August Cook the Books: Sweet Cream and Sugar Cones- Basil Ice Cream

Finally, it’s August! Time for August’s “Cook the Books” pick, Sweet Cream and Sugar Cones: 90 Recipes for Making Your Own Ice Cream and Frozen Treats from Bi-Rite Creamery! In case you are just tuning in, Cook the Books is a year-long cookbook challenge, hosted by Meg of Grow and Resist and Briggsy of the blog Oh, Briggsy. Meg and Briggsy have chosen a cookbook…

Baked Beet and Potato Chips

https://serenityspaonline.com/71ce5z3k I plant long, full rows of potatoes and beets every year. Some might think that is overkill, but I make my mom’s potato salad a lot during the Summer (I told you, it’s great to bring to BBQs) and I usually can my beets, so I like to have a lot. My beet standbys also include beet chili and a roasted…

I’m Engaged and Going to Make My Own Wedding Dress!

I have been sitting on some exciting news for over a month now, but it’s time to announce that Matt and I have gotten engaged! He proposed in the most amazing and perfect way, in my garden, at dusk, with a ring attached to a garden gnome. It was a beautiful Friday evening and he lured me out to the…

Thrifty Gardening Tip: Free Wood Chips!

https://www.ngoc.org.uk/uncategorized/future-events/x0k2zswm Got your attention? Good. Okay, technically they aren’t free. The tip should read: Develop a relationship with your local arborist, so they will give you free wood chips. In other words, once you’ve hired them for something, they will probably help you out in the future. We recently had to have some trees trimmed and so we hired Grun Tree Care.…

Mom’s Mustard Potato Salad Recipe

https://sieterevueltas.net/qestd0c1 My mom is in a nursing home now and no longer cooks for herself, but growing up she made the best mustard potato salad.  I remember it being one of the first things she taught me how to make, because I begged her to show me how. I’m so glad I did, because it has become a staple in our…

Makers Market Recap

It’s been an exciting time over here at Rake and Make HQ! So exciting that this blog post was scheduled for last week and got missed. Makers Market was such a well put together and fun event, that I have to still blog about it, even it if it is a wee bit late. For those of you that missed my…

Blogger’s Summer Camp

I am starting to realize how many cool things I discover via Seattleite Megan Reardon of the blog Not Martha. Through posts on Not Martha, I have discovered the Colette Sewing Handbook, Go Mighty (I really want to go to Camp Mighty now) and most recently, Blogger’s Summer Camp. I may sound like a bit of a super fan of Megan, but I have…

Makers Market

We interrupt your regularly scheduled blog post for a special announcement! This Saturday, June 15th from 4-8 pm, Flower and I are going to be vendors at Makers Market at Center Studio! Between the two of us, we are going to have some pretty awesome handmade goods for sale. Flower will be selling her silkscreened dish towels, handmade pillows, up-cycled outdoor hanging lanterns, terrariums with…

Watering: Drip Irrigation

June is off to a great start here in Seattle, with sunny, high 70s weather this week. It hasn’t rained all week! What that also means though, is that it is time to start thinking about making sure my plants are getting enough water. There are a few routes one can go when watering their plants; hand watering, soaker hoses,…

Tips for Growing Tomatoes in the Pacific Northwest

One thing I get asked about a lot, is how to grow good tomatoes here in Seattle. With the cooler climate and short “warm season” in the Pacific Northwest, growing tomatoes can be tricky. In an effort to learn what works best, I have planted my tomatoes with slight variations every year. There has definitely been a lot of trial…