For a while now, I've always wanted to bake homemade bread like what you find in European bakeries, as well as at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's.  I came across a few that piqued my interest, but the one that I decided to go with is a recipe for European peasant bread that was posted on a website called, "Pete Bakes!"

The recipe was super easy to do.  I split the dough up into four balls, baked one of them and put the other three in the freezer; to be baked up on another day.  I think the only thing I'd do differently is to use a tad less salt, as the bread tends to have more of a salty flavor than I'd like.  But the reason for making this bread was to go with my homemade pea soup.

As the days grow colder for most of us, preparations must be made to bring all your favorite plants that have been thriving in containers on your deck, patio, or what-have-you.  The most important task that must be done is to re-pot those plants that have outgrown their little plastic/terracotta/ceramic britches and get them comfy cozy for their winter residence inside the home.

I have several plants that were desperately in need of re-potting; namely, my "infamous" $2 rosemary plant, which is doing tremendously well these days and has now been re-potted three times since I rescued it from the clearance table at Russell's.

Today was no school because of Yom Kippur, so my daughter and I decided to go apple picking at Shelburne Farm in Stow, MA.  We spent an enjoyable couple of hours picking apples and eating cider donuts and pumpkin ice cream.  With our tummies full and the car loaded with our peck of Macoun apples and a half-gallon of cider, we went home.

As my friends and family know, I love to cook.  And what my CLOSEST friends know is:  I love to experiment with cooking.  Initially, I was going to bake my usual apple crisp, but instead, I ended up baking something else...

Many of us try to do what we can to safely grow our flowers, fruits, and veggies without the use of harmful chemicals that will basically kill us dead in a slow and painful manner.  One of the more popular ways of taking care of our precious gifts from Mother Nature is to use organic soil; either homemade or store bought.  So one would think that if it says "organic" on the label, it means that the soil is all natural and good for growing your plants...guess again!

My husband, knowing that I only use organic soil, had purchased a bag of Miracle-Gro® Organic Choice Potting Mix so that I could re-pot a few of my little green babies--orange tree seedlings and African violet babies, to be exact.  Well let me tell ya...I got more than just dirt in that bag!

Holy cow!  I can't believe how fast the winter has flown by around here...AND it's nearly halfway through spring!  My apologies for going radio silent these past few months, but it has been WICKED busy here at Dirt Momma Central.  :-)

Speaking of Spring, around here in New England, it's time to start planting seeds.  I started a few different varieties indoors back in March, but there are many that can be sown directly outdoors depending on the weather conditions.  When you can, it's best to purchase a seed starting kit; otherwise, there are lots of creative ways to start seeds with whatever you can find in the house.

Happy Holidays, everyone!  For those of us in the colder regions of the planet, our outdoor gardening days have come to a lull for now, but that doesn't mean we can have fun indoors!

I can't believe how quickly the past several weeks have flown by!  In just over a week, we're going to be celebrating Thanksgiving Day and then the holiday season is underway...holy cow!!!

As a result of keeping super busy in the garden to prepare for the winter season, a lot has happened outside in the garden and inside with my potted plants.  But first...

A LOT has happened since the last time I posted.  The softneck and hardneck garlic that I ordered arrived in the mail, I'm biting at the bit to harvest the sweet potatoes that are growing in my garden and the "tomato fairy" left us a surprise among the mums growing along the walkway in our front yard!

A few months ago, just for fun and curiosity, I decided to plant onions from the sprouts that were growing out of preexisting organic onions that had been purchased at the grocery store.  Out of the eight that I had planted, four of them survived.  Of the four, I had one that was decent-sized and used successfully in a delicious risotto recipe...yummy!  Two of the onions stayed fairly small, although I left them in the dirt as long as possible to see if they'd get any bigger.  The fourth and final onion remains to be seen, as it is still resting comfortably in the dirt of my garden.