My Husbands Hobby

                                                 

Well it's been about a year since Justin started dabbling in wood crafts and that means about a year that I've been able to ask him to "go build me this" or "go build me that." I've loved just about everything he's created and now that we have a new house on our homestead he has lots of spaces to try to furnish with the lumber that he has milled.

Some of my favorite things he's made for me have been:

 A Pallet wood potting table....

Wood slices, for all my crafting needs...

                                       

                                                                     Candle holders....

Blocks for the kids....

This beautiful childrens picnic table...

He and the girls made this birdhouse to surprise me....

                                                                And a bench or two....

like this rustic little garden bench...

and this very large one.

He made lots of cutting boards too...

A New kitchen table...

A foyer table...

A desk....

And a dining room table.

Whew...That's quite a bit for a beginner (who also happens to work 60+ hours a week and take care of a family and a homestead)  I'm pretty proud of what he can get done in his -not so often- spare time!

I can't wait to see what he'll come up with in 2014.

Let the building begin!

                                                                                  

Spiced Apple Pear Butter- Crock Pot Recipe



 

There seems to be a common sentence at the beginning of all of my post. So here goes, You will not believe how easy this is to make! It is literally done in just a few steps and makes the house smell wonderful while it's cooking. This is a great recipe to make in the fall when pears and apples are in season. Since I'm trying to fill you in on everything I've learned over the past year I'm posting this a bit out of season but don't worry,it tastes good anytime of year!

 

Here is a picture of my finished product....

 

 

And here is what happened a split second after I snapped that close up.....

 

She's never far away from the camera!

 

 

Back to the apple pear butter recipe.

 

Here's what you need:

 

Apples and Pears

spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves

a pinch of salt

and sweetener of your choice (I use brown sugar)

 

Here's what you have to do:

 

1- Peel and dice fruit into large chunks, discarding the cores.

 

2-Put them in your crock pot and sprinkle in your chosen spices, salt and sweetener of choice. (the amount of sugar will vary depending on how sweet your apples are to start with.

 

3-Put lid on and cook on high for about an hour

 

4- Reduce heat to low and cook for 9-12 hours, stirring occasionally  (I smash it with a hand held potato masher) And cook it until  it reaches a desired consistency.

 

5- Can it or freeze it in bags until ready to eat.

 

To can it - fill hot canning jars leaving 1/4 inch head space. Process in a water bath for 10 minutes.

 

 

See I told you it was simple!!

 

 

 

 

 

 



 



 

Making sauerkraut

I loved learning how to make sauerkraut this past year and  I was surprised by how easy (and inexpensive) it was to make. I was especially proud of our New Years' pork and sauerkraut meal this year. Our roast was from our own backyard pig and it was perfeclyt paired with our home fermented kraut. If you're looking for a simple and rewarding project, I would recommend you try this recipe. 

Here's how I did it.

 

You will need:

 

cabbages

kosher or pickling salt

a large container

a plate

and a weight (I used a gallon jar filled with water, but many people use a big Rock) 

 

 

*Two important things to remember when making this are to never use aluminum utensils, and that using very clean utensils is necessary for a healthy brew...so clean your container and utensils before beginning.

 

To make it:

 

1. Wash cabbages and remove the outer leaves. Shred finely and discard the cores.(You can use a food processor or shred it by hand, like I did)

 

(I cannot figure out how to rotate this picture...grrr!)



 

2. Mix 4 Tbls. salt with 5 pounds of shredded cabbage and put in your clean crock. Stir and smash this down with clean hands until juices (the salt pulls it from the cabbage) covers the layer of cabbage.

 



 

3. Repeat until all of your cabbage is gone, using the same salt to cabbage ratio, and keep layering it and smashing it in your crock. Smash until brine covers the cabbage. If you cannot seem to smash it until the liquid covers the cabbage you can make some extra brine to pour in. To do this, just put 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons of kosher salt into 1 quart of boiling water. Dissolve the salt in the water and cool brine to room temperature. Add brine to cover cabbage.

 

4. Put the plate in the crock, on top of cabbage, and place your weight on the plate to keep the cabbage under the brine.

 

5. Cover the crock with plastic wrap and then place a heavy towel over the top. (You want to keep any bugs out)

 

6. Place the crock in an area where the temperature will not go above 75 degrees or below 60. Allow it to ferment for 4-6 weeks until it tastes the way you like it. The longer you let it sit the more "sour" it will get. (The higher the temp. the faster it will ferment.)

I let mine go for 6 weeks at about 70 degrees and it was delicious.

Also- It can get some mold on the top of the brine. As long as it's not green or black- this is okay. Just remove it before taking out the kraut. I have talked to many people who have been making it for years and a lot of them say that they scrape the mold off once a week for 6 weeks. Some say they just remove it when it's done fermenting. I was worried about mine the first time I made it. But then I ate it and didn't die...so now I trust what everyone had told me.

 

7. Next-taste it. If it's good then remove it from the crock. Eat it raw for all the fermented benefits or Can it to enjoy it later in the year. (If you want to keep it raw I've read that it will keep in the fridge for about two months.)

 

I don't love it raw because I feel like it has a musty taste but I try to eat some anyway...since it's good for me and all. I canned the majority of mine.

 

If you want to can it use this timetable:

 

Hot Pack: Pint Jars-10 minutes, Quart jars-15 minutes
Raw Pack: Pint jars-20 minutes, Quart jars-25 minutes

 

 

 



 

And if you want to see another sweet little thing that was brewing in my crock....

 

Here's my little one playing peek-a-boo.

 

Where's Baby Josie?? Where could she be??

 

Peek-a-boo!!!  There she is!!

 

 I don't know what I enjoyed more about this antique crock...Fermenting the kraut or entertaining my  toddler for an entire afternoon?! Both uses were wonderful!!

 

If you make your sauerkraut a different way, I'd love to hear about it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Easy Crockpot Yogurt Recipe

I was going to write this post yesterday but it ended up turning into a raw milk post. So.....

Here's how I make my yogurt. It really makes a lot of yogurt for less than half the price of store bought and it's twice as healthy! Plus... it's ridiculously easy!!

You will need:

-A crock pot

-1/2 Gallon of milk (Raw or pasteurized)

-1/2-1 cup of some plain, store bought, organic, pro biotic yogurt. (or if you have a friend that makes yogurt ask them for a 1/2 cup to get you started)

*note- you only need the store bought "starter" the first time you make it. After that just keep a scoop from your previous batch aside for next time!

The method:

-Put the milk in your crock and turn it on low for 2 hours.

-After 2 hours unplug the crock pot for another 2 hours.

-After that, add in your yogurt starter and replace the lid (keeping the crock unplugged). wrap a bath towel around the crock pot and let it sit for 8-9 hours.

-Open the lid and be amazed that your milk just turned into yogurt!!

I only have a picture of ours nearly gone...

If you want really thick yogurt-strain off the whey by pouring it through a cheesecloth. (Use your whey in place of water next time you bake bread!)

 If you want really thick Greek yogurt then let it strain for a few hours until all the whey has dripped from it.

Finish the yogurt with your favorite toppings and enjoy!!

I love mine with honey and granola, or any fresh fruit that I have. I also love it mixed with a dollop of my favorite homemade jam. The possibilities are endless!

 

My kids' favorite way to eat it is blended with a half of a banana....But they only like it If I hang a piece of banana on the side of the glass...Go figure!

 

Now go ahead, get out your crock pot and fill 'er up with some milk. You know you want to have fresh yogurt for breakfast tomorrow!!

 

 

Organic Homemade Degongesting Vapor Rub

 

It's that time of year again.

 

When every kid you see has a snotty nose and every mom is carrying around tissues in their pockets. Nothing quite soothes a cold the way that Vick's Vapor Rub does and since we have ventured into our "homesteading" lifestyle I have sworn off running to the store to buy everything we need (or that we think we need) I have been instead running to the kitchen  to try to make something similar. This recipe is absolutely amazing to me, even though I've only smelled it yet with my congested nose, I believe that it smells the same or better than the name brand stuff. I made it a few days ago and have been using it 3x daily since then. The other great thing is that you can customize the strength of it by simply using less oils. I think that makes it a little more appropriate for my kids. You could even play with the oils you are adding to the Eucalyptus. I chose to add Lavender and chamomile. It's soothing and relaxing..Just the comfort I'm looking for when I'm feeling under the weather!

 

Here's how I made it: (as you can tell I don't really measure when I make stuff so I'm giving estimates...you can figure out how thick, thin or strongly scented you'd like it to be and go from there. You can't mess it up, if you want to change the consistency after it cools just put it back in a warm pan and add more beeswax or oil!)

 

 

You'll need:

 

1 cup- organic Evoo

1 tbls. -Beeswax shavings (Try to find a local source for your beeswax, if you can't hen you can order it online)

30ish- drops Eucalyptus essential oil

20ish- drops Lavender essential oil

15ish- drops of chamomile essential oil (or any other essential oil you think compliments the Eucalyptus)

 

To make:

 

Put Evoo and beeswax in a small saucepan over low heat until beeswax is melted, stirring often. Remove from heat and add essential oils. Pour in pretty jars ( I used 4oz. Jelly jars)  And..

THAT'S IT!!  Easy, huh?!

 

 

   

The oils in it help it to have a decent shelf life, but you should try to use it within one year.

 

Isn't it amazing how simple these things really are to make at home?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A little taste of Heaven- homemade vanilla coffee creamer

 

Two of my favorite things in life are making things at home and vanilla coffee creamer. So, it only makes sense that I would eventually figure out how to make the worlds best coffee creamer, right? Well I did..and it is heavenly! I couldn't start my day off right without a hot cup of coffee and a morning phone call from my big sister. Okay, so maybe I should have said my 3 favorite things in life because my big sister is pretty high up on the favorites list. Now you know what makes my heart happy- Making things, drinking coffee and my big sister!  In this recipe you can play with the amounts of each ingredient in the recipe and adapt it to your own personal taste but here is what I do:

 

 

2 to 3 cups - Heavy cream -I ladle mine off the top of our raw milk but you could use any cream such as half and half

 

1/4 cup -organic brown sugar -or any alternative sugar you prefer

 

about 1 Tbls-Pure Vanilla Extract -I use my own homemade vanilla extract. I got the recipe from my all time favorite blogger here-

 http://theelliotthomestead.com/

 

 



 

Put the brown sugar in the bottom of a saucepan along with the vanilla. Heat on low until sugar is warm and moist looking. Remove from heat and whisk in heavy cream. Pour it in a pretty jar and keep it in the refrigerator. 

 

Use within 7-10 days. Unless you're like me...then you can invite over a girlfriend or two and drink coffee all day long, in which case it only last about two days. Good thing it's so easy to whip up another batch! 

 



 

 

 

What is your favorite coffee creamer flavor? Maybe I can come up with a recipe for it!

Super easy sugar scrub

 One of the quickest things to make yourself is this vanilla brown sugar body scrub. I made it as part of my  Christmas present baskets this year. I wanted it to have a warm and cozy winter smell so I chose to use brown sugar and vanilla to scent it. You can whip up a batch of this and clean up your kitchen in less than 5 minutes so I figured it was a great recipe to start my blog with. I keep a mason jar on the side of my tub and it leaves my skin feeling luxuriously moisturized. Here is the recipe:

 

 

 

1 cup brown sugar

 

1 cup white sugar

 

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

 

and a few teaspoons vanilla extract

 

Stir all ingredients in a bowl until combine. (If it's too runny just add more sugar. If it's too dry add more oil) Put in a pretty glass jar and you're done. Here is a photo of mine. I chose to put it in a wide mouth jelly jar for my gifts and tied some jute around a piece of brown paper bag to make it match my rustic gift baskets.

 

 

 

And here is a picture of one of my gift baskets since I know you're all just dying to see them!

 

 

 

 

 

What homemade gifts did you give for Christmas this year?