Natural Pine-sol

I have used vinegar/water mix for all my cleaning for over 10 years now. I've read about putting essential oils into it before but just never have.
I found this amazing recipe this year and have fallen enchanted by its smell this holiday season.
I'm definitely no expert on any of the evergreen trees besides Douglas firs for the obvious reason ( ho , ho, ho) blue spruce and cedar. Ask me to identify other types and pines and I'd be lost. There is just too many. All I know is that this is one of the varieties on my property but any would work.

You fill a half gallon jar with branches from your evergreen. Fill the jar completely and packed. Then pour in white vinegar to the top so that all the branches are covered. Put on a lid and let sit for 1 month.

After a month, carefully pour some into a spray bottle (1/4 of the spray bottle full)
Then dilute the rest of the way with water. Enjoy the beautiful lemony, pine smell when cleaning.

Homemade Chai Tea Mix

Out for delivery for Christmas presents to all my friends.
This is my homemade Chai tea dry mix in a jar.
I... LOVE...MAKING...THIS.....STUFF
It's so fun having a pot of hot water on the stove and the excitement of finishing up a batch and taste testing it and it tastes amazing and delicious.
Now! If I can stop making it for gifts and indulge myself and make a quart all for my own cabinet.

Here's the recipe:

1 cup dry milk powder
1 cup powdered original nondairy creamer
1 cup French Vanilla nondairy creamer
1 and 1/2 cup sugar
1 and 1/2 cup Lipton Unsweetened powdered instant tea
2 heaping teaspoons ground ginger
2 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 heaping teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 heaping teaspoon ground cloves

Mix well with your hands in a large bowl, then divide recipe and do half in a food processor . Then do the other half. Then mix together once more with hands in large bowl.
This recipe made about 11 small jelly mason jars full.
You put 4 heaping teaspoons in a cup of hot water. (Small-normal size coffee cup) this is smoothly flavored. For a richer , more bold taste. Add more.

Holiday Spiced Tea Mix

Out for delivery this holiday season. Who doesn't love something warm to sip on in this cold season? These are some of my favorites gifts to make. Partially because I can taste test them all day. 

For my Holiday Spiced tea I use:

1 and 1/2 cups Country Time lemonade

1 and 1/2 cup Liptons instant tea powder Unsweetened

2 and 1/2 cups Tang drink mix

1/2 cup of sugar 

3 and 1/2 teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice 

In a small to normal size coffee mug I use 3 teaspoons of the dry mix. This is for a bold flavor. Use less or more for your taste. 

Warning: when you make this it is very very dusty........

The recipe called for using a food processor but, oh man! It needs really mixed well but next time I would opt for using a gallon zip lock, sealing well and mixing by shaking. 

(It makes about 7 -8  jam jars) 

Weather Gnomes

Say hello, to Rainy, Cloudy, Sunny, Windy and Icy.
These are our Weather Gnomes. Every morning when my boys wake up they look outside and appreciate whatever the weather is for the day. Whichever gnome fits the days weather gets the special throne. Sometimes if it changes throughout the day, the boys will change it. From cloudy to rainy or from cloudy to sunny.

Streusel flavored butter

One of my favorite things on a bisquit is honey and butter. Even more so is honey butter itself . When my husband and I were first dating we both loved watching cooking channels and trying to duplicate the things they cooked. One of those items was an herb butter that I recreated and it was fabulous. After that my mind ran with the idea of flavored butters and it's such a delight to make. Some of my favorites are my Streusel flavored one I perfected for on top of desserts or on bisquit. My other favorite one is a spicy roasted garlic one that I melt on top of popcorn. Also, my roasted garlic and cracked peppercorn one. So I'm going to share the streusel on with you now and the other ones later.


Streusel flavored butter:

Make a homemade butter from heavy whipping cream or let a cube of butter soften at room temperature until completely soft.

Add two tablespoons of brown sugar

1/4 -1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

A dash of vanilla extract

Mash all the ingredients together in a bowl.

Get out a piece of wax paper and spoon butter mixture onto it.

Roll the butter up into a big block

Keep wax paper together and place in fridge until solid

Or/

Use your butter dish lid

Scoop soft butter into lid and smooth in

Place in fridge

Once it's solid

Remove from fridge and carefully use butter knife to extract the butter out of lid. Then put into the butter dish rightfully and leVe out to keep it softened for a couple days on counter while you enjoy.

Harvesting Cattails.

Since I was a little girl, I've been raised picking Cattails every single spring. June 1st always has a mark on my calender so I don't forget. Every year the cattails vary by a week or two on when you can harvest them, so it's always good to start early on checking them. The harvest window is really narrow between ready to too late. 

When harvesting cattails, you want the cattails that are completely closed in their leaves but have a plump, green cattail inside. You don't want cattails that have opened and have started to turn brown. 

Once you pick the cattails a foot or so below the tops, shuck them like you would corn on the cob. You will have a thick, green cattail. 

Under the edible cattail part, you will notice it changes to a softer green more velvety stem. Leave about an inch of that and cut. That will be your handle. When you cook them, you'll need a frying pan and some butter. Place them in the pan and put in about a tablespoon of butter. Cover with a lid and cook on medium until they turn a bright green color. Usually about 5-7 minutes. When you eat them, there is a long stick, similar to a toothpick that runs down the entire center. Use your teeth the grab the flesh of the cattail and pull the meat off the stick. Eat it similar to corn on the cob. When harvesting, estimate about 5 per person. The taste is very similar to broccoli.

Bubble wands

To make whimsical little homemade bubble Wands :

I used a thick copper wire roll from the hardware store- it was about $5 for 25ft of it. 

I started by making a making a loop and a stem. Then I took the wire and went back up the stem wrapping as I went, occasionally I would add a little bead and then keep wrapping. When I got to the loop, I wrapped around it also. The wrapping adds stability. You can wrap once or twice. Some of mine have two different size loops , one on each en d. I did try loops without wrapping twice and it was too flimsy. Definitely wraps the loops .....