Fiber Fool

I’m well over 550 unread items in my RSS reader. The end of the month is always a really busy one as I have regular contract work at that time. Add to it reaching critical points on several Designedly, Kristi items on top of it and I’m feeling spread a tad thin. So many things on the to do list I almost don’t know where to start.

In order to get the things done I *want* to get done I’m keeping extremely odd hours, hence the time stamp on this post that is not being auto published. That leaves little energy for kitchen adventures, let alone kitchen adventures with the camera (don’t worry, I’ve shot nearly 4 Gb of photos over the past three days so the camera is getting love). As a bonus, the off schedule allows me hours of work that are not interrupted regularly with political phone calls and knocks on the door as standard hours are.

In case you haven’t been around for a while or haven’t perused my archives, I thought I’d link to a few season appropriate recipes I’ve shared in previous years for your Wednesday gastronomical pleasure.

• Shown at the top of this post are my Pumpkin Scones with Honey Cinnamon Composite Butter, a wonderful fika treat for autumn.
• Along similar lines are my Autumn Scones (with an additional variation or two).
• For more pumpkin goodness there is Pumpkin Molasses Muffins.
• Apples are abundant at the farmer’s market right now so it is perfect for my Apple Raspberry Crisp.
• And one of my all time autumn favorites - Spiced Pecans! Yum! I may just have to make time to cook up a batch *very* soon.

As a bonus, you get to see how far my photography has come over the years… Wow, was I in need of improvement!

To those I owe e-mail, I hope to resurface by the weekend, but I’m often fairly unplugged then as a means of setting a few boundaries. So unless it is very time sensitive, I’ll probably not get back to you until early next week. I’m really looking forward to resurfacing, I’m missing you all and hope you are having a great week!

That is the number of unread blog posts I have in my RSS reader right now. I fell woefully behind in my blog reading last week and this weekend was stuffed full of activities so I did not get caught up. As I’m drafting this post at nearly 2 am I don’t think I’ll be getting caught up just now. Instead of linkity, I’ll offer you pics of Saturday morning’s activities…

Amanda, her two boys and her mom and I headed to The Gardens at Spring Creek here in town for their harvest festival. We got there pretty much right as they opened so it wasn’t too busy. It was quite pleasant. A nice small event with lots of activities for kids.

There was pumpkin bowling, which you can see from above was a favorite. Pumpkins kind of have minds of their own, not being symmetrical and all, but Isaac knocked over some “pins.” There was also bean bag tossing into the eyes and mouth of a large plywood jack-o-lantern and earth crowns to be made and worn.

Year around there is a large children’s garden where they can dig in a planter, plant some seeds, learn about different types of plants and how they benefit various animals and insects and there are of course many places to run through and even a koi pond and stream to cross. Throughout this area of the garden are some fantastically whimsical and artistic scarecrows.

While a lot of the organized activities were for children a bit older than Jacob, I think he found ways to have some fun too.

One of our neighbor’s has an extremely prolific green thumb. In a bed along the sidewalk she is growing 4 varieties of dahlias I believe. Here is a peak of just one of those varieties from several different angles and different lighting.

I am loving the large number of blooms and the variety of life stages that are represented.

Here is one very near the peak of its glory.

I can’t resist a little back-lighting with a touch of lens flare.

It’s going to be a big weekend around these parts once again. There is another harvest festival to attend and a big photoshoot for what we’re hoping is about 4-5 projects! 3 projects might be a bit more realistic. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

I’ve been so pleased with the results I’ve gotten from making my own facial care products I thought perhaps the rest of my skin would also benefit from cutting out more chemicals. Going more natural. Knowing 100% for sure what I’m putting on my body. For a very long time now I’ve been plagued with two rather large patches of eczema on my forearms. I don’t know when they first appeared, though I’m pretty sure I did not have them when I lived in Minnesota or North Dakota so I presume it is a result of the drier climate of the Colorado Front Range. Or perhaps my just getting older…

I had recalled reading about blends of essential oils that are purportedly good at calming skin and reducing or even eliminating eczema so I pulled out my aromatherapy book for some guidance and inspiration for concocting my own chemical-free moisturizer. The other inspiration for these lotion bars was one I had purchased at the local farmer’s market a year or two ago. I loved the convenience of the bar lotion, but the bars were too big for me to get through before the oils in them started to go rancid. To be fair, I wasn’t using it as my main moisturizer and not religiously either. But I also thought having a smaller bar that I could perhaps put into a tin and carry with me in my purse or my knitting bag would get used more regularly because it would be readily at hand.

I did some searching for lotion bar recipes on the Internet, of which there are many. Several claimed to be non-greasy. I took notes and combined those with what I’ve learned about various base oils (unscented or low-scent oils and creams) and essential oils to formulate a version I thought would work well for me. I’ve found the combination of Grapeseed and Jojoba oils work really well at balancing out my skin on my face and never leaves it oily so I used that in place of the often called for Sweet Almond oil (plus, I know I’ll be safe to play with my friend’s children who have nut allergies). For a bar form of lotion some oils that are solid at room temperature were required as well as beeswax. Shea butter is fantastically moisturizing, but can be somewhat soft at room temp but cocoa butter is very solid and also a good moisturizer so I used both of those. I also added a bit of vitamin E oil as it has preservative powers and is extremely good for troubled skin and even helps to prevent scarring. To top it off I used a mix of Ylang Ylang, Lavender and Bergamont essential oils with a very light hand. In fact I don’t think anyone would be able to name the oils used from smelling the bars. I think my hands mostly smell slightly of honey and beeswax.

I’m quite pleased with the result. The bars moisturize well and have definitely reduced my eczema patches. I suspect if I was a little more diligent about applying it I could possibly clear them up fully. They are still a tad greasy at first application. You have to melt those solid oils and the beeswax base to get it on so that makes sense. It stays greasy as long as you are rubbing it in and creating heat from the friction of rubbing your hands together. But as soon as I stop the rubbing it soaks right in and I’m good to pick up my knitting, or even use the touch screen on my phone. I can feel the effects of an application for hours. Even DH notices when I’ve used it, saying how soft my hands feel!

My First Lotion Bar

Ingredients

• 2 oz Beeswax, use local if you can
• 1 oz Shea Butter
• 1 oz Cocoa Butter
• 2 T (1 oz) Grapeseed Oil
• 2 T (1 oz) Jojoba Oil
• Contents of 3 Vitamin E Capsules
• 4 drops Ylang Ylang Essential Oil
• 3 drops Lavender Essential Oil
• 2 drops Bergamont Essential Oil

Directions
In a microwaveable bowl or measuring cup (I use one dedicated to making beauty products), melt the beeswax, shea butter and cocoa butter. Cook in 30 second bursts and stir just until everything is melted. These products like to set-up when cool, so stir with something that has a small surface area as solids will built up on the stirrer. I use BBQ skewers, you could also use a coffee stirrer or chopstick. Once fully melted add the remaining ingredients - the oils. Pour into molds that have been oiled and let sit until fully set, about 1 hour or so.

For these I used 39 cent fluted tartlet tins from a big box home store and filled 6. They made roughly 1 oz bars. I really like the size. It fits really easily in the hand and if I find a tin to store them in it should travel well too. I put the extras in the freezer to extend their shelf life, wrapping each individually in a bit of plastic wrap then placing them all in a freezer bag. I did run a test on one and left it in for 4 days then thawed it and it seems to perform the same.

As I mentioned previously, the scent is very light. For a batch this size you could certainly double the amounts if you don’t mind a bit of fragrance and it should increase the anti-eczema properties. I’m sure I’ll tweak the recipe as I become more experienced, but I wanted a record of what I’ve done with this batch so I can build upon my past efforts.

Have you ever made your own moisturizers for you or a loved one with troubled skin? What oils did you find worked well?

ETA: I’ve since discovered that not only is it a good idea for me to leave out Sweet Almond Oil, but some people who are allergic to nuts may also be allergic to the shea butter and possibly avocado oil. So if you are making these for people with nut allergies, be certain to do your own research as to what is safe and perhaps try patch tests of the questionable ingredients on the person it is meant for before making the bars.

A while ago I mentioned that I had checked out a book by Ashley English called Homemade Living: Canning & Preserving with Ashley English: All You Need to Know to Make Jams, Jellies, Pickles, Chutneys & More from the library. I’ve only had the opportunity to try one recipe from it so far. I used the Beet Relish recipe to help use up some of our overstock of beets from the CSA.

It is made from beets, some red cabbage, fresh sage and a bit of fresh horseradish, plus of course vinegar and a touch of sugar. I was really intrigued by it because of the horseradish and any recipe that can use some of the sage from our garden is a plus too. I waited for a while hoping to get some red cabbage from the CSA, but I finally gave up and bought some at the market. It took me a a couple weeks to get around to trying it after I canned it, but I’ve enjoyed the result.

The book suggests serving it on deviled eggs. I may give that a try come October when I’m hosting Monday night knitting. With the horseradish in there I thought having it on roast beef would be nice. It ended up that the flavors other than beet and vinegar did not come through much. I suspect they’d be missed if tasted side by side, but I was a little disappointed that the relish didn’t really taste different than standard pickled beets. Next time I make it I definitely want to punch up the sage and horseradish. I’d like there to be a little bit of a kick to it. Regardless, I have been enjoying it on roast beef sandwiches for lunch. I could stand to dice the beets a tad finer next time too. It would make eating it on a sandwich a tad better.

Overall I am intrigued by most of the recipes at the back of the book, of which there are 20. They are more imaginative and offer some nice options other than the standards in the Ball Blue Book. They are also arranged according to season, though I’m finding if I source ingredients locally it isn’t quite matching up with those seasons. It does provide a bit of a guideline though.

The recipes are clear and easy to follow. If you are a new or infrequent canner there is very thorough information on canning safety and procedures making up the bulk of the book. I would feel more confident in my yields and the recipes if I had a guideline weight (which would make shopping for a specific recipe easier too) or at least cups of prepared produce to compare against. Everything is given in numbers of “medium size” whatever.

While I’m wanting to try the thyme and fig preserves and the pear chutney and a handful of other recipes from the book I’ve not yet purchased this one. I’ve been canning for several years now and own the Ball Blue Book so I don’t really need a book that is mostly made up of information for the new canner. With canning having grown in popularity in the last couple years there are many modern titles one could buy at a similar price point that contain more recipes. I may have to check out a few more titles before making a purchase.

I’m mostly contemplating Williams-Sonoma The Art of Preserving or Well Preserved: Small Batch Preserving for the New Cook. I spent a bit of time perusing the canning selection at a bookstore on Sunday afternoon and eliminated a couple titles for either being too broad and including too many pickle recipes or methods of curing meat, neither of which would get much use in our household. Frankly, the beet relish was going out on a limb a bit and I may be the only one to eat it. I might also like to peruse Canning for a New Generation: Bold, Fresh Flavors for the Modern Pantry whose title sounds quite promising and The River Cottage Preserves Handbook.

Do you have a favorite canning cookbook with recipes that have a bit of a twist to them? I’d love to hear about it as I think our newish kitchen shelves need a canning cookbook!