House Projects Vs. Home Projects, and a Dinner Recipe, Too

Remember the days of posts about the Fixer Upper house, with all kinds of before and after photos?

Yeah, I kinda miss those Before and After photos, too.

It's not that the cottage doesn't need any updating. It does. A LOT of updating. But we've been going about them slowly, sometimes too slowly for my liking. A weeding project here. A pruning project there. We are hoping to get the front door painted this weekend. That's a start, right?

The truth is, we are just too busy. We are re-connecting with family and friends, enjoying the many festivals, orchards, restaurants and microwbreweries that the new town has to offer. 

And when I have time, I fluff a little. I organize a closet, or straighten out the craft room. I hang a painting, or swap out some pillows. Layer upon layer, just making the house our home.

This week, I finally got around to hanging these lights from the pergola on our deck. It was a little thing I kept meaning to do this summer. Now, we have a little twinkle to illuminate our evenings. Sure, the deck needs a lot of attention, with re-staining and new furniture. But for now, I can dim the lights, sit out on a rocker with a cup of decaff, and enjoy the night sounds from the woods.

With our Illinois move, we seemed to spend all of our time on house projects.

But with our move back to Michigan, we are turning our hearts home.

And here's a recipe that sings with the flavors of autumn in Michigan. It's a sausage and cabbage dish made with orchard apples and local apple cider. So good!

I started here, with a package of apple chicken sausage from Aldi. This is probably a seasonal item, so enjoy it while you can. After cooking sliced sausage in a Dutch oven, I removed it, then added the chopped cabbage, apples, and other ingredients until they were cooked down and tender. Finally, I added the sausage back in to the mix.

Luke, my oldest son, gave this recipe two thumbs up!

Sausage and Cabbage with Apples

1 pkg. apple chicken sausage
 1 small head of cabbage, chopped
3 -4 T. butter
1/2 onion, chopped
3 apples, cored and chopped
1/2-1 cup apple cider
2 T. apple cider vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
nutmeg to taste

Brown sausages in 1-2 tablespoons butter. Add chopped onions, and brown until tender. Remove from pot and set aside. Add remaining butter, cabbage, and apples, tossing and cooking for about five minutes until cabbage begins to soften. Then add cider, vinegar, and seasonings. Allow to cook for about ten to fifteen minutes, stirring frequently. When cabbage is tender and much of liquid has boiled down, add sausages back to pot, combining with cabbage mix. Serve in shallow bowls with a side of hearty bread and enjoy!

 
It's a rainy, blustery day here in Michigan. Time to put on a pot of soup and curl up with a good book.

Blessings, cafe friends!