Herbs, herbs, herbs! What now?

I have taken the beautiful herbs that Dan has planted and dried quite a bit of it! Mostly hung in my garage but some dried in the oven inside. I have placed them in jars and also made a lovely lavender infused almond oil!

Herbs...

I took some herbs from the garden today...I am drying the lavender, chives and chocolate mint and I made a nice basil oil.

Here is how I did it...:

I took my olive oil and put it in my pan.

After heating the oil, I added the basil in torn pieces...

After turning off the heat, I let it cool to room temp, took out the basil and chopped it up small. I then added basil back in and froze it all in little cubes.

Be careful, these melt very quickly when out of the freezer.
These are great to toss into a sauce, directly on pasta or in a pan to saute anything!
Keep them in a freezer container until you need them.
Enjoy!

Getting homemade clean!

I took pictures of the hot process way I made soap in my crock pot! This one is a scent free soap for sensitive skin. I also made a lavender soap and added those pictures as well. Enjoy!
First I measured out all my ingredients:

Do your lye outside people!!!!:

Then melted my solid which was beeswax this time:

Added my liquid oils and lye and started to blend:

Blended until trace (about 15 minutes):

Cooked it until it folded up twice:

Stirred it down:

Cooked until it was done - then molded it in a pan...

Here is the final product of my lavender batch that I made the same way:

Making tons more - I have become a soap addict!
I love knowing that there is hardly anything in my soap - it has no fake flowery smell that I have always hated. These are light and great for anyone!

Just being...

I love where I live. We have almost 5 acres and most of them are woods; the rest is for our dog, goats. horse, bees, chickens and ducks. We live within a 1 minute walking distance to the reservoir. There we can ice skate in the winter and kayak in the nice weather.

It's quiet. Where we live, we can just be..

New things...

I have to admit that I am not one who enjoys or looks for change but sometimes I am glad I tried...
I just made a batch of citrus lavender jelly. What a gorgeous jelly! It has a taste that is difficult to describe.
Here is how I made it.
Make an infusion of organic orange peel and lavender, letting it steep for about 30 minutes.

Next, take the infusion and melt in the pectin, lemon and orange juices.

Add the sugar and boil. Check for the gel by using a spoon kept in ice water.

In the mean time, get your cans ready for water bath.

Pour hot jelly into hot cans and can them for 10 minutes in water bath and there you have it!

Unusual but wonderful flavored jelly! Great on scones or toast; whatever you like!

The best tree ever...

I took pictures of my family's favorite tree today. It sits right outside of Camille's bedroom window and our bedroom window; we are very lucky! This tree goes through amazing changes throughout the year; reminds me of people...

In the spring (the way it looks now), it has green leaves and a pinkish flower. Pretty soon the flowers will fall and the leaves will remain green; however, in a few weeks the leaves will turn a very dark green and stay that way until fall. The leaves will then drop off the tree at that time. Then, the little red berries will show up in the winter for the birds to eat in the snowy weather...

We love this tree....

Mother's Day...

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day yesterday. Mine was a nice, quiet day with Camille making Chocolate Mint jelly and playing Plants vs. Zombies (don't ask). We ended up having dinner with the whole family, 15 in all, at Bittersweet Farm restaurant. Got some great pictures of many generations....

And dessert...

Life was great yesterday!

Little victories...

OK, I wanted to share that I just decided to try the soup that I canned last month. I have to admit I was a little afraid as I had not canned anything with meat in it before. I made a beef barley soup with veggies. I popped open the lid (good sign that it "popped"!), smelled it (smelled great!), and heated it up on my stove. I loved it! I hope I am still here to can some more (hoping there was no unseen/unsmelled ickies in my canned soup!). I was skeptical about having the barley in there but it was not bad; a little soft but still good.

I have also canned some dandelion jelly. Camille and I picked dandelions (and violets but that did not work out this time - will need more violets next time) and made the infusion. The first attempt at gelling did not work, I re-cooked it with more pectin today and it gelled nicely! I cannot wait to try it... it has a wonderful honey scent!

This is a great thing for me. I REALLY want to make sure I have homemade goodness overflowing my pantry!!

Homemade is where the heart is...

I have always strived to make my family's food from scratch as much as I can. However I found that I do buy soups and canned baked beans for quick dinners and sides when needed.  Dan has found me a 23 qt pressure canner so I can have a pantry filled with homemade goodness. I am on my way to making sure we have great food on hand at all times and love knowing where my food comes from.

I also made bagels today. I have to say I am impressed as they came out really yummy!

Camille helped me pick dandelions and violets for jelly. I will let you know how those turn out...

Stay tuned.....

I am gathering up my thoughts and pictures...
Be patient; I will be with you soon!