Herbing and sewing...

HERBING...

Herbing? Never heard of it before? I think I may have just made it up. ;-)

I have been herbing in the garden this past week, preserving and enjoying some of our fresh greens in various ways. We currently grow twenty-six different herbs in the garden, and whilst some will only flourish in our tropical winter, others bloom abundantly in spring, and the remainder prefer the hot and humid summer for displaying their bounty, it's actually a good system because we can harvest something tasty to add to meals, teas, or preserve all year through. 

This past week I wanted to do a bit of dehydrating so I began with the Tulsi (Holy Basil) leaves which we use in herbal teas...

The best time for picking is when the new leaves turn purple, and as Tulsi has numerous health properties I use them fresh, or dry them. In fact I made some herbal tea bags for my daughter Kezzie from many dehydrated herbs and they worked so well that I have just posted her a big batch.

I love having Dill growing through our winter season as it's wonderful chopped fresh for the Greek dishes I make my son-in-law, or stirred through fresh mayonnaise, or dried and crumbled for summer recipes. I also use the large dill seed fronds in a vase on the table with my roses...

Cinnamon Myrtle makes a beautiful tea, but also becomes a lovely spice rub when dehydrated and crumbled...

...and with such an abundance of Basil in winter, Pesto is always on the menu. Blossom's children could eat a jar of my fresh pesto with a spoon and still ask for more, so we make it go further by stirring it generously through pasta. 

Hubby loves salmon patties so of course I made some fresh mayo. In some of the mayo I added fresh chopped dill and it was so good we emptied the jar. Ha ha!! I told Blossom and now she wants some so I'll make more later today. 

Guilty confession. In between all the herbing I quietly finished off the last of a baked rice pudding (Nana's recipe) because it was taking up space in the fridge. Nah, just joking...I simply could not resist the temptation and gave in, adding some yummy raspberries for added health benefit. ;-)

SEWING...

I've been working on block one of Promises and it's coming along very nicely. I ended up doing two thin borders, instead of a second border of squares. As I explained last time, this is a gentle slow stitching project so I will take my time even with the bordering or fabric choices for each block. I chose the tealy blue second border because it blends with that same colour in the first border - oh, and I thought that vintage fabric was from a tablecloth, and now realise it's part of a curtain. Wish I had more, but I shall endeavour to make the small amount I do have go far. 

I chose the thread colour for the verse to match the tealy blue as well. 

Another lovely thing about stitching a slower project, is choosing the stitches along the way. For this block I've stem stitched the wooden borders, added double French knot buds around the applique flowers...

...and sewed my favourite blanket stitch embellished leaves. You can see the tutorial I made for those HERE and there's a free practice pattern as well. 

I've made a page for this project (link in the sidebar and also under my header) in case you ever miss a block. Go to the PROMISES of God page here.

The other bit of sewing I am currently working on is that cross stitch I began back in May. It's coming along in spits and spats, mostly in the evenings, but I will be very honest here and tell you that at this point I am quite over all those bricks...

...but I am pushing on to get the roof and steps completed, plus the mortar between the rest of the bricks (I have done about half of it so far) so that I can stitch the pretty bits. I took one break to stitch a leaf the other day because I have had enough of orangey bricks and needed to see some green. 

I am enjoying cross stitch again, after more than a decade of just hand embroidery, but I will be mindful of the patterns I choose in future. I really love this pattern, but I do not love sewing a million bricks. In the end it will be worth it, and Blossom keeps dropping hints about how much she loves it... ;-)

SOMETHING NEW...

I am trying a new sour dough bread recipe, a smaller loaf than all my other recipes as there's only the two of us here now, so hopefully it will work out well and become a regular bake. The instructions were very simple so I pray it really does bake deliciously. 

It can rise for the rest of day while I potter around and do other things, like visit the doctor for my echocardiogram results, water the garden, and cut up some old linen garments for usable stitching fabric. It's giving me a lot of joy to repurpose old garments this way and soon I'll have a shelf of them (after I sell some of my quilting fabric). 

I hope you have a gentle week, and that in those precious quiet moments when there's a quiet stillness all around, that you let the presence of God surround you and rest in His care. 

God bless, and big hugs,

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Preserving and tending...

 One of our tomato plants was loaded with large green tomatoes, and as we have a few other plants with ripening tomatoes, I decided to make green tomato relish and green tomato sauce.

Last year I came across an old Women's Weekly book on preserving (the recipes Nana used) so I chose recipes from that book.

I did begin by watching a few YouTube videos on 'modern' green tomato recipes, but having recently re-injured the patella tendon in my right leg, avoiding a trip to the supermarket was important, and besides, I already had everything needed in my pantry and garden for the older recipes.

Apparently with this relish, as opposed to chutney or pickle, the shelf life is not as long, and in our climate its best stored in the fridge. Same with the green tomato sauce. I'll share a bit around and we will use the rest over the next few months. 

Once we have red tomatoes in surplus I can make tomato chutney, and red tomato sauce (cause hubby loves tomato sauce).

I also made guava jam, but haven't taken a photo. Never mind, our tree is brimming with a new flush of guavas so I can make a lot more in a month or two. I only found six ripe guavas on the tree for the jam, and decided to eat one of them fresh! They taste like a cross between a passionfruit and a strawberry, and you can eat the skin as well.

We have so many cucumbers. SO MANY, and all from the one abundantly fruitful vine. Last weekend I learned how to make refrigerator pickled cucumbers. Using six cucumbers I now have two 1 litre jars (a litre is almost the same as quart)

Today we will open one jar and enjoy them with salads, as even though this is the last month of our Australian winter, it's very warm and humid in the tropics already. Salads every day are the best meal for cooling yourself down.

I also decided to pickle a jar of carrots...which we'll also open this weekend.

Today I've been outside gathering calendula flowers and herbs to dehydrate.

Herbal teas are a favourite of mine in the afternoon and evening. We have five calendula pots growing around the garden, and now that they are well established and blooming daily it's time to start harvesting the flowers mid-morning to dry...

I lay them out on a light coloured cloth for 30 minutes before they are gently shaken and placed on the dehydrator tray, as when you pick them all these tiny little bugs escape, so a bit of time for them all to fly away is important.

I also picked spearmint, and common mint to dry. In our very hot, humid tropical climate, mint does not do very well as it hates the heat - but in winter and early spring it flourishes. Mint tea is a favourite of mine, with a bit of fresh or dehydrated ginger, so I'm making sure I can still enjoy it through the hot months to come.

Lemon balm is another favourite herb for tea. Made with a bit of ginger and raw local honey, it's medicinal properties are the very best for calming the mind and body, or as a sleep tonic. I always sleep better when I drink this before bedtime.

Lemon balm is a member of the mint family, and will spread and take over a garden just like mint (even more so in my experience) so I grow mint and lemon balm in pots or small raised beds.

My 4yo granddaughter Rafaella always picks the leaves of both herbs and eats them while playing in my garden or watering the plants for me. 

I filled four trays, one for each herb and one for the calendula flowers.

As I write this blog post, the room is filled with the fragrance of mint and lemon. The only place to use the dehydrator is on the dining table, so whatever is in there sends its fragrance through the whole house. The day I dehydrated pineapple, and the day I dehydrated ginger, stand out in my mind!

Tending the garden is a big job for one person, and I admit to being far more worn these past two years than previously, as hubby works six days a week, long hours, and therefore more responsibility for growing, tending and maintenance fell on my shoulders. 

However I feel very blessed to have our quarter acre, and to see it producing food, always alive with beauty, becoming a haven for so many native birds, bees and insects.

Watching the cockatoos in the bird feeder, the rainbow lorikeets sucking nectar from the grevillia, tiny honey eaters darting to and fro among the flowers before sitting on branches under the shade of the huge poincianna tree, sparrows building nests high in our trees, and the blue faced miner birds who love to feast on fruit scraps. 

It's a privilege to have a garden, one I take seriously. 

It's a privilege to have a husband who works so hard, by the grace of God managing painful arthritis, in order to pay off our mortgage so that we will always have a roof over our head.

It's a privilege to have a home to maintain and care for, a place to offer welcome and sanctuary to friends, and especially our loved ones. 

It's a privilege to be able to learn new homemaker skills, even in my 60's. 

It's a privilege to have the ability, knowledge and experience, to make every meal from scratch...and the wisdom to know when it's time to take a night off and enjoy a simple take-out curry.

Life is a privilege, a gift from God. Every day when I wake, I thank God that I did wake! I thank Him for another day to make the most of this gift, and to praise Him as I go about my chores.

Being the wife of my husband and having him trust me implicitly is a tremendous privilege. That he obeyed God by asking me, a fellow student at university in his economic history class, to come to church and stand with him on a night that would change my life forever - what a privilege.

Sharing this life with a 28yo daughter nearby, who is also my dearest friend and sister in Christ, and to be able to grandmother her three precious babies...that is a privilege. 

To have been raised by a grandmother and a grandfather, who lived simply, who laughed often, who loved me without measure, who taught me that God is real...that's a privilege beyond words. 

How are you privileged?

This past week was a busy one, but the highlight was Thursday, Cully May's 6th birthday. That little girl, with a smile as a wide as the sky, wrapped herself around my heart six years ago, and she's never let go. I am privileged to be her Nana.

I hope to have the second chapter of our book study ready to share here next week. I might be a few days late, but you never know. Each day has a way of unfolding and offering its own path of what to do and what is needed doing, people to share it with, and a wise balance to be made of everything before us. 

I'm slowly getting used to turning away from self imposed deadlines, and instead, living life within its natural rhythms moment by moment, and my oh my, 'tis a good life.

God bless you, God keep you safe, God draw you out of the chaos and into His marvellous peace.

hugs

Weekend at home and preparing food...

 

We got some rain yesterday and today and as a bonus the temperature dropped a bit, the plants have had a lovely soak in the water from heaven, and time spent weeding the path from the back of the house to the clothesline was easy work.

I love seeing water droplets on the plants, sitting there like little jewels they glisten in the filtered light of an overcast day.

Yesterday I finally got to begin the process of dehydrating seasonal vegetables and fruit while they are cheapest, though this won't last long as food prices are rising quickly. I admit to envying those in cooler climates who get to grow abundant vegetable gardens through spring and summer. Unfortunately not much 'day to day' food grows well here in the tropics at any time of the year, for even though winter is best for salad veg, we've had very warm winters the past few years and simply cannot keep the bugs from invading everything.

This winter will more than likely be another warm one (imagine mid-spring weather) and without a nice cold snap (imagine mid autumn) the bugs don't ever die off, they never stop multiplying. So we've decided to rest the garden from vegetables this year and grow as many herbs as we can for drying later, plus rocket and spring onions because they don't get much attention from the bugs in any season. 

I began the dehydrating with carrots on Saturday. I don't peel them, just wash and run through the Sumo Slicer...

...before spreading across the trays. I filled five trays with two kilograms of sliced carrots (4.4 pounds) and they took just six hours to dehydrate.

Whilst that was happening I made two jars of lime curd because this is the first year our lime tree has had fruit and though very good sizes and extra juicy, there were only six limes. Three limes were used for the lime curd, and what a simple recipe it was - from start to finish about ten minutes using the microwave.

The lime curd is delicious!! If you'd like the recipe it is HERE though it is for lemon curd, but I simply substituted them with my limes. I will definitely make more next lime season.

I also made some Amaretti biscuits because I had leftover egg whites from the lime curd. They're not a traditional Amaretti because I can't stand almond essence so substituted with vanilla essence, but every other ingredient is the same. This was another super easy recipe, and done in a food processor! 

The biscuits surprised me because of how simple the steps were using the food processor, but they turned out just as if I'd spent way more time beating egg whites and gently folding ingredients. If you're interested in the recipe it is HERE.

During the week I like to have a few simple sides prepared for salad nights, or to add on open sour dough sandwiches, so I used THIS recipe to make pickled cucumbers, and my usual (and very simple) recipe for pickled red onions.

To make my pickled onions (these are not for preserving but for using within a week or two) you need...

* 1/4 cup water

* 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

* 3 teaspoons sugar

* 1 teaspoon salt

* One large finely sliced red onion

Mix all together in a bowl or jar and leave to soak for an hour, then drain away the liquid and store the onions in a glass container in the fridge. In the photo above I had not yet drained them.

I also began a new sour dough starter. There was a time when I had it going all the time and baked sour dough bread every second day...but then life got in the way and the kids had left home...and you know? 

But we are taking food production very seriously now, as stores often have empty shelves and prices continue to climb, so baking my own sour dough a few times a week will become normal again. I've been paying $6 a loaf for sourdough the past few years and yet I can make my own (which tastes far superior) for around 80c. This is a no-brainer, right?

As sour dough bakers have become more knowledgeable I decided to research more and found THIS wonderful video tutorial with step by step instructions for starting a sour dough from scratch. What I liked about this one was how very clear it is and also that it has measurements. I used to make my starter very similarly, but really needed a refresher course. 

It's day two with my starter now and it is happily bubbling away. Being in such a warm climate starters tend to grow far quicker than regular or cool climates.

This morning my dehydrator is working hard, the trays filled with pineapple, nectarine and apple slices, plus I've sliced my remaining limes as well. I watched a video the other day where the woman dehydrated lemons this way and then ground them into powder to store for flavouring her baked goods - well, I thought that was so clever, so we'll see how it works with my few limes.  

This morning we also headed out to Bunnings for herb seedlings and a few indoor plants.

I've planted out basil, rosemary and continental parsley already, but I'll leave the five indoor seedlings till tomorrow.

Some wonderful news from the garden at last, about the Elder Tree. Finally, we have a few berries! Only a few mind you, but it's a start. They have been literally baking on the tree and falling off as tiny green things for many months, but today I saw these...

There's more on the tree, green still, but they're bigger than the ones which baked and fell, so I am hopeful. In the meantime I have popped these few in the freezer and when I have enough one day, they shall become elderberry cordial. 

Last thing to share is that we are now ready to buy a grain mill and have narrowed our choice to two models. We're just waiting to see which one is already in stock and can be purchased immediately as they are both made in Europe, but online shops here have them. The two we're looking at are the Mockmill and the KoMo. How wonderful to mill our own grain and bake with it!

Now I'd best sign off as we're off to visit Blossom and family and I have some lime curd to gift her as well. Then home to play with these lovely Cath Kidston drill fabrics which I bought at a garage sale about 18 months ago. I'm thinking some peg aprons...maybe sell some as well...we'll see how I go after I make the first one.

Have a blessed end of weekend, lovely friends, and may the grace of the Lord and His perfect love fill your empty spaces and draw your hearts to dwell on peaceful thoughts.

hugs