Quick & Simple Christmas Decoration December 15, 2009

I wanted something festive to add to the baskets I’m putting together for gifts this year. I had gone to the dollar store and got some pretty woven baskets.  I then filled the baskets with the food items I’ve been making throughout the year. I put in some pear conserve, some apple pear butter a small jar of pear cordial, (It was a good pear year:) and some dried cinnamon apples. I added a couple of candles I made last month. Then I put in a few varieties of tea bags from my tea cabinet.

I had picked up a few pine cones earlier in the year. I wanted to use them in the basket but wanted to make them prettier.  I have some glitter that is made for faces, so thought I’d try using that. I squirted some on the cones, then spread it around with a paint brush. After letting it dry for an hour or so, I then put a drop of elmers glue on the end. I would have used super glue, but didn’t have any. I had some raffia, so I cut it and tied it in a knot at the end, then put it in the glue. This made a loop to hang the pine cone. I left them to dry on newspaper.  When they were dry, the project was complete.

I didn’t want to leave the house or spend any money so I used what I had around the house. There are many things that can be picked up in your yard or on a walk that would be good to decorate. Make it pretty and put a loop on it. Wala. Now you have a unique decoration for free or nearly so.

This whole project only took about 10 minutes of actual time to complete.

Here are some photos showing the process.

The materials.

Adding glitter

Some red glitter

Applying glue

Adding the rafia loop.

The finished basket

Potpourri November 30, 2009

The year has fled by yet again and now it’s time to think about making some gifts for the holidays.

This year I’ve decided to give some potpourri. Potpourri is usually a mixture of dried, naturally fragrant plant material, used to provide a agreeable natural scent in houses. You can place it in bowls or small cloth bags, or as I did, in glass jars.

I prepared it today, but really I started it last summer when I picked and dried roses and lavender.
I chose to use the glass jar because it shows the pretty dried flowers. The jar held a candle until recently, so it was also a good way to recycle the jar. When the candle was done, I took out the leftover wax and put aside for remaking into candles. I then cleaned the jar thoroughly.

This is a before and after photo of the candle jars.

I mixed rose petals, a dried orange peel and some lavender in the jar. I then added some vetier root powder as a fixative to keep the scent strong. Orris root can also be used.  I added some rose and some lavender essential oils to the mix and gently stirred with a wooden spoon. I put on the lid and tied on a pretty ribbon. Wala!  A finished gift ready to go. The cost was minimal and it only took a few minutes. Also it made my home smell nice while I was making it.

I have all the ingredients assembled.

Time to mix in the scents and the fixative.

The finished product!

I save pretty jars and interesting containers throughout the year. I also collect flower petals, pine cones and whatever I come across. Then when it’s gift time I have lots of material on hand to work with.

There are many things that can be added. Allspice, cloves, cinnamon bark, mint, any kind of sweet smelling flowers are all great additions.   A winter themed  one could have small pine cones mixed in and scented with wintergreen, for instance. You are only limited by your imagination

I really enjoy making small gifts for friends on many levels. I enjoy planning what I am going to make each year.  I put on some good music and spend an peaceful quiet afternoon having fun creating presents for my loved ones. I also like not driving to a mall and fighting the crowds to purchase mass produced objects that are most likely made in China.  And of course, I like to recycle and reuse whatever I can, remaking what would be trash into something useful and attractive.

I hope that if you try it you will enjoy creating gifts as much as I do.

Home Made Vegan Pudding July 7, 2009

A friend and I were talking recently and the subject of pudding came up. She mentioned how much she liked it, and so I asked her if she ever made it. “It’s too hard, isn’t it?” she asked me. So, I invited her over and we had a pudding making party. She was impressed with how easy-and how good it was.

Here’s the recipe:

2 cups vanilla soy milk

1/2 cup raw sugar

2 Tablespoons corn starch

1 teaspoon vanilla.

Mix the cornstarch with a small amount of the milk in a small jar with a lid. Shake vigorously until cornstarch is dissolved.   This is a very important step. If you do not, the corn starch will clump up, ruining all of your eating enjoyment.  Add sugar and stir. Pour into pan and heat on medium high stirring  often. Cook until it starts to simmer. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
Here are  some photos of the steps involved. It really is amazingly simple.

The Ingredients.

Mixing the cornstarch with a bit of milk.

Pouring in the mixed cornstarch

Stirring the pudding on the stove as it thickens.

The finished pudding. Yum.

My friend thought of making green tea pudding, so I tried that. I mixed half of the milk with half cold green tea. That was very yummy, too.
For adults, I like to pour about a tablespoon of Kahlua or other flavored liquor on top of the pudding. It runs down into the pudding as you eat, flavoring it all through. It makes a sophisticated desert for a dinner party.

Let me know if you have any questions about the recipe, or what you think if you do try it.

Ripe Cherries June 15, 2009

It’s Cherry Day!

This morning I decided it was time for Cherry Day; an annual event around here.  The vacant lot behind my house has some old and productive Queen Ann’s cherry trees  planted on the edge of my place. They hang over my yard.  So I consider the cherries in my yard mine.  I like cherries, and I like to put up the food that grows on and around my place.

My son and I picked about 3 1/4 pounds of  the small tasty cherries.  We would have had  more, except I ate a lot of them.  I had to keep my strength up. It took us about an hour. Picking cherries on a warm and sunny June  summer Sunday morning is  pretty great.

I’m not, however the only one around that likes cherries. So do the squirrels and the birds, particularly the ravens. They both chew me out when I go into the back yard for any reason during cherry season, even for completely innocent errands like hanging out the laundry. I’m sure I can understand both the squirrels and the ravens. They both tell me the same thing. “Stay away Human! Those are for me!”

These trees are old and probably 30 ft tall. Most of the cherries grow towards the top, tantalizingly out of reach-at least of me, being without feathers or claws. So, I gather what I can from the ground with my ladder. The tops of the trees were filled with a squirrel family feasting and above them was a large raven eating his fill. There is enough for all.

Making jam, especially from free fruit around your place is one of the ways to live easier on the planet. No trucking involved! I find the jars at garage sales, and reuse them over and over.

I was recently given a cherry pitter which I now consider one of the top inventions of all times. Okay maybe not that great, but it saves hours of tedious work, so I love it. If you are going to use fresh cherries, it’s worth finding one.

Once I pitted them, I had the jam made in less than an hour. I just follow the directions on the pectin box.

I got 2 and 1/2 pints of cherry jam for about 2 hours work. That jam will be a special treat next winter, and in the meantime I’ll admire the jars on my pantry shelf.

Here are some photos:

The full Cherry tree.

The fruits of our labor.

A much smaller bowl after pitting them.

The finished jam.

The Planting of the Greenhouse May 29, 2009

Finally, it’s time to plant. I had already added some organic compost and worm castings to the soil. I cheated this year and bought starts-but I won’t have to next year!  I have 3 varieties of  tomatoes with 10 in all, 2 bell peppers (1 is setting flowers already!) and a acorn squash. One end is under the willow tree and is shaded all summer, so I planted some mesclun and arugula that I did start from seed. Soon I’ll be eating from it!!
A friend told me her about her organic pest control. She uses a mix of ammonia and lemon scented dish soap. I’m sure bugs will find my delicious baby veggies soon, so I think I will try that. Anyone ever try that, or have other good tried and true methods?

My greenhouse is up! May 22, 2009

May 13, 2009

It’s almost complete. I should be able to start planting in it this weekend.

May 11, 2009

May 11, 2009

Candle Making March 9, 2009

I burn a lot of candles during the winter months. They help me on those dark gloomy days when the sun seems to set almost as soon as it rises. I keep one or two in each room. They bring light and  joy into my life, and  help me make it till spring.

They do get expensive though. I finally followed up on an idea I had years ago.  I had burned a large scented candle, and when it was burned out, there was a lot of was left. There was more wax left than had burned. I put it in a bag, and added more wax from burned out candles till the bag was full. I had been saving the little jars some candles come in, and had cleaned them out.

All I needed was some wicks. I had bought some and also some soy wax last month, so I was all set. First I turned the oven on to 200 degrees, and set the empty glass jars on a cookie tray in the oven. This was to warm up the jars, so they don’t shatter when I pour in the hot wax. I cleaned out a tin can and bent a pour sprout into it with my hands. I then heated a couple of inches of water in a pan, filled the tin can with the chucks of leftover wax and set the can in the boiling water. When the wax melted I removed the heated jars from the oven, set a wick in the middle and very carefully poured the hot wax in. I set them back in the oven for about a half an hour, and wha-laa- I have candles. They cost me .10 cents each for the wicks.

I then made some soy candles in the same manner. While they look very pretty, disappointingly they do not burn at all well.

Does anyone know a way to make soy candles that will burn well?

In the meantime, I will keep collecting the candle scraps and making  more of my ten cent canldes.