My Cheap and Easy Way to Get a Crispy Crust on Homemade Pizza Without a Special Pan or Pizza Stone

I don't know if I've shown you this before. I make a scratch pizza every Friday night and was going through the usual process last Friday and thought to share my technique with you.

I admit it, I do have a lot of kitchen ware. However, I tend to not want to buy single-purpose kitchen gadgets. So, I've never bought a pizza stone or special pizza pan. Instead, I bake our scratch pizzas on my regular (but large) baking sheets. The problem with baking pizza dough on a regular baking sheet is the crust doesn't crisp up very well without over-baking the top of the pizza.

I stumbled upon this little technique that requires no extra equipment and little skill. I first bake the pizza on a greased baking sheet for all but the final 2 minutes. The crust edge is beginning to brown and the top of the cheese looks a little toasty. At this point, the dough has baked.

I remove the pizza and sheet from the oven, then using a metal spatula, I loosen the entire pizza from the baking sheet, but leaving it still on the sheet.

Next, I hold the baking sheet, with the loosened pizza still on it, just over the wire rack in the oven and shake the sheet until the pizza slides onto the oven rack. I then bake the pizza another 2 minutes.

To remove the pizza from the oven, I use the spatula to slide it back onto the baking sheet. Once the pizza is out, I slide a cake cooling rack between the sheet and the pizza so sweat doesn't form on the crust's bottom.

You can kind of see how toasty the underside of this pizza looks. Perfectly crisp pizza crust -- just how we like it, here.

It works. It's free. And I didn't need to buy or store anything extra.

Ironing Fabric Ribbons Quick & Easy and Other Frugal Things

I used to use a heated light bulb to quickly iron ribbons. However, now that almost all of our bulbs are either LED or CFL, they don't generate enough heat to iron anything. 

Enter my hair flat iron. My flat iron heats up in seconds and doesn't require an ironing board. I slip the ribbon between the paddles and pull it through a half dozen times. Hair flat irons always seem to have a sweet spot where the paddles make better contact than the rest. That's where I pull the ribbons through.

These satin ribbons were used to tie up some small gifts for my step-mom for Mother's Day. I save and reuse nice ribbons. Sometimes they become a tad rumpled when piled haphazardly in a box. A quick pressing makes them look good as new. Big but -- do not try this with plastic ribbons!!! Eek! I can just imagine the smell!

Anyway, if you were a previous light bulb-ribbon ironer, just a quick tip for if and when you need to iron satin or grosgrain ribbons in the future (and also happen to have curly hair (like me) that you straighten with a styling flat iron).  :)

Just curious, do you have plans for Mother's Day? I'm still not sure exactly what we'll do. But I'm hoping to have my son and daughter-in-law join us. Keeping my fingers crossed for no rain, as we'll be outdoors once again.

Did you pick any flowers for May Day?

Here's my May Day posy. I went out into the yard to look for flowers to pick. In early May, there's not a lot to choose from in my yard. But I did find a lot of violets. I cut a handful and tucked them into this tiny vase. 

On another note, the adorable little bunny has become a hungry, adorable bunny. He/she got into our strawberry beds and ate most of the leaves. The blossoms are still developing, so fortunately, they're safe from our hungry friend. One afternoon last week, we had to quickly devise some fencing for those beds. I wanted to show you one small critter fence that my daughters helped me make that day. 

(My husband used the last of the chicken wire on the bed just behind this one.) I worked with what I had on hand. I didn't have a lot of time to think something up, so I went with rustic. 

We collected a bunch of sticks from our woodlot and stuck them into the ground just inside the perimeter of the bed. Afterward, I used wire along the top third of the fence to anchor key sticks together, making it a little more difficult for either a squirrel or bunny to push the sticks over to get in. 

I had read that a rabbit fence needs to have slats no more than 2 inches apart. I'm assuming some of our squirrels could squeeze in through even tinier openings. So, we went with 1  1/2 inches apart. Anyway, so far, so good. It's been a little over a week, and the fence hasn't been breached. I like the look of this fence. If it works this strawberry season, this is what I'll use for future years. If not, it's back to the drawing board. 

Next up, devise a fence that will keep raccoons out of the corn. Any (cheap) suggestions for keeping hungry raccoons out of a small corn patch?

Thought I'd show you what making carrot powder in my kitchen looks like

Last week I told you about using vegetable powders. Today I wanted to show you how I make my own carrot powder. It's a 2-day process for me, one day for drying the carrot slices and the next next for grinding them into a powder. 

The other day, I made powder from 4 medium-sized carrots. I scrubbed, but didn't peel them. I trimmed the end and tips, then used my food processor and the slicing blade to slice the carrots into 1/16 to 1/8-inch slices (it's my finest slicing blade). I spread the carrots onto dehydrator sheets to dry at 135 to 145 degrees F for about 7 to 8 hours.

At this point, I really could make the powder. But waiting until the next morning means a relaxing evening for me.

If I had a newer and more powerful food processor, I would use it to grind the dried slices. But, since my fp is 37 years old, and I don't want to burn the motor out, I use my coffee/spice grinder to make the powder.

After one grinding, I put the rough powder through a mesh sieve, using a pastry brush to get all of the finer powder out of the grinder.

I run the coarse powder through the grinder about 4 more times, sieving in between each grinding. By the end, I have about a teaspoon of coarse grind (that I add to a cup of soup for myself) and about 1/2 cup (more or less) of finer-ground carrots, kept in a covered dish to use mixed in juice or yogurt.

The other day, I said that 1 tablespoon of powder was equal to one carrot. That may be true for more finely ground powder (which is more dense and compact). But for my home-ground powder I think 1  1/2 to 2 tablespoons is equal to 1 carrot.

The differences between commercial and home-ground carrot powder

To the left is a commercial powder and to the right, my homemade powder. Mine is definitely more pigmented and likely has much more beta carotene than the commercial. Home-ground is also more flavorful than the commercial powder that I've used.

I have a few thoughts on the color and flavor differences between the two powders. My home-ground is slightly coarser in texture than commercially-ground. A finer grind, like the commercial one, may affect appearance of color. I noticed this in the finer carrot powder that clung to the lid of the grinder. It was slightly lighter in color than the coarser pieces in the base of the grinder. It's possible that the commercial powder is made with larger, fatter carrots, grown for size, that have a larger center core that is light in color. Or, perhaps commercial powder is made with the residual pulp from making carrot juice. Anyway, home-ground dried carrot powder has more pigment and more carrot flavor than the commercial brand that I had tried.

The other noticeable difference is that without high-speed grinding equipment, the powder that I make at home is slightly more coarse than the commercial product and so doesn't completely "disappear" when mixed into other foods. I should add, some people shred their carrots before dehydrating, in order to make grinding easier. This might also produce a finer grind. I'll give that a try sometime soon and see.

Despite these differences, I'm very satisfied with my home-ground carrot powder. I have seen for myself just what is in my powder, so I know the nutrients that my body is getting from it. And, as I said before, I am able to squeeze a couple more servings of vegetables into each day without much extra effort.

Grocery Recap for April

Just before Easter I went to WinCo and spent $120.05. If you remember, we did a cook-out brunch, with kabobs as the main item, hence the boneless ham, smoked sausage, peppers, and mushrooms. Also, I added another 10-lb bag of sugar to our back-up pantry and did a little stocking up on meat. $120.05, with a major holiday and a little meat stocking up, is a great amount for this shopping trip.

I also made a Walmart order for pick-up just after Easter mostly for bathroom tissue, but also to stock up on a couple of items. I spent $39.24. Our Walmart limits the bathroom tissue to one package per shopping. So, I'm making a couple of pick-up orders at Walmart this month to get just a bit ahead on the tissue.

Mid-month (just before 2 more birthday celebrations), I went to WinCo again. I'm using these frequent shopping trips to stock up on some basics. Last month it was flour and oil. This month, it's sugar and chocolate/cocoa powder. I spent $94.96.

Near end of the month I did a split order between curbside pick-up and delivery through Walmart. I spent $56.77 combined.

End of month, I went to WinCo to stock up on several items. I spent$113.67. The next day I picked up an order from Walmart, spending $22.50. 

In looking at the list, you may notice that I bought a lot of ketchup this month (4 bottles). I have NOT heard that there will be a price surge on ketchup. It's just a convenient item to add to an order that needs a minimum spend for delivery or pick-up when I'm very close to that amount.

Total spent for April -- $447.19

What I bought:

three 10 lb bags sugar, WinCo, $4.95

1 25-lb bag sugar, WinCo, $12.38
pastel M&Ms, WinCo, $2.47 (Easter)

2 large bags toasted o's cereal, WinCo, $3.98 ea

8 boxes crackers, WinCo, 5 @ $1.28, 3 @ $1.58
2 boxes animal cookies, WinCo, $1.38
8 bags chocolate chips, WinCo, $1.68 ea

2 boxes graham crackers, Walmart, $1.17 ea

.16 lb nutmeg, WinCo, 94 cents
,17 lb garlic powder, WinCo, 86 cents
.70 lb plus .55 lb cocoa powder,  plus 1.27 lb WinCo, $1.81 & $1.42 & $3.28
1.20 lb plus 1.38 lb plus 4.03 lbs popcorn, WinCo, 91 cents & $1.05 & $3.06

2 gals vegetable oil, Walmart, $4.44 ea

10-lb bread flour, Walmart, $5.98

four 5-lb bags whole wheat flour, Walmart, one at $3.47, 3 at $3.76

2 5-lb bags whole wheat flower, WinCo, $3.22 ea

chicken bouillon granules, Walmart, $2.74

2 jars instant decaf coffee, Walmart, $6.23 ea

1 large jar instant coffee, Walmart, $7.73

2 dozen mini croissants (birthday), WinCo, $4.98

1 jar mayonnaise, WinCo, $1.98

mustard, Walmart, $1

4 bottles ketchup, Walmart, 88 cents ea

burger buns (birthday), WinCo, 92 cents

2-litre club soda (birthday), WinCo, 97 cents

4 oz onion powder, WinCo, $1.14

.52 lb corn starch, WinCo, 48 cents

marshmallows, Walmart, 88 cents

32-oz raw honey, Walmart, $7.93

1 gal vinegar, Walmart, $2.72

3-lb vegetable shortening, Walmart, $2.98

1-lb bag yeast, WinCo, $2.98

.73 lb sliced amonds, WinCo, $2.98

.78 lb peanuts, WinCo, $$1.33

7 gals 2% milk, 5 gals whole milk, WinCo, $2.29 ea for 4, $2.39 for 7, $2.49 for 1

two 2 lb bags shredded mozzarella, two 2 lb bags shredded cheddar, WinCo, $4.98 ea

2 1-lb blocks mozzarella, WinCo, $2.98 ea

2 2-lb blocks cheddar jack cheese, WinCo, $5.51 ea

3 18-ct eggs, WinCo, $1.70 ea

potato salad (birthday), WinCo, $5.48

8 lbs butter, WinCo, $2.48 ea

1.05 lb Parmesan cheese, WinCo, $4.70

.47 lb Parm/Romano cheese, WinCo, $2.11

5 cans orange juice frozen conc, WinCo, $1.17 ea
5 cans apple juice frozen conc, WinCo, 88 cents ea
4 bundles celery, WinCo 1 at 98 cents, 3 at 78 cents
5 lbs carrots, WinCo, $2.48
four 5-lb bags apples, WinCo, $2.48 ea

3.46 lbs apples, WinCo, $3.04
1.39 lbs Roma tomatoes, WinCo, $1.36 (Easter)
3 red bell peppers, WinCo, 48 cents ea for 2 (Easter-2) and 68 cents-1
3 green bell pepper, WinCo, 1 at 68 cents (Easter), 2 at 58 cents
19 bananas, WinCo, 84 cents plus $1.50, plus $1.57

1 lb mushrooms, WinCo, $3.76 (Easter)

5 small bags dried cherries, Walmart, $2.66 ea

2-lbs dried cranberries, WinCo, $3.98

1 lemon (birthday), WinCo, 68 cents

1 watermelon (birthday), WinCo, $10.71

1.80 lbs and 1.85 lbs tomatoes on the vine (birthday), WinCo, $1.22 and $1.28

6 lbs onions,  WinCo, $2.36

fresh ginger, WinCo (birthday), 82 cents

boneless half ham, WinCo, $10.34 (Easter)
beef smoked sausage, WinCo, $2.98 (Easter)
shank ham, WinCo, $7.52
beef top round roast, WinCo, $10.40
beef petite sirloin steaks, WinCo, $10.39
boneless, skinless, chicken breasts, WinCo, $8.22

2 large bags frozen turkey breakfast sausage, WinCo, $4.48 ea

2 value packs pepperoni slices, Walmart, $6.32 each

4 packages smoked sausage (like kielbasa), WinCo 68 cents ea

2 20-ct. packages Hebrew Nationals, Walmart, $9.14 ea

Because one of these birthdays was mine, I chose to buy some pre-made foods, such as the burger buns, potato salad, and some croissants. Gotta treat myself well on my birthday, right? As it was a bbq celebration, we also served watermelon and the homemade ginger ale (hence the lemon, ginger, and club soda).

I spent a whole lotta money this month on groceries. However, for the most part, I haven't been spending very much each month on food since last summer, and I had about depleted all of my supplies. Here's what I've spent monthly on food alone since last August:

Aug   $92.18

Sept   $182.30

Oct   $304.52

Nov   $189.45

Dec   $77.98

Jan   $54.07

Feb   $184.66

Mar   $152.77

Apr   $447.19

October and April were my stock-up months. The average for the last 9 months has been $187.24. That's not bad at all, especially since we have not spent any money on food from restaurants or venues other than grocery stores since Feb. 2020. We're doing fine.

That's it for grocery spending this month.

And tomorrow is May Day! Do you remember May Day posies from many years ago? As a child, we would pick flowers and make little bouquets to leave on neighbors' doors. I think I'll make my own posy for tomorrow.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Vegetable Powders

rhubarb-vanilla-beet smoothie

Last summer, when I was trying to stock an emergency pantry, I stumbled upon vegetable powders at a couple of websites. At one particular website, I was trying to meet a minimum order to get free shipping on powdered milk. I added some beet, carrot, and spinach powder to that order and have been experimenting with adding these powders to a variety of foods to boost nutritional value.

I have since discovered that I can make my own vegetable powders at a savings, using my dehydrator and food processor with fresh vegetables. I'll be processing some of our garden surplus as powders later this growing season.

You may wonder -- why bother with vegetable powders when fresh or frozen veggies are so easy to use in cooking? I'm aiming for 6 to 7 servings of fruits and vegetables every day. To reach that volume, I try for 2 servings at breakfast each day. My standard breakfast is a small cup of homemade yogurt. To add vegetables, I add some carrot powder, along with honey and vanilla for flavor. For my birthday, my son gave me some blueberry powder. So, I've been adding some blueberry powder along with the carrot powder. There's almost 2 servings done for the day. And it's delicious. Carrot powder has a mild taste and a small amount of texture. 

Later in the day, I make myself a smoothie with the handy Ninja smoothie blender that my husband picked up off the "free" table at work. Beet powder has more flavor than the carrot. However, when mixed in a smoothie, such as the above rhubarb-vanilla-beet smoothie, I don't taste it at all, yet I'm getting the benefits from beet root. (I used leftover cooked vanilla rhubarb with beet powder and a small amount of water.)

When I make pizza sauce, unbeknownst to my family, I add a spoonful of spinach powder to the tomato paste and seasonings. A little dark leafy greens slipped into a pizza dinner without anyone noticing.

I also make myself juice drinks, using apple juice as a base then adding carrot, beet, and spinach powder and shaking well. This is my "recharge" beverage when I'm working out or a quick, last-minute vegetable with lunch on a particularly busy day.

Yes, I could cook, puree and add vegetables to the same foods, but I like the powders for a couple of reasons. They're super easy to use, no on-the-spot cooking and pureeing. They don't add water content to foods that I don't want thinned, such as my yogurt breakfast. Alternatively, sometimes I want to actually thicken a soup or sauce. Vegetable powders have a slight thickening effect, as well as add flavor and nutrients.

I still consume most of my fruits and veggies un-dehydrated. Powders are just one more way to boost the nutrients in my foods.

Have you ever tried vegetable or fruit powders?

Foods Which May Be Affected by Inflation

I don't know if you've been reading news' articles about food inflation for 2021. There are some foods that we can expect to pay more for this year. Here's the list so far for the year:

• Coffee -- due to drought in Brazil
• Cheese, especially Parmesan -- increases related to shipping, herd feed prices, and aging of cheese
• Meat and dairy -- due to shortage of some animal feed
• Poultry -- avian influenza affecting poultry in EU
• Imported seafood -- port issues
• Vegetable oil -- drought in Brazil affecting soy, labor-strike in Argentina, and increased demand from China for vegetable oil fueling shortages combined with Russia's increased export tax on sunflower seed and oil (Russia is world's largest exporter of sunflower seeds) and Thailand and Malaysia's lower than expected palm oil production 
• Grains -- due to China's increased demand for grains as feed for increasing their livestock herds, Russia's increased export tax, US mid-west/Ukraine/Argentina/Brazil crop reductions/failures (weather-related)
• Sugar -- fears over worsening crop prospects this coming year in South America, Thailand, EU, and Russia

Even if the US is not a big trading partner with one or more of these mentioned countries, world-wide price increases and shortages still affect domestic prices.

It goes without saying, many processed foods will also bear higher prices or shrinking packages. Kraft-Heinz, Conagra (Duncan Hines, Marie Callender's), and Unilever (Lipton, Hellmann's) have already announced price increases for this coming year, due to higher cost of grains and sugar. Mayonnaise, a product that uses vegetable oil, is already more expensive than it was just 6 months ago.

So, what am I doing about this? I'm once-again dedicating more of our income to grocery purchases, trying to get a step ahead on these key food items. I'll also be setting aside a bit of our surplus of ingredients that I'll want to use next fall and winter holiday season. It's common sense that we'll likely feel the full brunt of food inflation, then, just as Americans do their annual holiday big-baking and cooking to celebrate what we hope will be the first "normal" holiday season with loved ones.

sources:

businessinsider.com
gro-intelligence.com
seekingalpha.com

reuters.com

ijr.com

Hybrid Shopping to Save Money

When I think of the word "hybrid", I usually think of something with two components that makes one working whole, like a hybrid engine. My hybrid shopping actually has three components, in-person/in-store, in-person/pick-up, and home delivery. 

I began using a hybrid approach to shopping last spring to minimize virus risk. I am now continuing to use my hybrid approach to save the maximum amount of money while saving my energy and time.

I shop in-person at a couple of stores to buy those items that are true deals -- priced lower than any other store. A couple of these stores don't offer curbside pick-up, so shopping in-person is my only option. Other stores do offer pick-up service, but I might only need a handful of items and not meet the minimum spend for free service.  So, I am left with shopping myself, the old-fashioned way, where I actually have to push my own cart!

I also shop via in-person pick-up at Walmart, because I can usually meet the $35 minimum for a free pick-up. I am only buying from Walmart those items that are best deals, made in USA, and/or are only available locally through Walmart. This is usually just a handful of items, such as bathroom tissue, bar soap, dish detergent, and a few food items.

In addition, I order a few items once every couple of months from walmart.com or target.com to be shipped to my home. I discovered that some items that I would normally buy at my local store are actually priced lower if bought online to be delivered, using free delivery on a minimum spend. With Walmart.com's $35 minimum order for free delivery, this is easy to meet once every 6 weeks or so for our supply of coffee, decaf and one or two other items. Some items are priced the same whether bought in-person or shipped, so I add those items to whichever order (my pick-up or my shipping order) based on where I need to spend more to make the minimum $35 for free shipping or pick-up.

So, how much am I saving by combining these three approaches? Last week, I put in two orders at Walmart, one for pick-up and one for delivery. I didn't need much, but I did compare prices online for each item. I spent $47 for a curbside pick-up and just over $35 for a delivered order. I saved 39 cents on a large jar of Folger's coffee, 18 cents on a smaller jar of Folger's decaf, 38 cents X 2 for a couple of bags of Wheat Montana ww flour, 40 cents X 4 for four bags of dried cherries, and 50 cents on a multi-pack of bar soap. That's a total savings of $3.43 simply by choosing shipping for some items and pick-up for others. This savings is on top of having compared prices with other grocery stores.

It didn't cost me a single extra cent to split my order this way. Often times, when we're shopping around town trying to get the best deal, we're spending extra money (gas for our car) and time to shop those different stores.

This coming week, I'll be shopping in-person in another store to pick-up other essentials for our household, focusing on those items that are best deals in that store and/or made/grown in USA-only products.

All in all, I'd estimate that by comparing my different shopping options, I'm now saving about $25 to $30 per month while buying the same basic foods, and I'm not running all over town each week to do so. 

Food Not Wasted Is Money Saved

Gingerbread made with leftover cooked ginger root,
past-dated heavy cream, and"old"rye flour

This last week has been one of using up leftovers. Some of these leftovers we ate, as is, and others we made-over into new foods and dishes. Not only does not wasting food save money on our grocery bill, but it also means that we aren't taking more of the world's food supply than we will use. Here's what I was able to "save" this past week:

• the ginger root that I used to make a syrup for homemade ginger ale -- I diced the cooked ginger root slices tiny and added to batter for a gingerbread cake. I also used rye flour that has been in my pantry for about 4-5 years.
• whipping cream several weeks past sell-by date with slightly soured smell and a bit gloppy -- used in the batter as part of the milk for husband's birthday cupcakes and batter for gingerbread
• leftover cream filling for my birthday copycat Hostess cupcakes -- added cocoa powder, vanilla extract, powdered sugar to make a creamy chocolate frosting for husband's birthday cupcakes
• 2 tablespoons pizza sauce from Friday's pizza dinner -- made a cup of Italian tomato soup for myself, adding chicken bouillon and water
• as mentioned earlier, cheese sauce (leftover from brunch), tomato slices (leftover from burger bbq), cooked bacon (leftover from brunch) -- put together with toast and made Welsh Rarebit
• leftover washed lettuce leaves from burger bbq fixings and leftover celery and carrot sticks from birthday bbq -- chopped the celery, carrot sticks, and lettuce to make a salad for dinner on last Sunday

What have been your "food saves" lately?

Some Highlights of My Week in Pictures

Using up leftovers from last weekend, one night I made Welsh Rarebit for a quick supper. We had bacon, tomato slices, and cheese sauce leftover from brunch and a bbq. All I had to do was toast some bread and assemble.

Violets are in bloom all over our yard this week. I picked a bunch of the blossoms and leaves to press to use in making a card for someone special. I hope the colors of the petals and leaves hold.

So, this is our greenhouse. I wrote about this a few years ago. It has a tubular frame with 5 shelves, and has a plastic cover that slips over the top and zips at the sides. It's portable and can be disassembled easily, but we leave it up year round and use it for winter storage for patio cushions and empty pots.

One of 5 edible hanging baskets. It contains 1 green leaf lettuce, 3 small red leaf lettuce (hard to see as the red is so dark), 1 thyme cutting that I rooted in water earlier this year, 1 nasturtium seedling, 1 tiny parsley seedling, a bunch of radish sprouts (to use as greens, so tightly-packed), and a few spinach sprouts. They all just need to grow, now!

I trimmed up the rosemary plant on both sides to make room for a couple extra lettuce seedlings. The rosemary that I trimmed has been used in meals this week.

Another free pile yielded 4 of these lime green and white chairs. Yes, they were free. I was on a walk with one daughter, so we had to carry the bunch home.

And finally, one last batch of cupcakes for spring. Yesterday was my husband's birthday (4 spring birthdays in our family), so I baked these up in honor of his birthday.

We had about 10 days of beautiful weather, so I've been working and walking outdoors as much as I could. I overhauled the pumpkin patch, hoping for a better yield this year. My husband built another bed for ever-bearing raspberries. I've been hauling soil and compost to fill it. I moved a blueberry bush into a sunnier location, hoping it will produce better. And I started some seeds directly in the garden. Rain is expected to return over the weekend. I guess it's not summer after all. Oh well, the water will be good for the garden and the bare spots in the lawn that I patched.

How was your week?

Free-Pile Find -- A Shepherd Hook for Garden Lighting

One of the wonderful outdoor decor finds from last week's free-pile is this black metal shepherd hook-style plant hanger. I could immediately see that this would make a great candle hanger for the garden.

Once home, I used some household wire to turn a canning jar into a hanging candle holder.

I wrapped one length of wire around the top of the canning jar, just below the threads, twisting a loop on opposite sides of the jar.

I used another length of wire to make the hanger, attaching an end to each of these side loops.

Finally, I twisted a loop at the top of the suspending wire to secure the candle holder onto the shepherd hook. The lit candle added ambience to the garden during our Saturday evening celebration.

Also at the free pile was this nifty plastic tray -- just the thing I was needing to add more plant capacity to my greenhouse.

My Homemade Ginger Ale

To make ginger ale at home, I used a ginger syrup and club soda. I checked several recipes online for the ginger syrup and settled on a hybrid of several versions. Here's what I made mine.

Ingredients:

1 hand ginger, peeled and sliced thin
4 strips of lemon peel (6 or 8 might be nice for more lemony flavor)
3 cups water

scant 1  1/2 cups of granulated sugar

Ginger is easiest to peel if you cut the segments apart. Then you can use a vegetable peeler to remove the skin before slicing or mincing.

I peeled the ginger, then sliced into 1/16-inch slices. I had about 1 cup of slices when done.

In a stainless saucepan, I placed the 4 strips of lemon peel, sliced and peeled ginger, and 3 cups of water. I brought it all to a boil, reduced the heat and simmered, covered, for 10 minutes.

Next, I stirred in the sugar and brought back to a boil. Once boiling, I reduced the heat and simmered gently, uncovered, for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

I allowed the infusion to cool with a lid on for 1 hour. After an hour, I strained the syrup through a mesh sieve and chilled it. 

After simmering, I had about 2 cups of strained syrup.

To make ginger ale, I used about 3  1/2 to 4 tablespoons of syrup for every 8 ounces of club soda. The sugary syrup causes the soda to really fizz up, so I discovered it was better to add the soda to a bottle or glass first, then add the syrup.

I wanted the ginger ale in bottles for self-serve on Saturday. However, I think this homemade version has more fizz when made fresh for each serving, pouring the club soda in a glass first, then spooning in measures of the ginger syrup.

My homemade ginger ale is very gingery and not nearly as sweet-tasting as commercial ginger ale. Because . . . frugal -- I've saved the cooked ginger pieces in the fridge in an airtight container and will chopped them fine to add to ginger cake later this week.

This was fun and delicious. I'll try it again very soon and maybe add more lemon peel and perhaps a bit of lemon juice.

Moisture Absorbers for Soil in Hanging Baskets and Window Boxes

I wanted to show you a product that I've been using the past couple of years. I've been adding this to soil in hanging baskets in order to reduce the amount of watering needed. There are several brands on the market. I use Soil Moist.

I bought this 3-oz packet a couple of years ago and still have quite a bit left. The packet instructions say to use 1 1/2 teaspoons of granules for a 10-inch diameter basket or equivalent measure for window boxes. You need to mix this into the bottom 2 or 3 inches of soil --  the root zone. This year, I've started fresh with my baskets' soil. I scooped soil into my basket, sprinkled the Soil Moist over it, then mixed it in with my hand before topping with more soil.

Using a moisture retention product doesn't eliminate watering, but it does hold enough moisture that I can water less often. The packet says that their product can cut watering up to 50%.

I wanted to show you just what 1 1/2 teaspoons of this product looks like both dry and wet.

Here is 1  1/2 teaspoons dry granules.

I began adding water and the granules quickly sucked it all up.

So I added more and more water, until I had added just over 1 cup of water to that 1  1/2 teaspoons of Soil Moist. At that point, I quit, as my bowl was getting full. But this is pretty amazing stuff, isn't it? 

A Peaceful Birthday

a cream-filled chocolate cupcake à la Hostess cupcakes

While excitement can be enticing, for me a quiet and peaceful birthday is preferable. One daughter was home all day, so she and I went for a long walk in the morning, stopping by a free pile and garage sale along the way. We snagged some gardening supplies and outdoor decorations for the great price of FREE. The other daughter came home around 1 PM and the two of them cooked a nice, late brunch for the 4 of us. The weather was gorgeous all day, so we dined on the deck. After brunch, I worked outdoors, organizing the portable greenhouse and potting some hanging baskets. My lovely daughters also made dinner for the four of us, which we ate while watching a movie using the roku. I also made the ginger ale syrup to use on Saturday night when we celebrated as a 6-some (with son and daughter-in-law). Just a very nice, laid back sort of birthday. 

A few days previous, I had mentioned a momentary longing for a Hostess cupcake, the kind with a cream filling. Well, my two daughters made a batch for us to have as my birthday dessert on Friday. They followed a scratch chocolate cupcake recipe of mine, filling with a copycat Hostess cream filling, and topping with fudge frosting. The copycat cream filling is one of many found online that contains marshmallow cream, powdered sugar, vanilla, salt, hot water, and shortening, like this one. My daughters modified the recipe slightly, making a marshmallow cream substitute with mini marshmallows and corn syrup, and then adding a bit of butter to taste at the end of mixing all of the ingredients. Very delicious and satisfied that longing.

Making Soda Pop

Did you know that there are a couple of kinds of soda pop that you can make at home? I have an aunt who was legend for her homemade root beer at family reunions. She flavored hers with sarsaparilla, sassafras, vanilla bean, and licorice root. This has been on my must-do summer fun list for years. I'm thinking this year on the 4th of July, my family will make root beer.

There's another flavor of homemade soda that I really enjoy and will be making today -- Ginger Ale. There are a few ways to carbonate flavored soda: dry ice, yeast, water kefir, and using club soda or seltzer water. Each has its merits. 

I'm going for easy, so I'll be adding club soda to a homemade ginger simple syrup. Ginger simple syrup is easy to make, simmering fresh lemon and fresh ginger root in water, sweetened with sugar, and cooked down to syrup stage. Finally, the syrup is strained before adding to the beverages, such as club soda or tea.

There's a reason I'm making ginger ale today. It's my birthday! Today, I'm choosing activities that will put a smile on my face. Making ginger ale is one of those fun projects to celebrate the day.

Have a great weekend!

Dyeing Polyester Fleece

Hard to get the lighting right on this.
It's more uniform in color than it looks in the photo.

My daughter Grace had a white bathrobe made of polyester fleece that she wanted dyed another color. I looked into dyeing synthetic fabrics and found a product made by Rit called DyeMore. Synthetic fabrics don't grab onto the traditional Rit dye very well. DyeMore is supposed to be a solution for these fabrics. 

Grace wanted her white robe dyed camel-colored. DyeMore in Sandstone looked like it would produce the correct color. I read and followed the online directions precisely, including using a high-heat dye technique instead of using my washing machine for dyeing. 

I pre-washed the robe in warm, soapy water to remove the manufacturer's finish. Using my very largest stainless steel stockpot, I brought 3 gallons of water up to 200 degrees F, as instructed, before adding the contents of the well-shaken dye bottle. I then submerged the robe. I kept the dye bath on the stove over Medium heat the entire time, noting polyester requires longer than nylon and other synthetics. I stirred as instructed. Then  a little after an hour (the recommended time by the dye manufacturer), I drained the dye bath and robe into the washer and washed it in warm soapy water and dried.

While the robe took color well, it grabbed more of the yellow and less of the tan than I had expected. It turned out more of a creamy yellow than camel. Fortunately for me, Grace loves this color as much as she says she would have loved a camel-color. There was also an issue with the threads on one of the pockets dyeing more tan than yellow. I hope that fades. I also wonder how this fleece color will launder over time. I've had many dyed items fade significantly with numerous washings. I guess we'll find out.

I was reading online that it's a gamble when dyeing synthetic fabrics. You never know how true the color will dye. While I was disappointed the color wasn't what I thought it would be, I'm relieved that this satisfied my daughter. 

Have you tried dyeing synthetic fabrics? What's been your experience with using fabric dye?

Fragranced Candle Not Burned All the Wax?

My son and daughter-in-law gave me this wonderful candle for Christmas. I used it while working out all winter and enjoyed its relaxing fragrance. Like so many jar candles, this one couldn't burn all the wax. There's about 1/4-inch of wax at the bottom of the jar. It's still delicately fragranced. And I didn't want to lose that aspect of the candle. I thought it might make a nice "sachet" for my pajama drawer.

I've got the remnant of wax in the jar set inside a drawer and am pleased that it gives just a hint of fragrance to my pjs. I'll eventually melt the wax and combine it with wax from similarly-fragranced candle remnants. But until then, it makes a nice "sachet".

Hanging Salad and Herb Baskets

We have 6 hanging baskets for plants for our house (5 are matching). In 2018, I had them all filled with flowers. Then in 2019 I thought to fill them with nasturtiums for edible blossoms. In 2020, I planted them with red leaf lettuce. Unbeknownst to me, one basket had a hitch-hiking nasturtium seed in the soil and gave me a very pretty little plant alongside that basket's lettuce. At the end of last season, I thought I'd like to grow several types of plants in each basket. That's what I'm trying this year. Here's a photo that I saw online that I'm trying to imitate.

So far for the baskets, I've started parsley, red and green leaf lettuce, and nasturtium seeds, plus I took cuttings from my existing thyme plant. I can add radish, spinach, and cilantro seeds directly to the baskets when transplanting my seedlings and cuttings. I think they'll be pretty. It looks like the best appearance comes from a very full basket. So, that's my goal. These will all hang along the eaves of the back of the house, where we get the most sun exposure. 

Pretty and edible -- that puts a smile on my face!

I was needing a new potholder . . .

If you remember, a couple of years ago I patched my oven mitts. That fix lasted a good two years. So, I'm satisfied with the work done then. However, my oven mitts have now developed actual holes (not just thin spots as before) right where my fingers need to be when I grab a hot baking pan out of the oven. In fact, I got a sharp surprise about a month ago when grabbing the pizza out of the oven. Ouch!

Anyway, I've been looking at oven mitts in stores and online for a few weeks. Most of what I find in the stores are all made in other countries. As I'm still trying to buy from my preferred countries, this left me with shopping through Etsy. As we all know, Etsy can be a bit expensive.

One afternoon, I just thought, "utilitarian items don't need to be pretty. It's okay with me if utilitarian items look utilitarian." Thinking in this way gave me the freedom to just sit down and sew a potholder, using some of my fabric scraps.

If you're practiced at making over blue jeans, you know that you wind up with lots of denim pieces like lower jean legs (jean shorts anyone?). A cut off lower leg of a pair of jeans is just the type of thing that a packrat like me will hold onto for years. Because, well, you know, you just might need that piece of denim. 

I used one denim leg (along with other scraps as an insulating layer) to make this denim potholder.  Using scraps that I had on hand meant little risk should it not turn out and no expense. The whole project took less than an hour and was ready to use that very night when making dinner.

It's nothing special to look at. But it is a utilitarian item, after all. Why am I telling you about my new potholder made from blue jean scraps? I know that sometimes I have a hard time beginning a project because of fear of failure. In sewing projects, that failure might be not turning out as well as my mind envisions. In these cases, I have to give myself permission to fail before I even begin. Using scraps that were free to me is just such "permission." Nothing at risk, but a lot to gain -- makes me think of the Nike slogan, "Just do it."

Now that I've actually made this one (and solved our potholder problem), I'm wishing I'd done this several weeks ago. Having a usable potholder would have saved my family members a burn or two. 

Sorry to Be AWOL Last Week

If you look really close, you can see my beet sprouts.
These are from seeds I saved from a beet plant last year.
I wasn't sure if they'd sprout or not and began to think not after 3 weeks.
Then one day, they surprised me!

After Easter, I crashed and crashed hard. I was exhausted to the point that I knew I couldn't do everything that I would normally. I had to drop a couple of items from my usual list in order to put in serious effort on other agenda items. So, I'm sorry that keeping up with this blog was one of the things I had to drop for the week. 

Easter is like many other significant holidays for me. Every year, I put a lot of work into pulling the entire holiday together for my family. I know many here don't "do" holidays to the extent that my family does, so I don't tend to post all that I do. Anyway, we had a wonderful Easter. I hope that you did, too!