myhusbandswife's Xanga

Goal #17: DONE!

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:15:55 GMT

Goal 17: Move my blog off of Xanga.

i know, i just posted yesterday that this wasn't gonna happen, and now, first thing in the morning, it's DONE. What happened there, you might ask?

Well, i have been posting here less and less lately, which you may have noticed. i actually tend to go long stretches of time without remembering that i have a blog at all. i know that a big part of losing steam has to do with the fact that i get so little feedback here, given that people need to sign in to comment. And it's not as if comments are the sole purpose for a blog, but it sure is hard to maintain interest, motivation, and momentum if it seems i'm only talking to myself. But i do love the idea of posting about homemakery (and occasionally other things), and i do hope that my site is an inspiration to others as so many sites (The Family Homestead immediately comes to mind) are to me.

So last night it occurred to me that i might want to just reimagine the whole thing. Rather than trying to find a way to port this blog to another host, or keep the life support beeping while the point gets forgotten (by myself included), i decided to try something entirely different. This year to come is going to be a new adventure for us. We want to try homesteading, which is about as homemakery as you can get. i know that given the novelty, i should be able to retain readers for our adventures. And, given the novelty, i am more likely to post as well. Doing something completely different opens up possibilities for hosting that i once considered unlikely-- i don't need a place that will easily allow me to transfer my existing blog, i won't have to copy and paste over four years of posts (and comments), and i can try out something that works really differently. So we'll call this blog an experiment for the coming year, as well. We'll see how well it works and i'll decide at the end of the year whether i want to keep it up or force you all to move with me a second time or just return to Xanga with my tail between my legs.

So, without further ado, here's my completely reimagined blog:
http://web.me.com/mrs.hittle/My_husbands_wife/Blog/Blog.html

i know the URL is a tad on the longish side and perhaps less easy to remember, but bear with me. It was the best i could do for now. When you go over there, you'll recognize the first two posts as ones i've posted here, just to get the homesteading discussion going. You'll also see a brand-new post that does not appear on Xanga.

i may at times post here throughout the coming year, if the subject matter is too far afield to make the homesteading/homemakery blog cut. But for the most part, this Xanga blog is now on (perhaps permanent) hiatus.

So say your farewells and come on by the new place!

Happy birthday to me!

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 21:09:05 GMT

Today is my thirtieth birthday! i've been telling people that now i'm a real grown-up.

Today's post will be in two parts: 1) How my birthday weekend has gone, and 2) My birthday list from this year and last.

Part the first: My birthday!

Yesterday was an awesome day. The Cupboard (a truly wonderful kitchen store in Old Town) was having their 37th anniversary celebration this weekend (i think there are still a few festivities today), so my friend Diane got everyone together to go over and experience the fun and excitement. When i got there, Diane had already arrived, and soon after that we were met by Haven, Sarah, and Wendy (not in that order). When Haven found us, she was armed with balloons and a hat! i had three balloons-- green, white, and pink-- which i tied to my back belt loop so i wouldn't have to carry them. The hat said "Birthday Princess" on it and had a nice little veil trailing down the back. It seems that the party involved a conspiracy-- Diane knew how much i love the Cupboard and decided to get the ladies together to play with me. It was so fabulous! They also gave me a gift card, part of which i've already used in the purchase of a really cute cappuccino cup and saucer set (brown and white flowery paisley), which i will use to learn latte art.

Then today, when i got up Jonathan gave me my gift from him-- BROWN pearls! They are so cute! A matching necklace and bracelet. i had to change my outfit to go with them and i have to say i looked stunning. After that, i got to walk to church WITH MY HUSBAND!!, and stay through the entire worship service (rather than running out early to work in the cafe-- Hannah gave me the day off!), and everybody sang to me (i basically do mean everybody), and we had Haven cake in Sonday school, and then we went out to lunch. Then when we got home i got the rest of my presents: a book on Benedictine spirituality, a TON of chocolate, some cookie magazines, an almanac (which maybe doesn't sound very birthdayish until you realize how much use i will get out of it this coming year!!), white sparkling sugar (for topping baked goodies), some cold hard cash, and a LOT of tissue paper for the cat. It was splendid.

So, all in all, i have had a great birthday-- and it isn't even over yet! Jonathan's taking me out to dinner tonight.

Now, on to:

Part the second: My birthday list!

Well... last year's list was mostly unfinished. Let's cut me some slack... it was my first time. i have learned a few things about how to write these lists in a way that will give me some hope to complete them. (Although i suppose i could have completed last year's list if i had kept it more in mind, i was rather over-enthusiastic and optimistic when i first wrote it...) So, let's go over the list:

1. Learn how to make buttonholes by hand and do at least three baby outfits. DONE! And i do think i did quite well on said buttonholes. Now i don't have to rely on my machine's pitiful excuse for an automatic buttonholer.
2. Patch drywall above the front door and paint that wall. Well... i did patch the drywall. But then i painted the bathroom instead.
3. Finish the rest of the kitchen cabinets. Nope! Didn't even try. Next!
4. Catalog our home library in one way or another. Well, i didn't do this. But i did weed through our collection. It'll happen eventually.
5. Plant more perennials in the front flower bed-- DONE! i planted some blue hyacinths last week.
6. Learn to knit cables, or rounds, or both. How about neither?
7. Make homemade sausage. Not so far!
8. Send real mail once a month. i think i did this about three times total.
9. Finish my assorted sewing projects. No, i did not do this-- but i did add to the pile of projects.
10. Finish two quilts. i finished one-- the wonky log cabin one. The huge blue one is still in the closet.
11. Make a new surprise costume, extra geeky. Nope. i was going to do Delenn from Babylon 5 (now the secret's out!), but i haven't gotten to it and it won't happen before Halloween this year. And i'm not as into Delenn at the moment as i was last year or will be again later.
12. Make a surprise project involving paper piecing. No, i didn't do this, and it makes me really sad.
13. Revive the Gaggia espresso machine. ::sigh:: This is pitiful. i didn't fix the Gaggia-- i did try-- and meanwhile, i also collected another broken old espresso machine (a Starbucks Barista). i think they have the same problem, though, and yesterday i heard about someone in town that does repairs-- so if i can get one done, the other should be easy. But for now i'm still using my old DeLonghi.
14. Learn algebra. YES! i'm not done quite yet, but i am getting there. i am over half done with the book, and thanks to Mildred's great tutoring, i am really understanding this stuff. i have even learned a few things (slope, probability) that aren't included in the text. So while the material isn't all done yet, i am feeling really good about it-- and Mildred and i agreed that it would be better to take longer and really understand it than to rush through and complete it by my birthday.
15. Make a work schedule (for housekeeping) and maintain it. Yeah, that didn't really happen.
16. Run a summer reading program at the church library. Nope.
17. Move my blog off of Xanga. i still haven't done this and i'm feeling less motivated now that it's being imported into Facebook. That's still not a place where people can comment without signing in, but i do get more comments than i used to, so that'll do me for now. i just never found a good spot where i could easily transfer all of what i already have.
18. Spring cleaning. DONE!
19 Fall cleaning. i have done a few things, but not as much as i planned to do.
20.Exercise 5x a week. Oh... wow. Not at all.
21. Install trim around the main level. Nope.
22. Play bloody games with 'becca. DONE! And quite happily!
23. Read one nonfiction book each month. i did a few months, but after the first few i sort of forgot about that one. i still like that goal, though, so it's coming with for next year's.
24. Dust sometimes. i did this a few times, and i think that holds to the spirit of the word "sometimes." DONE!
25. Do something that matters. Did i? i don't know if i did or not. i can't actually remember the thing i had in mind when i first thought of this goal. i did a few really great things this year-- but do any of them qualify? It's hard to really say. And that's sad.
26. Bake sourdough bread and keep a starter alive for three batches. i made a batch last week that required a starter, but it used all of the starter. Hold on to that thought, though.
27. Clear out my email inbox. DONE! You should see the state of it now... but it was done at one time, and that's good enough to cross this one off the list.
28. Organize my iPhoto library. DONE!
29. Be getting up by 6:a by year's end. No... that hasn't happened. But we are getting up earlier most mornings. i get up at 6:30 on Sondays and Thursdays, and 5:30 on Mondays, and lately we've been getting up earlier (6:30ish) on the other mornings. So that's not too shabby. Just wait till we have chickens, though.

Now, i admit that the results of my first year's attempt are pretty embarrassing. But i have thought of a partial solution. Remember how i didn't have my list made until after my birthday last year? i made several amendments to it, adding goals by ones and threes until it was final. i went back last week and looked at when i actually had a finalized version complete-- it was November 15. So i decided that it was only fair that i give myself a full year from the time the list was complete. So, until November 15, i'll be working off of the old list as well as the new list. If anything is completed within the next couple of weeks, it'll count. i think a few of them should be easy to complete in that amount of time-- sourdough bread and homemade sausage, for example. i'll give up on the rest after that (although i probably will do most of the things on the list at some point or another. i did do a few things not on the list, too, and while i don't think that gives me a pass, it does make me feel better about the things that didn't get done. It's not like i've been a slacker (not entirely, anyway)-- but i didn't have "start a coffeehouse" on the list.

NOW THEN! On to this year's list!

1. Begin, and hopefully finish, to quilt the huge blue quilt. By machine is okay, but borrowing a quilt frame might also help.
2. Read one nonfiction book each month.
3. Make homemade glycerin-based lotion.
4. Finish the 5k running program that Jonathan and i started last year.
5. Find a freezer for our garage. This is especially crucial now that we're talking about homesteading this coming year.
6. Can tomatoes. (This one is a little funny, since i wrote it down before we decided to try homesteading-- an undertaking that will require the canning of a LOT more than just tomatoes!)
7. Call my grandpa.
8. Paint at least one wall.
9. Send real mail once a month.
10. Add a midweek shift to the cafe. This one is up to G-d, and requires that He also add a staff member or two-- but we will also work to make it happen, so it's going on the list.
11. Plant fruit trees.
12. Plant bulbs in the front yard.
13. Make mittens for myself, preferably before winter hits.
14. Finish algebra.
15. Begin learning latte art. (i already have a cappuccino cup! i'm starting this one on Thursday!)
16. Make and keep a (simple) cleaning schedule. Seriously.
17. Make three good decisions by myself. (This may not sound like a big deal, but it feels like it to me.)
18. Clear my sewing docket. (Doesn't this sound easier than "finish a huge and growing stack of sewing projects"? By clear, i might mean finish, or i might mean, decide officially that i won't do that one and dispose of the fabric. Either way, i want a clean slate next year.)
19. Put up curtains in the living room.
20. Make cayenne syrup. (This is for spicy mochas.)
21. Love G-d.
22. Make our living room cozier, especially in a way that is conducive to entertaining. (We've begun hosting potluck once a month and we really don't have anywhere to sit but the table, for after-dinner talking and praying. i don't want to define in advance what this looks like, but i want our living room to be a place where people are comfortable hanging out.)
23. Do something that matters.
24. Try homesteading. (i'm intentionally keeping this one rather vague, since we're still in the investigative phase.)
25. Frame photos-- our wedding photo(s), as well as one or more of my own.
26. Make homemade mustard. (i thought this was on last year's list, but it seems that it wasn't.)
27. Fix the towel rack in the bathroom. (The anchor didn't really bite into the wall and it sags on one side. This makes me nervous.)
28. Paint my toenails more often.
29. Lose at least five pounds. (That's not too hard of a goal, while at least moving me in the right direction.)
30. Make knit pajamas out of a pattern for woven pajamas.

Homesteading reading list

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 20:19:33 GMT

i'm compiling a list of resources as we go about our investigation phase. Some are books and some are online. i'll edit, add, and annotate as time goes on.

*Bartholomew, Mel. Square foot gardening. Emmaus, Penn.: Rodale Press, 1981.
--NOTE: There is a more recent edition of this book available, but this is the edition i own and use.

*Madigan, Carleen. The Backyard homestead: Produce all the food you need on just a quarter acre! North Adams, Mass.: Storey Publishing, 2009.

*Miller, Crystal. "The Family Homestead." http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/index.html

*Seymour, John. The self-sufficient life and how to live it: The complete back-to basics guide. London : DK, 2004.

*Warren, Piers. How to store your garden produce: The key to self-sufficiency. Totnes: Green Books, 2008.

The Semi-Urban Homesteaders

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:25:46 GMT

Last night during dinner, Jonathan began plying me with questions: How did the Ingalls live all winter long? Where did they get their food? He knows that i have (multiple times) read and enjoyed the Little House books, and i could in fact tell him about root cellars, attics, salt pork, onion braids, canning, freezing, bear meat, and pig slaughtering. Whenever i'd answer one question, another was right on the tip of his tongue. Finally he said he had been thinking about what it might take to live only off of what we'd produced for a full year. Immediately, i began to be drawn into the idea.

This is not exactly a new idea to us. We have on occasion considered the question of how to be as fully sustainable as possible (we dislike the terms "self-sufficient" or "self-sustaining;" no-one can be that anyway). But now we're beginning to take this idea seriously. When he saw that i was up for it, he asked me to put together an "investigation report," detailing the goal, an evaluation of options, and a recommendation. He says that a multi-variant recommendation is quite all right. My thought is that if we could look into this over the course of the next few months, we might be able to start planting in spring, eat grocery-store food while the garden is starting, and then eat from our own produce all summer, fall, and winter after that, and even during the spring while the next year's garden is starting. The transition season, of course, will be the hardest; whenever we start, we will have only just started and won't yet have our own food growing or put up. The question is, what will it take? Can we do it?

i've spent the morning on this so far today, reading books and websites and putting more books on hold. i love this idea! The more i look into it, the bigger of a project it seems and also the more fun. i'd love to be able to make dinner and know that everything on the table was from our own land, as small as it is. i feel that i will need another few aprons, a clothesline, and a shirtwaist dress or two. (My ideas of homesteading and homemakery are an odd combination of the late 19th century and 1950's America.) i'm learning that with a pressure canner i can preserve anything-- even cooked chicken! (Which brings up one of the interesting questions-- would we eat meat at all? Because Jonathan doesn't like the idea of butchering animals himself, and the city requires that we keep chickens only for eggs anyway-- although rabbits would probably be doable, if unpleasant.)

In short, there are a lot of questions still on the table, and it'll be a process to find out how we can best accomplish this. In particular, the questions are: 1) What about meat? Milk? Wheat? (And other things we just can't grow?) 2) How much garden space do we need?

i'll keep you updated as i work through these questions! For right now, there's laundry to be moved and a kitchen to clean.

How to sew a hem by hand

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 15:30:01 GMT

Here is a tutorial on slip stitching for those who have mending or altering to do and would like to do it by hand. Hand sewing isn't hard, and it can be very relaxing!

1. With the inside of the garment facing out, press your hem and pin it in place. This step is really important and will save you a lot of frustration. There's nothing more annoying than having your work fight with you!! Pressing it will make the hem nice and smooth, and pinning it will keep it from shifting as you go.

2. Get a sharp needle and find some thread that matches your fabric as closely as possible. (This thread obviously doesn't match at all-- i'm using a contrasting colour so you can see what i'm doing.) This stitch won't show very much from the outside, and it'll show even less if the thread blends into the fabric. Make a knot on the end of your thread. Make sure it's big enough that it won't slip through the fabric.

3. Starting at a seam, insert the needle into the folded edge of fabric. Start from underneath and come up to the side facing you.

4. Catch a little bit of the outside layer. This is the part that will show, so we want it to be small. Pull the thread all the way through.

5. Insert the needle into the fold again, and run the thread through the fold for a little ways. Then bring it back out of the fold and pull it through. The length of this part will be the length between your visible stitches on the outside.

6. Catch another little bit of the outside layer of fabric again, just like you did in step #4. Pull the thread all the way through.

7. This is what your stitches look like, with a little bit of slack so you can see them clearly. If you pull the thread, they'll tighten back up.

8. See those two tiny red specks in the middle of the flower? This is what your stitches will look like from the outside-- only they won't show this much if you have a matching thread colour!

Keep going until you've gotten to the end. Knot the thread close to the surface, on the inside of the work where it won't show. Make sure, as before, the knot won't slip through the fabric. If you want to make sure the thread won't dangle, you can run it under the fold again for a ways before cutting it. Then the end of the thread will be stuck inside the fold.

GOOD JOB! You've mastered the slip stitch.

Soap film?

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 20:43:29 GMT

i was just reading an article on natural, safe cleaning and found something interesting. This person claimed that "the minerals in water react with those in soap, leaving an insoluble film. This can turn clothes grayish, and the film can leave a residue (such as is found on shower stalls, for example)." She also claimed that detergents were formulated to combat this. i'm a little skeptical about this latter claim; it's widely reported that detergents were formulated during WWII because of shortages which led to difficulty producing soap. Perhaps detergents also interact with minerals in water differently than soap does, but it seems odd to me that detergents were produced because of shortages and also because soap didn't work well. The two "reasons" don't seem terribly related to me. ... Nonetheless, i had to study the first claim a little. i've found a few other places online that say similar things.

Of course, i wash our clothes with soap-- and while it's certain that they do get clean, i have sometimes wondered if they get as bright as they would using detergent. So i've decided to try a little experiment.

i already use vinegar in the rinse water for our towels, to help soften them. The reason behind this is that vinegar strips away any remaining soap or detergent. Could it be that this little trick would prevent any soap film from building up on our clothes? Another trick i read about today was related-- cleaning out the washer itself by running a cycle without clothing in it, on hot water, with a full bottle of vinegar added. And again, it is known that vinegar can power through soap scum buildup; it's why i use it in the bathroom. We used to spray down the shower walls with a vinegar solution all the time (until i invested in a little squeegee).

So here's the experiment-- For the next couple of months, all of our laundry will have a vinegar rinse. We'll just see what happens.

Homemade condensed milk?

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:39:24 GMT

Today i tried an experiment that i've been contemplating for some time: Making my own condensed milk. And no, i don't mean the one with dry milk powder, water, sugar, and butter-- of all things! No-- real condensed milk.

Why? Well, the obvious answer is, why not? If i can, i want to try. Given that the only ingredients on any can of condensed milk are MILK and SUGAR-- what exactly is the difficulty here? Besides that reason, there is a possibly cost efficiency, the ability to make it with soy or rice milks or some other alternative, the convenience of having a substitute available (i don't always have condensed milk when i want it, but i always have milk and sugar)... And with all those good reasons, this brings us back to the first: Why not?

Well, the first difficulty is in finding out the proper ratio of milk to sugar. i've found recipes that say 3:1, 1:1, 1:1.25, 1:.75... so i randomly picked one. The first one, of course, because sugar (at least the organic variety) ain't cheap. So i put the two together and simmered them (stirring, so as to prevent any scalding) for about 45 minutes, until it was reduced by one half.

Result? It smells and tastes like condensed milk. But it's thin. i did use 1%... but still. It's thin. Will this stuff still work in coffee? We'll find out, right after these messages.

Vita-Mix, KitchenAid, Maytag, GE.

(White noise strikes again.)

Not too bad. Hmm...

Recipes and pictures

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:28:21 GMT

i love sharing my homemakery! Here are recipes for the laundry soap and the jam, and pictures of the jam-making process.

First of all, let me say that i didn't come up with the laundry soap recipe. i love reading about homemaking, and one of my favourite sources is a website called TThe Family Homestead. The host, Crystal Miller, shared this recipe on her site and i've been using it for three years now. i'm including the link to her website (just click the name, above) because it's been such an inspiration and help to me, and because (of course) the recipe is hers. The jam, however, is my recipe, and i'm happy to share that as well.

Crystal's original recipe called for grated bar soap (amount depends on type; i'll get to that), washing soda and borax, and water. That's it! i make a gallon at a time (which is half a batch), and it lasts me about a month, doing laundry for just the two of us.

The half recipe is as follows:

1/6 bar of Zote or Fels Naptha (both formulated especially for laundry), or 1/2 bar Ivory or any other basic soap. Crystal makes her own, or you can use any brand of castile soap, or pretty much anything.
1/4 cup each borax and washing soda
16 cups water, divided

You will also need a bucket large enough to fit a gallon of laundry soap.

First, grate the soap. In a medium-sized saucepan, place three cups water and the soap; heat until the soap has fully dissolved. (It can boil over, so you want to watch it-- you don't have to stand over it stirring constantly, but it's better to stay in the room so you can turn it down when it starts boiling.)

While the soap is melting, heat two cups of water. Once the soap has fully dissolved, add the borax and washing soda to the saucepan and stir to dissolve. Pour the two cups of hot water into the bucket, and then pour the soap mixture in after it. (The hot water helps the soap mixture and the rest of the water to incorporate smoothly.) Add another 11 cups of water to the bucket, and leave it to gel.

After several hours or overnight, the laundry soap will have gelled up. Now you take a stick blender to it, and mix it all together. (i suppose you could chunk it up and use a regular blender, but that seems like extra trouble and since stick blenders can be had for $10 at Wal*Mart...) It'll become smooth and liquid again. Now it's ready to be used! Fill up an old laundry detergent bottle, and just use it as you would regular laundry detergent. You don't need extra or anything like that; it works just the same way-- only BETTER, because it's exponentially cheaper, and you know exactly what's in it (and can pronounce every word!).

The first few times you use it, you'll want to swirl the bottle around before pouring-- it sometimes stiffens up and separates a bit. But after these first few times, it isn't necessary anymore.

There you go! Homemade laundry soap. It's all we've used for three years and it works really well. The only change i've made is that i use 1/3 cup each washing soda and borax, for a bit of a stronger formula. (Both of these things are laundry boosters, and if you have extra dirty clothes, adding some borax to the load, or even soaking in a borax solution, works pretty well. i don't know how the two differ in their efficacy, but since washing soda can be harder to find i tend to add borax when i need a boost to conserve the washing soda.)

The only challenge in making your own laundry soap is finding the washing soda. i got mine on clearance three years ago, and bought several boxes. i've heard recently that you can find it at King Soopers; for people who have different grocery stores, i don't know. My mothero-in-law says she got hers at Meijer, i believe. NOTE: Washing soda and baking soda are NOT the same thing. Washing soda is sodium carbonate; baking soda is sodium bicarbonate. i have also heard that sodium carbonate is used to clean pools, so if you have a pool supply store handy it's probably worth checking there as well, if your grocery store doesn't have it.

---

Now for the jam:

(There's probably a better way to measure apricots than by number, but that's what i wrote down originally. i'll attempt a quick conversation for you all.)

To follow along with pictures, the numbers in parentheses refer to photo numbers (below).

5 champagne (ataulfo) mangoes, cut up
9 apricots (13.5 oz., or about two cups), halved-- no need to peel!
2 cups sugar
1 T. Fruit-Fresh

Combine all ingredients (1) , and let sit for a few hours to let the fruit juices start flowing. When mixture has become very syrupy (2), puree with a stick blender until it is as smooth as you'd prefer (3). (If you want it really chunky, i'd recommend cutting the apricots smaller than halves and not bothering to puree.) Bring slowly to a boil, and then cook rapidly until it reaches the gelling point, stirring often to prevent it from sticking to the bottom. When it has reached the gelling point, pour it into jars (leaving 1/4" headspace) and process it in a water bath. Label the jars (4), and once you have tested the seals, you may remove the rings. All done (5)-- Enjoy!

A note about processing: A Ball Blue Book recipe for apricot-only jam calls for 15 minutes for full pints; another recipe, not apricot- or mango-related, calls for either 10 or 15 minutes for half-pints. i'm not an expert here, so i would be safe and process for 15 for both sizes. In actuality, at 5000 feet, i processed both sizes for 25 minutes to accommodate the different air pressure here.

This recipe will make just about two pints (or four half-pints). When i tripled it, however, it made just under 5 pints, rather than 6-- much depends on the size of your fruit and how long it cooks down before canning.

And for the pictures:

1. The fruit cut up and mixed with sugar and Fruit-Fresh.

2. The mixture after sitting for 2-3 hours-- see how the juices and sugar have mixed to create a thick syrup?

3. The mixture after pureeing.

4. It's important to label your jars with contents and date.

5. All finished!

Today's doings

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:14:30 GMT

1. Read Matthew 5:21-30. (i'm following a study by John Stott on the Sermon on the Mount.)
2. Put away dishes, get out canning supplies, get kitchen ready to be a jammery.
3. Prep apricots and mangoes for jamming.
4. Let fruit soak in sugar until after lunch.
5. Read email, post on Freecycle, skim around in Hearth & Home by Karey Swan while putting off cleaning the bathroom.
6. Clean the bathroom.

Okay, so far i've made it to step 5 1/2.

---

Update: The bathroom is now clean. i'm pretty frustrated with the way the sink is (not) draining. On my list for today is flushing all the drains in the house; i doubt it'll help this one. i've tried before. Jonathan's even taken it apart; he think that there's a problem with the angle of the pipe. Anyway, it's clean, except that soap builds up around the sink because it drains so slowly. Maybe i'll get a pitcher and wash basin. No window in that bathroom, though... so hard to throw the used water out.

i've also blended together the simmering fruit and it's working on gelling. When i tested it it was still pretty syrupy (no signs of sheeting, much less gelling), but it hasn't been on the heat very long. While it works on that-- time for lunch!

---

Now i've finished the jam (all but the cleaning; the stove is still hot, but i've gotten some of it done) and flushed two drains. Flushing the sluggish drain didn't clear it up-- i knew it wouldn't-- but it did loosen some gunk that's now stuck to the inside of the sink. i just cleaned that!! ::sigh::

i am eating a piece of toast with a bit of the jam and it's quite good. Now i'm trying to work myself up to doing something that's productive-- cleaning, to be specific-- but it's hard to convince myself to clean while it's raining so hard outside. i promise, those two thoughts really are related!

So the jam made two full pints and five half-pints, plus a little left over. Less than i'd intended it to be. When i first made this recipe, it made four half-pints; this time around, i tripled it. That should be six pints total-- much more than the nearly five i got this time. i guess it thickened more than it did last time? Whatever; it's tasty!

In other news, i posted on Freecyle earlier today, looking for a new measuring cap for my laundry soap. (Mine cracked across the bottom.) i got an offer for one, which i'll get this weekend, and i also got four (so far) requests for the recipe! i really love spreading this around. So far, i can think off the top of my head of a few people whom i've introduced to laundry soap and are now making it themselves-- Mom H., Mildred, Amanda, Rachel... and Mildred has spread it to another person or two. Now there are four more interested parties in one day, and i don't even know any of them! It makes me think that it'd be fun to teach a class... i don't know the rules on that, since it isn't my recipe, and i don't know how i'd go about putting it together, but i do think it'd be fun. It probably won't ever happen, but i love homemakery, and i love inspiring and teaching homemakery as well.

Now i had better DO some homemakery... time to finish cleaning, rain or no rain.

Feast or famine.

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:33:17 GMT

That's what you readers get. Nothing for a month, then two in one day.

i am making a new creation for dinner tonight-- garlic rice. First i sauteed some garlic in oil, and then removed it. Then i added a bit more oil, and sauteed the rice. Then i added water and the sauteed garlic. We'll see how it works! i felt like trying something a little different.

Here is another something different: i wanted to make ganache, but had no whipping cream. i did, however, have just a tiny bit of vanilla bean ice cream left. YUP! i melted the ice cream and used it in the ganache. Surprisingly, it didn't turn out too sweet-- and i even used semi-sweet chocolate chips rather than the 60% dark chocolate. After mixing the chocolate into the melted ice cream, i licked the spoon. It was pretty tasty.

i also finally bought some Demerara sugar to taste-test. It was cheaper than plain evaporated cane juice (surprisingly), and i haven't ever tried it before. i do like turbinado quite a lot, for topping baked goods (and for eating straight-- it's nice and crunchy), but i haven't ever tried Demerara before. It's darker than turbinado, and has a definite molasses scent and flavour. i think it'd be a good substitute for brown sugar. i imagine it would be excellent on top of creme brulee...

i guess this post was mostly about feasting.