Cozy and Maple

Category: Uncategorized

  • Basil-Pecan Pesto

    This recipe is summer to me, through and through. It freezes beautifully, so you can enjoy it in the bleak grey of winter as well, but something about a lazy, hot summer day ending in high-quality pasta coated in this pesto…it’s magic. My kids all adore this pesto, despite adamantly telling me they don’t like…

  • A Texas Cottage Garden

    I’ve waited for this opportunity for years-the chance to design and nurture my very own English-y, cottage-y garden of flowers. Can’t you see it? A lazy summer morning spent tenderly weeding among the hollyhocks and zinnias, snipping a few stems to display on the dining table, happy bees gently buzzing around the roses. I have…

  • A Nostalgic Independence Day

    When I was a kid, my family would make the trek out into the woods of Arkansas every July 4th, way out past city plumbing and stoplights, to my great uncle and aunt’s farm. We would set off fireworks and eat homemade peach ice cream. I even distinctly remember my second cousins having a cannon…

  • Basic, Easy Beer Bread

    Basic, Easy Beer Bread

    This is a family favorite for weeknight dinners, and I have been known to deliver this, warm from my oven, to neighbors and friends. It is always a hit and it’s easily adaptable, with only five ingredients. The flavor will largely depend on what kind of beer you use, so do try to pick one…

  • Homemade Strawberry Lemonade and DIY Fountains

    We had our church community group over last week for an ice cream social and in some ways, a little introduction to our much-prayed-for new home. Well over forty people ate ice cream and had a blast, with kids ranging in age from zero to seven running all over. The hit with the kids, oddly…

  • The Easiest Rice Pudding

    We all have those recipes, the ones that are so adaptable and always a hit. Rice pudding is that for my family. Not only is it whole food and budget-friendly, it’s delicious. I have a general base that I start with and love to do a few variations, depending on what I have on hand.…

  • Homemade Nacho Cheese Sauce

    Last night, we had nachos and I made, for the millionth time, our family’s take on cheese sauce. It’s a simple recipe, but it took me a while to tweak it. I thought I would share it here with you all today. Ingredients 2 T butter 2 T flour 1 cup whole milk 2 cups…

  • Purse Dogs and the Passage of Time

    we did it! We are officially all moved in to our new home, and I feel so settled. After fifteen years of renting, owning a house is such a sigh of relief for the soul. That’s not what I want to talk about today, thought. I want to talk about purse dogs, naturally. The other…

  • Staying on Top of Laundry

    Hello, my name is Katie, and I greatly dislike laundry. Sidenote: did anyone else’s mom tell them not to use the word hate? Over the years I have realized that the only way I can successfully have a long-term laundry routine is if I do it a little bit everyday. Laundry has to become so…

  • First Grade Homeschool Curriculum Recap and Review

    Our first grade year is officially in the books and I’m pleasantly pleased with how it went down. Of course, it didn’t go exactly how I thought it would, but overall, I would say it went even better than I expected. Here is a breakdown of what curriculum we used and what I thought about…