Success with the Mint Extract(how to pics also)

I am so excited!  Yesterday I tried out my new(to me) Rival electric ice cream maker.  I purchased it at a thrift store for $4.  Off to a good start there.  By the way this thing is so neat.  Uses no rock salt or ice, you just freeze the base. Anyway, I digress....Where was I ?  Oh Yes, Ice cream maker.  I decided to kill two bird with one stone and try out my Mint Extract to see how it did.  I made mint chocolate chip ice cream. It worked!  It tasted like Mint choc chip ice cream.  The boys want more mint so next time I will add maybe a teaspoon instead of half teaspoon.  My Ice cream maker only makes 1 quart, but you can get one that make 1.5 quarts.  I figured the cost of my "all natural" ice cream. It comes to $1.84 for all natural mint choc chip ice cream.  Had I made just vanilla it would have been a whopping .96 for 2 quarts.  Considering the cost of 1.5 quarts of Aldi brand mint choc chip ice cream is 2.69.  I am way ahead.  Cost per ounce of homemade=.029 or 3 cents an ounce, while the Aldi brand comes out at .059 or 6 cent an ounce.  Way cool!  No pun intended.
So with that being said, since extract was successful, I wanted to share what I did:

What you will need:
Vodka (80 proof. Not for drinking now!)
Mint leaves
glass jars( I used wide mouth pint jar

First off you want to take your mint leaves off the branches and wash them well under cool water.  Let them dry completely before you start.

While you are waiting on your leaves to dry, go ahead and take your jars and have them in boiling water for 20 minutes.  I also boiled my lids and rings so everything was sterile.  It is important to keep the work area clean.

Once your leaves are dry, chop them coarsely.  This give a lot of area for the vodka to work on extracting the oils.   Once your jars are done, fill them about half full of the chopped mint.

Then you want to take the vodka and pour it over the leaves.  Leave about 1 inch head space.

Then top with your lid and store in a dark area for a week.  I dated mine so I could make sure I left it long enough.

I ended up with 20 oz of mint extract.  That is worth about 10 bottles of extract at the store.  Walmart sells the mint extract for 2.98 for 2 oz.  This cost me the cost of prep and the vodka.  So about $8.  Which compares to Walmart=.80 for 2 oz.  Nice.  I have plenty more mint where that came from.  I am thinking I will add more mint to my extract and let it steep another week just to strengthen it a little, but all in all I would say this is a good investment, and so easy to do.
Okay, I have to go get my boys out to the garden to work.  Myself as well.  I get help Yay!

Confessions of a Domestic Diva

Hello all!  I am taking a break from the kitchen.  I am on a baking jag in that I am trying to get some things baked before it gets too hot.  I am baking on a large scale this morning.  So far I have made 4 loaves of bread, 1 pkg of hamburger buns and 1 pkg of hot dog buns.  I have English muffins on the rise(hence the break).  I am trying to bake more at once so I can keep from having to turn on the oven too often.  I know I said I could use the grill, and I am sure I will when it gets too hot, but for today it is still cloudy and not so hot.
 Yesterday I picked another 4 lbs of blueberries and was able to can them up into 7 pint jars of blueberries.  I must have wanted those berries really bad cause I got out there yesterday morning not realizing the weather man was still calling for rain.  I start picking and get to number 5 of my 6 bushes and a little drop of rain begins to fall.  I think Uh oh I better get those herbs cut before the rain starts.  So I real quick go over to my herb bed and pick the mint and rosemary I wanted for later and then went back to picking.  I no sooner get back to picking blueberries and it starts to pour.  I keep on picking saying to myself "I am neither sugar nor salt (I am someones honey)I won't melt".  I finally finish picking the berries and go into the house soaked.  My oldest son just looks at me weird for a sec then goes back to what he was doing.  He's used to his crazy mama.  I was also able to get the rosemary oil and the mint extract started. So in 2 weeks you guys will get to see the results. Today's plan is to get into the garden after it dries up some and finish tying up the tomatoes, weed, and stake some Lima beans that don't realize they are bush beans.
Now all of that being said; I know I write often about about baking, canning, gardening, etc.  A lot of people read that and think "whew!  How can she have time to do all that?".  I'm guessing they say that anyway.  Well I will now confess......my house isn't......er...ah..orderly.   There!  I said it!  Now don't get me wrong.  It isn't that bad.  My kitchen stays clean in between projects.  I try to clean as I go.  My laundry stays done and for the most part folded and put away.  I try to make my bed each day.  I do those things and a few others, but the really clean organized home....  not me.  My home is ahh lived in.  I do make sure the floors are swept and things are straight before Dh comes home, but these extra curricular activities do take away from my "Donna Reed"ness.  Probably around the Christmas Holidays you will see my house plew perfect, but this time of year is extremely busy for me and spring cleaning isn't a great priority. Now once the garden is put to bed I will be going through this house like a mad woman getting it back to normal.  For now.  If you come over, just don't look too closely.  There... Confession made.  Now I can go back to my Domestic Diva status.

Mornin all!

It is raining this morning so what better time to do any bread making than today.  Can't go play in the yard, but we need bread too.  So while the dough is on its first rising I am here typing away.
I tried another experiment.  I would like to say it is original idea, but apparently I am not the first to try this.  I managed to bake bread, pizza, and muffins on my gas grill outside.  It was a test and so I only made 1 loaf of bread(hence the reason we need bread today), and 1 batch of muffins( I needed to use up a ripe banana,2 egg yolks and about a cup of milk).  Everything turned out well.  The trick is to move it around periodically in order for it to brown evenly.  I lit only one side then put the items to be baked on the unlit side then closed the lid.  It was enjoyable to sit outside with my Dh and catch up on the day as we looked out over the back yard with the garden and fruit trees.  So anyway, I now have an alternative to heating up my house when making bread.  The first alternative was to buy bread and while it is Okay, there is nothing like homemade bread fresh from the oven(or grill) with butter.  Oh yea baby!  So I will be enjoying an indoor day knowing that tomorrow will definitely be an outdoor day.  I have a some tomatoes to tie up, Lima bush beans to stake (I know right!) They are bush beans but apparently they don't know it and are in the process of reaching across the isle to the corn.....hmmm I feel like I should say something political here....never mind!  I still want to get out and get some herbs for teas, tinctures, and oils.  I will do that sometime this week.  And I haven't forgotten about posting pics of how I did it.  Add to all that the normal pickin and grinnin and it makes for a busy day outside.
So I will write more when I have more to write.  Until then I hope everyone has a blessed day.

What to do with old ratty t shirts

First of all, I need to give a shout out to my Aunt Peggy who I understand has recently tuned in.  Hey Aunt Peggy!

Anyway, I know everyone has had this moment were you are going through your families clothes and weeding out what is good enough to wear, sell, or give away.  Well that is all fine and good, but what do you do with t shirts that are faded, holey, and otherwise ratty.  Not good enough to keep, sell, or give away.  Then there is the ever present guilt now associated with throwing things into the land fill.  Bad, Bad, Bad.  Well, for those of you who suffer from this and want to know what you can do about it, I might have an answer.  Re purpose those t shirts into something else.  Here is what I do:
THIS

Use to be these:

This is what I do while I am watching TV or just vegging on the bed after working in the garden etc.  I can't do this whole pile at once.  It makes my hand a little sore after a bit mainly because I am left handed using right handed scissors.  See what I have to put up with in this right handed world?  Just not fair....anyway, I digress.  First of all you want to lay the t shirt flat and cut off the hem at the bottom.  Use the hems for tomato tie ups if you want to or something to that effect, but they are no longer needed with this shirt.

Then you want to cut the bottom half of the t shirt off.  Some people want to make sure they cut off below the decal, but I don't care if it is there.  It will add a bit of color to my next project so I keep it.

Next you will cut the T shirt into strips coming to withing about a inch of the other side, but alternate sides to leave un-clipped.  If you accidentally cut to far you can always tie it back on so now biggie.

Now you can shred this bad boy all the way to the top and then roll it up into a ball, stretching the material as you do so..  This is how I learned how to do this from another site.  Wish I could remember the site, but here tis.  This does work, but I prefer the lazy method and that is to just cut the hem off and then begin trimming from the bottom to the top around and around until I run out of shirt.  Like this:

Kind like peeling an apple and keeping the peeling whole.  That same idea.  Once rolled up this t shirt material can be used where you would use yarn, just make sure you use a larger size needle.  What can you make from something like this?  Well here is a hot pad I made from an old t shirt of mine

Now I realize my crocheting leaves a lot to be desired.  I am still learning, but this thing is seriously useful.  My plan for the rest of the "yarn" is to make a scatter rug for in my country quiet room.  I will post a pic when it is done.  Might be next year...LOL

On the garden front I am happy to say I picked 3 lbs of blueberries today for my first picking of blueberries. So far so good.  Everything seems to be rocking along.  The list is still long on thing I need to do in the garden or outside in general, and it gets added to daily, but its great.  It rained last night and is cloudy today so the plan for today is to bake bread for next week.  I should be getting to that instead of loitering about here, but I wanted to share my pics.  Hope everyone has a great day.  Stay cool!

I NEED VODKA! Uhhh but not why you would think

This year I finally broke down and said I was tired of trying to start herbs from seed and I was going to just buy perennials at the store and divide them later as the need arises.  I had such good luck with my lemon balm I wanted to see what else I could try.  I tried Thyme, Rosemary, Mint, and Oregano.  I didn't realize how well they would do in their own bed, nor did I realize that when they are happy they like to spread.  Here is a pic of my mint as of about 2 weeks ago it has grown to about twice this size since

On the other side of the mint is my oregano and it has added quite a bit since this was taken.  Anyway, thanks to my prolific herbs, I am needing to find a way to use them in a hurry.  I started doing some research on the herbs to see if their were any benefits besides the obvious cooking ones.  I was amazed at what I found.  Rosemary oil can be used for pain relief, hair care, respiratory problems, helps relieve stomach cramps, and rosemary teas can be used on the scalp to help delay hair loss.  Thyme has anti fungal properties.  Mint can treat dandruff and lice as well as has antiseptic properties and you can apply a drop to your forehead to help relieve headaches.  Mint is also a natural pesticide.  Yay!  Oregano is both and anti fungal, anti viral,and antibacterial herb.  It is also an anti inflammatory herb.  It can help with eczema, psoriasis, athletes foot etc.  Those are just a few of the benefits to these herbs. Now I don't have any idea how true these claims are,  but with an abundance of herbs I am willing to look into it.  If nothing else these herbs smell wonderful and the essential oils from these herbs would make a wonderful addition to a bath or a simmering pot.  I am willing to give it a go.  I am always trying to find healthier things for my family.  I will keep everyone updates on what I find, but for now that is why I need the vodka.  I need it to make tinctures and extracts.  I already have olive oil for the oils.  I am going to play a bit to see what all I can do.  I am going to go to the library sometime soon and see about getting some more books on the subject.  Right now I am just learning and am in no way an expert.
So aside from that, the garden up date is: 60lbs of potatoes this year.  I still have about 5 more plants in the ground that looked good so I am letting them grow a little longer, but so far it is 60 lbs potatoes.  For my calculations it comes out to about .34 lb.  Not bad.  It isn't as good as 2 years ago when I got about twice that, but considering it got so hot so fast, and something got my plants( I think), then it isn't too bad at all.  I still came out ahead of buying them at the store so I am happy.  They are beautiful potatoes though.  I love red potatoes and that is what these are. Once the potatoes were up I planted more corn.  I would like to be able to get enough corn to can quite a few pints.  Broccoli is done and I have ended up with about 12lbs of that in my freezer so my calculations on that are .66lb and that is without the waste you would normally end up buying if you got it at the store so happy there as well.  Blueberries are starting to come in.  I figure I will be able to pick about a quart by Friday.  Looking forward to that.  Last year I got about 35lbs.  I would love to get at least that this year as well.  I was pleased to find three little baby blueberry bushes that had come off the mother bush.  They have since been clipped from mama but they are still planted and mulched in her shadow.  Once they go dormant in the fall I will move them to where their new home will be.  Hmmmmm where will that be?  I have to think about this.  So aside from all that life is great.  I have my worries like anyone else, but my main thing is to remember God is in charge and He knows the plans for me; numbers the hairs on my head, my name is written in His hand.  He will never leave me or forsake me.  He is forever faithful.  With a friend and heavenly father like that how can I fear.  I hope you guys have a really blessed day.

UGH! It's so hot!

Well we had a warmer than normal winter and now we are having a hotter than normal spring.  So here we go again trying to keep the house cool without breaking the bank.  Yesterday the temp was 87 degrees in the house with the AC running.  Not good.  Today I have covered the sliding glass door, which ironically faces the sun at its height.  I am hoping that will help, but hate the fact that I can't look outside and see my pretty garden. (pout).  I have also been trying to cook more outside using the grill and a crock pot.  It has worked so far.  I am thinking come canning time I will be using the grill for some of my canning.  I read an interesting tip the other day on energy savings during canning. The tip was to put your canner outside in the morning and let the sun heat the water for you.  That way it doesn't take as much energy to bring the water to boiling when you can.  I think I will go one further and put my jars in there as well.  I am going to try this experiment once my canning starts.  I have gotten some things form my garden so far.  Mainly spinach, lettuce, and broccoli.  I dug up enough potatoes yesterday to have for dinner, about 21/2 lbs.  They were the new potatoes.  Love those.  I put a roast, the new potatoes, and fresh rosemary and Thyme from my herb bed into my crock pot and let it simmer on the back deck. The pic above is the corner of my herb bed.  Kind of a rustic type look, but I used what I had on hand to make the bed. Works like a charm.  I also made sun tea.  In fact now that I am thinking about it, I need to put some more outside to brew.
I need t make bread, and so I am planning on making up the dough this afternoon but baking it tonight after the sun goes down.  I have been remiss lately in using my clothes line, and since a hot dryer adds to a hot house, I will be going back to using my clothes line.  Well, wish I could share some earth shattering tip that will set the blogo-sphere aflutter, but alas no such luck.  Instead I will get up from here and get started on my day as always. I hope everyone has a great day and stay cool if you are in the south!

Uhhhh YUM!

This seems a little repetitive, but I am sorry I have been away so long.  Lets face it, it is prime time gardening season and so I don't have lots of free time.  What free time I have, I have been using for sewing in order to get up an inventory of doll clothes to sell.  That being said I wanted to share something I discovered the other day that is awesome!  Homemade fruit tea.  Oh yea baby.  I have found me something goooood. Snapple aint got nothin on me.
 Last year I put up 4 quarts of blackberry juice concentrate(which is awesome by the way), but it wasn't until now that I took out a quart to prepare.  1 quart of the concentrate make about 3 liters of juice.  Anyway, I was brewing tea and thought I would try another one of my "hummm I wonder" projects.  Needless to say it is my new addiction.  I have been suckin down fruit tea for the past 2 days.  Probably not so good for my waist line, but I don't care it is very refreshing on a warm day.  Here's what I did:

My fruit tea

Enough tea bags for a 2 quart pitcher of tea
1 can fruit juice concentrate(or in my case 12 oz of my blackberry concentrate)
2/3 cup sugar(more or less depending on taste)
water

So steep your tea bags like you normally would for your tea.  Pour the steeped tea into your 2 quart pitcher.  Add the fruit juice concentrate and sugar.  Stir it up so all the sugar dissolves.  Add water until you make 2 quarts of tea.  Chill.
Writing this blog I am finishing up the last of the tea.  I have to ask myself if I want to make more, or be responsible and take a break for my waist line........hmmmm a conundrum(she said as she took another drink).

So updating the past three weeks.  We are finishing up school for both of the boys.  One graduates on Saturday and the other is finishing up his homeschooling.  We are proud of both and the strides they have made this year.  Our son that is graduating is a minor miracle because we were told years ago he wouldn't graduate with a regular diploma but could get a special needs diploma.  That wasn't acceptable and now he is graduating with a regular diploma and the plan right now is for him to start technical college without an IEP or special needs program.  Modifications will be made on our end at home.  We are at least going to try.
The garden is coming up and in.  My tomatoes, beans, potatoes, corn, and peppers are all getting large and lush and putting out babies.  My spinach, lettuce, and broccoli are coming in at a steady pace.  So far I have put up 8 lbs of broccoli (and eaten 2lbs), and have the little side shoots still coming in.  I have brought in about 1 lb of spinach and 1/2 pound of lettuce.  My English pea experiment was successful.  I ended up with about 2 lbs of peas.  The adjustments I am going to make for next year are that I am going to start my peas indoors around the beginning of December to put them out the middle of Jan.  I will also plant a lot more peas.  I would say not a bad return when You think I got the pea seeds for free.  Blackberry and blue berry bushes are covered with fruit just waiting to ripen.  I am about to go out and pick more spinach, broccoli and lettuce as well as do more gardening stuff.  All in all things are going pretty smooth.  So now I have to go spray my fruit trees, and get busy.  Again sorry so long since my last post.  I will try to do better.