A Day in the Life of a Homesteading Teacher
Or... my trek in the world of education (mine and others) & all the joys & trials that come with it.
Friday, September 12, 2025
What's Growing?
Thursday, September 11, 2025
Inaugural Candy Run
Wednesday, September 10, 2025
Freeze Dried Elderberry Juice
I found a bunch of elderberry juice taking up space in the freezer waiting to be turned into elderberry syrup. Let's freeze dry it!
Putting the filled pans into the freezer was terrifying. Thankfully, I didn't spill!
Since the past two liquids I freeze dried didn't need the silicone mats, I opted to not use them this time. Mistake! It stuck to the pan pretty bad. I needed to scrape all of it out. On the other hand, it did turn into a powder instantly.
Tuesday, September 9, 2025
DIY Bouillon
Monday, September 8, 2025
Moldy Maple
I didn't realize maple syrup needed to be stored in the fridge. I learned that this past spring when my family made syrup for the first time, but I didn't think to relocate the maple syrup in my pantry.
I pulled out the jar today to use some in a recipe and found a thin layer of whitish-yellowish mold floating on top. My first thought was, "no! I don't want to throw this away!" My second thought was, "maybe I don't have to..."
A quick Google search later revealed that no, you don't need to throw moldy syrup away. Skim the mold off the top; it grows in one giant clump easy to pull out. Boil the syrup on the stove for one minute, pour into a clean jar, cool and return to fridge. Voilá!
So, that's what I did.
Instead of scraping the pan out with a spatula, I'll cook breakfast in it tomorrow.
Friday, September 5, 2025
Sourdough Pizza
They turned out pretty good! Jaron definitely enjoyed his. A few things I would change for next time: I forgot to put oil on the pizza stone before spreading my crust, and it was a bit tricky to get off. Also, I thought the sourdough crust was a bit bland and would have been improved by adding salt. Next time I will mix a little bit of salt into the dough before I spread it on the pan. But. It's so easy I will definitely be doing this again!
Thursday, September 4, 2025
Fashionista
Jaron received a couple long sleeve outfits as a gift. I didn't feel like taking the sleeve all the way off, so I experimented with folding and tucking to make the sleeve shorter.
Inside-
Outside-
Inside-
Outside- I wanted the cuff to be visible, which required extra stitching.
The finished product- So cute! I hope it actually fits his flipper.