The weekend is a good time for grazing. This is a summary of some of the delightful Blog articles I have been reading during the week. I invite you to graze through these, and also through the archives of the creative writers who have written about appetizing recipes, food preparation, gardening, canning and preserving, aspects of nutrition, homesteading and life’s choices, hopes and lessons.

You can access the entire Weekend Highlights series to date by clicking on that category in the sidebar at left.

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The Author's Home - Courtesy Mother Earth News

Let’s begin with something new. In fact, there are two new Blogs on our list this week.

Living in a small space certainly puts things in perspective, a perspective only those who choose this lifestyle can discover and fully understand. “A Dozen Other Places Doesn’t Exist in a Small Home” is precisely about the occasional disconnect between two worlds, but it is always with good humor that they reconcile each other. It is not a battle, after all, but simply a difference in lifestyle and there are as many styles as there are personalities.

The author’s small-scale living was featured in a Mother Earth News article. The Blog is titled Living Large in Our Little House. It brings to light that people who choose to live small often have a very broad vision of the world. Living small changes our attachment to things. We cherish the afternoon reading in the corner chair for the peace of the moment and the joy of reading, not because of the chair! It is a matter of personality though and at some point in life we all downsize some aspect of our circumstances; sometimes it is our living quarters, sometimes it is how much time we spend at work.

“If you live in a small space,” asks the author, “what is the biggest mis­con­cep­tion you face about the size of your home? If you don’t live in a small space, what do you believe to be true about a small space?… It is a trade-off, this small house liv­ing, and it’s why small home dwellers embrace the William Morris quote, ‘Have noth­ing in your houses that you do not know to be use­ful or believe to be beautiful…” [Read Full Article]

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“Something has to be done about the fighting,” casually announces Cecilia of The kitchen’s Garden, or Miss C for her current audience, which happens to consist of roosters, hens and sheep. “I had a discussion in the barn last night about the cockfights in the farmyard,” she begins and they promptly respond. Little Chick: “It wasn’t me! I never broke it!  I didn’t even know you had one! I never did nothing!” Miss C: “You never did nothing  is a double negative.” Little Chick: “Yeah, yeah I never did that neither…”

No worries, every one of the creatures in this cast of characters is pampered and loved. This is why they are so nonchalant, carefree and playful. This visual blog, interspersed with dialog between Miss C (the author) and her farmyard friends, is a pleasure to read. It seems it could be the beginning of a long series. I pictured her standing amidst the creatures, speaking out loud as she imagined the conversation, inspired by the looks on their faces. Perhaps when she walks away they make up a story of their own. [Read Full Article]

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Another one to add to our list…

“While searching for a can of soup in my pantry at the last minute before running out the door, late for work with no leftovers from the night before,” recalls Canning Granny, and finding nothing to my liking… the idea popped into my head… why don’t I can up some GOOD soup, with ingredients I recognize… The idea progressed… I could can the soup in wide mouth pint jars… reheat at work IN THE JAR, and eat. How easy would that be? *Head Slap* Why had I not thought of this before???”

In the three Grab ‘N’ Go Canned Soup articles that follow this head-slap realization, the author offers her own recipes. We are familiar with dried soup mixes in jars in country stores. These make elegant and useful gifts, but they require an extra step: cooking. We all make large batches of soup at some point and store portions in the freezer for later use, but how often does it occur to us to make soup portions to grab ‘n’ go? This idea takes a common practice to another, even more practical level. It combines convenience and wholesomeness.

Each recipe includes a printable version that may very well inspire your favorite concoctions. “There’s also no rhyme or reason for the order the layers go in,” points out the author about her own process, “I chose by color, light colors and white, followed by bright colors of carrot, green been, etc.” Soup in a jar that shows me the wholesome ingredients I have poured into it myself seems far more appealing than the best of soups hidden behind a commercial label, and just the sight of it surely brings to mind the aroma that permeated the kitchen while it cooked. True comfort to go!

Part 1: Hamburger Vegetable Soup

Part 2: White Bean Chicken Chili

Part 3: Layered Chicken Veggie Soup

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Thank you for stopping by to read this Weekend’s Review. Please take a moment to leave a few words on the Blogs you enjoy, if you feel so inclined that is.