• Around home - Blog - Kitchen

    T Tuesday: preserving the harvest edition

    Despite the lingering snow, late season canning and preserving is still happening around here.

    In addition to our garden, we purchased a farm share or CSA again this season. However, it was through a different farm than we had used in the past. Unfortunately the CSA we used wasn’t the best. Even though it was disappointing, I was able to do quite a bit of canning. One of the main reasons was lack of variety. The standard family cannot eat a dozen jalapeno peppers in a week. But a large amount is good for canning as well as jams and sauces.  So thankfully it wasn’t a complete waste of money.

    I’m also drying some herbs right in the kitchen. In the past I hung them in the storage room but that area is honestly a little chaotic right now. I just used some bread twist ties to attached to the hanging fruit basket…ta-da. Once the herbs are good and dry, I’ll remove them from the stems and store in jars.

    I thought I’d share this book I finally purchased from my Amazon wish list. It’s been on the list for a couple years. I’m thrilled with all the recipes and ideas its gives me for items I had never even thought about. 

    My mom had always canned quarts of whole tomatoes when I was a kid…so of course when I started gardening I did the same. Turns out my family doesn’t care for the recipes in which she used those canned tomatoes. So for years I’d mainly used our garden for fresh, eat it now veggies and hadn’t given much thought to preservation.  Over the past 5 or so years my thoughts and interest has changed on gardening. It’s not just a fresh veggie patch, its food and seasonings for the coming year. Back to those “old-timey” skills. 

    My school life continues to consume most of my energy. The weekends are spent catching up on household chores. Perhaps as winter settles in and the outdoor chores are at a minimum, I will regain some creative momentum.

    I keep making lists of things I want to try, ideas for projects, etc. I just need the time and energy to align.

    What are you doing today?
  • Around home - Blog - Crafts - Creativity - Kitchen - Outdoors

    T Tuesday: another two weeks edition

    It appears that this is how things may be for a while…slow to update…such is life these days. Time keeps ticking away and I’m finding less and less time to be creative. So many fall projects to tackle before its too late.

    I’m scrounging for canning lids as I keep getting more green beans. What do you think of my carrots? LOL  I had to pull them up because the squirrels were trying to do it for me.

    I also have a couple other canning projects I’d like to try but I either need more regular lids or more wide mouth jars…neither of which I can find anywhere.

    I did can some bloody Mary mix and somewhat appropriate sized containers.  It is a homemade, never be able to reproduce since I didn’t measure anything, type of mix. Hopefully its not the best ever. (Please excuse the poor photography and chaotic pantry.)

    School is going well. We all seem to be finding a rhythm…although I really should not have said that since I’m likely jinxing myself.

    One crafty thing that I actually completed during the past week was this paper garland. Our resource room is tiny…white cinder block walls with 6 doors but no windows…I can’t even make that up. It was originally a storage space of band instruments almost half a century ago.

    I really want to dress it up a bit without spending money since we certainly don’t have a budget. I’m hoping that between the 4 of us that current use the space throughout the day, we can make it a like happier. Brighter. A place the kids actually want to come for extra help without being distracted or over-stimulated.

    Last week, (I think…it’s a blur) we had some really interesting sunrise and sunsets. A high veil of smoke gave the sky a sort of post-apocalyptic look.

    I’ve been suffering with a sore hip or sciatica this past week. Its so frustrating! Hurts to do anything for any length of time. Whether its sitting, standing, walking or laying…it all hurts. I’m sure it came about from my abrupt change in activity when I returned to work. I’d been used to walking 2-3 miles most mornings then puttering around the house and garden. Being barefoot on soft surfaces. Nothing like life now. More sitting, hard floors, shoes, standing, leaning over. When I spell it all out like that, it makes complete sense but it doesn’t make the pain any less.

    I did get out for a walk Sunday morning. The trees are so beautiful. There was a slight crisp in the air. I love this time of year. Jeans and hoodies…my perfect outfit.

    I’ve made a few more masks as well. I decided when this is all over I’m going to cut apart all the masks I’ve made and make a COVID quilt.

    I have done a bit of art journaling as well….this is a current WIP. Of course this was what I should have been doing…but since I cleaned up my space it just had to be done.

    As many of you know my art space is in the laundry/utility room. My crafty chaos tends to overflow my actual space and I end up putting things on the washer and drier.

    But look…they are clean. Unfortunately there is a really lame reason for my sudden cleanup. The rubber gasket that keeps the water from leaking out the door of my front load washer ripped. Mr. G ordered a new gasket but the washing machine has to be taken half apart of replace the it. While waiting for that part Mr. G came across a video showing a potential hack to “rebuild the gasket with roofing sealant. We are giving it a go since…if it fails…we are right back where we started. I’ll update you next week as it takes a couple days of cure time.

    I’m so thankful that he is able to tackle these projects. In the meantime, I had to clean and make a trip to the laundromat.

    It’s certainly not perfect but trust me…much better. I tend to end up creating in a one foot square space. So dumb but I can’t seem to break myself of the habit.

    This is also madness. All of the scrap papers I had laying about. Ok truth be told…half of this was in the bin to start but seriously. I have a problem.

    What are you doing today?
  • Around home - Blog - Kitchen

    T Tuesday: September edition

    Here’s the tea ladies….

    I’m taking a break from T Stands for Tuesday for a while…or at minimum a break from posting weekly T Tuesday editions.

    This coming school year has me a bit up in arms with how it is all going to go. Perhaps once things settle into a routine…which I think is very unlikely…I will be back at it. Who knows…I might be kidding myself and I’ll be posting and visiting like crazy. It was more of a heads up to you…I’m not lost…just pausing.

    That being said…I’m not stopping creating or even stopping blogging. Just not committing to a weekly routine.

    My mornings have begun to start earlier again. My list is long. School prep is on my mind.

    I prepped this last evening to bake this morning…so yummy! Our weather has finally cooled down enough that I want to run the oven.

    Well that’s it for me today…onto my list.

    What are you doing today?