blogging – The Sprouted Cottage

What on Earth is a “Cheeseboard?”

A cheeseboard (or cheese course) is often served at the end of a meal, frequently replacing dessert. It has also become popular as an appetizer course when gatherings and parties are hosted in a more relaxed atmosphere.

There are a lot of things that take the subject of cheese to a deeper level than just grabbing a block from your local grocery store. Especially these days. With the dawn of exported foods and easy travel, we have variety available to us like no other time in history. We have also entered a period of local craftsmanship and animal husbandry (fancy term for raising animals in case you were wondering!) that allows us to access food raised and crafted in our local cities and towns. Throughout California and other states, you can meet your farmers and ranchers and even tour their fields and farms. Not only is it possible (and has been for a while now), but its becoming more and more encouraged by these small family farms. They want you to come and see what they are so passionate about!

As people learn more about their food and where it comes from, it opens us all up to a whole world about history and techniques as well as traditions and flavors. This was our favorite part of learning about cheese. Continue reading “What on Earth is a “Cheeseboard?””

The Best Things in Life Are Cheese

Cheese…what more can we say? It’s one of those ingredients that can make a simple meal so much better, a small party into a great gathering, and basically make most humans the happiest humans around! It’s a year round crowd-pleaser and satisfies those midnight cravings for munchies.

Cheese…what more can we say? It’s one of those ingredients that can make a simple meal so much better, a small party into a great gathering, and basically…make most humans the happiest humans around! It’s a year round crowd pleaser and satisfies those midnight cravings for munchies.

We are big about cheese around here. Busy days often call for homemade mac and cheese or a delicious, grilled-to-perfection, grilled cheese sandwich. Before the Sprout came along, Dave and I would often frequent our local cheese shops and select a couple types to take home for Sunday afternoon lunches and beach side picnics. Then the Sprout came…after two months of her experiencing acid-reflux symptoms and the screams to match, we discovered that she was lactose intolerant. Heavy sigh…cheese was a way of life for Dave and I! Well maybe not a way of life, but we definitely survived on it often!

We aren’t the kind of people who give up easily, though. After all, Dave’s a chef…so we set out to find ones that she could tolerate, which also meant that I could eat them while nursing. And find them, we did! We found many varieties that she not only tolerated, but enjoyed discovering when she got older. Life had returned!

Continue reading “The Best Things in Life Are Cheese”

Life Starts All Over Again…

Maybe it’s the red hair, maybe it’s the fair skin and freckles, all I know is that summer is always a bit off for me. Fall is more my bread and butter. I mean walking around with auburn colored hair automatically makes me fit in better! By August I am ready for sweaters, spicy scented candles, and crisp evenings filled with falling leaves and changing colors. The California temperatures don’t always agree with me, but luckily Cambria and the coast tend to oblige.

How did the summer fly by so fast?! There are back to school sales everywhere and my inbox is full of emails for discounts on everything from clothes to backpacks. As a girl who loves a good discount, I can’t exactly complain! However, I definitely feel as though summer is floating by quickly and fall will be here before I’ve microwaved my coffee for the third time!

I’m sitting here, staring at the most beautiful picture of a cottage in Idaho that was taken by a dear friend last fall. A bit of light through halfway bare trees, leaves scattered about a fading green lawn, this is the whimsical photo that stares back at me. It’s beautiful and it makes me so excited for the season that’s approaching.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/EvelynnsHeaven — Photo credit: Evelynn Seaberg Evelynn’s Heaven on Etsy

Continue reading “Life Starts All Over Again…”

What on Earth Should I Plant in My Veggie Garden?

So, here are some tips about what to plant in your veggie garden that we’ve figured out along the way. We hope they will point you in the right direction in deciding what plants to get and what seeds to start.

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It may be a bit early to think of gardening for some of you and we know the groundhog saw his shadow and all that jazz, but here in California we are getting warmer and warmer everyday. Winter was very, VERY mild this year and never really held on. I’m sure this sounds wonderful to some, but we really missed the snow, rain, and chilly weather that reaches a lot of areas in our state. After that horrific, record breaking drought and wildfires, we hoped for more than just one wet year (2016-2017). It wasn’t meant to be apparently, so now it’s time to move on and be grateful for longer days, (and hopefully some spring showers!) Longer days mean there will soon be new fruits and veggies popping up in grocery stores, farmers’ markets and possibly your own back yard! Not sure why you should grow your own food? Check out our post about why you should consider homesteading and why its great for modern families.

“I’ve never grown my own food, what on earth should I plant in my garden?!”

One of the questions we get asked a lot is, “I’ve never grown my own food, what on earth should I plant in my garden?!” It’s a good question and super complex. Until we moved to the cottage, we always had limited space to plant or unique gardening circumstances like minimal sunlight, poor soil etc. As we’ve mentioned before, we both grew up with summer gardens that we loved, so we knew we just needed to work with what we had and figure out the rest. We learned that even a small deck can provide a good amount of fruits or veggies if you choose the right ones for you and your family. You may not be able to grow everything you want, but you’ll know what you can grow successfully and save yourself a ton of money and frustration. Continue reading “What on Earth Should I Plant in My Veggie Garden?”

One Seasonal Soup You All Should Try: Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Spiced Cream and Pepitas

This twist on classic pumpkin soup will please everyone around the table. No one can resist this creamy and smooth soup with a hint of heat, and topped with toasted pepitas and spiced cream.

Around here, we eat a lot of soup this time of year. It’s chilly and blustery and soup just comforts you. Our Sprout enjoys soup too. She gets antsy at dinner time because she has to sit still. Haha! I’m sure you all know what I mean, especially if you’ve ever had a high energy, strong willed toddler. Anyways, soup is a quick meal for her and for us. Which is just what we need this time of year.

Soup requires very little skill, which makes it great for busy families like ours. Basically any soup is comprised of a base (usually broth or cream), meat or protein, vegetables, flavor add ins (think bacon, scallions, etc.), and toppings. Once you get that down, the options are endless! It also freezes easily for future meals. Make a big batch a freeze for up to 6 months! Continue reading “One Seasonal Soup You All Should Try: Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Spiced Cream and Pepitas”

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