Even though the fall rains have given us quite the shower for days now, the weather is cooling down a bit and we are looking forward to days of sunshine ahead, for a while before winter anyway and really looking forward to the colorful, fall leaves show!
We have fired up the Kitchen Queen wood cookstove and have a pot of hearty, vegetable soup simmering and loaves of Persimmon Bread in the oven. After a long, hot summer it's funny how much we welcome the warmth and heat this amazing stove brings, but welcome it we do, along with the convince of cooking indoors and hot water in the tap! (In the summer we cook on our summer kitchen porch & if we need hot water it must be heated on the summer cookstove or small propane burner. Our Kitchen Queen has pipes through the fire box, and after the fire gets going the water circulates, heats up and is then stored in a tank and runs right to our sinks and tub! So nice!)
While the days grow shorter and the sunlight begins to wane our home will be filled with the warm glow of candlelight.
If you need some inspiration or fresh ideas look no further than our Homestead Blessings DVDs!
Fall is the perfect season for making hand dipped candles. The beeswax will melt nicely on the back of the wood stove and the air outside is just right to cool the growing candles between dips.
This is also the traditional time to make soap, right after butchering with lots of fresh fat and the weather is still nice to be outside to mix up luscious bars of soap to last the whole year!
There's no better time to fill the oven with fresh breads and rolls and fill the house with warm, tasty smells of cinnamon, butter and herbs!
Take our Cinnamon Roll recipe (place The Art of Bread DVD in your computer to access the PDF version) and add cranberries to the dough and orange juice to the glaze topping and turn them into Cranberry, Orange Cinnamon Rolls! Our Corn Bread recipe makes wonderful Corn Bread Dressing with sage from the herb garden, yum! There are many was to embellish your home made candles and soaps with pine needles and essential oils that will brighten your holidays! We hope you will have a wonderful time with your family making and baking up some holiday fun!
The Original Collection:
The Art of Soap Making, The Art of Candle Making and The Art of Bread Making
Have a happy fall y'all!
The West Ladies