Recent content by Whitewater

Do you know how to make soap at all, or do you have a friend that does? I am a big big fan of cucumber and/or cucumber melon soaps! It would be so cool to be able to make my own :) Just another idea to toss out there . . . Whitewater

We haven't been bothered that badly by the 'state bird', not sure why as we have standing water out for the dogs in the yard . . .maybe the cicadas are getting all the larva or something, we've got plenty of those!!! I don't know if my beans are going to be good to eat, some of them are HUGE...

Not mine, my 3 HATE squash. hate, hate hate. They're wierd like that. Also my Black Sex Link lays within the same 30 minute time frame every day, sometime between 11:30 and noon. Obviously she's never read the laying hen guide that says you're supposed to lay eggs progressively later in the...

Ok, so with all this heat around here I have kind of let my garden go and grow as it wants to, because really, there was nothing growing that I knew needed daily attention, and with the 1/2" -1" of rain we've been getting every 72 hours or thereabouts, I knew I didn't have to water either...

Tzatziki! That freezes well and it's not too difficult to make a home version. Or, I suppose, any cucumber based salad dressing/cream/dip of some sort would be ok and easy to freeze. That sounds like enough to make some cosmetics, maybe a blend of cucumber and witch hazel for your face...

That's too bad about the hot dogs. . . are you sure you haven't got anybody locally (however you define it . . .) who processes meat and makes hot dogs out of the beef or whatever? Around here we still have a few butchers who process animals from and for locals, (usually deer, but sometimes...

Well . . . I don't have a recipe per se but I do have a list of ingredients (which is also pretty vague, sorry!) tomatoes onion garlic lemon/lime juice kosher or sea salt (and black pepper, if you are so inclined) cilantro peppers, all sorts (I like green bells for mild salsa!) I have...

Today, in an effort to get rid of the *piles* of tomatoes taking up every square inch of window sill (with more on the way, ack!) we are making salsa. And a picante sauce, too, seeing as how when I process stuff in the blender, it winds up a lot less chunky, oh well! So far I've got 2 oz...

I have no idea how many pounds worth of tomatoes I've picked so far. All I know is that I've been picking a half-dozen tennis ball sized (roughly) 'maters per day for the last week, and 2 or 3 a day for the week before that. Anybody want to take a crack at the numbers? Mostly it's been...

'Round here, winter is Roller Derby season! Got friends who are referees and derby girls, so we support them. Also I return to learning how to embroider (specifically 17th century styles), I bake bread and cook a lot more (it's easier to do when the kitchen doesn't heat up to a bajillon...

Congratulations! Personally I lost 25 pounds in 6 months, then switched steroids for my asthma 2 weeks ago . . . and I am slowly putting the weight back, I can feel it in my body. Ugh. Stupid steroids . . . but this one works a TON better than the other one and hopefully once my ol' bod gets...

There hasn't been much to update recently . . . Still no beans. Lots of squash, and tomatoes (LOTS of tomatoes . . . ), not as many cukes as I'd like. Some, but not as many as I thought there would be. 3 eggs in 4 days from 1 pullet. Eggs are tiny but getting bigger, slowly. Other 2 birds...

Wow, ok, all my windowsills in my kitchen are full of tomatoes in various states of ripeness. When they all turn red, we'll have enough for approximately 48 oz of salsa, I hope! And since there are still a freaking ton of San Marzanos on the vine, we'll have enough to can some sauce for this...

Hey, Steve :) Those are some fine lookin' beans! I'd think you don't have to catch up to me about anything! my pole beans JUST started to get blossoms 3 days ago. I have no beans. (I also have no more beets, but that's a tale for another day!) So you can sit back and brag all you want...

Well, today I canned 24 oz of various peppers (Anaheim, jalapeno and sweet banana) in 3 8oz jars, and also 2 80z jars of kosher dill pickle slices, from our Eureka cukes. The pickling mix said they're supposed to be fridge pickles, but I gave them a good 15 minute water bath anyway. I have no...