Do you remember that baby boy that was born on Easter 4 years ago?

Well, here he is at the airport recently.  He is our grandson.  He and his mom and my husband and I all took a trip together. He was so good.  Bless his little heart.

Roasted dandelion root "coffee."

I am not a coffee drinker.  I'm not even a tea drinker.  Still, though, a nice warm comforting beverage is something I enjoy.  I dry mint and stinging nettles for herbal tea. A couple of days ago, I watched this wonderful YouTube video about making "Dandelion Coffee."  I did exactly what he said to do and it worked perfectly! It makes a very nice warm drink.  By the way, never drink HOT drinks.  That can lead to cancer of the esophagus.  

Here is the link to the video I mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiGlA2tlh2c&t=470s

I didn't have very many dandelions here at our home, so I went to the original Garden Fairy's home and she helped me.  In fact, she did almost all of the digging and getting the soil off of the roots.  As you can see, I brought them home and covered them with water and let them soak for a few hours to help get the soil off.  The Fairy has clay soil, so that was not easy.  

After soaking and rinsing, I cut the roots right off of the plants.  And then I scrubbed them carefully under running water.  Here they are.

I am not going to give you a complete tutorial here.  Please refer to the link above.  Here is what they looked like after I chopped them up in my food processor.

There are roughly 4 cups of chopped roots in that bowl.

Here you can see how I spread them on a baking pan.  This is a "half sheet" pan and worked out very well for my 4 cups of chopped roots.

When they had been dehydrated in the oven, and then roasted, here is the product that I ended up with.

I'm very pleased with this. It tastes very nice to me.  I am hoping to make some more soon. 

Violet Jelly!

Here in Indiana, USA, it is wild violet season. I went out and picked 2 cups of violet blossoms and put them in this bowl to let any possible hitchhikers escape, for about half an hour.  I didn't actually see anyone, but one never knows.... 

I wanted to make violet jelly.  So, I put the blossoms in a quart jar and poured 2 cups of boiling water over them and let it sit for about 24 hours.  Then, I strained out the infusion. Be sure to press down on the blossoms to get all the liquid out, as much of the color may be clinging to the blossoms.

Next, I you add 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice and the infusion turns this pretty color:

Pour 2 cups of this liquid into a stainless pan that is at least a gallon in size and add 1 box of powdered pectin.  Whisk that together well, and then, stirring, bring it to a full boil.

Add, all at once, 4 cups of sugar, bring it back to a boil, stirring, and boil it for one minute.

Pour the jelly into hot, sterilized jars, add sterilized caps and seal.

So quick and easy.

What does it taste like?  Well... sweet violets!  It's not something you would spread all over bread or toast, in general, but a nice dab on a cracker is very pleasant and it makes a lovely gourmet gift! 

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Spring Beauty tubers and Red Henbit - a little spring foraging...

I have known for a number of years that the sweet "Spring Beauty" (Claytonia Virginica) are edible. I have never tried them before today.  They grow abundantly in our yard over near the vegetable garden.  I went out and gathered a few of the tubers.  I also picked some Red Henbit (Lameum Purpureum) and brought it into the house and rinsed them carefully with cold water.

Then, I pulled the leaves from the stems of the Red Henbit, as well as the softer parts of the flowers.

I melted some homemade ghee in a skillet,

 added the plants to the skillet, on a medium heat, and stirring, I sauteed them for about 5 minutes, adding salt and pepper.

This next picture isn't very good, but here they are in a bowl to eat.

It was delicious!  The Red Henbit tastes like spinach, and the Spring Beauty corms are very mild and pleasing.  I will be doing this again.

Yummy.  And nutritious. The little corms are high in potassium and vitamin A and are a good source of calcium and vitamin C. The Henbit contains an interesting array of phytonutrients.

As with all foraging, be careful not to harvest too much and deplete the plants' sustainability.

Dandelion noodles - again - sign of spring!

Yesterday I was outside and had been noticing that the dandelions are coming up in our yard. Some people see dandelions as weeds.  Not me!  For me they are a highly sought after and nutritious vegetable.  Here in Indiana, USA, I can harvest them spring through fall. 

On the way back to the house I picked a nice handful of them and came in and made a 2-egg batch of noodles with them.  This time, I also gathered some fresh chives and garlic leaves from the vegetable garden, boiled them all together for 5 minutes, drained them and then put them in the blender with two eggs and a teaspoon of salt.  Then I made the noodles from that mix.  Above, you can see them cooking.

When they were done, I drained them, added about 3 tablespoons of butter, some salt and pepper and some chicken meat that I had canned.  Oh my... we'll have that for our meal today. 

I have posted about this before, and Here is the link to that post. This time, I used King Arthur unbleached all-purpose flour. I also now own a small pasta roller and enjoy that, although that is certainly not necessary. Mine is like THIS ONE.

Sometimes I re-post things, since I've had this blog for about 10 years and I'm sure most of you Gentle Readers have not seen most of it.

Don't you just love springtime?

Toiletry Recipes

One of my Gentle Readers, Patti, asked for my recipes for the toiletries I showed you in the last blog post.  Here they are. :)

Here is how I make the bath soap:

http://simplyhomemaking60.blogspot.com/2011/11/making-soap-is-much-easier-than-making.html

Here is how I make the healing salve:

http://simplyhomemaking60.blogspot.com/2012/06/healing-salve-revisited.html

Lotion recipe - It is very soft and creamy, but not runny.  I can only tell you how I make it.  I used my Kitchenaid stand mixer with the wire whisk attachment.  Into the bowl of the mixer, place 1/3 cup of virgin coconut oil.  Turn on the mixer and let it whip the oil until it is very smooth, creamy and fluffy.  That takes a while.  In the meantime, into a small microwave safe bowl, place 1 Tablespoon of Shea butter.  I bought mine here. Add to that 1.5 teaspoons of avocado oil and 1.5 teaspoons of extra-virgin olive oil.  Carefully melt it together in the  microwave.  Then, pour it into the whipped coconut oil.  Next, add a few drops of lavender essential oil.  Whip it all together very thoroughly, then put it into a small jar and add a lid.

Homemade toothpaste recipe - I used to make tooth soap and have a post about that.  I prefer not to have fluoride in my toothpaste, and so started making my own.  However, this newer recipe is much easier to deal with and make.  So... place 3 Tablespoons of virgin coconut oil into a microwave safe bowl. Melt it carefully in the microwave oven.  Then, stir in 1 Tablespoon of salt, 1 Tablespoon of baking soda, 3 drops of peppermint essential oil (optional) and 3 drops of liquid stevia (optional) Stir it all together thoroughly and put it in a small container.  I just get my toothbrush wet and scoop up a little of the mixture.  It took a few days to get used to it, but I love it now and it saves lots of money.

Homemade underarm deodorant - Many people are sensitive to baking soda in underarm deodorant.  I have no trouble with this formula, but if your skin starts to become irritated from this, please stop using it.  I had gotten to where no matter what kind of commercial deodorant I tried, if it worked it gave me a rash.  If it didn't give me a rash it didn't work, so when my daughter came up with this recipe, I tried it and it works and does not give me a rash. 

2 heaping Tablespoon beeswax pellets or grated beeswax
1 Tablespoon Shea butter
5 Tablespoons coconut oil
1/4 cup corn starch or arrowroot powder for very sensitive skin
1/4 cup baking soda - rub it through a sieve to remove any lumps
10 - 15 drops tea tree essential oil
10 - 15 drops lavender essential oil

1. Melt the beeswax in a double boiler. (I just put a glass bowl over a pot of simmering water for this.)
2. Add Shea butter and coconut oil and heat until just melted.  Stir occasionally.  I like to use a wooden stick to stir because the beeswax will stick to a spoon and make it hard to clean.
3. Remove from heat and add cornstarch and baking soda or arrowroot powder.  Stir until lumps are gone and the texture is smooth.
4. Add essential oils and stir until well mixed.
5. Pour into small jars, cool and put on a lid.

This batch will last a long time.  You only need a little bit.  I just get a very small amount on my finger and apply it.

My Facial Soap - Please refer to the method linked above with the bath soap, but here are the ingredients for the facial soap:

Avocado Oil - 8 ounces
Coconut Oil - 10 ounces
Olive oil - 11 ounces
Safflower oil - 5 ounces
Shea Butter - 2 ounces
Lye (NaOH) - 4.96 ounces which gives you 7% excess fat
Distilled water - 11 ounces

So, there you go, Patti!

Homemade Toiletries...

I have come to the point where I think I am making all of my own toiletries.  Of course, I still have to buy most of the ingredients, but I think all of this is very safe.  They certainly are nice things and work extremely well.

In the back, left to right, there is skin lotion, toothpaste, deodorant and healing salve.  In the front are bath soap and facial soap.

If anyone is interested in my recipes, please ask.