How to make strawberry jam – start to finish: Of course, fresh berries are better for the jam, but you can use frozen berries.
Tasty Strawberry Jam Recipe is delicious!
Spring is berry pickin’ time, so get ready to make Strawberry Jam.
My father taught me how to raise a garden and how to cultivate an orchard; my mother taught me how to can this home-grown produce and to make jam. [continue reading…]
Pull Candy Recipe – Old Time Stewed Sugar
Old Fashioned Pull Candy is still the best!
My mother called this wonderful confection pull candy or stewed sugar. Some folks call it taffy. When she described a child’s pretty blond hair she would say it was the color of stewed sugar — a gorgeous translucent white color with a faint golden tint.
Making this recipe during the holidays or in the New Year seems appropriate for me – it brings back memories of winter on the farm in the kitchen with my mother who was also named Chloe. She told me that when she was growing up, folks in the neighborhood would have a Candy Pulling party and they had so much fun. Click to read more about Pull Candy
The holiday season brings up memories of holidays past
For me, they are often memories of wonderful food and recipes from my farm bed and breakfast. I have been writing Chloe’s Blog since 2007 and have gathered some great old family favorites and some new and exciting recipes that my mom never heard of.
While waiting on the plane to carry me back to Big Mill B&B, I decided to dash off a quick blog post in honor of Vegetarian Awareness Month (October).
I’ve been 95% vegetarian for decades, so it is second nature for me. But it can be quite a fun adventure to explore the tastes and textures of vegetarian recipes.
Here are eight recipes from Chloe’s Blog to make it easy to dip your toe in:
Gazpacho – Chilled Tomato Soup
Bon Appetite!
Big Mill Bed and Breakfast 252-792-8787
If you like figs, you will love this Fig Bread –
I bet you will like it even if you don’t like figs!
Homegrown Figs are just wonderful
I love figs and fig trees; I now have four fig trees planted in my orchard. That might be a bit obsessive, but this is a farm and I can share. When figs get ripe, they come in great profusion, so I needed some recipes to use all these great fruits of the gods. I make Fig Preserves or Jam and Fig Bread.
Click to get the Fig Bread Recipe From Big Mill BB innkeeper Chloe
Do you need an easy punch recipe for that special summer party?
This great-tasting party punch is quick and easy to make and pretty – and you can do most of the prep ahead of time. Here is the recipe. [continue reading…]
Does washing berries in a vinegar wash keep them fresh longer?
Fresh picked berries are yummy. Recipe for storing berries below
Everyone has an opinion. I think you should at least give it a try, then decide. I know the vinegar wash works for me, but then I think white vinegar is “gold.” We use it here at Big Mill B&B for an eco-friendly cleaning product. I also use it as a fabric softener. [continue reading…]
Innkeeper’s Suet Recipe
Our special Earth Day gift to birds here at Big Mill Bird & Breakfast
Earth Day is just around the corner, so it seemed like a perfect time to celebrate the birds we love with a suet recipe they delight in eating.
When I am cooking for the bed and breakfast guests, I also make suet for our lovely feathered travelers. And this suet recipe is made from things that we all have in our larders, especially innkeepers. Recipe below is easy! Click here for Suet Recipe for the BIrds
The mighty Roanoke River is heaven for the Rock Fish Fisherman
Rock fish – Striper in the Roanoke River – photo courtesy Capt. Mitchell Blake
Check for dates for when the Roanoke River basin is open for Rock Fish fishing or Stripers with some rules, of course. The minimum limit is 18 inches and only one river bass above 27 inches can be kept, in the creel, as they say. Click to get Rock Fish Stew Recipe
When I was growing up we always had a winter garden of all kinds of greens and root vegetables, including turnips and rutabagas.
In cold weather my mother would make rutabaga rice soup that I now associate with life on the farm, warm fires and being happy. Other than my family members, no one I know has ever heard of this soup. If you like rutabagas, give it a try. Even if you aren’t sure if you like rutabagas, give it a try. You might surprise yourself. Recipe below is easy. Rutabagas make a great Rice soup – recipe below