The paternal side of my family is rather large. My father was one of 8. My grandmother (‘Gran’) has 22 grandchildren. I have 4 siblings and 17 cousins. When get-togethers happen up around Philadelphia (where everyone aside from my dad lives), it’s a big, noisy, raucous affair.

Hi everyone! My “Small Measures with Ashley” post is up over on Design Sponge. This week I provided my recipe for Orange & Vanilla Marmalade. It’s some seriously good stuff and is a fabulous means of using up all of the heavenly winter citrus fruits in season right now. What you might not be able to see in the photo above are all the flecks of real vanilla bean peppered throughout the marmalade. Those tiny beans take this topping from “tasty” to “sublime” in an instant. I’d highly recommend incorporating it into your breakfast, brunch, snacks, or night-time nibbles this weekend.

If you’d like to win copies of my books, a few bloggers are giving away copies. Thanks to Deanna over at Crunchy Chicken, who’s sponsoring giveaways of both my “Keeping Chickens” and “Canning & Preserving” books, as well as to Tigress, who’s got a hot-off-the-press copy of “Home Dairy” to give away.

Last week I received an e-mail from Susan over at BlaBla Kids, saying she’d love to send Huxley a gift. I was unfamiliar with the brand, so I took a minute to check out their website. I’ve been contacted many times in the past by companies interested in sending me their products, and, typically, I thank them for their interest and politely turn them down. BlaBla was an exception, however, and one I’m willing to make for any small enterprise working towards ethical production of goods that resonates with me.

HUGE congratulations to the photographer of my “Homemade Living” book series, Lynne Harty. As you can see above, her expert eye landed her an ADDY, the advertising world equivalent of an Oscar, for her hand in my “Keeping Chickens” book.