Happy Thanksgiving

We only have one guest coming for dinner.  It is going to be very low key around these parts, and for that I am thankful. There will still be homemade pumpkin pie though.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Reusable food wrappers and pouches

I've been wanting to make sandwich wraps and re-usable snack baggies for our family for awhile. But I was totally intimidated when I started to read about them on-line and all the cautions about food safe plastic. Over the long new year's weekend I threw caution to the wind and with the help of this tutorial and this one I came up with the set you see above. So far I have three sandwich wraps and six snack bags. Each wrap has a coordinating baggie, and then there are three random ones to take with us when we run errands or go to the park, etc.

The lining for these is made from the un-used remnants of an old Ikea shower curtain (I believe it's made from PEVA and from what I've read this is a good alternative to vinyl or PVC). I did try to use the liners from cereal boxes - a suggestion I read about somewhere - but they ripped terribly and didn't hold up; not the way I need them to for me to use them on a consistent basis. Which is sort of the point, right? I mean why make a reusable sandwich wrapper that isn't durable enough to be re-used?

These were all made from my fabric stash - I didn't need to purchase anything to make them, with the exception of velcro. So, Rule Number One for the 2010 Stash Challenge - small accessory purchases like velcro, thread, buttons (me) or screws, sandpaper and drill bits (him) will be allowed, but must be discussed and approved first. We are also allowed to make purchases with any gifts we receive during the year.

And Rule Number Two quickly became apparent when after an afternoon in the sewing room I emerged with this set, and after an afternoon in the workshop he succeeded in cutting a few pieces of wood. Rule Number Two is that projects will be celebrated based on ingenuity, quality, creativity, and usefulness - not the quantity of projects we can make.

Black Welsh Sheep, Apple Pie & Salad Dressing

Two weeks ago our family made our annual apple picking trip. I always forget how quickly this goes - within 20 minutes of being among the trees we had picked over 100 lbs. of apples. Yikes. I've been busy making apple sauce, apple pie filling, apple crisps and apple bread. Next year I will remember that 60 lbs. (or two and a half bags) will be just fine for our family.

Luckily the orchard we go to has some other fun things to do, aside from the actual picking. There's a pond to visit, various paths to explore, and grape, raspberry and blackberry vines. They also have sheep! A beautiful herd of Black Welsh Mountain Sheep to be exact.

I purchased this skein directly from the owner of the orchard, who also raises the sheep. It was locally spun at the Blackberry Ridge Woolen Mill. The girls and I had been petting the sheep that this yarn came from just 10 minutes before - they thought this was pretty cool. It was also affirming to meet the woman that produced this yarn. She only sells her yarn at the orchard - if you are interested you can get in touch with her at Door Creek Orchard. She has a variety of undyed colors and yarn weights.

Yes, that's right - this yarn is undyed. This perfectly black color is straight from nature. As a knitter that is typically drawn to color and dyed yarns, using this black will be a first for me. I'm excited however. "Natural is the new black," I was saying all weekend. In this case, that is completely accurate.

I have slowly been working through our apples. This year I tried apple pie filling. I can't remember which blog I got this link from, but it was a great starter recipe. It gives complete directions, with photos. I also like the recipe in the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. I found my Clear Jel here.

Lastly, I've been obsessed of late with making salad dressing. Not only does it taste WAY better and fresher than store-bought, it gives my girls something to do; something to head off the 5-minutes-until-dinner-and-I-don't-know-what-to-do-while-I-wait whining session. I fill up a jar with the ingredients and give it to them to shake-shake-shake. I found a ton of great recipes in Sara Foster's Casual Cooking and Lorna Sass's Complete Vegetarian Kitchen. Do you all make your own dressing? What are your favorites?

Cherries, Strawberries, Raspberries and Blueberries (oh my!)

I've been busy turning these:















and these:

into these:

We were lucky enough to inherit a sour cherry tree when we bought our home 2 years ago. The yield is incredible, although the lack of pruning over the past 10 years has caused many of the berries to be out of reach. I've found that a 2x4 works well and I can get many of the ripe berries to fall to a tarp on the ground. It causes bruising on the fruit, but when it's turned into jam no one is the wiser, and it still tastes amazing. Last year I only froze them or dried them. I think I already like the jam option much better. You had better believe that we'll be planing another sour cherry tree in the future. The fruit is so delicious.

We also went strawberry picking earlier this week before the heat got unbearable. Between my mom and my older girls we picked about 25 lbs. of berries. Unbelievable! I only had a few jars on hand so most of the berries are frozen for now. They'll make great smoothies come the fall. The farm we went to also has raspberries for picking so I know I'll be back in a few weeks. And u-pick blueberries will be ripening soon too. I'm feeling pretty inspired to give blueberry/raspberry jam a whirl.

I'm new to picking and new to canning. In fact, this was the first time I'd ever gone strawberry picking and the first time I've ever made jam. There were two things that kept me from trying it before: 1) no equipment, and 2) the incredible amount of sugar I knew I'd need to make jam. My neighbors helped me out with the first by letting my borrow their big pot, jar lifter and funnel. And my sister-in-law clued me into this, no sugar pectin. Now I only add as much as I like, to taste. My parents also found a stash of extra jelly-sized canning jars their basement - left over from our wedding (they were our candle holders).

Between the fresh-baked artisan bread and sour cherry jam we're a pretty content family these days.

Baking Bread

The number of people in my life either making this bread, or talking about making this bread, has grown exponentially over the past 10 days. It was like every time I turned around someone else was singing the praises of this method, or thrusting some freshly baked goodness under my nose to try.

I actually got the book from the library a couple of months back but didn't try it at the time. This past weekend I got the recipe from my sister-in-law and there's no stopping me now. I love it, my kids love it, my husband loves it, my parents love it, my grandpa loves it. And it is so easy to make!! I have a friend that talked about making this freshly baked bread for her family and midwives while she was in early labor. That's how easy it is.

You can get started with the master recipe, generously printed here. [Admittedly, I don't use a baking stone as we don't have one, but a baking sheet seems to work out well too.]

My own copy of the bread book it on its way to me, along with a copy of Michael Pollan's new book, In Defense of Food. Looks like I'm gearing up for another summer of foodie reading. Any recommendations from you on what to add to my list?