Tomatoes

This is about 40-50 lbs of tomatoes. I cooked it down for about 12 hours and ended up with several quarts and a few pints of tomato sauce. I chose not to can it because I have enough freezer space, but as tomato season rolls on and my freezer fills, I will start to can some of the sauce.

Grapes

A friend of the family has a large vineyard in his back yard, but doesn't do anything with the grapes. He told us to pick as much as we wanted so we brought a friend with us and cleared his vines.

We each picked an insane amount of grapes. I have canned 20 quarts of juice so far and still have three very full buckets of grapes in the freezer. I'm guessing I will get at least another 20 quarts.

Canning grapes juice requires a hot water canner. You wash the grapes, juice them, leave 1/4 inch of head space, and process for ten minutes.

Essential Oils

My collection of essential oils is slowly growing as I continue to learn how to use them.

I keep reading about Young Living thieves oil and when I found this recipe, I had to make it.

Happy Spray

I get this out when the kids are fighting in the house or in the van. I have no idea if it does anything to calm them down, but they do rally together in protest of the happy spray and stop fighting. I guess that means it works, right?

Elderberry Tincture

I made elderberry syrup last year and thought I'd save myself some time and make a tincture this year. This is about a half of a gallon of elderberries and vodka. It sits in a dark corner in my kitchen and will stay there until we need it this winter. Elderberry is great for colds and flu.

Plum

This is a third of our plum harvest for the year. The trees bloomed early and the last spring frost took just about everything. This lovely plum is about as tall as my thumb.

Vanilla

I decided to make my own vanilla extract. I cut open two vanilla beans, put them in a quart jar, and covered the beans with a bottle of vodka. I'll strain it in 4-6 months when it is darker in color.

Spices

I've been reorganizing my kitchen and love my new spice set up. I bought these. I like that the jars are uniform in size and labeled the same.

Ice Cream

I've recently started making my own ice cream and this recipe is, by far, the easiest.

2 C whole milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 C sugar
pinch of salt
4 C heavy cream

Pour everything into a bowl and stick in the fridge overnight. When you are ready to use it, get out your favorite ice cream machine and dump in the mixture.

I like to top my ice cream with this:

1/3 C cocoa
1/3 C sugar
1/3 C milk

Whisk together and cook on med-low until it's hot fudge. This post is part of Simple Lives Thursday.

Homemade Home

I have been diligently working for the past eight years to learn how to be a homemaker. My college years were filled with a lot of Pasta Roni and ramen noodles and cooking was not anywhere close to being interesting. My journey into real food, sewing, gardening, and learning to love the craft of homemaking, began when I had my first child.

I have come a long way and am still perfecting my craft. This blog will give a voice to my journey and is where I will share recipes, patterns, and what I know so far about natural medicine.