Homemade Blackberry Jam

I love, love homemade jams, jellies and preserves. There's just something about that "wholesome goodness" knowing your fruits were picked fresh, and that you didn't add any flavors, colors or preservatives that makes the whole process well worth the time and effort invested. Besides that, they're just plain yummy! :) Jams aren't too difficult to make, and to be honest I usually just follow the directions on the fruit pectin box. So I won't bore you with a lot of details just what I use and the few steps to jelly making.

For a single batch I use:

5 cups crushed fruit

7 cups sugar

1 box fruit pectin

As with any canning procedure I start by sterilizing my jars.

Wash and crush ripe berries.

Measure out the ingredients, and bring the fruit and pectin to a boil. Add sugar.

Stir continually. Return to boil. When you reach a rolling boil that can not be stirred down start timing. Boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam, and pour into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch head space.

Wipe rims of jars and cap. Invert jars for 5 minutes.

Then store upright in a cool, dark, undisturbed place, and enjoy!

Making Pumpkin Spice soap

As you probably guessed from the name, two things that this soap contains are pumpkin and spice. As with most of the soaps I do, my base oils are pretty much the same, I only need to make a few minor adjustments to create a spicy, fragrant bar that's too good to only make in the Fall. Since I'll be using 12 ounces of pumpkin, I discount my water for that amount and begin as usual mixing my lye water into my oils.

At light trace I add the 12 ounces of pumpkin.

(I used canned but it must be pumpkin not pumpkin pie mix)

I blend that completely in and add my fragrance oils. Then pour a small amount into a separate bowl where I've added 2 T of cinnamon to an ounce of warm avocado oil.

Blend in completely.

Then pour the spice part back into the pumpkin part in two-three spots. 

Then stir the pot 1-2 turns to get a nice swirl.

Now it's ready to be poured in the mold.

I normally gel this one because it's hard to avoid with the spices in there, but I wanted to try a sculpted top this time so I sat it over a vent with fan on it. It turned out pretty good. I love the Autumn orange color that you get naturally from the pumpkin, and the aroma is a "hit" year-'round.

Soap on a Stick...UGH!!

I love to make soaps using milk. So far I've really liked goats milk, butter milk and coconut milk. There are a few ways that milk can be used in your recipe. I like to use a half and half procedure, because that way I don't have to worry about scorching my milk with lye. Also you don't get the fowl odor and color as you can with adding lye directly to your milk. But that's just me, others use what works best for them.

The method I use isn't totally without fault though. One of the main problems you can encounter is seizing. When using such a high water discount, your soap will very rapidly reach trace when the lye water is added to the oils. So it's best to soap cool, and use fragrance oils that won't add to the acceleration of trace. I suspect the latter to be the cause of my problems in the batch I'm about to share. I call it Oatmeal Milk and Honey because I use oatmeal, buttermilk and honey in my recipe. The fragrance oil I use in it is a blend I've concocted, but probably won't be using again. :)

Anyway, I measured out my water and milk and added the lye to the water and when it cooled I added it to the oils (to which I'd already added the fo and honey). I tried to use my stick blender, but before I could grab a camera I was getting something with a consistency of mashed potatoes.

Before I could get all the milk in the batch was setting up so hard that I couldn't even stir the milk in...ugh! So I did the only thing I could do and moved it over to the stove. I heated it over medium low heat and stirred constantly. Before long it limbered up and I was able to get a more uniform consistency.

So I added the rest of my ingredients, can't have omh without oatmeal.

Okay, so it ended up really thick, but not a complete loss...whew! So I plopped it in the mold tried to get the best looking top I could with what I was dealing with and crossed my fingers. :)

For this batch I'll try another fragrance oil next time, one that won't add to the problem. Also, it wouldn't be a bad idea to stir and not stick blend, at least until I see how it's going to behave. But if worse comes to worse there is always hot process. :)

My coconut lime embeds

I like trying new techniques, and things I've seen others do. I've done embeds a few times some shining examples are my soap ball embeds:

But I wanted to do something a little different, I was shooting for more of a layered look, this is what I got:

First I'll share how I did it then I'll tell you what I'd do differently next time. :) I started by cutting cubes of white soap, then making a batch of soap as I normally would. I poured off about a third of the batch in a seperate bowl and added color and fragrance to each.

Then I poured the brown part into the mold and topped it with the white cubes.

Then I carefully poured in the green remaining 2/3.

And sculpted the top a little.

It turned out ok, but it could have been better. Next time I'll make two seperate (small) batches because when you make one batch and split it, you can't wait for the bottom layer to set before pouring the top layer, because your top layer is getting thicker every second waiting. I also think it would have looked better if I had used white "rods" instead of cubes, as some bars don't appear to have as many white cubes in them. But that's how we learn, through trial and error, and it's kind of fun experimenting. :)

My flowers

As ususal summer seems to be swiftly passing by, and before you know it everything will be cold, barren, and dormant. Not trying to depress you, just trying to lay some ground work for why all these beautiful pictures were taken. lol So many of my showiest blossoms have already came and went, so I wanted to "capture" some of the beauty that I am still able to enjoy in my garden right now, before it too is gone. So, I asked my daughter-in-law to take some pictures for me so I could share them here, and I think they will make a great screen saver later when the days start growing shorter and the seasonal changes start taking their toll on me. :) ...Enough rambling, here's some pics.

 

Making coffee soap

Coffee soap makes for a great hand scrub, and since coffee is a natural deodorizer I always keep a bar at my kitchen sink, because it's great for removing odors such as onion, garlic and even fish from your hands. Coffee soap can be made by using your favorite soap recipe, but making just a few minor changes. To begin with you want to start with some fresh brewed, strong coffee in place of the water you normally use. I try to at least partially freeze mine to keep it from overheating too bad when you add the lye to it. The only other changes you might want to make is adding the coffee grounds at trace. I also like to add cocoa to mine, so it ends up nice and dark.  Here's some pictures of how I do it.

First wait till your coffee lye and oils are cooled to about 115 degrees.

Then slowly add the coffee lye to the oils...and blend.

When it comes to trace I like to add my fragance oils, cocoa powder that has been blended into about 2 oz of avocado oil, and grounds.

Then stir till completely blended.

Pour into mold and allow to set till the following day.

 Here's how mine looked all sliced up. It will get darker as it cures. By the end of a 4-6 week cure my bars are usually almost black. Not to worry the lather is white. ;-)

New appetizer recipe Mmmmm!

Probably already mentioned that I have 3 children, one son and two daughters. My oldest daughter shares my passion for crafting, and my youngest shares my passion for cooking. We make a pretty good team, and have lots of fun trying new recipes. She was the one who came across this recipe for "Jalapeno Chicken Fajita Bites". We tweaked the recipe a little, and this is what we came up with.

4 oz cream cheese, room temp
4 T grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 C shredded cheese (mozzarella/Cheddar blend)
1/2 C chicken (we used Sam's canned)
spices (fajita seasoning, cumin, old bay seasoning)
3 T real bacon bits
10 large jalapenos

Slice peppers in half lengthwise and remove seeds and membranes.
Turn oven to broil, place baking stone in oven to heat.
Drain chicken and add a pinch (to taste) of each of  the seasonings, toss, and set aside.

Mix cheeses well, blend in bacon and chicken. Fill pepper halves with mixture and place on hot baking stone. Place stone on bottom rack of oven and broil for 7-10 minutes, till golden brown.

These were soooooo good, and so easy to do. We'll definitely be making these again!

A few of my oldest soaps

tNow that's not to mean that these soaps have been sitting around for years, (not that it would hurt them much) but that these were some of the first soaps I made, when I started making soap a couple years ago. I've tweaked the recipes some in order to get a bar that is hard, long-lasting, and produces lots of great moisturizing lather. But besides a few minor adjustments these bars have remained the same, and have remained in my line-up because they're just irreplaceable.

This is my Gardeners Scrub and it's one of my favorites. It has orange, citronella, eucalyptus and tea tree essential oils along with lemon peel and poppy seed for a super nice, all natural scrub.

Another scrub that I still make is one I call Mocha Bean. For this one I start with strong brewed coffee and coffee grounds (a natural deodorizer) and add cocoa and vanilla. Mmmm!

This is my Goats Milk and Honey. It has no fragrance or color added, just goats milk, honey, vitamin e and shea butter. Great for those with sensitive skin!

Another of my oldest and one of my most requested soaps is my Old Fashioned Lye. It also has no color or fragrance added, just plain ol' soap. :)

Like many of my oldest soaps my Lavender and Oatmeal is another all natural bar of soap. Using lavender essential oil, lavender buds and oatmeal for gentle exfoliation, and vitamin E this one ranks as one of my personal favs too.

And finally my Lemongrass and Green Tea soap is another that I still make, and still enjoy. It starts with strongly brewed green tea, a blend of oils, lemongrass and eucalyptus essential oils and tea leaves. Now made with spirulina (a natural colorant) so that it also remains all natural. :)