Dana Marie's Country Living Blog

Gardening is one of my favorite things to do. There is nothing more satisfying to me than to plant seeds and watch them grow into pretty flowers and yummy vegetables. When I moved into this home, it was quite a job to make the gardens beautiful. They were overgrown with weeds and just yuk! I worked very hard to make my back yard into a special sanctuary, and now I love to sit out there and just relax. I hope you enjoy the pictures from this journey. ~ Dana Plant stand from a repurposed chair   Sunflower Zinnias Zinnnia Coneflower Galliardia Miss Ellie Veggie sign Watermelon Bell pepper Squash vine Pumpkins White pumpkin Zucchini, peppers, cucumbers   copyright 2025, Dana Meier, My Olde Country Home Dana Meier is a caterer, cookbook author, online content creator and purveyor of historic crafts in Washington state. Her first cookbook was published in 2023. My Olde Country Home cookbook series: Vol. 1 - Olde Fashioned Christmas Desserts Vol. 2 - Vintage Cookie Recipes  av...

The feeling of autumn is in the air where I live in Washington State, which puts me in the mood for getting back into the kitchen. With the summers being as hot as they are, I don't cook or bake much. I stick mainly to salads and fruit. While I was lying in bed the other morning for whatever reason, I was thinking about fall recipes and what sounded good. This is what I came up with. It turned out so delicious! I decided to give it an autumn name, but this recipe would be good anytime. If you are not ready to think of fall yet, be sure to save this recipe for when you are ready. I also highly recommend that you use the biscuit recipe by itself when you want to serve biscuits with your dinner. They taste great with a dollop of butter on top. Enjoy! ~Dana Autumn Biscuits with Turkey Filling Biscuit Ingredients 4 to 5 large mushrooms, chopped fine 8 bacon strips, chopped 1/4 cup finely chopped celery 1/4 cup finely chopped carrots 1/4 cup chopped onion 2 cups bread flour 2 teaspoons b...

I have a story about Babybel ®  cheese. Lately I have been buying the big packs to put in the lunches that I meal-prep for. I got to thinking about the wax. Could you melt the wax into a candle? I often bring Babybel ®  cheese to work with me and share it with the little girl I take care of. One day I said, "You know what? We should try making candles from this wax." Well it turned into a fun project, saving all the wax for a couple of weeks. Her parents even went out and bought some so we could get as many as possible. It helps to have some extras in case you need them for your jar size. On the big day, we melted the wax down in a double boiler and added cinnamon scent to it. Then we set a wick in the jar and poured the melted wax in. We let it set up for about an hour and voila! A pretty red candle that smells good. I thought I'd better look up what was in the wax of Babybel ®  cheese before we burned it. And what do you know - it's actually a thing scientists have ...

Cooking up your own fruit syrups makes the kitchen smell soooo good! You can use them as concentrates for fruit drinks, on top of vanilla ice cream, or on your pancakes. They last up to a couple of weeks in the refrigerator and about 3 to 4 months in the freezer. To use these syrups for making drinks, mix about 1/4 cup of the syrup with cold water to make a full glass. With ice it's delicious! All three flavors!  And if you're using yummy fruit, don't throw it away after you have cooked it down in the syrup. It makes a great topping for ice cream, and you can also use it as a filling between cake layers. The swing-top bail bottles I like to use can be bought online or at dollar stores, and they are perfect. I love them! For the cute labels, there are free printables on Pinterest®. I just use regular printer paper to print them out, and then I glue them on the bottles with a glue stick. It works great, because when you go to wash the bottle it comes right off after running i...