Ashley English's Blog, page 6

Keeping Chickens & Ceramic Eggs (Giveaway!!!)

I'm gearing up to teach another of my "Backyard Chickens" classes at our local community college, AB-Tech, tonight (there's still a few spaces left, if any of you want to come!). Accordingly, I've got chickens on the brain.

This time of year is such a great time in the wide world of our fine feathered friends. Their plumage is nice and glossy, their combs and wattles are red and plump, they're

Hubs Considers: A Walk In the Woods

Today I'm beyond excited to introduce to you a new twist here on small measure. You've all heard me talk about this thing Hubs built, or that dish he cooked, but you've never heard him bring it to you himself. Well, no more. Debuting today is the first of, hopefully, many more musings from the man himself. He's been so taken with morel hunting, and general forest explorations, he wanted to share

Come Join Me!

I'm so excited to be working on a redesign of small measure with my buddy, Alisa of Lucky Design 7 (she's the genius behind the blog banner above). It's slated to launch sometime in early summer, in advance of my new book (which publishes August 7th). Alisa has been sending me images and mock-ups of the new site and, FRIENDS! You're going to love it. I guarantee it.

Part of the new look will

This Easter

Today chez English we feasted on Asparagus & Feta Quiche (the recipe's in here!), my "cleaned up" version of the southern fruit salad known as Ambrosia, and Ree Drummond's Hot Cross Buns (with homemade candied orange peel and currants tucked inside). Huxley plundered brightly colored eggs, courtesy of his great-grandmother, after which we gorged on seasonal peppermint creme, coconut creme and

What I'm Digging

Happy Friday, friends! This has been a good week around here. Lots of new, fun, exciting writing and other projects are in the works. We've also had (as it's said around here) a "mess" of rain, which I always gladly welcome (as will Huxley-he's mad about mud puddles, yelling both "fast" and "run" as he gallops through them!).

Here's a smattering of this's and that's that caught my attention this

Morel To Love

I love gardening. I really do. Something about putting those seeds into the soil, watering them, weeding them, and just generally cheering them on is rewarding in more ways than I can possibly hope to articulate.

That said, it's wild foraging that really gets me pumped. It feels so primitive and exploratory. As Hubs put it the other day, when he was out in our forest hunting for morels,

Pie & Community

I mentioned last week that I've been busy doing a good deal of freelance writing lately. One of those new gigs is for Mrs. Wages, a purveyor of canning products. The way I came to write for Mrs. Wages is, to me, an example of the best part about blogging, and the community that doing so engenders.

A few weeks ago Marisa of Food In Jars sent me an email, giving me a head's up that Mrs. Wages was

Dig In

Oh, friends. The days of soil and sun and time spent outdoors are seriously upon us. We've been spending increasingly greater quantities of time "gettin' out in it" every day, and it is just delicious (or, as Huxley calls it, "Licious!").

I wanted to share with you several images of a finish Hubs put on some of our raised beds (we have 14 beds). He used a paint roller for the undercoat and then

Recent Acquisitions

Some say that good friends help you move. I say good friends share their personal morel stash with you. Very, very good friends, indeed.

Can't wait to munch on these babies (neither can Huxley, clearly, as he almost took a bite out of one as soon as we handed it to him, but not before Mama quickly grabbed it back!). Check back in soon to see what we cook 'em up into!

What I'm Digging

Happy Friday, friends! I've been busy, busy, busy all week, working on various freelance projects. Soon as they're up and running, I'll share them with you. So many balls in the air at one time! It's good, though. I'm an ants-in-the-pants-gotta-keep-moving sort of gal, so staying busy suits me just fine.

Here's a smattering of this's and that's that caught my eye this week:
*This new magazine