My Magical Cottagecore Life

Let's make some lovely memories with putters and parasols. Decorating your own and joining with friends for a quick few rounds of miniature golf will make great days to look back on and cute photographs.

At different times I'm called upon the speech at different groups. In this particular case, I was given the opportunity to speak at Unity of Blue Water in Port Huron Michigan last year in 2023. I'm sharing that speech here in hopes that you will find joy in it.

Let's make our own Half Moon Dumplings. Not exactly like Ukrainian vareniki, but still yummy.

Eclipses are not everyday events. In fact, the next one won't happen again for another half lifetime. Let's make a time capsule for this one.

One of my fondest memories is sharing vanilla wafers with my dad. On a rainy day I want to make vanilla wafers and share some memories with you. And also warm up the house a bit. This recipe comes from a 1939 recipe by Sara Hentz. The cookbook was "The Household Searchlight Recipe Book". Enjoy.

This is the time of year when we look at garden catalogs and we decide what we're going to plant. Well sweet greens are preferable to many pallets I find that a little bit of bitterness adds value to flavor. I'm also including my kitchen pepper remedy in this episode. But because I know some of you aren't always near a pen I'm going to write it here in the description. One part dehydrated sorrel, one part dehydrated catmint, and three parts lime pepper. See you in the episode.

Maintaining your garden apron's appearance, durability, and suitability for purpose isn't hard. It can be simple, really. Let's have a chat about how to keep it in great shape.

Wanna eat like me? I mean, like when I'm eating my quirky kitchen concoctions? Here's an episode of some of my recent combinations. Enjoy.

It's supposed to be spring here in michigan. The equinox is already happened. But as we know, Michigan doesn't care and there's a blanket of snow everywhere. Right now the dandelions are sleeping and waiting to wake up. Let's talk about how we're going to eat them. Hahaha. Also, enjoy my very strange and unusual offering about how to make a green, dandelion-based, kind of rumaki.

You've probably heard of Queen Anne's lace. But have you ever heard of the plant called Queen's Delight? This plant, stillingia sylvatica, has folklore about love and syphilis. Wow, what a combination right? It also has pretty yellow flowers and alleged health remedies associated with it. It may be blooming right now. Let's chat about it.
Today's music is "Adding the Sun Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
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Right about now cleaver should be popping up all over the place, near you, in their customary areas. Also known as goose grass, and other names, this plant is good for chasing out Waters in The body. However, there's some caveats to that. Never forget, though, the Cobra chickens are everywhere. The Canadian Goose requires constant vigilance if you're "out and about". Love to my Maple Leaf Friends.

It's a dreary day and it's a good day to make jelly cookies. There's Scandinavian inspired, but I am insisting on adding a little bit of pepper which changes the mix. Let's bake together.

Let's chat about Scorpion Grasses. You probably have them in your garden right now. These little blue flowers have a lot of symbolism and history.

Is that time of year when you begin to prepare your plans for your garden. There's something special I want to make this year at harvest Time with the sunflower seeds. I want to make a vegan sour cream dressing. This got me thinking about self-reliance and I talk a little bit about it. It also made me think about my mother, who really loved Billie Holiday. So I talk a little bit about that and self-reliance. Let's chat about it.

Is the time of year when a potatoes are beginning to get away from us and they're beginning to sprout, or chit. Today we're going to discuss how to do that on purpose. This way we can get ready to plant our potatoes later. Also, check out David the Good's episode on growing from store bought potatoes. #davidthegood

Let's chat about paperwork. This little plant is also known as garden crest. Whether you eat it as a pot herb, and salad, or as a bitter herb for a religious observance, this little plant has a long history. It's been used as a medicine. It's been used as a universal cure ingredient. Let's chat about it together and maybe you'll be inspired to plant it in your spring garden this year. I can't wait for spring. Can you?

A personal scent is something that lingers in the mind. Making your own musk from ambrette seeds can create your own signature presence. You can do this at home with minimal effort. Abelmoschus moschatus, Musk Mallow, is your plant source for a light scent that smells a little like deer musk.
Let's get started.

There's a lot of good space in your day to find the new hobby to explore. Taking some of your old mismatched plates, or even great finds at a flea market, and turning them into art is awesome. Let's chat about how to express your softer side with a hammer.

Let's look at some basic embroidery stitches that you might want to know if you're learning how to do this by hand. We also will talk a little bit about one of my favorite movies because it has embroidery in the storyline. Can you guess which one it is? It's a cult classic.

January brings grey skies and grieving. Let's make a healing broth with a stew chicken, some herbs, turnips, and mushrooms. A blueberry and lemon tart can add a bit of sunshine to the day. Welcome to Season 4.

If you've ever had to repair stuffed animal, you know it can be messy and challenging. Express emergency care in a prepared box can make it a learning activity. Let's make a stuffed animal repair box. Don't forget the lollipop for after the operations.

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone. It's time to relax and just enjoy the glow of family, if you don't have to go back to work right now. The house is clean and all bellies are relatively satisfied. But don't forget there's a few helpful hints that can still be part of the day after the holiday.

It's Thanksgiving tomorrow here in Michigan. And it is definitively cold. However, there's warmth in our hearts. If you have pudding people, stroller citizens, or other idle hands inhabiting the inside of your home during cook time, this is a craft that will be wonderful for you. It encourages them to go OUTSIDE. At least to gather twigs. It's an easy craft, and keeps them from being underfoot in the kitchen. I call it one of my Sanity Savers. I will be thinking of all of you tomorrow. We are never alone in our Magical Cottagecore Shire.
This episode is sponsored by Soup Stitch.
Don't forget to check out Coffee Brand Coffee, I'm an affiliate. Save with my special code: Cottagecore
#sanitysaver #soupstitch #thanksgiving #cottagecore

Scrambling for a last-minute potluck dish for the office or thanksgiving? I've got you covered. Let's share a simple recipe, with some easy variations, on a classic quick potluck dish.

A deliciously sweet recipe with piloncillo and pumpkin.

Hunting season started and now it's truly time to get ready to remember how to make stock from game animals like deer or elk. If you're lucky enough to have gotten an elk tag, and got the harvesting, then this is a great recipe for you to use in order to extend the flavor of the bounty to other meals as well as any stews you want to make from the meat. A lot of gelatin can be extracted from a knuckle bones so don't forget to include those as well.

Let's get those Hunters fed and full with an easy slow cooker recipe of venison sausage, ramps, and peppers. Time to pull out the venison stock and your ramp stash from Spring. Special Love to the Michigan Hunters. Be safe out there.

Today let's keep away the winter chills with a nice hot slow cooker filled with wonderful Navy beans, smoked meat, and rich flavors. We can even break out our magnolia honey and serve with biscuits or with cornbread on the side. Let's get started.

Time for slow cooker holidays. This recipe is great for beginner cooks, or students. Catalina dressing, apricot preserves, and some other key ingredients will make this a "go to" one.

It's time for Persephone days as well as pomegranates. What a great time to take the skins from the pomegranate and dry them for tea.

It's time to get your blackberry leaves harvested before it's too late. They either are on Vines around brambles. They are useful for many things as a tea, or even as a poultice. In this episode we even talk a little bit about another use that you may not know about. Let's get started.

Raspberry leaves are a long believed tonic for women's health. Specifically, it's believed to help women and girls strengthen uterine health. It also helps with colds, breast milk, and peri menopause. There's some folklore, too. Special shout out to Lotions, Potions, and Notions LLC, in Michigan. LJ Rose carries safe, affordable, and organic herbs that I can trust.

Time to harvest peach leaves. They can be added to tea leaves, or used as a tisane in their own.

Let's chat a bit about gathering leaves for apple leaf tea. We'll also put a twist on the plain tea with a sweet addition.

It's autumn, or fall as we call it here in the Midwestern United States. Is the time to be thinking of pumpkins, hot chocolate, and apple cider. It's also the time when you can see the most beautiful free color show that nature can put on. This is the time also that you might want to take your little ones, or you're not so little ones, and go out and gather leaves and make an autumnal album. Best part? There's so much more than just scrapbooking you can do with this project. Check it out.
Also, don't forget I'm an affiliate for Coffee Brand Coffee. Use my code "Cottagecore" for a discount. It's a great time of year to stock up!

Let's chat about a gorgeous evergreen called leatherleaf viburnum. It blooms twice a year, and has a beautifully textured leaf surface. But do NOT eat it.

Time to gather up the box elder seeds for eating. Get them before they are gone. Let's chat about it, AND share some thoughts on compassion and mistakes in the nature based living space.

For some people, the words zucchini lasagna make more sense than zucchini casserole. However, I really like zucchini casserole and think that lasagna might be better represented with just the pasta. But no judgment. So I'm going to call this zucchini casserole and I hope you'll enjoy it. He contains lots of veggies, and if you bake it for a very long time it's nice and soft and will help for people who have texture issues or challenges eating hard food. Enjoy. PS. I missed you.

Time to get the herbs into the honey at the end of summer. The clover honey is gathered, and the heavier goldenrod honey will be a bit too much for some of my garden. Let's talk about rosemary, my favorite, and learn how it's done.

Join me as I go to a Summer Festival here in Metro detroit. One of our sponsors, spiral Moon family circle, has put on the Detroit Pagan Pride Day. This event is not affiliated with the Pagan Pride Project. Let's talk about Festival prep during the summer season.

It's been a minute, but I'm back from vacation and I wanted to share my experience on making culinary ash. Let's chat a bit about what it is, what it does, and how to make it. Big shout out to Bosslady Anish for the sharing of her technique on her channel.

Lady's Thumb (Polygonum Persicaria) Or Saucy Alice, is all around the fields and gardens at this time of year. It's a great time to talk about her, and maybe much a bit of her alongside other green visitors.

Here's a fun recipe including dry scallops, radishes, mushrooms, and Chinese sausages. However, I have to make some weird substitutions. Oh dear. Gratuitous reference to "Repo Man" opera. Make sure to think about trying Coffee Brand Coffee, I'm an affiliate. Use discount code: Cottagecore.