Kitchen / Garden / Sanctuary - Urban Homesteading to Nourish Body + Spirit
Stuck without a heating pad? No problem! Gather one or two flat rocks (flagstone in this case) and simmer them in water on the stove (or pop them into the oven). When thoroughly hot, remove with tongs and wrap in a couple towels. Use both rocks at once, or keep one in the water to exchange when the first one cools down. You can’t exactly wrap a rock around your body the way you can a heating pad, but it’s a perfectly good do-fer solution!
Here’s an old fashioned spring project to do! Preserve those ephemeral little violet flowers for use as a garnish (on a coconut cake for Easter would be nice…) or for a lovely treat at any time of year — violets have a wonderful taste and will keep for months once they’ve been candied!
The process is simple, and not too time consuming. You can make this a more delicate project by painting eggwhite onto each flower with a paintbrush, and then dusting with fine sugar, but I think I’d only want to dedicate that kind of time if I were making these for a really special occasion!
Here’s what you’ll need:
Freshly picked violet flowers & leaves (having them very fresh will make the project go faster and prevent frustration!*)
Egg white (not beaten or frothed) (use eggs you trust since it’s raw)
Ordinary white granulated sugar (not powdered sugar)
Here’s what you do:
The flowers should be dry. No need to wash/dry them first — just pick them on a dry day and go for it. Dip each flower into the eggwhite. Give the flower a firm shake to get rid of any excess eggwhite. Hold it over a dish filled with sugar, and spoon the sugar over the flower until all surfaces are coated. Let the flowers dry on wax paper, parchment paper, or on a bed of sugar. (A plain baking sheet works too, but the eggwhite sticks, so you’ll have to carefully loosen the flowers with a metal spatula after they’re mostly dry.)
*The most important thing is to have fresh flowers (and leaves if you’re using them). Don’t pick the flowers, put them in a zip-top bag in the fridge for a few days, and then do the project; the flowers will have lost too much moisture and when you dip them in eggwhite, they’ll collapse. See photo below! Very fresh flowers will hold their shape even after being dipped in eggwhite.
Both have been dipped in eggwhite -- the flower on the left was in plastic in the fridge for a couple days, while the one on the right is fresh from the yard. Fresh is best!
That’s it! When they’re thoroughly dry (give them about 24 hours), store them in an airtight container. Room temperature is OK.
When I decide to clean house, I’m usually in a “get ‘er done” mood. I start flying through the house, shoving things away, giving them away, throwing them away! But I get distracted very easily by everything that needs to be dealt with, and sometimes I really want to remain focused on just one area of the house.
Here’s a good way to remain stationary: if you have a laptop, boombox CD/tape player, or a computer positioned near where you want to clean:
Play an audio book on tape/CD, or an archived radio show, or a youtube interview, etc. on a subject that’s fascinating to you.
(To search out some good listening material, I like to google a favorite person or subject along with the word “interview”.)
The key is to keep yourself in one spot by making the audio something very interesting and something you can only hear in the place where you’re cleaning. (So using anything portable like an iPod will defeat the purpose, ’cause then you’ll wander!)
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Hubby and I love NPR, so while we clean we like to listen to the latest Car Talk, Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, This American Life, or dig into the Prairie Home Companion archives.
And here’s an interesting interview that kept me glued to the kitchen recently:
The Importance of Grounding (“Earthing”) Ourselves. Dr. Joe Mercola & Dr. James Oschman discuss the health benefits of doing what our ancestors did naturally: walking barefoot on the earth.
What do you like to listen to that keeps you glued to one spot?
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We’ve discovered a great tool!
Our shower has been draining very poorly lately. We don’t like Draino because of how very toxic it is, and so F. had the brilliant idea to buy a flexible grabber from the local auto parts store to shove down the drain and grab the gunk. It was $7.50, and took care of the problem in about 10 seconds! No chemicals involved, and the water drains like a charm now!
Look at the gross clog I pulled out!!!
Grossest thing I've encountered in a long time.
Since we always keep a mesh screen over our drain, I’m afraid some of that is from previous tenants — which is something I am NOT going to think about, so let’s move on, shall we…
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Here’s the flexible grabber tool. Sort of like a syringe, you push down on the top, and the little claw comes out the bottom. Of course we tested it first on each other’s fingers…and it has quite a grip!
Flexible grabber claw tool
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Oh and here’s the screen we keep over the drain — an essential preventive measure! We also have one in the kitchen since we don’t have a garbage disposal.
I’ve heard of other preventive methods to keep your drains clear, like using baking soda and vinegar, and also pouring boiling water down the drain each day. Do you have any tricks up your sleeve to share?
Welcome to The Herbangardener! This site is dedicated to nourishing the body + spirit, backyard organic gardening, traditional foodways, and homesteading in the heart of the city. Do come along and join me!
"There's nothing more pleasurable than making things by hand, and nothing more beautiful than handmade things."
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."
- Theodore Roosevelt
"Only after the last tree has been cut down; only after the last fish has been caught; only after the last river has been poisoned; only then will you realize that money cannot be eaten."
- Cree Nation Tribal Prophecy
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