queen putteress

i wish i could explain the pull kitchen projects have for me.
(i wish i could follow through on ingesting all that i make!)

since the beginning of the year i have already made: preserved lemons, limoncello, grenadine, apple vodka, vanilla extract, blood orange vodka, bacon vodka, lentil sprouts, yogurt and kombucha.

in this last week i've had the urge to make ginger lime pickles, blood orange marmalade, more preserved lemons, mustard and homemade deodorant.

i'm such a nut.
oh, that reminds me. i also want to make "larabars"...with nuts.

i wonder which three projects i'll tackle this weekend.

small updates from a small suburban farmstead

• saturday: started my first batch of seeds: onions and brassicas, and a little spinach for good measure.
• sunday: the chicken passed away, i was content in knowing i did what i could and she was warm and calm. i am contemplating new chickens this summer, but a little tired of the additional work.

forward and back

i am a few days into january and i haven't done a lick of what i said i will do. but i am not letting that drag me down, its been a crazy couple of weeks: people moving in and out, and just some good old time off for play.

now we are settling in with new housemates, new chaos, new spaces.
(the seed catalogs are arriving but i am just not ready yet to attack the garden.)

there is a lot of work to be done.
but that aside i have some upcoming goals.

• vanilla extract
• infused vodka
• bacon bourbon
• preserved lemons
• kimchee (started it last night!)
• spiced beer jelly
• infused vinegar

• learn to knit
• these handbags
• recipe box adapted from this idea
• more napkins

i am excited about these and i know they are within my abilities.

in november i slowly started building a momentum that is carrying me into the new year. first week of january i am happy to be able to look back and see my list full of crossed off items: my first napkin project completed, yogurt successfully made, a homemade christmas, a full larder and a lot of yoga behind me.

here's to the first season of 2011.

homemade christmas

i've been a flurry of homemade gift activity.

i think part of it is that i fret that a jar, or two, of something handmade won't please my family. i think my friends will appreciate it, but my family—well i've known them since the age of rampant materialistic gift-giving so i haven't quite gotten it out of my mind that that is what they want.

so thursday night i put on some music and whipped up some:

• homemade peanut butter doggy treats for my fur-loving friends
• homemade playdough for my neice and nephew
• lavender-vanilla simple syrup

this weekend i'll have a few more items i want to make, as well as coming up with recipes and labels for the items i am giving away. i have a busy weekend of holiday social parties so i am not sure how i will fit it all in. its hard to want to do two such different activities at the same time.

if i had thought ahead of time, i would have kept track of everything i've spent. but given that i have enough items to gift dozens (yes, multiple!) of friends and family, i think i am still ahead of the game.