The recipe, preserving, and a Christ-mas devotional...

 

As so many of you asked for this recipe I have it all prepared for you today as an easy download. One thing I would like to remind those of you who make this bread, is that it is made from 100% wholemeal spelt flour, not white spelt or a refined version. I buy spelt grains and mill them myself, or when I run out of grains I have a supply in my freezer of 100% organic wholemeal spelt flour from a trusted supplier here in Australia.

You could also use wholewheat, or another type of wheat grain. Check the dough is not too dry if using a different wheat to spelt, as spelt tends to use slightly less water than regular wheat. 

If you make this loaf please let me know your results - and if you made any tweaks I'd love for you to share in the comments so we can all learn from your experience. Breadmaking is one of my absolute favourite things to do and trying new things with dough is always exciting!

**DOWNLOAD the recipe here**

MANGO MANIA

You saw our glut of mangoes last week, right? I had so many plans for using them up before they became too ripe and have almost accomplished crossing everything off my list. It was ghastly hot and humid, as is usual here, so I really needed to pace myself in the kitchen with plenty of cool drinks and rest breaks. My knee was acting up something dreadful, and my numb fingers were a slight challenge, but my arm managed very well, so thank you for your prayers. xx

I began with chopping mangoes for freezing and now have a jolly good supply for hubby's autumn and winter smoothies. Then it was on to mango chutney. We normally buy it at the supermarket, but with a hundred mangoes on hand I went looking for a simple but delicious recipe to try. The first batch was just three jars, as I was not sure how good it would taste - well, it was delicious!

I then made a larger second batch, and will make another batch on Boxing Day - it's too good not to. 

Then I moved on to mango jam, something I have never seen in a store and never tasted. This was an overnighter, the fruit and sugar needing to be left to marinate in a large saucepan until the next day. I make loads of different jams, so I assumed this would cook up quickly, but when I re-read the recipe (from the Queensland CWA 1959 Cookbook) it had to boil for 3-4 hours. 

Well, after 2 1/2 hours it was still mostly liquid (and I had only used 2/3 of the sugar given in the recipe because we do not like really sweet jams)...so I added pectin, and another ten minutes of boiling gave me a nice jammy consistency. We are yet to try this, and as I have jars to give away over Christ-mas it seems we had better slice some bread tonight and do a taste test! If it does not pass muster, my gift recipients will receive mango chutney instead (which really makes me determined to cook up another batch on Boxing Day so we don't run out ourselves). I shall let you know after Christ-mas how the jam fared. 

I've also dehydrated about ten large mangoes so far. I gave them a try on the weekend when I made mango and coconut muffins to take on our drive (we take a thermos of home-brewed iced coffee and home-baked muffins for breakfast every Sunday) and they were lovely. Dehydrating the mango intensfies the flavour a great deal. 

Some of the second batch of chutney I put in small 200ml jars for gifts if needed, and as I had some nectarines to use up, a quick batch of nectarine relish was made for Blossom, who absolutely LOVES nectarine season. 

I took about sixteen mangoes over to her at the weekend, and she was thrilled to have them fresh to eat as the children eat a lot of fruit. Ross asked for my quick mango ice-cream recipe and jotted it down on his phone, intent on making it the next day. I reminded him its actually Jamie Oliver's recipe from over a decade ago, but he'll still call it "Mum's Mango Ice-Cream". ;-)

Oh, and I made a simple mango mousse on Saturday night from fresh chopped mangoes, coconut cream, honey and a little gelatine. Hubby is dairy free, which is why I used coconut cream, but apparently the common recipe uses condensed milk and whipped cream with the mangoes.

Our elder tree continues to offer an abundance of elderberries so I am air drying them in the covered back porch. This is the second batch dried, and I have three more batches yet to be plucked off their stems. 

 If you'd like any of the recipes, just let me know in the comments and I'll type them up to share in the New Year.

REPLYING TO COMMENTS

In the previous blog post I slowly started replying to some of the comments, and I'll continue to do that from now on. As long as I rest my fingers every so often, it's manageable to type again. However, I do miss knitting, crochet and embroidery, so if you'd like to offer up a little Christ-mas prayer for healing of my arm and fingers that would be just lovely. 

THE ABIGAIL STUDY

Nothing quite like a gentle reminder from a loved one that we're only days from Christ-mas and perhaps it would be wise to begin the study in the New Year. Wisdom indeed shone through.

MERRY & BLESSED CHRIST-MAS....

Something that always leaves me quiet with an extended moment of wonder, is a truth, which as a mother of many babies rings even truer in my heart this time of year, and this is it. 

Jesus our God, and Saviour, and Redeemer, left His throne in heaven to be born from the womb of a young girl whose first experience as a mother would be to nourish and nurture God in the flesh. Every one of my newborn babies was born helpless, totally dependent on me for their sustenance, their comfort, their rest, their health, and their 24/7 care, so, to imagine the King of Glory, who chose to leave His home in heaven where He had absolute authority, being the Creator of heaven and earth - that He would choose to be a helpless babe, the first child of a young woman, a poor woman, but a young woman of absolute faith and humility, a maid who would carry Him first in her womb, then in her arms, and then in her sorrows as He hung on a cross, leaves me breathless and in awe.

This Jesus, this Lord of all, this Lamb of God...when I awake Christ-mas morning, it is He whom I shall once again worship, just as I do every day of my life, and I shall rejoice just as His mother did when He rose again, and remember his promise to come back for me one day. I hope you hold fast to that promise. I hope you hold fast to Jesus, our Jesus, this Christ-mas. 

Till the New Year, God bless all of you... 

Wasps, a fruitful vine and stitching...

 

It's been nine days since my last blog post, and it seems a long time ago now, and yet a short time, for many things have happened, and I find that when a lot of different things fill a week, or a month, or even a year, time itself feels stretched in one way, and reduced in another. I wonder if you feel that way too?

Last week on Thursday, I decided to finally begin pruning the various shrubs in and around our garden areas. I grow many herbs, but none as large as the Tulsi bush (also known as holy basil). Unchecked it would become a tree, but I keep it at shrub height so that I can easily harvest the leaves for herbal teas. After the monsoon last month, and the garden being soaked beyond saturation as the yards flooded around our home, we had some plants that couldn't cope and died off (or should I say drowned?), but we also had some that simply thrived. They were the ones in raised beds, and boy did they shoot up and out through February and into March.

After that we had about ten to twelve days with no rain at all, just fierce dry scorching sun, and to be honest this was good for drying out our sodden yards, and allowing time for fixing a few more leaks. Anyhow, last Thursday as I pruning the sides of the Tulsi bush, something quite unexpected happened. As I began to trim closer in, three large wasps came at me. One stung my hand, the other my neck, and as I automatically opened my mouth in shock and pain, another flew into my mouth and stung the underside of my top lip. I cannot describe the pain. It was something I never want to feel again. Being home alone, all I could do was drop my shears and run like the wind inside, splash water over my face and neck, and suck on a ice pack we had in the freezer. Then I smeared Stingose over my mouth and neck, and into my lip. I could barely see from the pain in my mouth, and my lip was swelling. That ice pack was the only thing that kept me going for the next fifteen minutes until I could think what else to do. I remembered we had phenergan tablets in our first aid kit from when I had contact dermatitis a few years back, so I took one of them and laid on the bed with that ice pack stuffed in my mouth. And that's where I stayed until hubby came home a couple of hours later. 

It took six days for all the swelling to settle in my lip, and for all the pain to subside. Though a horrible experience, and having no-one here to help, I knew the Lord was with me, and that was my greatest comfort. 

I missed Rafaella's pool party with her friends (her 7th birthday) on the Saturday, as I felt the stinger still in my neck whilst in the shower, and pulled it out, not realising that was a silly thing to do. It released more venom and almost immediately I got sick with migraine, nausea and exhaustion. The day was spent on the couch, doing some very simple sashikostitching to keep my mind occupied...and a few movies to watch in the background. 

I had already drawn a graph on some more of that recycled linen sheet...

...and calmly stitched away, slow stitches having always been very soothing to my mind. Here's the completed piece, six inches square. Think it will become the centre of a pillow. 

This week has had ups and downs, but I had my 'happy cup' filled twice - once with Blossom and the children, and again with my friend Rosie. Spending quality time with people you love, and who love you, definitely has its own medicinal qualities! 

Peaches, plums and nectarines are at the very end of their season, and they usually disappear from supply around the end of March, so I made more nectarine relish, and tried the pickled peaches recipe (in the pantry staples ebook I shared with you HERE) Well, I already knew the relish was good, but wow, those pickled peaches are delicious!

You just make the pickling liquid, pour it over thinly sliced fresh peaches (must be fresh), leave to cool, and then store in the fridge. Use within a couple of weeks...ours did not last that long so I'm making more.

I have had to keep preserving limes, as our tree has still not stopped giving. I found more limes up high and also hidden in the middle (before the wasp incident). I decided to measure out juice and rind in quantities to make cordials over the coming winter and spring, and now have four containers in the freezer for that purpose. I also froze juice and rind in smaller quantities for making lime curd as well. Plus there are some whole limes in the freezer, along with lots of lime juice frozen in ice cube trays - these will be great for curries, and tapioca puddings. 

I've also chopped up nectarines and red onions in small containers, enough in each one to make a batch of nectarine relish whenever we want it. I think this is the first time I have ever thought to freeze ingredients together to make a fruit recipe out of season. I would have loved to do the same with peaches so I could pickle them, but after making the pickles, you can't beat the lovely firmness of fresh peaches in that recipe. 

On Sunday my head had settled, but we still stayed home as I needed to rest a bit more. In between rests, I baked some slices (I think in the US you would call these a bar) to freeze - a ginger lime slice, and a lemon coconut slice. I froze half of each, and the rest I shared between Blossom's family and my husband, who takes a packed lunch to work every day and likes a little sweet treat included. Today I baked a chocolate peppermint slice, and I'll freeze half of this as well, as soon as I cut it into 24 pieces.

The sage I cut and hung inside just a day or two before the monsoon hit at the end of January, was ready for processing yesterday afternoon. I removed all the leaves, then chopped them in the food processor, so now I have about two cups of chopped dried sage to add to my home grown herb supplies. I LOVE the smell of sage! Fortunately we still have plenty in the garden, but the rain has returned and everyday we are getting heavy storms, so I can't pick any more bunches for drying just yet.

Here's the stitching I am currently on during my afternoon tea break, and in the evenings. I stitch the Yumiko Higuchi design during the day because there's a lot involved, but at night when the light is dimmer and I'm getting tired, I work on sashiko...

The backgrounds are both repurposed linen. 

BIBLE STUDY

My favourite part of any day, apart from when my beloved returns home from work, is time spent in the Word. I bought this large lined notebook at the beginning of the year, and use it for word studies.

So far in the past six weeks or so, I have studied 'work', 'contentment', 'humility', and being a 'wife' - all from a Biblical perspective. The more I delve into the various teachings, and study the root meanings of each word and verse from the Hebrew, the more our Lord opens wide my understanding of what He wants from me, and what He meant when He inspired the text. I cannot recommend word studies highly enough!

I'm just finishing the 'wives' study with regards to the verses and passages of Scripture, and am now about to delve into every character trait the Bible says about wives, the good and the bad. I don't think women take as much note of the bad traits, as they do of the good ones, and I confess that its made me really pray about my own role as wife, and wanting to overcome anything negative, whilst building on the positives.

Years ago I used to draw and colour in my Bible journals, or studies, but these days I like to use pretty washi tape and stickers...I'm more focused on the words themselves than drawings. For some of the previous studies, like the one on Work, I cut photos from my Country Living magazines of people working in the home and the garden. I'll show you some of them another time. 

The first character trait I'm looking at is from Psalm 128:3 - "Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine, in the very heart of your house." as this was the Psalm we read at our wedding in 1991. 

So far, this verse has shown to be a bit different to what I used to think. I associated her fruitfulness with having children, but that is only one aspect of the meaning, so if you'd like me to share more about these studies, just let me know. 

I am praying to be fruitful in ALL things to do with our home, and my treasured role as wife. 

I shall sign off now, as this has become a long post, and you may be yawning at this stage. ;-) I pray for no more wasp attacks in future, and hope to be blogging again early next week, as I have something else to share. 

God bless you, keep you safe, watch over your coming and going, surround your home with His comforting presence, and guide you into the fullness of His Word so that you may overflow with wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and a desire to do all He has commanded. 

Until next time, love and prayers, 

You will find me on Instagram HERE @jennyofelefantz

And my NEW IG account just for homemaking HERE @elefantzhome

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Grateful, grateful, grateful...

Well, what a huge five days we just had. When I added that short update to my last blog post, just three hours after I had originally posted it, I did not yet know the full brunt of this monsoonal weather event we were only just beginning to experience.

It was 11am on Friday and Blossom and Ross had just picked up the keys for their new rental property after being without a home for a week. They were excited, we were excited, and the children - wow, they were thrilled beyond words. But just minutes after they had those keys in their hands, the monsoon fell hard. A trip that should only take them 20 minutes to their new home, took more than four hours as roads began flooding and traffic was banked up for miles. The bus company was quickly flooded in and news reports told parents they'd have to find ways to get their children from school as no buses could get there. And so it went on.

A family member living nearby gave them an air mattress, three sleeping bags, and some towels. They couldn't go anywhere once they were in the house. We couldn't do a thing that night for them other than pray - which as we know, is greatly important. The heavy rain and wild winds continued, rivers oveflowed, roads were cut off, but at 4am the next morning my sweet husband found a way back to his work in the car yard and borrowed a sturdy 4WD...then he and I filled it with as many boxes as we could, plus food, and slowly made our way to them checking for any free roadways. 

And so this went on through Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Hubby would drive out when it was safe and pick up Ross. Then they'd come back here and fill the 4WD, and if a covered trailer was available for rent, they fill that as well. Five trips on Saturday, six trips on Sunday, two on Monday...everyday starting around 4.30am. 

We still haven't been able to get the big furniture to their house as there are no trucks available to rent right now, but as soon as we can get one, they will finally have everything (though some has moulded from the rain and humidity and will need to be taken to the tip). I am so proud of Blossom, who has had to scrub that house with every ounce of energy as it was filthy when they arrived, grease over everything. And through it all, she is happy, so very happy, because God provided just as she knew He would. It's a lovely home, just hadn't been cared for, but she will change all that. They did have water flowing in through the back bedroom, which eased yesterday when the rain slowed, but the carpet had to be pulled up. And still she did not complain, but thanked the Lord for a home to care for, a place to lay their heads, and a backyard their children will love.

Whilst the dam is still at 150% full, it has come down from 175% due to regular opening of the dam gates. With another week or more of rain yet to fall, we all have to wait before doing a good clean up outside, and of course, it will take a very long time for the ground to dry out. Our hearts and prayers go out to those north of us, in the small towns that suffered, and are still suffering, the effects of extreme flooding. The highway collapsed between us and them, so they have not had the measure of help needed. Pray for them. xxx

MIRACLE:

On Saturday, whilst my husband was repairing one of the submerssible pumps in our yard (we have four, and they prevented water from coming in to the house, but they break down constantly due to the plant matter that floods into them), a very frightening gust of wind came through our yard. He had just gotten up from the pump and began walking back to the house, when a huge crack was heard and our large poinicana tree split in half, falling behind him...if he had not gotten up to come inside he would probably have died or been seriously injured. Below - that white circle with the red pump, still not fixed at the time, is where he was crouched just seconds before...

To say this was a life changing event, is an understatement. We were obviosuly shaken, as was Ross when he saw it that afternoon, and Blossom when she saw it on Monday. We praise the Lord for prompting hubby to move away. 

On Monday afternoon, during a wonderfully welcome break from the rain, he sawed off all the branches and ran them through the mulcher. This was so good because you may not see it in photos but when you walk down the yard the water is above your ankles, and adding all that tree mulch to the ground gives us a bit more support as we check on things around our quarter acre. 

Our back fence came down on Sunday after another fierce gust of wind, and the laundry ceiling (which fell through during the 2019 floods) is leaking and damp is spreading across the ceiling again. But really, we got loads done for Blossom, despite the monsoon, the flooded roads and the winds; and our home is predominantly dry inside, and nobody got hurt in all the activity that was going on within the family. 

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS

Each night, we'd all pretty much fall into bed exhausted, but I'd spend an hour or so working on the mushroom wreath embroidery, and last night it was completed. 

 

I began this at just the right time. Through the past days it has been a wonderful source of creative calm, and though not what is commonly called slow-stitching, it was for me that very thing...a slow, gentle, calming experience. 

Apart from the the scattered leaf fronds, which were sttiched with two strands of thread, everything else is three strands, something I'd not done before. I needed a tapestry needle for that, and found it to be simply perfect for this project. 

As I mentioned last time, this pattern came from Yumiko Higuchi's book, Stitch of Seasons (in Japanese) or Stitching the Seasons if you can find the English version. 

Now that I am on a bit of a Japanese stitching journey, I have started on a very small project by Yula, from her book Botanical Embroidery (also in Japanese). This time I am using a blue linen background, and because even with my lightbox I was unable to trace the small design through the dark dense fabric, I decided to print it up on Sticky Fabri-Solvy. I'll be honest and tell you I really don't like this stuff, but as I am not rushed or designing much these days, I am looking on it as just another slow stitching experience and will be happy as I bring it to life. 

The fabric is darker than in the photo, but I've had it for years and think it will be beautiful with this stitchery upon completion. 

In her book, Yula has a number of tone-on-tone designs, which is what inspired me to stitch this one on a blue linen, with blue variegated thread. I love Cosmo Seasons threads in muted colours like this, and am really looking forward to displaying this in a small hoop when its finished. 

Whilst Blossom and Ross were moving, we had their two rescue cats, Howl and Kiki (pics in the previous blog post). Neither of them are very friendly, having been rescued from atrocious backgrounds, but they are not aggressive, just quiet and distant. They are indoor cats, unlike our Sophie-cat.

But Howl is desperate to get outside, much like Sophie-cat 14 years ago when we brought her home from the RSPCA. And just like her, he looks for ways to escape. His favourite places are staring out the back door, staring out the living room window, or staring out my sewing room window...

We took them home on Monday afternoon, and Blossom's dog Barnaby was thrilled. He and Howl are best buddies and immediately curled up together to get caught up on their nine days apart. ;-) 

Our Sophie cat is just happy the other two cats have gone, as she is a most unfriendly animal, except with my husband, whom she adores. During their stay here she was not allowed to visit inside because she was hissing and spitting at them through the glass door. She's 15 this year so we give her grace. ;-)

One thing I really enjoyed yesterday (Tuesday) was cleaning the house, washing and drying anything and everything that had a touch of moisture in it, and baking. I'd made food for the family during the weather event, but this was different...it felt so normal, and we've all needed that.  Pineapple fruit cake...

Thank you again, for your prayers and kindnesses. 

I probably won't blog again till next week, but I do have something fun to share with you then, a small slow-stitching project for your own quiet hours. 

May the Lord BLESS you, always, with the greatest measure of grace, love, kindness, faith and peace. 

Love,

You will find me on Instagram HERE @jennyofelefantz

And my NEW IG account just for homemaking HERE @elefantzhome

Subscribe to my free Friday newsletter HERE and never miss a blog post, pattern or tutorial

Stitch my free 2025 block of the month 'The Sewing Room' HERE