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!

grapes!

hero has a new part time job as a ranch hand. i think it's so romantic! especially since i get to pick all the grapes the owners grow (for free!!!). apparently they're too busy to harvest them! i cannot even fathom growing something and not caring about harvesting it. in any case, it's to my benefit!

i'm going to make some juice, jelly and...mayyybe might try making some wine. i'm not sure if i'm up for that experiment yet though! i want to get some of the leaves and make dolmas. grapevine wreaths and other decorations might be fun too!

nature tables and soup

fall has officially arrived at my place. i was dreading it at first but now i'm getting inspired by the season. i've been baking and enjoying the intermittent rain, the colorful leaves on all the trees and the cozy warmth of my kitchen. last weekend i collected a bunch of wild dried plants by the river and made an arrangement with them.
it reminded me that i've been wanting to make a nature table at my house. we found an old dresser several months ago on the side of the road and it's been sitting outside looking rather forlorn. it turned out to be the perfect size for a nature table! i covered it with some wool fabric i had in my stash and our very first nature table was born!pixie and i then went out into the yard and collected all kinds of fall nature treasures. there are sticks, rocks, leaves and chicken feathers! i also want to make some other cute fun things to put on it. pixie got a little porcelain angel/fairy from my sister and put it on the table too. i added a big brown candle.

here is a cute autumn nature table, on a very cute blog, i might add. i was really inspired by the pool of nature tables on flikr and this page: a gallery of nature tables.
i hope you have fun learning about these and maybe even start a nature table for your family (if you don't already have one)!

it seems to me that there is nothing better on a cool, cloudy, damp fall day than warm soup with crusty bread. this is the soup i made today. and a new favorite bread recipe i've been playing with! :)

menagerie soup

ingredients:
4 potaotes, washed and coarsely chopped
1 large onion, diced
1 cup red lentils (i strongly prefer these to the brown lentils)
1/2 cup alphabet pasta
10 cups water, milk or a combination
seasonings:
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon rosemary
1 teaspoon rainbow pepper (fresh ground)
1 tablespoon chunky salt
1 tablespoon butter
instructions:
put the first five ingredients in a good soup pot. mix them up and bring to a boil. turn it down and let simmer. when the potatoes are soft, add the seasonings. simmer for a little longer. serve hot (preferably in a colorful bowl) with crusty buttered bread!

garlic and sundried tomato sourdough bread

ingredients:
1/4 cup sourdough starter
1 cup whole wheat flour
5 1/2 cups white flour
2 1/2 cups room temperature water
2 teaspoons salt

olive oil
6-10 cloves garlic peeled and cut whatever size you like
1/3 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped

instructions:
measure the starter into your bowl. add the water. stir it up. add the whole wheat flour and salt. start adding the white flour 1/2 a cup at a time. i use my kitchen aid to mix most of the flour in. once it's mostly mixed together, take it out of the bowl and knead it for 15-20 minutes or until it passes the windowpane test. i know that sounds like a long time but it's so worth it!

put the dough in a bowl coated with olive oil. cover really well(i use 2 plastic grocery bags). let it rise overnight or, if you start in the morning, all day! after it rises, punch it down to get the air out. knead it a bit to see if you need more flour. if it seems floppy you will need more flour! it's better for it to be a little stiff than not have enough flour. flatten it out a little and put the garlic and sundried tomatoes on it. roll it up and shape it into one big loaf or two regular ones. place on a floured baking sheet or in buttered bread pans. let rise a little before baking, 45 minutes or so. place a dish of water on the bottom oven rack. bake the bread at 350' for about an hour or until internal bread temperature reaches 190'. mist it occasionally (maybe every 15-20 minutes) with water while baking. let cool on a wire rack under a towel. i like to slice it and broil it with butter on it just till it's crispy!<3>

pizza: think outside the box

ever since hero got me my little red kitchen aid mixer (pixie and i named her martha, as in martha stewart) a couple months ago i've been on a baking binge!
we even started a friday night pizza tradition! i'm pretty sure we'll never ever eat pizza from a box again!
i'm so smitten with the crust i've been making that i decided to share the love. yesterday i made some and turned it into a bunch of mini pizzas and froze them. so, i'll give you instructions for that too. crafty mamas (all mamas, really) should always have a tasty frozen dinner on hand in case 'crafting-time' runs over into 'cooking-dinner-time'...not that that ever happens in my house. ;)
eventually i'd also like to experiment with making some gluten-free crusts, so stay tuned!

pizza by be <3

ingredients:
1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 cup warm water
1/2 teaspoon real salt
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 1/2 -3 1/2 cups organic white flour plus a little extra to dust the pan (wheat or spelt both work, additionally, you can use part whole wheat if you want to make a healthier pizza.)

instructions:
in a bowl dissolve the yeast in warm water.
measure the flour into another bowl and sift in the salt. i don't like to add the salt directly to the yeast since it slows the action.
add olive oil and 2 1/2 cups of the flour to the liquid. mix it up with a wooden spoon. add the rest of the flour 1/2 a cup at a time.
knead the dough for about 5 minutes or until it passes the windowpane test.
put a little olive oil into another bowl and place your ball of dough in it, turning to cover with oil.
cover and let rise in a warm place for about an hour, or until about doubled in size.
when the dough is done rising, roll it out to approximately the size of your pan. flour a large baking sheet (or a pizza stone). you can use cornmeal, i just don't because i hate the large grains of it on the bottom of my crust!
place it on the pan and press it to the edges with your fingers.
add toppings.
bake at 450' for 15 to 25 minutes. i like to broil it for a couple minutes at the end to make it a little crispier.

for mini pizzas:
divide the dough into eight equal pieces. press each one into a pizza shape. place on a floured baking sheet. i just put sauce, cheese and oregano on mine, baked them for half the time. after they cooled i stacked them with wax paper in between and froze them. now i have a quick easy snack or dinner for a hectic day!

endless possibilities for toppings:
sauce (pesto, tomato, alfredo, olive oil with balsamic vinegar)
organic mozzarella cheese
organic goat cheese
organic parmesan cheese
kalamata olives
artichoke hearts
thinly sliced or diced eggplant
bell peppers
jalapeno peppers
roasted red peppers
tomato slices
mushrooms
zucchini
broccoli
onion
garlic
fresh basil
spinach
pineapple
(if you like meat on your pizza i recommend locally grown, organic, grass fed, sustainably farmed meat!)
a note about toppings:
i usually put 2-5 toppings on my pizza, besides cheese. too many toppings can make a soggy pizza crust and that's never a good thing!

my roasted tomato sauce recipe:
cut up enough tomatoes to mostly fill a 9' x 13' casserole dish.
peel a bunch of garlic cloves, 4-8, however many you want really. cut them in half or quarters, not too small, though. place on top of the tomatoes.
sprinkle with some chunky salt and drizzle with olive oil. bake at 275' for about 5 or 6 hours, or until desired consistency has been reached. stir it about every hour. this is the most flavorful sauce i have ever tasted! and so simple, it just takes time.
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