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Friday, July 25, 2014

This week's edibles and other goodies: some "beauty" products and lots more pickles, I'm afraid

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Not everything I create is for the stomach. Sometimes I branch out.

  • I "made" some lemon lotion. Lemon is one of my favorite summertime fragrances. It's so light and fresh. I add lemon essential oil to small bottles of hand lotion, like the ones you get as samples or when staying in hotels.
  • I made some lip gloss with the stub of a favorite old lipstick, some lip balm and a few drops of olive oil. I have a mild allergy to petroleum jelly, so most lip glosses don't work for me. A waxy lip balm blended with a little oil does work. And the lipstick gives it just a bit of color.
  • And yes, more watermelon pickles! I made 3 more pints, bringing me up to 7 pints of watermelon pickles. I'm close to finishing with watermelon pickles. We'll enjoy these in winter.
  • I recooked the cherry preserves that I made 2 weeks ago. The liquid never thickened, so I recooked the preserves with a bit of pectin. They set up immediately. I am so looking forward to the cherry preserves. They are one of my favorite varieties.
  • I made a small batch of mustard for this weekend's cookout. I am really loving homemade mustard. It has so much more flavor that anything I buy at the store. And it's easy to do, too!
And that's about it for the week. Not as overtly productive as other weeks, but still I was able to get a few things done. I've been financially productive in other ways most of this week.

How about you? Did you create anything this week? Share, please. I love hearing what things you've been doing -- gives me ideas for our home and family.

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7 comments:

  1. My husband was talking about making his own mustard about a week ago--funny that you just did it.

    Cherry preserves ... mmm!

    I'm not creating the way you are. I'm late to the game with smoothies (seems like everyone else has been making them for a few years), but I've relocated my blender to a more accessible spot and have been venturing into smoothie-making this past week. They ARE tasty and a good way to incorporate more fruits/veggies into our diets, but I will never like cleaning the blender. :)

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    Replies
    1. Hi Kris,
      What did you add to your smoothies this week?

      Oh yeah, I know what you mean about cleaning blenders. For me, I have this thought that I'm going to slice up the cuticles on my fingernails when my hand is down in there.

      My favorite way to clean a blender is to add a few drops of dish soap and a cup or two of warm water, put the lid on, then run the blender. This doesn't work so well if you've added something with a lot of fat like peanut butter, but works with yogurt/milk/fruit/veggie smoothies.

      Your husband will have fun making mustard. It's one of those super easy things to do, but the flavor is incredible, depending on what recipe you use. I just use a modified version of Top Secret Recipes, and I cook mine in the microwave. It's usually something I do when I've got other work going on in the kitchen.

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    2. Frozen strawberries/bananas/milk for one, frozen blueberries/bananas/milk with some beet greens snuck into it for another. Thinking about freezing watermelon for a slushie next.

      I think it's the seedy berry stuff that I hate about cleaning the blender, as well as cleaning the blades. I'll have to try your technique. :)

      Delete
  2. I think you had a productive week! One of my favorite: cherry preserves! I don't make them every year because the cherries are most of the time quite expensive here. Last year's cherry preserves stayed runny as well. I used them up in home made yogurt ice cream. That was not bad at all :)
    You have inspired me to buy watermelon, only to make these pickles! I have never made them before.

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  3. I am in a creative dearth, but hope to snap out of it soon. Summertime is unpleasant here and I tend to just do enough to get by. With the exception of processing produce for the winter, I will wait until mid September when it cools a little to start creating.l

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  4. Once again, not much creative on the food or essential oil front, but I'm helping my husband make a corn hole game. I figured out (after reading many ideas on the internet) how to fill the bags with aquarium gravel and pony beads to have the right blend of weight and volume. They are not true corn hole bags because they don't contain field corn, but now they shouldn't mold easily or be eaten by critters as often happens with bags filled with corn.

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  5. Homemade mustard? I may have to try that. We ran out today.

    I love, love, love Lemon! Anything lemon. I have some Bath and Body works Lemon soap by the kitchen sink right now to wash my hands with. It smells so good. And lemons have antioxidants in them, so when you add them to your cooking, or beverages, you are getting something good as well.

    ReplyDelete

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