retirement

i've decided to retire this blog.

i will now be blogging at my new site: mostlyhippiemama

<3

now that the holidays are over...

here is a small photolog of a few of our holiday activities:

playing in the snow:



hanging up pinecones covered with peanut butter and birdseed:


royal tea parties:


christmas morning-cranberry sauce pancakes(i think this is one of my new traditions):


happy new year! i hope you all had a peaceful, loving holiday season!


be

p.s. check out my new blog i started for my business: zazi designs! look for a giveaway there soon!

re-hatter

i've been refashioning old sweaters...

here is a hat and fingerless glove set:


this is a modified slouchy beret. it's super comfy!

pumpkin soup and hummus recipes

curried pumpkin coconut soup

this was a random creation the other day, but i happened to write down what i put in it. it may not be exact, but it will be close!

ingredients:
1 can coconut milk(not lite)
1 cup cooked pumpkin
1 cup water(could use stock for more flavor)
1/4 cup leftover hummus(recipe below)

seasonings:
pinch of dill
pinch of lemongrass
salt to taste
mild curry powder to taste

directions:
blend the coconut milk with the pumpkin, add some water to help it blend easier. pour blended mixture into a pan with the rest of the water. add seasonings. stirring occasionally, simmer till the flavors are well combined(20 minutes?). serve with crackers or crusty bread.

nori with broccoli sprouts, red bell pepper and hummuseasiest homemade hummus ever

ingredients:
1 can garbanzo beans
2 cloves fresh garlic, peeled
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 teaspoon lemon juice
salt to taste

directions:
blend everything till smooth and creamy. enjoy!

note: if you aren't much for spicy things, decrease the garlic.

last time i made this i put it on pieces of nori seaweed and added sprouts and thinly sliced red bell pepper. so fresh!

the broccoli sprout princess

nori. pixie calls it paper.

cute woodland people

i've been working on these little guys this past week, and not blogging! i think i'll write the pattern and post it with a tutorial for you all.
<3

diy steam juicer

canned white and purple grape juice

after all the grapes i picked we started trying to figure out what to do with all of them! we want to make jelly at some point but making juice seemed like the best option right now, so we researched methods. they range from super labor intensive to pretty easy, with steam juicing being the pretty easy one. my mom used a steam juicer growing up, too. one of my friends has also been making juice using a steam juicer. steam juicers are pretty spendy, especially if you want stainless steel like i do. of course the most logical conclusion we came to was: make it ourselves! err...i mean hero could make it himself! so, here is the basic idea of how he made it. i hope some of you other frugal folks can benefit! :)

diy steam juicer made by hero

first he took an old pot we used to use for water bath canning. two notches were cut in the top of the pot. he used a dremel tool with a cutoff wheel blade. you will want to make sure you cut it to fit the other pieces you are using for the steamer.next, a canner rack was placed in the bottom of the pot. we used about 3-4 quarts of water in the bottom. don't cover the rack.you will need a container to catch the juice. we used a pretty thick glass bowl. hero created handles on it with some 16 gauge galvanized wire.that way you can get the juice out without getting totally burned! ;)

load up a metal colander/strainer with washed grapes. no need to remove the stems. (see how not laborious?)place the steamer in after the glass bowl.i like to fit as many grapes in at a time as possible...you do not have to heap it up this much! in fact, the lid won't fit quite right if you do but it still works.for a lid we used our pressure canner lid because it's nice and heavy. and it fit just right on the pot we used.steam it for about an hour. we had to check it after about 30 minutes and empty the bowl when i filled it up really full. it ended up making about 2-2.5 quarts per load. depending how high we heaped the grapes. if you try to juice them too much the juice that comes out will be a weird color and taste gross.




we poured the hot juice into a pitcher then into jars. you don't have to but i think it's a good idea to can them for 10 minutes after that. i used a steam canner.here's the finished product!(yes, i re-used a jar...i figured it would be ok for at least one re-use!)

another use for grapes!
i hated to see all the grape remains go to waste so i decided to try using the steamed purple grapes to dye a shirt. i was really excited about the result! now i can be like mrs. proverbs 31!
"she maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple." proverbs 31:22

what do you think? :)

re-mittens

i've been ogling a bunch of different tutorials and patterns online for making mittens out of recycled wool sweaters. i love these fleece ones from makeitandloveit. craftbits.com has a nice tutorial also. studio5 has a video and pattern for a wool mitten with a fleece lining. a blog i can spend hours on for many, many recycled sweater projects is resweater. i get so inspired by all the ideas! my head is spinning!
so, after all my looking i decided to trace my hand and get some mittens started! i plan to make a bunch for gifts this holiday season.
the sweater i grabbed to experiment on is 79% silk 10% nylon 8% cashmere 2% wool and 1% spandex. the tag reads 'hand wash cold, dry flat' but i washed it in hot, dried it in the dryer, and it came out looking exactly like it did before...hmmm...
i already used the sleeves to make some cozy pants for sprout but the whole body was just waiting for an inspiration to resurrect it!

here are the mittens:

time for hot fall drinks and bonfires!