Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween Everyone!  

When you live out in the country, away from people, and you don't have kids of your own, October 31st is just another day.  As my husband said, any kids that try to trick-or-treat at our place will probably be eaten before they reach the door.

No tricks here, but I did bake myself a little treat this afternoon.  So much for giving up white flour and refined sugar. On a positive note, at least I know everything that went into these cookies and it's just the basics, unlike some of the baked goods you see at the store with ingredient lists that seem to go on forever. 

I halved this recipe from Betty Crocker and substituted carob chips for the chocolate chips. I am allergic to caffeine and can't have chocolate. (More on that in a future post.) 

Carob (or chocolate) chip cookies.  Yum!!

Gray days

I can't really complain about all the rain we're getting lately.  We sorely need it after a dry, hot summer. I am hoping to get at least one clear day with blue skies so I can get some good fall foliage photos. There's a chance of rain (or snow!) every day for the next 10 days, so I'm not holding my breath.  

Planted Garlic

I decided to give garlic a try this fall.  I won't know until next spring if I'm doing it correctly, but I'm glad I got it planted.  October 29th is pretty late for my area, but it was 50 degrees today and the ground is still workable.  As usual, I ordered my seed well in advance of the time it needed to be planted (the first two weeks of October, in my area), but procrastinated on getting it in the ground.  Better late than never!  

According to what I've read online (you can trust everything you read online, right?), hardneck varieties do better in northern climates.  I decided to experiment with one variety of hardneck and one variety of softneck. 

I bought my seed from an organic farm about 100 miles west of me.  I'm hoping that the garlic will grow well in my climate and I also like supporting farmers in my state. 

• Kilarny Red (Rocambole)  1/2 pound ordered; ended up with 39 cloves to plant (3 of which were very small and I didn't plant)
• Inchelium Red (Artichoke)  1/4 pound ordered;  ended up with 13 cloves to plant (all of good size)

I planted them about 3 inches deep, 6 inches apart in raised beds.  I did not water since it has rained almost every day for about two weeks.  I then covered the beds with some straw, but this is only to keep weeds down.  I doubt that step was even necessary since it is almost November, but better safe than sorry!   

The softneck variety only took half of a 4x8 garden bed. 

Now all I have to do is wait, wait, wait...  Hopefully we'll be enjoying homegrown garlic next summer!

How to make butter

Making butter is something I've wanted to try for some time, but haven't done... until today!  It's so easy, I wish I'd tried it sooner.

There are multiple ways to make butter:

• with a food processor (this is the method I used today)
• with a blender
• with a mixer
• with a butter churn
• by hand in a jar

I was tempted to try the jar method (put the cream in a jar and shake!), but since this was my first time, I wanted to ensure a good result and therefore chose the food processor method. 

All you need is cream. Let it sit out on the kitchen counter until it is at room temperature.  Mine was out about 3 hours, but the house was pretty chilly today.  It would probably need less time in the summer or if I had a fire in the wood burning stove. 

Pour the cream into the food processor (or blender, mixer, etc.). I started out using my plastic blade, but I found that it was too short and was merely pushing the cream to the edges. Once I switched to my regular slicing blade it worked much better.  Turn on the food processor and let it work.  

After a few minutes, you will notice the butter and buttermilk starting to separate (ahh, so that's where buttermilk comes from!).  The butter will look like lots of little pieces of butter.  Pour the buttermilk out.  I put mine in a canning jar and stuck it in the fridge. Later in the day, I used it to make buttermilk biscuits. 

If you want your butter to last for more than a couple days, you need to wash your butter. Pour ice cold water into the butter and turn your machine on again for a minute. Pour off the water.  Now you need to get as much water out of your butter as possible.  I put my butter in a bowl and used the back of a wooden spoon to press out the water.  When done, I put my butter in a glass container with lid and proudly put it in the fridge. 

Since the butter is soft at this point, this would be a great time to add flavoring if you want to make a compound butter (ie. butter with something mixed in). Fresh herbs, honey, and marmalade are just a few of the options. 

Now that I know how easy it is to make butter, this will be added to my list of items I'd rather make myself!  Next time I think I will try the jar method. 

Note:  The amount of butter you end up with is about half the amount of cream you start with. The other half becomes buttermilk. 

  

Finally feels like Fall!

Fall officially arrived almost two weeks ago, but it hasn't been until the last couple of days that it's actually started to feel like Fall.  We've experienced an Indian Summer with warm, sunny days and little to no rain.  In fact, I can't remember the last time it rained here. The fields are brown and the threat of wildfires is always in the back of my head.  

Starting yesterday, we had our first chilly day with highs in the 60s and temperatures low enough at night to freeze anything in the garden still growing. I forgot to bring in my pot filled with basil that I was hoping to keep going for a while longer in the kitchen.  The main plant is dead, but there was a smaller plant, hidden behind the larger plant that not only survived, but looks as healthy as ever. I will have fresh basil for my pizzas a little while longer.

I had to dig out my jeans for the first time in months.  I've been living in shorts and sandals all summer. Tonight, flannel sheets are going on the bed.  Tomorrow I need to prep the raised bed for planting garlic.  I know that compost needs to be added, but I failed to pick any up last time we were in town and my compost pile is not quite ready.  I'll plant it anyway and hope for the best next spring.  I have a hard-neck variety and a soft-neck variety that I'm trying. This is my first time planting garlic, so this is an experiment of sorts.

Apples are ready on the two trees we have. They're small, but we didn't water all summer and they're organic (no sprays, chemicals, etc.). They're also delicious!  I don't know the varieties. One tree has green and one has red. The best of both worlds! 

I've already dehydrated some and will surely be making some yummy desserts in the near future. Apples make the end of summer more bearable!  We have a lot of work to do in the next couple weeks... the snow will be here before I know it. 

How to make hummingbird nectar

Making your own hummingbird nectar is both easy and cost effective. Plus, you don't have to worry about any additives or chemicals being passed on to your little animal friends. 

Hummingbird enjoying some of my homemade hummingbird nectar.

The ratio of sugar to water is 1:4. So, if you are making 1 cup of nectar (enough to fill one of the feeders I have in the photo above), you will need 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water. 

You will want to use plain table sugar for this. Honey is supposedly dangerous and can make hummingbirds sick. Alternative sweeteners should be avoided, as well. Stick with white sugar! 

In a pan, bring your water to a boil. Pour in the sugar and stir until the sugar is fully dissolved. Cool the nectar before filling your hummingbird feeders. Each time you refill your feeders, you will want to wash them with hot water and a little soap. That's all there is to it!  

Sit back and enjoy the show! 

Make your own natural deodorant / antiperspirant

If you want to avoid chemicals, but don't want to give up deodorant - read on! This is the easiest, cheapest, and most effective deodorant you will ever use. Those are big claims, I know. 

As someone that sweats, a lot, I have tried everything from deodorants claiming to be all natural  all the way up to products marketed as clinical strength. Heck, I even got so desperate that I tried using deodorant and antiperspirant designed for men at one point. I wasn't completely satisfied with anything I purchased.

I like that the natural deodorants don't include some of the scarier things such as aluminum, but they still have more ingredients than I want to put on my skin AND they don't work very well for me. I was constantly having to reapply which is both inconvenient and expensive. The clinical strength deodorants and antiperspirants work pretty well, but I worry about putting that chemical cocktail on my skin every day and they're not cheap. 

What's a sweaty girl (or guy) to do? Make your own!

The number one reason I use this homemade deodorant concoction is because it works. It controls odor and keeps me dry. I wouldn't be using it if it didn't, no matter how cheap or natural or easy to make it is. The fact that it doesn't contain a lot of the icky ingredients in store-bought deodorants and that it costs way less are just extra bonus points as far as I'm concerned. 

You only need two ingredients to make your own deodorant/antiperspirant.

Yep, that's it. 

In a covered container mix:

• baking soda - 1 part
• cornstarch   - 3 parts** 

**Play around with this ratio until you find what works for you. Some people use a ratio of 1:1 and some use 1:6 (1 part baking soda to 6  parts cornstarch). Baking soda on it's own is too harsh and will eventually cause skin irritation if not used with the cornstarch. If you experience skin irritation, add more cornstarch. 

my homemade deodorant

Cover the container and shake well. Apply to dry underarms with a powder puff, cotton balls, a fluffy makeup brush, a piece of cloth, toilet paper, or anything else you have laying around that might work. I was originally worried about a white residue showing up on my clothes, but it hasn't been a problem so far. In fact, I've had less issues than with traditional deodorants. 

Some people also combine these two ingredients with coconut oil and beeswax and essential oils to form a sort of stick deodorant that is similar to traditional deodorants. I haven't found it necessary, but there are plenty of recipes for this if you search online.

Stay dry and healthy!