If there was one standout series on my channel this year, it would be my homemaking videos. Those are my favorite to make and I know many of you enjoy watching them too. In today's video I'm cooking, cleaning, and musing on how we can make homemaking blissful... even the most dreaded tasks. 

I am featured alongside 6 other amazing women entrepreneurs in Victoria Magazine's annual Business of Bliss issue. The Business of Bliss in this sense is attributed to women making a living doing what they love. This certainly applies to me, but it got me thinking about homemaking. Homemaking is the ultimate career, after all. How can we make homemaking our business of bliss? Find out in today's video. 

The Secret

Reframe our minds

Retune our hearts

To enjoy 

Something like this.

To find beauty in

The everyday

That is

The business of bliss. 

- Jennifer L. Scott 

The emojams are free to download. I am offering one to each of my subscribers. Channel members for The Daily Connoisseur (in The Chic Society) will get four more emojams as a thank you for your support all year. You can download the Emojam app here. 

Welcome to another homemaking week in the life. We are meditating on the end of summer in today's video, which brings seasonal recipes, and freshly washed laundry.



The end of the summer is an unusual time of year. Most people are ready for fall at this point... I know I am. Yet, we are still in 100 degree + heat. That could be one of the reasons why we are dreaming of colder days ahead.

The worldwide lockdowns have also made this a strange summer... We were supposed to visit England again this August, but had to cancel due to Covid restrictions... I know everyone has some version of cancelled plans. At this point, it's really about focusing on the present and appreciating what is right in front of us.

Here is my poem featured in the video: The End of Summer... All rights reserved.

The End of Summer
The end of summer quietly arrives,
It holds a certain peace.
My heartstrings are ready for what comes next,
Their curiosity will not cease.

But though I look forward to autumn,
Its final moments I embrace.
The solstice of our reckoning,
What challenges the world did face.

These meditations on homemaking:
Blithe thoughts to awaken the numb.
I’ll fold and think of summer’s end,
And the autumn that is to come.
- Jennifer L. Scott

Here are the recipes in today's video:

Butterscotch Cookies (from an old Amish cookbook I have)

6 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cups butter
1 1/2 Tbs. baking soda
2 Tbs. baking powder
4 eggs, beaten
6 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla

Cream the butter and sugar with a mixer. Add the vanilla and eggs. Sift in the flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Mix until combined. Roll into a log and chill. Once chilled, slice into small disks (space them out a lot... I didn't and mine stuck together). Bake at 350 degrees for 15- 20 minutes. These cookies are chewy and delightful! Even though I messed them up in the video, they still tasted so good. Freeze half of this recipe... it freezes well. We have enjoyed these cookies so much this summer.



Zucchini and Tomato Gratin
I made this recipe up so I could use up some garden produce. Slice a zucchini and two large tomatoes. I used the beefsteak tomatoes we have been enjoying this summer. Also thinly slice one medium onion. Drizzle olive oil in a gratin dish and arrange the vegetables beautifully with the onion. Top with more olive oil, salt, pepper, and whatever seasonings you enjoy. Finally, top a mixture of breadcrumbs and melted button on top. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.


Featured in the video:

⚜️ Kitchen
Sifter
Kitchen-Aid
Copper gratin pan Mine is over a decade old, but I'm linking a similar one here.
French apron
Striped half-apron

⚜️ Cleaning & Home
Pink floral gloves
e-cloth microfiber cloths
Cellar Door Candles
Riverbend Home Turkish towels
Checked tablecloth

⚜️Style
Londontown nail polish (Cheerio) JenniferS for 25% off
Londontown nail polish (Changing of the Guards) JenniferS for 25% off
Mott & Bow white jeans https://bit.ly/2JCP5cT JLS10 for 10% off

I hope you enjoyed today's video.

News
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On Instagram
This week was a wonderful milestone for The Daily Connoisseur. We reached 30K subscribers on Instagram and 90K subscribers on YouTube. My sincere thanks to everyone who is subscribed to my channel and who follows me on social media, and takes part in the blog. You make this channel special and I would like to thank you.

View this post on Instagram

I would like to thank you here on Instagram for 30K followers. Why anyone would follow me on Instagram is a mystery to me as I am #instagramclueless but, nevertheless, I'd like to thank all of you who do. If you are new here and you don't know much about me, I'm an author. You can see all of my books at the bottom right of this picture. Writing is one of my favorite things to do in the world. I also love creating videos on YouTube. I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes by Henry David Thoreau: "To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts." I hope you have a beautiful day and thank you for joining our community of daily connoisseurs here on Instagram. #dailyconnoisseur #authorsofinstagram #lessonsfrommadamechic #connoisseurkids #mademoisellechic

A post shared by Jennifer L. Scott (@dailyconnoisseur) on Aug 15, 2020 at 2:18pm PDT

Comment of the Week
Thank you for your amazing reaction to my Little House on the Prairie Homemaking video. I have one on Farmer Boy in the works so look out for that soon.
Kristyn writes, "I read these over and over as a child, and then as an adult with my children. Farmer Boy and The Long Winter are my favorites. They are probably the most different, one is about feast and one about famine. I admire the two mothers' hard work and devotion, even though their lives were so different. When I was 9 my family was snowed in with no electricity for two weeks while my father was away working. I remember looking up at our dog as I walked the path my mom had dug to our burn barrel and our dog ran on top of the snow. My sister, Mom and I played Little House for that two weeks. I had to be good and patient like Mary, and my younger sister had to be spunky and brave like Laura. We melted snow for water (the well pump ran on electricity) and thanked God the propane tank was full for the gas stove. It's funny, we all have good memories of that winter. Any time we might lose the power during a storm or get a big snowfall I feel mildly excited and I think that's why. (In Michigan it must be a coping mechanism!) I'm looking forward to Farmer Boy, thank you, Jennifer!"


Krysten, I loved your observation on how Farmer Boy represents feast and The Long Winter represents famine. We will explore Farmer Boy in the next installment. Thank you for watching!

I hope you enjoyed today's video. Let us know how the end of the season is going for you. What are your observations? Your comment could be chosen as comment of the week on The Daily Connoisseur. See you soon!


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