appeared on the first warm, sunny day we had. I had to take a picture of them; it had been so long since I had seen anything green much less purple. It's a relief. Winter serves his purpose and gives way to the maiden, who sings so sweetly in the voices of birds and the humming of honeybees.

I have nothing really to report and I wish I could be more industrious. The Clan is well, money is in, food is plentiful and Glen Campbell plays softly "Gentle on my mind" on my laptop. I promised I would stay up long enough to see all the Clan come safely home and so I will. I will entertain myself with an episode of House of Cards( just one....Gods above and below...I cannot stay up too late. I have been awake since 5:30am Friday morning.)




*yawns* Oh Gods, let me make it to midnight.  Merry evening all. Enjoy these blooms and know I hope that your own gardens will be bursting with flowers and fruit, veggies and virtues. I will report more on Sunday.

Thank you, Little Seed Farm

This week the Heart of Home blog has the pleasure to highlight Little Seed Farm out of  Lebanon, Tennessee. Established in 2012, James and Eileen are making big contributions to sustainable agriculture here in Tennessee. Their small batch approach to organic skincare products have made a name for themselves.

I found these mini bars, 2.4 oz, at Kroger on 9501 South Northshore Drive, Knoxville, TN 37922. The red labeled box is "Rose" and the green labeled box is "Rosemary-Mint". I paid $3.98 for each and let me tell you what, they smell absolutely wonderful. These soaps are crafted with exquisite card using milk produced by the goats down on Little Seed Farm. One of the things I that drew my eye to the soaps were the sketches of each of the dairy goats that comprise Jame and Eileen's herd. These soaps contain organic oils, sustainable produced goat milk, NON GMO components, humanely produced and made here in the USA. On top of smelling fantastic and having a lovely texture on the skin, I am pleased to know I am giving my family an ethical and safe product.

The larger bars come in 4.75oz and Kroger was offering them for $5.98 two days ago when I visited. Little Seed Farm also offers products for babies, including booty balm for chapped baby buns. As a mother it is a true pleasure seeing products that are specifically created for children, like my daughter Briar Rose.

Please click the link above to check out Little Seed Farm. The farm also offers tours and classes; I am considering trucking down there with a portion of the Clan for the next soap making class. Other scents in the soap collection include lavender, cocoa spice, milk, kefir & clay and orange vetiver. A special and heart felt thank you to James and Eileen for bringing their products to the table of the green movement here in Tennessee. For my family, I can say we are looking forward to seeing more of Little Seed Farm in the years to come. Good luck and gods bless.