From the moment I first realized that our family was actually going to open a store called Harvey’s, I knew that I wanted to do a gingerbread display for the store window. Around mid-August I started brainstorming and planning. We considered many options for what the scene would be, but in the end we decided […]
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Book Spotlight: Soup Night Slapdashery Cookbook
Soup Night Slapdashery by Rebekah Merkle has become the cookbook I’ve been turning to for actually simple soup recipes. I tend toward not-simple in my normal cooking and usually find that books categorized as “simple” are either filled with ingredients that are expensive or just end up taking more time when multiplying a recipe for our family […]
Gingerbread House Recipe: Edible Glues
We use two different types of “glue” for our gingerbread houses. The first is simply sugar (white is cheaper, but brown works as well), simply melted until it’s liquid. As you can imagine, this is very hot and very messy, as evidenced by this video of 2024’s gingerbread assembly: It’s not the type of glue […]
Gingerbread House Recipe: Marshmallow Fondant
From siding to shingles to 3D shapes, this simple marshmallow fondant is easy to cut and mold. It’s also much cheaper than candy so it’s a good choice for covering large areas. Food coloring can be added to tint the fondant, but with the amount of powdered sugar that’s needed to roll it out, it […]
Gingerbread House Recipe: The Structure
A great recipe for sturdy structures that last all season long! Meets the “entirely edible” requirement but that doesn’t mean it tastes good. 😉 Our Recipe for Gingerbread House Structure 2 cups corn syrup or molasses (see below)1 1/2 cups light brown sugar1 1/4 or 230 grams cups shortening9 cups or 1080 grams all-purpose flour […]
I Found the Reason My Sourdough Starter was Sluggish
Ever since we moved this spring, my sourdough starter has been sluggish, a fact I bemoaned to many of our customers when we opened in September. It was still working at a basic level, but I wasn’t getting much rise at all – definitely not doubling in volume when building up the starter or doing […]
Medicinal Herb Spotlight: Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is a common wildflower that you probably would recognize, even if you don’t think you know it! The variety that grows wild (and that we carry the seeds for in store) flowers white. However, there are several different colors of yarrow such as pink and yellow. I have seen pink yarrow wild […]
Medicinal Herb Spotlight: Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium)
Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) is a herbaceous perennial that grows in zones 5-8, or as annual in colder climates. It’s a look-a-like to German Chamomile and is also a self seeding plant, like Chamomile. It will spread if you aren’t careful! The plant forms in a clump about 3 to 4 feet tall, and thrives in […]
Why I Wear an $80 Apron
Nineteen years ago when our first child was born and I became a full-time homemaker, I encountered a problem that, at the time, was plaguing other moms in the same phase of life: I started wearing holes in my shirts right at my belly button! What caused this issue? It was not just plaguing me: […]
New Organic Garden Seeds In Stock at Harvey’s
The other day, a tourist-customer from Colorado bought some packs of kale seeds because their local garden centers were already sold out. It’s not too early to start planning your 2025 garden, especially if there are specific varieties you want to be sure you get. We just got another shipment of our organic seeds from […]