About

This is my pantry. Don’t judge. YOU try having 30 people to give gifts to at the holidays.

In “olden times,” to put something by meant to preserve something by:

Canning it,
Pickling it,
Turning it into hooch,
Freezing it,
Drying it,
Salting it,
Smoking it,
….and bunch of other stuff.

In recent years, we’ve seen a resurgence of urban homesteading, home gardening, small chicken flocks, and everything else. And I’m no exception.

I’ve always loved gardening, and invariably, in a good year, end up with more than I can use. When my beloved Uruguayan husband moved to the States to marry me, he wanted a flock of chickens (which were subsequently slaughtered by a neighborhood fox the following season). I suspect when we figure out how the fox got to the henhouse, we’ll have another flock. And I am slowly transforming our one-acre semi-urban homestead over so that our gardens have both pretty flowers and delicious food, and our property abounds with yumminess everywhere.

This year, my hubster, Leo, created a new garden for me so I could grow cranberries, figs, and elderberries, and moved my lilac bush to that garden, too, so that I can recreate my awesome lilac jelly experiment (which I’ll share next year, because darn it, I didn’t take pictures this year!) Also “on location,” we’ve planted raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, lavender, mint, chives, thyme, and rosemary. Every year, I plant basil, oregano, dill, parsley, and tarragon, plus the standard vegetables like beans, peas, peppers, eggplant, potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, lettuce, radishes, carrots, and this year I planted garlic, due to being inspired by an awesome blog post by a friend and client. I’m also very hopefully growing the following plants indoors: lime, lemon, orange, stevia, yerba mate, and coffee. So far, I’m just super-impressed to have kept these plants alive for more than five minutes.

That’s me!

I spend my days as a business and marketing coach and consultant, author of Business In Blue Jeans: How To Have A Successful Business On Your Own Terms, In Your Own Style and yes, a bone fide Guinness World Records® titleholder. But my evenings are spent obsessing over whatever I’ve got cooking—on the stove, in buckets and glass bottles in my pantry, or somewhere else. I love few things more than I love making things, whether things to eat, drink, wear, or use somehow. The making of stuff consumes much of my thinking.

I’ve been called many things, more often than not,”The Queen of Webcasts,” but honestly, I’m just me. I talk a lot, I have a lot of opinions and ideas, and I like to make stuff. Mostly, I set this site up so I can keep track of various projects and recipes, but if it helps you out, too, that’s cool.