Norwegian Fair Isle Socks

I've been so busy making these socks lately that I haven't had much time to write. There is a blog post coming soon on how to make them!

Purple Poppie Hair Pin

I was recently given this pretty hair pin from my sweet friend Abigail. She makes and sells these kind of hair pins along with her sister in their Etsy shop: simpleSerendipities . Their shop is closing down right now and so everything is on sale 40% off the listed price. Just enter the coupon code JULYSALE at checkout. You have to hurry though since the sale ends August 1st!

Purple is one of my favorite colors and I adore poppies...how did she know?!:) Needless to say I'm having fun finding different ways to wear it. I have waist length hair that is fairly thick and heavy so I often do updos to keep it neat. I divided my hair in half (top and bottom) and then formed the top into a shell bun and the bottom into a regular bun. I got inspiration for this from Rapunzel's Resource .

Here are some other pretty things they are selling:

carnation clips

yellow posies

turquoise rosette headband

Blog: SimpleSerendipities
Shop:simpleserendipities.etsy.com

Our June Garden

 

Our garden is coming along pretty well this year. We have crape myrtles blooming, the grapes are turning and we have been getting basketfuls of tomatoes (around 20 every other day).

the jalapeno is gone

This morning I happened to look out the window to our check on our garden and saw our jalapeno plant completely gone. I looked again and saw what was left of the wilted plant about 18 inches away. Now who, or what would do that!? I have never seen a whole plant completely uprooted like that and can't imagine what would do that...a squirrel?? an opposom? rat? Who knows. It doesn't bother me much though since it was a small plant and hadn't really grown much since we planted it.

Wednesday morning we finally got some rain. I really can't remember when we had last gotten rain and everything was beginning to show it. We've had water restrictions, 100 degree weather, bushes dying, trees turning yellow and bottomless gaping cracks in the ground. So we were all so thankful to wake up in the middle of the night to the sounds of thunder and pouring rain. It continued to rain on into the morning and stopped around 8:00 leaving south Texas cool and fresh. It was wonderful and reminded me of what I had been reading earlier in the week from Isaiah 35."For waters will break forth in the wilderness And streams in the Arabah. ⁷ The scorched land will become a pool And the thirsty ground springs of water;" The Lord has given again.

Our peppers keep coming, though not quite as many as last year.

Garlicky Cream Cheese Wontons

 This recipe  for wontons is so good! They might seem like a lot of work to assemble and fry but if you have another person to help they are a breeze. I usually try and make these whenever we have Teriyaki chicken, Szechuan chicken, or any other oriental meal. If I had wonton wrappers on hand I would be in the kitchen making them right now.

Capturing the Day

It is wholly impossible to live according to Divine order, and to make a proper application of heavenly principles, as long as the necessary duties which each day brings seem only like a burden grievous to be borne. Not till we are ready to throw our very life’s love into the troublesome little things can we be really faithful in that which is least and faithful also in much. Every day that dawns brings something to do, which can never be done as well again. We should, therefore, try to do it ungrudgingly and cheerfully. It is the Lord’s own work, which He has given us as surely as He gives us daily bread. We should thank Him for it with all our hearts, as much as for any other gift. It was designed to be our life, our happiness. Instead of shirking it or hurrying over it, we should put our whole heart and soul into it.
- James Reed

I stumbled on this quote and had to share it. It is easy for me to forget that each day is a unique new day in which we have a choice of redeeming  His time for His glory or letting it fall useless.

photo credit: weheartit

Swedish Cookies

Love these...partly because they look so pretty and partly because of how good they are! I had fun with these cookies, especially since I just happened to have some Swedish family heirlooms to use for photo props.

Hexagon Afghan

Mom, Catherine and I were wanting to give a gift to a friend for her birthday but were at a loss to know what to give until we thought of this. We thought it would be neat to give something that was made by all three of us and this was the perfect thing. We each made our own hexagons, we each helped weave in the ends, and I sewed it all together.

We have made multicolored afghans before but never have done anything like this so it was a little new to us but it was great fun!

 

I really like the hexagon shape, it so much more interesting than the normal square.

We had a hard time figuring out what colors to combine. We finally came out with these 10.

This was my spot for a couple days. Tea, morning sunshine, happy birds in the tree above me and a pile of yarn- love it!

 

Had to take a break in the shade.:)

The next day we had finished all of the hexagons so I spent most of that evening and following morning sewing the pieces together. We had a total of 48 hexagons which made a pretty nice size throw/lap blanket.
Sewing it all together was a breeze, except for when I found two pentagons instead of hexagons (my fault)! So I manipulated another side out of them as I sewed them together.

Finished!!

 

Homemade Toothpaste

This is an inexpensive yet effective alternative to the pricier fluoride-free toothpaste you buy in the store.

 I found this recipe one day while perusing through an old soap-making book I had gotten from the library.
We have also tried a recipe that called for coconut oil but that was a little bit too oily and had a tendency to separate more than the glycerin does. 

Homemade Toothpaste

• 8 Tbsp. Baking soda
• 3-4 Tbsp.  Vegetable glycerin  (you can usually get this at the health food store for about $5.00)
• 20-30 drops ( 3/4 tsp.)  of peppermint essential oil  *added to taste.
• 1/8-1/4 tsp stevia powder

1. Stir together the glycerin and baking soda until it forms a cohesive paste.
2. Add the peppermint a little at a time until you're satisfied with the taste.
3. Add stevia to taste.
4. Store in a small plastic container or glass jar. -see below for details on storage-

This recipe makes about a 1/2 cup of toothpaste. You can find separate little plastic containers (shown in the photo above) so not everyone is dipping their toothbrush into the same jar. ;) I found these containers (aprox. 2 oz.) with lids at the dollar store in a ten pack for under $2.00.

Every now and then you may have to stir it to keep the glycerin and baking soda from separating.

You could experiment with different essential oils, so far I have only tried peppermint but I think it would be interesting to see what others you could use.

Doughnuts...

I pulled out an old and tattered Taste of Home magazine and made these delicious bites for a snack. It has been maybe two or three years since we last made our own doughnuts so I thought it was about time to make a batch again.

I made the dough; let it sit for a bit to rise; Catherine and Mom cut out the doughnuts; and I fried them.
Catherine finished them off with icing and/or cinnamon sugar.

Epazote

I had no idea what epazote was until about a year ago. I had been researching Mexico and Mexican cuisine last April when I stumbled on this interesting herb.

Epazote is an culinary and medicinal herb native to Mexico and Central America originally cultivated and used by the Aztecs and Mayans. It's name comes from the nahuatl (Aztec) 'epazotl' meaning skunk weed. It is well known for it's distinct taste and smell which you will either love or hate. It cannot be replaced by anything in recipes as there is just nothing like it. I put it in a Oaxacan bean recipe, in quesadillas, in tacos, whatever I like. It is usually added fresh and at the last few minutes of cooking.

 

Medicinally it is used as:

amebicide, 

antibacterial, 

anticancerous, 

antimalarial,  

hepatoprotective (liver protector)  

liver detoxifier

antiparasitic, 

antitumorous, 

ascaricide (kills Ascaris parasitic worms),

insecticidal,

diaphoretic (promotes sweating),

menstrual stimulant, 

nervine (balances/calms nerves), 

sedative, (just smelling this herb makes you feel relaxed)

asthma
and more..

I grow epazote in our garden and cut it often adding it to whatever Mexican recipe I am making. I also make a decoction from it and drink that.  It is extremely easy to grow and will flourish in just about any soil. It can become an invasive weed seeding and spreading itself everywhere. Currently I have about 4 miniature epazote plants besides the main one. Be sure to cut your epazote often to keep it from seeding. Like basil, once it seeds that is all it wants to do and you will end up with woody seedy bushes rather than lush leafy ones.

I make a decoction of this herb by adding about an half a cup of epazote leaves and stems to about 4 cups of water and boil this for about ten minutes on the stove top. Be sure your cuttings aren't too 'seedy' as you want to get mainly leaves.

CAUTION:

Whil having all of these great properties, this herb is toxic at highly concentrated levels because of the principle oil in it: ascaridole. Ascaridole is mostly concentrated in the seeds of the plant. 

As a result unusually large quantities of this should be avoided and the essential oil should not be used as it is toxic.

Not to be taken while pregnant or breast-feeding.

 

Whole Wheat Tortillas/Chapatis

When it comes to making tortillas I far prefer white flour over whole wheat. Whole wheat many times turns out too thick, too wheaty, and entirely lacking in the traditional soft, white flour tortilla texture and taste.

This recipe, though, is a little bit of an exception. I found that if done right this yields a pretty good whole wheat tortilla or chapati.

Since this recipe calls for a small amount of oil it is technically a chapati; tortillas usually have quite a bit more lard/shortening added to them. I use this recipe all the time for tortillas and it is about everything I could want despite being unauthentic.

(Also, I use this recipe all the time with regular white flour too and it gives consistently good results.)



Ingredients:

• 3 cups of whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1-2 Tbsp. oil
• 1 1/2 cups boiling water

1. In a large bowl mix the flour and salt.
2. Add the oil and rub in the oil with your hands as you would for a pie crust. 
3. Add boiling water and stir together with a wooden spoon. 
4. When the dough begins to form together into a ball transfer to a work surface and begin kneading (if it is too hot to handle then let it sit a couple minutes to cool). 
5. Knead dough for about 3-5 minutes. 
6. Let dough rest for about 10-15 minutes.
7. Pull off a piece of dough about the size of a golf ball and roll it into a ball.
8. Dust your work surface with flour and begin rolling out your tortilla being sure to keep pressure light and even. (To make an even circle roll a little and turn to "1:00" then "2:00" then "3:00" etc until you have a cirlce about 6-7" in diameter.-hope that makes sense)
9. Place tortilla onto a hot pan (about medium high heat).
10. Cook for about 20-30 seconds and flip over.
11. Cook on second side for about 1-1.5 minutes and flip over.
12. Cook for about 15 seconds on the third and final side- your tortilla should puff up and begin to bubble.
13. Remove from pan and keep warm in a towel.

Couscous

I made an alteration of this recipe...it is best with the raisins but I had none on hand. This couscous has become one of my favorite side dishes. We like it even for lunch...provided we have enough pitas to go with it!

Here's the recipe