Winter

Goulash Recipes

On Facebook, I have a group called Appalachian cooks and I recently asked what people considered goulash after someone had posted a picture of “American Goulash”. The picture was macaroni noodles in a tomato sauce with corn added in.

This is a picture of the recipe I chose to make which is a Hungarian version of goulash. I was really surprised at how many people who were willing to share there goulash recipes with me. You’ll see it below.Read More »Goulash Recipes

Canning Pinto Beans

Canning pinto beans? Why would you want to do that? Let me count the ways.

  1. convenience
  2. convenience
  3. convenience

Well, you get the idea. It is very handy to have beans on your pantry shelf.

Canning pinto beans - finished product

What can you do with canned beans?

Around here we make re-fried beans with a jar of pinto beans. Taco night has never been the same since I started canning pinto beans. All I do is drain off the liquid and whirl it up with my stick blender with a little chili powder and a splash of olive oil to give it a shine and Wha-lah re-fried beans, just like that. Now it just takes a minute to heat up on the stove or in a microwave.

We would be canning pinto beans if this was the only way we used them but it’s not. Read More »Canning Pinto Beans

Bugsy Blue- My Easter Egger Hen

This picture of my Easter Egger hen was taken this morning as I stoked the fire in the barn. It has gotten over 150 likes so far in the group Appalachian Americans on Facebook so I thought I’d do a little write-up about Bugsy Blue for anyone who wanted to read it.Warming Feet by Fire

(edited to add: This picture now has over 170 likes and I’m not even done writing this post!)

Please meet Bugsy Blue the Easter Egger hen and Heather, my 2015 graduate who used this chicken as a propRead More »Bugsy Blue- My Easter Egger Hen

The Best Tip for Surviving the Cold with Chickens

winter chickens water bowlsThe first winter here at Wild Heaven Farms was pretty mild for us and the freezing water bowls weren’t that big of an issue. We did only have the 2 coops that we were maintaining at that time.

The next two winters were horribly cold! We broke records for so many days with the coldest temperatures in a row. We had also grown each year so being able to keep the chickens in water was quite a challenge.

We are always learning as we go, as many people who have started a farmstead do. The first really cold year we ran an extension cordRead More »The Best Tip for Surviving the Cold with Chickens