recipe from hip girl's guide to homemaking
photo: kate payne

This is the final call for our free book giveaway! One of the the great things about Kate Payne’s Hip Girl’s Guide to Homemaking is how it makes you realize that processes or projects that seem complicated, are really easy enough to do in your own home. Curing bacon in the perfect example. Kate Breaks it down into five easy steps, and the best part is that you get to control the quality of pork that you use. (Also is there anything more satisfying than the smell of home-cured bacon sizzling in your kitchen?)

So its your last chance! To win a copy the Hip Girl’s Guide, just leave a comment telling us what project around the house or in your garden you’re most looking forward to tackling this spring/summer. We’ve extended the deadline and will stop accepting submissions at midnight on May 23rd. We’ll randomly select a winner shortly thereafter. Thanks to everyone who already commented for waiting patiently!

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21 replies on “book giveaway last call: ‘hip girl’s guide to homemaking (dig this homecured bacon)

  1. I am most looking forward to canning enough food for winter. This is the largest my garden has been and the first time canning this much food.

  2. I’m looking forward to canning something I’ve never made before. Tomato confit?
    Tuna in olive oil? Don’t know, but definitely need inspiration!

  3. I’m looking forward to getting serious about making my own whole foods this summer. I’ve found a good rhythm for making yogurt, bread and granola. Next I’d like to get into fermenting foods and canning. We’ll have a lot of garden produce and I’m challenging myself to put more up for the fall and winter.

  4. I am looking forward to revamping our son’s playroom to also include a sewing space for me. I’ve had a sewing machine for years, but it has been regulated to our basement so far. Bringing it up to the cheeriest room in our house seems like a great way to turn my sewing interest into a habit and skill.

  5. I’ve just made some quark (fresh cheese) and am looking forward to coming up with just the right mix of eggplant and peppers for my ajvar. I want to keep bees and get some chickens. Oh, and plant an orchard. 🙂

  6. I am super excited to try Cherry Bounce this summer…. I want an entire pantry stocked with homemade, fruit infused alcohol just in case disaster strikes!

  7. We (my husband and I) just bought our FIRST HOUSE! and I am so excited to DIY the craziness outta this place! Deep into painting the walls fun colors right now, thinking about chalkboard paint in the kitchen… also the yard is aching for some raised beds, just need to learn how to do it! then we can can and preserve and make all kinds of wonderfulness happen. I am going to get this book, win it …or buy it. 🙂

  8. I am most looking forward to cleaning out and cleaning up my sons’ bedroom — they are eleven and thirteen and in dire need of a bedroom rejuvenation — out with old, broken crap and in with a bit of serenity, I think. Paint, fix, organize, etc. Oy. Wish me luck!

  9. As recent empty-nesters, we’ll move next month – to the first home we expect to live in for more than 10 years. Looking forward to setting up with my 2 young adult daughters’ help – what a treat to have them home with me at this point in time, and to share the process together. Looking forward to re-purposing what we have, and hunting for bargain treasures to make the house a home.

    It isn’t about the house. It’s about the gift of time with my 2 girls, as young women.

  10. I’m looking forward to fig season. I’ll be freezing, canning and and maybe whipping up a fig body scrub. Last summer’s fig jam was entirely consumed by Labor Day.

  11. This summer, I WILL preserve all extra bounty from my veggie garden. There`s more than I can eat and instead of wasting it, I am planning many batches of preserving in jars to enjoy all year round!

  12. I have such a long list of hopefuls in this category, but my favorite is this: My grandfather invented a pickle grabber in the 50s that never made it to market. I have one of 3 prototypes. My hope is to launch a local line of garden made pickles from my grandmother’s pickle recipes and manufacture the pickle grabber to go with it. Wish me luck!

  13. We live in an an ancient Adobe, actually two, right next to each other – home and studio + guest space.
    We’ve been here more than 20 years, and it’s full of loving patina. Too much loving patina. We have stacks of books, collections of art, objects, and cool tools, everywhere. And then there are five horses, one dog, lots of visitors, a greenhouse, a barn, a wood shop, a studio, gardens, and a community of friends, all in need of continual nurturing. I am handicapped, and it is a challenge for my husband and me to just keep up with what has to be cared for, ever day. We triage what is urgent, and there is always something that needs attention, here.
    I am, of course, a maximalist, who believes that beauty is crucial to life, and I want to see everything. I’m a painter, my home is an evolving composition of hope and visual inspiration, for me.
    We have so much stuff, projects and supplies, correspondence and things that beg for action, which I cannot hide away. This summer, I want to tackle one area and one basket, at a time, sorting the contents, then using, putting away, throwing out, or giving away what others can use. I don’t need more space, just fewer things, and the clarity that an editing down of our possessions will bring.

  14. I’m looking most forward to finishing my kitchen remodel and making a bench seat along with a few chairs for the dining table recently completed. I also just read an article about home-made bacon in a recent issue of Fine Cooking and will getting to that PRONTO! Thanks for the inspired post!
    Ben

  15. I’m looking forward to my flower box holders on my balcony so I can add even more plants to my urban garden.

  16. I’m looking forward to tiling our kitchen counter & refinishing our dining set… big jobs! & oh, curing bacon will now be working its way in for sure… Thanks!

  17. I love reading about all the projects your readers are involved with. Inspiring. And I also want to SEE them all — the befores, durings and afters. The ugly and the beautiful.

    In the meantime, I have my own daunting task. I have designed and am now constructing two modest lake cabins — one for me and one for my sister (and our families). My goal is to furnish the spaces with primarily “found” stuff — furniture, fixtures and objects from flea markets, tag sales and antique/junk stores as well as hand-me-downs from nearby friends and family. I’m hoping to repurpose, recycle, reuse, rethink! And IMPROVISE of course.

  18. I’m at that stage in life when all six kids have college degrees and are married, and have seven grandchildren. Except for our living/dining room, almost every room in our house needs work–rec room (soon to be called media room) and husband’s office; four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a den. Kitchen needs some new appliances, a sink and cabinet redo. Bedrooms need bedding and new room arrangements. Massive editing has to be done in our home and in a large storage area where we have items handed down from three family members. It is my challenge to plan and design this project as though I’m a design student and this as an assignment. Thirty years ago when I was a young parent I took a correspondence class from the U of Minnesota. The assignment was a lake cabin. Well, they lost my materials. I’m going to give it another try, consulting professionals when needed. Calling all organizational advice.

  19. Pamela, PLEASE photograph the process of creating your twin lake cabins, from start to finish. Knowing your eye and sensibility, they will be a revelation. And yeah, we sure wish we could see befores-and-afters of all the many projects our readers are planning. What a trove of ideas that would make!

  20. I’m looking forward to throwing away things

  21. I want my craft room done!

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