Free Range on Fairview

I've been tweaking this overnight sourdough cinnamon roll recipe over the last few months and I think it's finally, exactly, the way I like it. We love this for slow weekend mornings, to take to family and friends, or for special holiday get togethers. It's also the same recipe I use when making them to sell locally. I've been keeping it under wraps for no reason in particular but it's just too good not to share.  I don't have a reliable kitchen scale so this recipe uses good old fashion cups and goes a lot by the feeling of the dough. It will get messy but don't be discouraged if it doesn't turn out just right the first time. No matter the flop, these cinnamon rolls will never disappoint taste wise.  The PDF printable can be found here or you can keep reading.  Overnight Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls  The night before you want to make rolls: 8 Tablespoons cold butter, shredded (a whole stick) 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose or bread flour  1/2 cup sourdou

According to the Farmer's Almanac, the full moon in the month of January is called the "Wolf Moon." We had a few extra hands on deck so I decided to change gears for a minute with our homeschool plans to focus on what was currently happening around us rather than a ridged schedule;  making a themed day about moon phases and  meteors. We checked out moon books from the library, used our Julia Rothman Nature Anatomy book, printed out flash cards, practiced moon writing in cursive, and found all sorts of moon activities on Pinterest.    I was set until I couldn't really find something fun, beautiful, and specifically about this month's wolf moon - so I decided to make my own, and offer it as a printable to anyone else who might be interested.  Behold the Watercolor Wolf Moon Info Sheet  I also created a few Meteor Vocabulary printable word cards  to introduce new words and explain the difference between a meteor and meteorite, which I myself didn't realize there

I have spent the last few days trying to plan out an uncertain school year and finishing up all the summer projects I thought I would get to before it is officially over. Organizing our living and school spaces, check. Making calendars and thinking about back to school shopping, check. Vision appointments made (although of course not until after our schedule gets jammed packed with everything school), check. Permit for Shane to start the big garage project finally, check. Today I poured over Pinterest after running last minute errands, and finally decided I would just have to make my own printable to find the aesthetic and available items from our property to make my vision come to reality.  Behold the Watercolor Nature Scavenger Hunt! I created the template, then hand painted the images and scanned it all in together. It's fantastic that I was 35 years old when I finally learned how to create and link a PDF document. You're welcome. The scavenger hunt printable is designed to

Each day our first round of chicks keep growing and thriving and it has been so fun to watch. Since we have one more round of chicks in an incubator and the whole world is at home wondering what to do, we thought it would be fun to bring you along for the ride. According to my calculations we are currently around day 16/17 of embryo development for these Americana and Olive Egger chicks to give you an idea. If you are going to be following along on our egg hatch this coming week then I found a few mostly free resources for you to share with your kids to enrich the process. Worksheets Handwriting and Simple Coloring Sheets (free): https://inallyoudo.net/chicken-life-cycle-coloring-pages-free/ Life Cycle Work Sheets: https://www.livinglifeandlearning.com/chicken-life-cycle-worksheets-for-kids.html Life Cycle of a Chicken Printable Poster Set (free): http://www.communication4all.co.uk/Science%202/Life%20cycle%20of%20a%20chicken%20poster%20set.pdf Egg Letter Car

In response to all of the parents who are asking what they are supposed to do all day with their kids just remember we have all been given something we always complained we didn’t have enough of: TIME. We now have plenty of time for the foreseeable future to spend time sitting down together and using time to get back to the basics. You don’t have to set up a rigid schedule, but if that’s helps you then do it! Right now we have the time to teach table manners as we sit down to meals together. We have time to talk, question, and discover. We have time to practice new hobbies, dreams, and skills.           If you are still looking for resources there seem to be an unlimited supply of online resources which we will be wholeheartedly using, but I challenge you to look beyond that. Practice the basics.  Math: Numbers, adding/subtracting, patterns, fractions, multiplying, long division, percentages. All without a calculator. Practice telling time with an analogue clock. Open a pr

Lately the boys have been big into my sourdough biscuits and for good reason! They are quick, hearty, and can go from sweet to savory in a matter of seconds. We love them with elk sausage country gravy but they are usually known to be topped with butter,  honey, jam, used as a sandwich, or just eaten cold for lunch. Flakey. Buttery. Comfortable. Just like me. This recipe uses all my tips to make it simple by not using fancy ingredients or tools. I followed the steps to make my own sourdough starter from the website farmhouseonboone.com and I am happy to report it is doing fantastically after keeping up on it. INGREDIENTS 1 cup flour 1/2 teaspoon salt  1/2 teaspoon baking soda 2 teaspoons baking powder 6 tablespoons very cold butter (I prefer salted, but your choice)  1 cup fed sourdough starter 1. Preheat oven to 425°. 2. Mix together flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder with a wisk or fork until well blended.  3. Trick time: Use a box grater! Grate t