The Aftermath

I've been struggling to recoup from the holidays. There's so much to do and so little time. In trying to restore order after the barrage of gifts and food, I found myself getting sidetracked by working on projects that have been shoved to the wayside the last month or so.  While I managed to get the Christmas tree down, the rest of the decorations are still up (except for the fresh pine that was removed the day after). 


My wonderful hubby bought me one of those gadgets to record your old VHS videos onto DVD.  I spent several afternoons and evenings playing with it.  And though I have a long way to go, I got a great start.  It is a project that takes you down memory lane.  Some days I wasn't sure whether to laugh, or to cry.  Here's just a snippet from the good ol' days of having little ones in the house.  This is my little girl (who is now 24 and a mommy of 1) getting down and dirty in the kitchen.  We began the training young around here!

Because I had to set up this new recording device in our office/craft room, I had to do some cleaning and reorganizing first.  And my work/craft table was first on the hit list.


And then I got this brilliant idea as I was sorting through my photos for scrapping, crafts, fabric and sewing projects (that I may never get to). Immediately I had to  stop cleaning and begin sewing.  

click to enlarge

  I'm a trash to treasure girl.  So I was thrilled with the results of my efforts. After several hours, I had 4 of these clever(recycled)grocery bags made from chicken feed bags.  I have one more to make.  Its a beautiful bird food bag with vibrant colors and of course, birds!  Each year at Christmas, I make up a little homemade gift for the sisters-in-law.  There's a good chance they'll get a recycled bag filled with some kind of homemade goodie;)



AND SPEAKING OF THE SISTERS-IN-LAW...Pulling off a nice gift of the homemade variety often takes some planning ahead.  This year I worked all summer to pull off this year's gift.  It turned out to be a really nice gift.  Check it out.

I cut and dried herbs all summer long.  Put the dried herbs in little packages purchased at Michaels. Made vanilla (several months before) using the tips on making homemade vanilla at Tammy's Recipes.  It's wonderful BTW.  Included an herb guide on what each herb is used for.  And wrapped it all up nicely with a Christmas towel purchased at a discount store.  Each SIL also received a tampon angel for a little humor!  

Thats all for now.  Still a lot of projects and organizing to do. Until we meet again............

Dressing up a Salad

As promised, a post about vinegar and vinaigrettes. I have experimented with many vinegars, mostly because we enjoy homemade salad dressings as opposed to the store bought variety. I have many recipes for a wide range of dressings. But I prefer to just "wing it" using a few vinaigrette basics.

The basic ratio of vinegar to oil is 3-1. Three parts of your favorite oil to 1 part of thevinegar of your choice. Sometimes I even cut back on the vinegar(acid)and add a squeeze of orange, lemon or lime. Most any sweetner (ie... maple syrup, sugar, honey, artificial sweetners .....) can be used to sweeten the mix if you desire. I prefer my dressings somewhat sweet. My sweetner of choice is honey. Not only does honey serve as a sweetener, but it provides a thicker consistency for the dressing. And for a little kick, dijon mustard or a shot of tobasco works great. Or how about a dash of this and that from the spice rack. The sky is the limit on the number of concoctions you can put together. No measuring required. Just use the mix and taste method. (My favorite way to cook!)

Vinegar

I love to experiment with vinegar. For herbal vinegars with fresh cut herbs from the garden:

*Sterilize your bottles or jars by immersing them in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Let cool.

*Wash herbs thoroughly.

*Put four herb sprigs in each bottle and fill with 3 cups vinegar of your choice.

*Seal bottles with lids or corks.

*Store in a cool, dark place for three weeks to allow flavor to ripen.

I have also experimented with raspberry vinegar. We have a ton of wild raspberries here each summer. Raspberry vinegrette goes well with a salad sprinkled with a few berries of some kind. You get that mix of sweet and sour.

Raspberry Vinegar

6 cups Raspberries 1 quart Distilled White Vinegar (Heinz Natural If Available) 1/2 cup raw cane or date Sugar

Directions:
Place the berries in a large container. Bring the sugar and vinegar to a boil and pour over the berries. Stir and cover. Cool and refrigerate for 30 days. To process, strain the liquid through a piece of cheesecloth into a large pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and pour into hot sterilized jars, cover and seal.

NOTE: This vinegar needs to sit for 30 days to attain its full body and flavor. Serve with salads, as a marinade for tofu, or for something unusual sprinkle over French fried sweet potatoes. Try using the vinegar in salad dressings.

Have fun Experimenting!

Tammy