All things homemade

I firmly believe that my creative craftiness is an inherited trait. My father is a woodworker and can fix almost anything. Many times, my sister or I will start to describe something we saw that we mostly liked, but would have rather it be slightly different and we can just see the wheels start to turn in his head. It doesn't go too lomg until he has the item planned out. My mom gardens, preserves her own produce, and enjoys cultivating African violets. If I go back a generation to my grandparents, it's even more obvious: my family tree includes bakers, cooks, seamstresses, farmers, inventors, and those who were creative in the face of no other options. I guess you could say I get it honest.

Which explains why one of the most common thoughts I have is "I bet I could make that."  Sometimes I have success, other times not so much. Happily the following recipe was a success.

Homemade Greek Yogurt 
adapted from Make it Fast, Cook it Slow by Stephanie O'Dea

First, I cook 8 cups milk (I used 4C skim & 4C 1% Milk) for 2 1/2 hours on low.

I started mine at about 3p.m.

Then unplug and let it sit for 3 hours. (5:30p.m.)

Whisk in 1/2 cup plain yogurt (or leftover yogurt from your last batch). Put the lid back on and cover for insulation. Let it sit overnight. (8:30p.m.)

The next morning it should look like this and was nicely thickened:

Then drain the yogurt to make a greek style yogurt. I place a colander inside a big bowl.

and line it with clean muslin (nothing fancy, I serged the edges so I can wash and reuse).

The yogurt was poured in and placed it in the fridge for a few hours.
After a few hours it will look like this:

Here is the whey I drained off:

My secret ingredent is added, Mexican Vanilla (1 Tablespoon or so). I also added a scant 1/4C sugar (still way below commercial yogurt).

To say that my family loves this yogurt would be a vast understatement. I like to make it during the late spring through summer months. That way I can puree up some fresh fruit as a topping (sometimes adding a dash of lemon juice for brightness).

What fruit depends on you, we like strawberries, blueberries, peaches, blackberries, or really any fruit you want to try. This year I plan on cooking up some fresh rhubarb and giving that a try.

I puree my fruit because I have a couple of children with texture issues. You can do whatever you like with your fruit topping. ;-)

 

It's been a long day!

My love affair with pit orchestras started sometime during college. I would play in "the pit" for a local community theater every summer while on break. It was a great way to stay in shape over the summer (and make my flute professor happy). I then started playing for a few of Otterbein's productions and continued on for various local productions in the first few years of teaching. It seemed important to me that I modeled playing music after graduation for my music students. I've been in the pit for several fun shows; Evita, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Sound of Music, The Man of La Mancha, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and this year's musical: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, to just name a few. To be totally honest, if I could make a living doing it (and keep my current lifestyle), I would.

Pit playing is nothing like playing in a band or orchestra where everything is rehearsed until perfect (or close to perfect). It's fraught with tension and excitement. Anything could happen at any time. The singers might jump a measure and we have to scramble to find them. The crowd might really get into the production one night and everything becomes somehow magical. Tempos change. Stage fright can cause all sorts of unrehearsed moments. Props do odd things. It's all part of the fun. You can play the same show three nights in a row and it's three different experiences.

I took a break from pit playing about the time the second baby Cobb came along. Evening rehearsals just became too difficult to juggle. I started back up about 6 or 7 years ago when a local school asked me to play for my all time favorite show, Joseph. A year later my Jr High band director started directing the pit for my Alma Mater and she asked me to play. After Mr and I talked it over, I was cleared to play one show a year (nope not sexist, he limits his time away from the family too). I have every year since and it is a blast!

This week is show week and in my sleep deprived state, I've given some thought as to why I throw the family's rhythms (and my sleep patterns) into this tailspin each year. I don't play in the pit to recapture any old glory (I actually play much better now than I did in HS), and it's really not a way to gain any current glory (really, who notices who is in the pit).

So why do I do it?

Because I love it, it's one way I can give to my school system, the students on stage really appreciate it, throughout my life many people did something similar for me and it's really important for my own children to see me do what I'm really good at. Out of all of those reasons, I think the first and last are key. You see my children know their dad plays basketball, loves golf, enjoys history and knows a lot about airplanes. Outside of the laundry, cleaning, cooking, homework hounding, crafting, and all, I think they need to know me too.

Next week though....I'm back to laundry, cleaning, cooking, homework hounding and most importantly, CRAFTING!

My Crack Quality Control Team (nothing gets by them)

So, I had a brainstorm and put together a new style of bed (see right), but it wasn't quite ready for the shop. There are a few tests each CCC item needs to pass before being ready to sell and I have just the team to do the testing.

Test Number 1, the sows' response:

I put together the bed you see at the right and placed it in with Mumble and Michaela. Those two are huge cuddle cup users and I knew they would be able to figure out what to do with the cuddle nest (name option 1).  Oh boy did they ever! They chewed on the bow and ignored the bed.                                                                                                      Pretty bow: FAIL

So with the bow removed, I put the bed back and my long bodied Michaela bravely crawled in. And proceeded to stay in the basket (name option 2) for the rest of the evening. 

Nap potential:PASS

Test Number 2 the boars' response:      

It seemed worth it to make another one and place it in the boar's capable hands, err paws. If Pumpkin and Spice can fit inside and the bed ( name choice 3, OK not really) holds up to their unique style of testing. They should be ready for the washing machine test.
Pumpkin fits!

Even more impressively, Spice fits! Spice is our largest guinea pigs and rarely uses tunnels or burrow bags. He cannot fit into my regular cuddle cups; he's just a big boy!

Boar fit test: PASS

Interestingly enough, my QC team came up with another way to use these beds! Pumpkin and Spice will often flip their tents and sleep on them like that, so I don't know why I didn't see this coming:

Versatility test: PASS

Two wee little notes:

1. I didn't include a picture of Mumble in a nest bed. She likes hers and will sleep in it, but as our senior 5 year old she tends to look for easier places to rest. She finds them just a wee bit harder to climb into.That might be good to keep in mind with your herd. 

2. You can see lots o'poop in my pictures and my herd is not litter trained. Don't misunderstand, I'm not apologizing; their cages are cleaned out daily, but poop happens. Apparently a lot.

I have NO IDEA why they do cute things when their cage is so messy. ;-)

Yummy Fruit Enchiladas

Years ago Mr. and I were eating with some friends and she made the most amazing dessert. As we do around here, I asked for the recipe and she graciously gave it to me.  Fast forward a few years to yesterday and I happened upon a can of pie filling (used in pie irons for campfire pies while camping) in our pantry. I exclaimed "I know what we'll have for dessert!" That comment ALWAYS gets my family excited and this time was no different. I'm happy to say, it was a success and I thought I'd share it here for you.

Fruit Enchiladas

Ingredients:
1 can pie filling (apple, blueberry or cherry...any will work)
6-12 (8-inch) flour tortillas
cinnamon (I just use my cinnamon & sugar shaker)
1/3C butter or margarine
1/2C sugar
1/2C brown sugar (packed)
1/2C water

Directions:
Spoon fruit filling evenly down the center of each tortilla. Sprinkle with cinnamon (whatever you think looks good). Roll up and place seam side dowm in a lightly greased baking dish (8x8 will work for 6-8, 9x13 if you make more). Bring butter, sugars and water to a boil in a medium saucepan. TReduce heat and simmer, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes. Pour over enchiladas. Sprinkle with more cinnamon if you like. Bake (I cover the pan with foil) at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Is awesome with ice cream!

Now, for those of you who like to go really homemade, I see no reason you couldn't make your own tortillas or pie filling!

Sadly, I have no picture of it because it was gone almost as soon as it was served!