Monday 4 May 2020

Homemaking Mondays: Pasta and Pretties


Hello! 

How has your week been?  
Mine has been quite varied. 
Some sun and some rain.

We've been enjoying getting out and helping others with yardwork. 
Today we worked at the community garden helping to get it ready to plant. 

This week I tried something new.  
Creamy butternut squash pasta sauce. 
I was inspired by Jill's cookbook The Prairie Homestead Cookbook.
Like most recipes I just look at the ingredients and go from there. 
My version is: 
I fried up the bacon on my dutch oven and then removed the bacon 
and left the grease. 
Then I sautéed up some leek as I had that fresh with some garlic.
I added in fresh sage, and then a package of 
butternut squash that I had thawed out from the freezer.  
I cooked this together for a bit...adding in some water instead of bone broth.
Then I added some milk at the very end. 
Oh, and some salt and pepper to taste. 
Then at the end I used the bacon to top the sauce.
I must say I really enjoyed it...but no so for the family 
so I wont' be making it again. 

I served it with some sautéed swiss chard and beet greens,
with bacon and leeks.
This is a family favourite.  


It has been warming up during the day, but at night its so cold that 
the water freezes back over.  
It's so fun to skip rocks on it and hear the special sound it makes.

I absolutely love the pretty patterns in the ice. 
The sun glances off of the different angles in such a 
wonderful way!


More and more birds are coming in. 
We have some shore birds and 
different varieties of ducks. 
Then some songbirds and 
our beloved robins! 
Below I caught a glimpse of him outside one of our windows.  
Sorry my zoom isn't so great. 
I love to hear their cheerful songs in the morning and then before 
I fall asleep at night.  
There have been owls calling a lot at night as well. 
I think they are the great horned owls.


This past week my oldest son turned 12, 
and my oldest daughter turned 21.
With that comes mixed feelings....
but mostly blessed! 
Truth is I am getting older...and nothing but death will change that.
I thank the Lord Jesus for each and every day he gives me. 

Praying you have a beautiful day! 
Love and Prayers,
Jennifer


3 comments:

mamasmercantile said...

The pasta dish looks delicious, yummy.

Sunshine Country said...

I enjoyed reading about your week. We are finally getting outdoors more here also, and yesterday we planted some spinach and kale out in the garden. I am looking forward to seeing things start growing more! Some of the trees are beginning to bud, and we have been seeing robins here also. Thankful for these early spring days!

Sister in the Mid-west said...

The Butternut pasta sauce sounds good to me. I have never tried making anything like that before. I suspect my family would feel much the same as yours. :) The Swiss chard and beet greens sound delicious!
I have been noticing the bird songs, too. They are starting earlier and earlier. I love their songs!
I like that you mentioned the sound that skipping rocks make. I heard them vividly in my mind when I read that part. I have good memories of skipping rocks. They do make a very distinct sound.
We have had a nice week. I made May baskets for the first time. I hadn't heard of May baskets until this year. It was a fun thing to do with my boys.