Spring is here! Honey Haul

Finally... spring seems to have arrived. We have gone from coats and sweaters to shorts and flipflops at my house (yes mom.... I wear them to work every chance I get).

The trees are budding out and are just on the verge of blooming. Our bees will be thrilled with that. There are daffodils blooming all around and I think my crab apple tree will be opening some blooms by the time I get home this evening.

We started feeding the bees sugar water this past weekend. Each hive consumed 1 quart of sugar water within 2 days. We added more last night (3/30). Hubby tried to put the feeders out at lunch, but the bees were ALIVE with activity and he didn't have time to "suit up" so we just waited until slightly before dark and changed the feeders out.

Today its suppose to be in the 80's. It is SO HARD to stay at work when we are having such glorious weather!

Two new swarms of bees are ordered. They will arrive April 17. My brother and his wife are also getting started in this beekeeping adventure and they have two swarms arriving on the same day. Its SO EXCITING.

I never posted the picture of the honey we actually harvested last year. We had hoped to get more, but we had so much rain that the bees had a hard time getting any pollen because the rain would wash it away before they had a chance to collect very much.

Our hives are established now and should be stronger in number and since they have built out their frames with wax, the work will be all about making honey this summer intead of all of that housework.

This is a picture of the honey from last year's harvest (from only one hive).

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Easy Peasy Parmesan Chicken in the Crockpot (Only 5 ingredients!)

Do you need a super easy, "dump and go" crockpot meal that is super delicious and tastes like you are eating out? I have a good one for you today! RECIPES AT THE TOP - CHIT CHAT AT THE BOTTOM Here's how I now make Crockpot Parmesan Chicken AT HOME MY WAY. Dump & Go Crockpot Parmesan Chicken *only FIVE ingredients plus the pasta* (Print the Recipe HERE) 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts/tenders (frozen or thawed) 1 1/2 cups (app.) of seasoned canned bread crumbs 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese (I use the green can.) 1 or 2 jars (24 oz each) of prepared spaghetti sauce (Prego, Ragu, etc.) (Classico is my favorite lately.) Mozzarella (shredded) (Serve with cooked pasta. We use penne.) Instructions : Place chicken pieces in the crockpot (as much as your family needs). (I use frozen because my crockpot cooks super fast.) Sprinkle the chicken heavily with bread crumbs and then with the parmesan cheese, like this: Dump on the jarred spaghetti...

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Do you want to make the best, easiest homemade dill pickles in the world? I found a recipe for dill pickles that tastes JUST LIKE Claussen refrigerator pickles. Those are the best anyway, right? That crunch, the dill and the garlic... and oh yea , the crunch! This recipe is super easy because you don't have to process these pickles which means there is no canning needed. You just fill a gallon jar (we use an old pickle jar) with fresh cucumbers and dill heads, and then pour over the cooled liquids/seasonings. Let it sit on the counter for three days, and then refrigerate. After that, the pickle eating begins. They are supposed to keep for one year like that in the fridge, without canning. (We let them sit for the 3 days, then refrigerated them overnight before opening the jar for the much anticipated first taste. Did they taste like Claussen? YOU BET YOUR PRETTY PICKLE THEY DID! We were all SO ex...

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Buttermilk Biscuits - Just like Cracker Barrel!

RECIPES AT THE TOP - CHIT CHAT AT THE BOTTOM! Here's how we make Buttermilk Biscuits AT HOME MY WAY: Buttermilk Biscuits (just like Cracker Barrel) (Makes about 8 biscuits.) PRINTABLE RECIPE HERE Ingredients: 2 cups SELF RISING flour (self rising flour gives the perfect taste to homemade biscuits) 1/3 cup shortening (cold real butter also works here) 1 1/4 cup buttermilk* *NOTE: (If using regular milk combined with lemon juice vinegar referenced below, you only need 1 cup of milk because thinner regular milk uses less by volume than the thick real buttermilk.) Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. (Make sure your flour is "fluffed" not straight from the bag; Dump it in a larger container and stir using up and down motion to fluff it up a little bit-THEN measure out 2 cups). Measure 2 cups SELF RISING flour into a mixing bowl. Add shortening and cut it until small and crumbly. A fork works fine for this purpose ...

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