Not a lot of making last week, it was busy, busy, busy with lots of appointments. Lots of baking done though (it's rather therapeutic) and some crafting. Made up the kits for a shoebox swap for a retreat I attended over the weekend. Made pillow boxes for pillow treats for the retreat. Made double batch of scones and Cranberry Hootycreeks, and a quadruple batch of Brownies, some for home and some to take to the retreat.
Cooked a bulk batch of mashed potatoes for the freezer. Made focaccia. Made two loaves of bread. Made a batch of pizza dough for the freezer. What did you make, bake, grow and sew last week?
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Good morning! It's Make it Monday on Tuesday! Easter mucked up my days, I completely forgot that yesterday was Monday, having everyone home for four days threw me out. Last week was busy; aren't all weeks busy? But it was a good week. I spent a lot of time waiting, so I read, and worked on some new crochet patterns for different types of scrubbies. Hannah will be testing them too, to see which scrubbie is the most efficient and comfortable to use. I made some little baskets for our Easter table. Instead of eggs this year, I bought blocks of chocolate and put them in these cute little hessian bags I monogrammed with iron-on vinyl. I made hot cross buns and cooked most of our meals from scratch. As a treat, No. 1 Son bought tea one night and it was delicious - burritos and nachos that I diligently noted the ingredients and flavours so I can MOO them in the future.
What did you make, bake, grow and sew last week? Hello!
When I was a little girl, I thought being a mother and homemaker was the best job in the whole wide world, and I couldn't wait to grow up and get married so that could be my job. I still think it’s the best job in the whole wide world, even though our children are now adults. I still get to be their mother, and Wayne's wife and create a home for them. I get so much joy and pleasure out of canning corned beef for the pantry shelf or getting a load of washing out, dried, in, folded and put away. Filling the pantry with good ingredients to make tasty and healthy meals for my family makes me smile. Being able to pick apples of our trees, or rosemary from the garden not only saves us money, but makes my heart sing with joy. When I sit down to write a Make It Monday post, and think about what has been accomplished during the week, I tend to forget about the things that are habit: making the bread, cutting flowers from the garden, canning meat and veggies for the pantry, sowing seeds, because they are habit, I made another two tea cosies for the present box. The Easter decorations came out and the house was decorated and readied for Easter and the rest of Autumn. I covered candles for our Easter table. I repurposed some old jars to use as vases for our Easter table. This last week the kitchen was busy every day. All our meals were cooked from scratch, using ingredients in the pantry and produce from our garden. I made pizza bases and focaccia and canned 6 quarts of canned beef for the pantry. Hello!. Autumn cleaning is almost finished. Just the last little tweaks to do this week and the house will be spic and span for the rest of autumn and winter, such a nice feeling. This week's makes: Finished a hunter green tea cosy for a friend's daughter. While I was in a tea cosy mood, I found some pink wool and made a new tea cosy for my tea pot for winter, and then Hannah spotted it and asked if she could have one too, so that is almost finished. Some cards for the Happy Mail Project. This week's bakes: Not baking but made a big batch of Depression Era Salad and filmed it. Made a double pasta bake, one for tea one for the freezer. Made a double batch of wheat tortillas, used some and froze the others. Dehydrated celery and celery leaves. Ground the leaves to powder to use in soup and Cream of Anything Cup a Soup. Canned 8 pints of mushrooms and 4 pints mushroom stock from three kilos of mushrooms. This week's grows: Picked more rosemary and rhubarb and some raspberries. Used a homegrown cucumber and garlic, and MOO yoghurt to make tzatziki. This week's sews: Hannah asked for something to store her knives in in her camping box so she wouldn't get cut when she put her hand in to get one out. One handtowel and 20 minutes and this is what I came up with. I used some silver iron-on vinyl and a free SVG of cutlery to decorate it. Now she doesn't have to be afraid of putting her hand in the box, the blades are safely covered. What did you make, bake, grow and sew last week?
Hello! If you're in southern Australia I really hope you are surviving this ridiculous heatwave. It is exhausting, with overnight lows in the mid 20s making sleeping rather unpleasant. Even so, looking back at my notes, last week was a good one for adding to the pantry and the present box. When I sat down I wondered what I'd be able to share. Thank goodness for notes and lists! It felt like nothing much has been accomplished. I made fig jam (my favourite). I made another batch of tomato relish, using the last of the tomatoes from the garden. Some of this went into small jars for Hannah's pantry. All our meals were cooked from scratch, using ingredients from the pantry, fridge, freezer and garden. Homecooked meals are so much nicer, especially the salads we've been living on. Bought salads just don't have the same fresh crunch or taste. I made a double batch of potato salad, coleslaw and pasta salad. These three are my stock salads, everyone likes them, they're quick and easy to make and keep well in the fridge. I made sandwich bread and raisin bread. Hot cross buns were on the plan for the weekend but honestly it was just too hot to even think of putting the oven on. I'll get to them this week when it is cooler, and do a few batches for the freezer. During the heat of the day I stayed indoors, and worked away on small projects. Some round dishcloths were added to my linen cupboard, some were put aside for Hannah's Christmas stocking, and some went into the present box. I finished knitting a dishcloth that had been on the needles for a fortnight! I finished another beaded jug cover for the present box. Now I'm on the lookout for pretty milk jugs to pair them with. Op shops will be my friend for this, and I have Hannah looking out in the oppys in her area too. Pinterest brought up a pattern for kitchen towel toppers, and I love it. It's crocheted and uses the smallest amount of yarn, perfect for using up scraps, so that's what I did, and added three kitchen towels to the present box. The Easter cards have been made, written in, addressed and are ready to go to the Post Office tomorrow. In the garden, the last of tomato and cucumber plants have been pulled out, chopped up and added to the compost pile.
Rosemary was picked and dehydrated and added to the pantry. Rhubarb was picked, cooked and frozen for winter. I picked a handful of raspberries every morning and it was hard to resist eating them, they are so sweet and full of flavour. I'm not sure what to do about the winter garden. We will be away for nine, possibly 10, weeks. Timing the planting so things aren't ready too soon will be the trick to a successful winter garden, and that means timing the seed starting and planting out, and yes, it's making my head ache. It will work out I'm sure. I didn't get any sewing done this week. I did get lots of fabric washing and cutting out done though, I'm hoping to get it all sewn this week. What did you make, bake, grow and sew last week? Good morning! Summer is peak preserving time. It feels like every day there is something that needs to be processed and preserved, because there is. This week I've been busy with tomatoes. Lots of tomatoes. I am over the moon excited because this is the best year for tomatoes in ages. The bushes are just full, and still flowering and producing. And I am not wasting a one. Of course we are eating them fresh, but there are enough to make relish and salsa and passata. On Monday I made tomato relish and zucchini pickle, before the weather turned to searing heat. All our meals were made using ingredients in the pantry. I'm trying to use up what's in one of the freezers, so the meal plan is a guide and our meals have been slightly different to the plan. They've been good though! Then on Wednesday it all ground to a halt. On and off over the last couple of weeks I've had vertigo. Since last Wednesday the head spins and nausea have just about brought me to a halt so there has been no crocheting, sewing, knitting or preserving done.
Everything has just kept rolling on though. That's the beauty of a routine, even for household chores. Washing has been done. Meals prepared. Bathrooms cleaned. Floors swept and washed. Even the shopping was done. Everyone knows what has to be done when, and just gets on with it. This week, vertigo and weather permitting, the plan is to get the cucumbers and tiny tomatoes pulled out, and those beds turned over and compost added to them, ready for planting in a couple of weeks. What did you make, bake, sew and grow last week? Good morning! We had some very hot days, all in a row, so the poor garden suffered. Every morning I was up and out early, picking tomatoes, cucumbers and berries. This week I made yoghurt in a new, electric yoghurt maker. I made a toolbox gift box for Wayne's Valentines surprise. There was a very cute little watering can in the craft stash, and with the help of the Scan and Cut it is now decorated, wrapped, labelled and in the present box. No. 2 Son requested more Iced Coffee Syrup, so I told him where the recipe was, and where he'd find the bottles and he made a double batch. I used two jars of potato to make an easy potato salad. For Valentine's day I made a blackberry mousse for dessert. It looked so pretty in some of my vintage dessert bowls. I made a card for the Happy Mail Project. I managed to get a set of coasters done, using a pretty pale orange cotton from the stash. I'm not usually a fan of the colour orange, but this is so soft and pretty, and these little cotton coasters can be tossed in the washing machine over and over so they are great for everyday use. And this is today's offering of tiny tomatoes from the garden. A whole colander, almost full. All washed, draining and then they will be turned into relish. We had visitors one night, and it was easy to put a nice meal together and get the guest beds ready on the spur of the moment.
And of course all the usual goings on in our house: the cooking and cleaning and gardening and general plotting and planning all happened. What did you make, bake, grow and sew last week? Good morning! The sun is shining and it is already very warm. We are heading towards 40C today, far too hot for me. I've been out and watered and picked tomatoes. I picked raspberries too, but I ate the as I watered, a tasty start to breakfast. Last week's plans changed. That seems to be what happens when I make plans - they change! I didn't even sit at the sewing machine, and oh boy do I want to. Just a couple of hours to get through the pile would be lovely. Maybe this week. But I did get some cards made. I found a lovely template and bulk made some Happy Mail Project cards. Then I attended an online workshop and made some new (to me) fancy folds. When I couldn't sleep, I worked on beaded jug covers. I learned to make these last year, crocheting the doyley and learning how to attach the beads, and I love how they turned out. In my stash were some doyleys without a project in mind, so I've been adding beads to them to make little milk jug or water glass covers for the present box. In the kitchen, all our meals were cooked from scratch, using our pantry.
I canned corned beef. 12 quarts of meatballs were added to the pantry shelf. I made tortillas for a dinner of street tacos one night. I made Penny Pinching Pizza Bases. I packed Wayne's lunch every day. He had salad sandwiches (that didn't go soggy); egg and lettuce sandwiches; ham, cheese and mustard sandwiches; chicken and coleslaw wraps; ham, cheese and tomato sandwiches. I've been experimenting with tomato, cucumber and beetroot on sandwiches so they don't go soggy and I think I've conquered the soggy sandwich problem. In the garden two beds have been cleared and enriched with compost, ready for autumn planting. I've started cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower seeds. I picked more rosemary and dehydrated it for the pantry. What did you make, bake, grow and sew last week? Good morning!
This past week has been a week of tomatoes, lots and lots of tomatoes. Hannah was home for the weekend and I sent home a big container of tiny toms and some freshly picked cucumbers with her. I used the slow cooker and cooked some down to make pasta sauce. This has been frozen because I didn't peel them, and for canning tomatoes need to be peeled. I roasted some in the oven with olive oil and rosemary and used them on our pizzas. We ate them everyday with our salad for dinner and Wayne took a small container in his lunchbox every day. I picked raspberries every day. They were washed, drained and frozen and when there is enough I'll use them to make jam. I made some cards to add to the present box, and some to send to the nursing home. I also made my happy mail cards for the week. Remember when I said I was going to spend some time every day at the sewing machine? I do - and I haven't! I did get to the sewing machine this week though and made some kitchen towels for the present box and worked on a new gift idea I had, a carrier and heat mat for a hair straightener. Hannah claimed it as soon as she saw it, and she loves it, so I'll add more to the present box. Looking back, it was a productive week! What did you make, bake, grow and sew last week? Good morning!
This week I've been jotting down things as I do them. I'm finding I need to make notes to keep track; life is busy at the moment and now we are all well again, I'm playing catch-up, although it isn't taking much to exhaust me. I do a bit, then do a sitting down chore, do a bit more, do another sitting down chore. The weather isn't helping either, but I'm going by "if you do things, things get done". I placed a big online order of groceries. Honestly, with free delivery it was easier than trying to do it in person, and my shopping day was so hot I didn't want to go out. Amazingly everything on the list was delivered! Getting the groceries delivered is a tool, or a handmaiden as per The Bluebirds Are Nesting on the Farm. I remember Mum getting groceries delivered when I was a wee girl. The grocer would knock on the door, and bring in the groceries in a box. He would carry it through to the kitchen - true service. We need to use all the tools at our disposal to ensure we can do our jobs properly so if I need to get the groceries delivered occasionally I will do it, guilt free. When it was all put away, the shelves looked much better. I've been reading and listening to podcasts from various experts and while they are mostly speaking about the northern hemisphere, what happens those to economies eventually finds its way to us; all those experts are predicting mass shortages and rising prices across the board. I've been working the canning plan and keeping the stockpile stocked as best I can. Being prepared isn't panicking, it's simply looking ahead, and doing what is necessary now to be able to survive what the future brings. Good old fashioned commonsense. The tiny toms are going so well, every morning a pasta bowl full has come off the vines and been added to the freezer. When there is enough to fill the slow cooker, I'll make sauce. We've been eating them every day as part of our salad and as snacks. Same for the raspberries. They have been a little slow this summer, but now they are coming on and a cereal bowl full is going into the freezer every morning, ready to make jam when the weather cools down. I had another 6kg of brisket in the fridge, and the thought of cutting it up to pressure can almost made me cry, so into the slow cooker it went. It cooked all day, and came out so tender I could shred it with a fork. Bagged it into meal portions, vac sealed and into the freezer it went. The Happy Mail Project is making me so happy. These are the cards I made and sent off this week. I just love picking names from my address book and sending a little card to let those dear people know I'm thinking of them and wishing them a good day. My goal is to send five a week, so this week another three cards were made and posted. Next week I'm hoping to reach the five. Kitchen towels were on my to-do list for the present box. The easiest way I think is to create a production line. All the tea towels were prepped. All the toppers were cut out and sewn. All the buttonholes were done together. Then the all the toppers were stitched to the towels and lastly the buttons sewn on. I love to work this way; if I need to stop to do something else, then I can and when I come back I can move onto the next step. I cut down an old, torn sheet to make polishing cloths. It's pure cotton, and soft, perfect for polishing. Total cost for 10 good sized cloths $0. Cooked all our meals from scratch from the pantry. I can't stress how much this saves us. I was listening to a YT and they quoted Dave Ramsay as saying the average American, single person, not a family, spends over $3,600 a year on eating out! Now I'm thinking that would be about the same here, Australians have embraced the home delivery service for meals. I don't spend that much to feed my entire family for a year. I've been picking tomatoes and cucumber from the garden too. The tomato seeds cost $3 for the packet, and so far I've picked around 8kg; tomatoes were $6.95/kg yesterday so growing them is saving us a fortune - $52.60 to date. We have some hot days this week so I'm expecting to be picking and bottling all week. I cashed in some rewards $$$ to pay for the groceries this week. Opened the windows and doors and turned the air con and fans off. It rained so I didn't have to water this week. Used my rewards and RACV card to save 13c/litre on diesel. I'm still using materials in my stash to make gifts, and it doesn't seem to be shrinking! On the up side, I'm not buying anything. Looking back it was a good, frugal week for us. |
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