Category : Kitchen

90 posts

I successfully made soap!! 
I’ve been nervous to try it on my own but figured with the month of cure time for this cold process soap that I better get over it and do it.
This is a coconut oil and olive oil soap with no added fragrance or color. Figured I better start with the basics and work my way up. 

I have to tell you that I was super worried yesterday.
I never got a good “trace” before pouring it into the mold. 
So maybe I shouldn’t say that it’s a success yet….
I’ll let you know in a month.

 

I’ve been working on loom knitting again. I have an order for 10 dishcloths and am expecting I’ll be getting a few more orders real soon. I decided to use some of my scraps of yarn to give some visual interest to these cloths.  Waste not, want not.

As long as I was thinking scrappy…

 I put together the first in a series of journals. The cover is a print of one of my kaleidoscopes. I believe this one started as a rose.

I love the look of all the different papers. It’s up to the recipient to decide how to use them.

 

 

On Saturday, a few families on the block got together to help harvest the apples from our neighbor’s trees. 
It’s a big job but the fruits of our labor really pay off.
This year 63 grocery bags of apples were picked.
The apples were all big and beautiful with very few blemishes or worms.
Amazing!

We took home about 6 bags worth. 

I set up shop in the garage so I could make a mess and not worry about it. 
Concrete washes quite nicely. 
 After countless hours of cranking the peeler, I ended up with 23 gallon size freezer bags of peeled and sliced apples ready for the next stage of processing.

So far I’ve dehydrated 10 trays of apples, 4 pans of apple crisp-ready to be thawed then baked and cooked up about 2.5 gallons of applesauce. 
And I still have a freezer full of bagged apples. 
I am going to have to can the rest of the applesauce I make since my freezer can’t hold any more.

 

The boys were gone all day Sunday so Little J and I made plans to do lots of fun “girl stuff” that we like.
We shopped a bit, visited my mom, went out to eat then came home to get to some crafting.

We planned to make some salt dough and “better than salt dough” ornaments, tags, etc.  Little J loves to both cook and paint so I figured “two birds” right?!?

As you can see we had a bit of an issue with the “better than salt dough” recipe.

I saw the recipe on Pinterest under the most beautifully white and perfect ornaments. Yeah…what the recipe gave me was a goopy mess. I tried to salvage it by using metal cookie cutters as forms while they dried at 175°F in the oven.

Lesson learned… people aren’t always careful about what they post.

We did go on to make some salt dough ornaments that actually did turn out.
As you can see they aren’t the pristine white I was going for but then again I use unbleached flour so what can I expect!

 

We ended up with a lot more jalapenos than last year. 
They must like it hot and dry. 
Anyway, I’m a big fan of jalapeno jelly on brie with crackers. 
Oh YUM! 
So I figured…might as well give it a try.
Can’t wait to sample it! 

 

Not necessarily in that order.
Or maybe I should have called this my
late summer catch-up post.
Regardless of title…
I found a few fun garage sale deals this summer. Mostly storage items that had seen better days…such as a set of two copper canisters.
Only one pictured.
Not sure why,  other than laziness on my part.
I soaked all the black paint off using my favorite product Sol-u-mel and a scrubby pad.
After carefully taping the rims of the copper tin where the lid fits down over, I gave them new life.
The color is “celery”. Not my first choice but what can a girl do when free is the price.
Thank you County Reuse Center.
The black I had on hand…although now I am out. Good colors like that don’t generally end up at the recycle center.
Aside from painting the tins and a little bit of the lawn…oops…over-spray,
I’ve been sewing a lot!!
We’ve had a hot summer here in MN. Ways to stay cool are in high demand.
If you may recall back at the 4th of July, I made a bunch of neck cooling wraps for the days festivities.
I carry a zipper bag of them with me all the time now because you wouldn’t believe how often it has come up in conversation.
People asking if I know where to get them.  Well yes, in fact, I do!  *grin*
In addition, I’ve been gardening.
My green beans have been a disappointment this year, especially if compared to last years bumper crop.
My tomatoes are really starting to ripen and are oh so yummy.
Labor Day is quickly approaching…the kids head off to school the next day.
It’s bittersweet for me.
I like the extra freedom I am allowed but I honestly miss them not being around.
I won’t miss the bickering or tattling. Geesh, when will that end?!?!
The homework, the early mornings and activities add a different layer that always takes a bit of adjustment as well. I’ve started my list of  “projects” to tackle once my time is mostly my own again.
Until then…I’ll be around haphazardly….
sometimes posting…sometimes silent.
No worries…I haven’t gotten lost.
Just soaking up the remainder of summer with the family.

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