The Sweet Sign of Summer

Mr Chiots is a HUGE ice cream fan. We have a local dairy that makes ice cream from their own pastured cows. It’s not made from raw milk, but they lightly pasteurize their milk and it’s non-homogenized. When he wants some ice cream that’s our go-to spot. They make good ice cream to be sure, [...]

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Honey Cinnamon Frozen Custard

Here in the Midwest we’ve had a late blast of summer weather bringing with it Indian summer. We should be thinking of a sweater to fight off the chill, and instead we’re spending days on the beach and keeping our windows wide open. It’s been absolutely gorgeous, in a bright yellow and warm orange kind [...]

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Sunday photos: unprocessed

With the first week of October Unprocessed behind us, we wanted to let you know how we’re doing! *** I (Xan) was already pretty unprocessed, but I confess that since last year I’ve slacked off quite a bit, mostly on the label-reading front.  So I made the discovery that you cannot buy unprocessed pasta at [...]

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At What Cost?

Computers and modern transportation have made this world of ours seem a lot smaller. It makes luxuries that many of us might afford seem commonplace. I can order shea butter made from nuts handpicked by African locals, wool from the “Highlands of Peru”, and water bottled all the way in Fiji and have them shipped [...]

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Take the $5 Challenge

OK all you REAL foodies, this challenge is for you. It’s been 6 months since the REAL Food Challenge and this is the perfect way to get back on track if you haven’t been keeping up with REAL food. Slow Food USA initiated the $5 Challenge. The goal is to cook healthy meal for less [...]

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The Groundcherry

Back in Tennessee our property was covered with groundcherries (sometimes known as stone cherries, husk tomatoes, and sometimes Cape Gooseberries). Had I known how absolutely wonderful they tasted I would have taken full advantage of this free resource. I should have taken the time to identify the differences between the nightshade plants and the groundcherry [...]

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Sunday Photos: From the Kitchen

If I’m not working, you’ll usually find me either gardening, cooking or blogging. We talk often of our gardens and what we’re growing here and you’ve seen many images of the fruits of our labor. I thought this week we could show some of what we’ve been mixing up in our kitchens, or over the [...]

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Chicken Pie

One meal that The Kid, Hubby, and I can agree upon is roasted chicken. It’s one of my favorite meals because it’s easy to prepare, the flavor is great, and I can make several meals out of one bird. The first meal we make is usually served hot out of the oven with carrots and [...]

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What Do You Save For Later?

It used to be all that I’d preserve was tomatoes. After a few years of that I started freezing apples and peaches that I’d purchased by the bushel. When we moved to our current property we were loaded with wild blackberries, so preserves and jams obviously had to go on the list. Now, after almost [...]

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Time to Think About the Real Food Challenge

Here at Not Dabbling, we’ve been discussing whether or not we’re going to do the Real Food Challenge again this year, it seems like a lot of you are interested in it. If you’re interested in participating again this year, we’ll once again spend the Month of March once again focusing on Real Food. No [...]

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