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Monday, February 11, 2013

Banana Pudding

Today has been rainy so I'm not able to get out in the garden like I want.  I decided I would try to make pudding for the first time.  I found a recipe at Deep South Dish.  I used the recipe here:  Homemade Southern Banana Pudding.   It looked yummy and the recipe didn't seem too complicated.






After cooking it on the stove till it thickened up, I layered it with bananas and vanilla wafers.  I made a sad attempt to make meringue.  I didn't watch the tutorial and if I had it would have helped.  I know better for next time. 





Despite some flat meringue it all came out tasting wonderful.  I was happy with how it layered up and ate some immediately after it was done. 

I sent a pic to Jace who will most likely come home from work early because it's his favorite.  This recipe is a keeper.

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Refocus

This is the time of year I start to feel Spring.  Today I went through all my clothes and pulled all the stuff destined for Good Will.  I pretty much own 1 shirt now.

I set a date for the Big Garden Day.  It looks like it will be next Monday.  We'll be bringing in all the dirt and planting all the seeds and plants for our Spring garden.  I can't wait to see how that goes and post pics.

I'm refocused on my blog and gave it one of its' yearly makeovers.  I'll be focusing back on homesteading and the "hilarity" *eye roll* that ensues when things don't go my way. 

So I am focused FOCUSED...hey, is that a puppy?

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

How Not To Make Soap

Sometimes things don't turn out like you think they will.  Some little variable will change your entire plan.  And so it was the other day when the husband decided to make more soap.  We pretty much make all of our soap and like to make big batches that will last us 6 months or so. 

Jace worked very hard at getting all the ingredients together and spent lots of time grinding up flowers to color and texture the soap.  However, the next day none of the soap had hardened.  It was all a gel like consistency and looked more like jam.  We've made soap many times and have even sold it, so what went wrong?

The downfall of many homesteading projects is when a person decides to do things their way.  Jace had used my enamel coated hot water bath canning pot instead of our usual crockpot.  After I was done shrieking... I looked up why one doesn't use a metal pot typically to cook soap.  It's the old chemical reaction thing.  The internet said doing this would cause toxic results and burn my house down.  Well, not really, but close.

My theory is the metal pot caused the soap to not bind together properly.  I'm not sure if lye was leached into the metal of my pot.  Jace was a good guinea pig and tested the soap to see if it would still work.  It didn't burn his hands off and now we have 6 months of usable gel soap.

Accidents sometimes bring good results but should not be a regular course of action.


Today the first living thing went into the garden.  This means the fence is stable enough to keep out deer.  We planted a lemon tree, seen here, and a nectarine tree.  We mixed regular soil and rabbit poo compost for the fill in dirt.  The cinder blocks are the border for a 16 square foot corn, beans, and squash bed.  Yes, it is February, and yes we are wearing shorts.

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Bamboo Yarn and Passport Purgatory

I made another pair of tipless gloves for myself out of bamboo yarn.  I think this is my favorite yarn.  The finished result is softer than any other yarn I have worked with.  These gloves are also much warmer than I expected.  I'm making another pair for a gift and then a last pair for someone who wants to buy them.  Then I think I will be sick of making them for awhile.  I bought the yarn at Hobby Lobby, so it should be available at other craft/yarn stores. 


We are currently working on getting our passports.  This has turned into so much fun...  It turns out I thought I had the little one's birth certificate but I only had an abstract.  An abstract is basically worthless.  It's a statement on fancy paper that certifies that there is a record in that county, but it's not the actual record.  So I go to get the actual birth certificate and find out 2 letters in one of the names are mixed up.  The passport office says this will most likely cause a problem.  Now we have to go to the capitol city and get an amendment done for her birth certificate.  The state agency lady sounded pretty disgusted with me that I haven't ever gotten a birth certificate for her even though she is now 7.  Except I did, or thought I did with the whole abstract thing.  Sigh.  Even better, I don't have a birth certificate.  Yep, somehow I have made it throughout my whole life without ever needing one.  It seems just showing the certificate from the hospital was good enough.  And of course we'll need it to make the amendment on our daughter's certificate.  Wonderfully complicated.  I have ordered mine and we are patiently waiting for it.  The passport office assures us we have plenty of time and there is no need to worry.  Ha ha.  My tip:  One of the biggest favors you can do for your kid and yourself/family is to get/make sure you have long form birth certificates even if you don't need them now.  It will save you many headaches later.


Hope you have a great day!