Making Vanilla: FEED YOUR FACE

Real vanilla is expensive. Imitation vanilla doesn't taste as good, and some of them taste like chemicals to me.

I saw on a blog how to make vanilla extract yourself. That's a good idea, right? That way you control what goes into it and how much. And the ingredients can be way less expensive than buying the prepared product.

So, we sent away for some vanilla beans. The vanilla beans I found at the grocery store were dried up and you only got 3 beans for about six dollars. I bought vanilla beans on amazon.com (pure Madagascar vanilla beans), 16 for about $10. (Though if anyone wants to tell me where to get quality beans for even less, do tell!)

I saw Suzanne McMinn's process on Chickens in the Road. She knows how to do a LOT of things and make a lot of ingredients herself. She even taught me how to make homemade cake mix. Yay!

So, anyway, we followed her method, but we are using just a little bit different alcohol, just to see. Here is her recipe for the "big bottle method."

I love orange vodka. Well, I love lots of flavors of vodka! But I usually have orange on hand. So, our first batch is made with orange vodka.

Not to be left out, Jim wanted vanilla made from Jack Daniels whiskey.

So, that's what we did. It takes about 3 beans per cup of alcohol, and it takes about 4 weeks for it to "do."

We'll let you know in about 3 more weeks how it went. Here are our pictures (and I recommend you follow Suzanne's instructions).

Pumpkins

The garden has been pretty sad this year. It got pelted with hail more than once, drowned in rain during two wet spells, and has been experiencing temperatures over 90 degrees for nearly 3 weeks.

The plum tomatos are protesting, first with blossom-end rot because of the inconsistent moisture, now with refusing to put on more blossoms.

The onions have been beaten down and are hiding out.

The grapes we had were knocked off the vine by the hail, so it looks like we'll have to skip this year.

BUT -- the pumpkins, though beaten with the same hail, and subjected to the same moisture and heat, are still interested in producing in the garden.

Come on Fall! We're going to have pumpkins!

My Grandma's Bowl

Kathi here again, until Jim gets to where he can sit a little longer.

Do you read the Bye-Bye-Pie blog? It's really good. Be sure to read the comments, too, 'cause sometimes they are the best part!

Today the posting was about the author's grandma. It made me cry just a little -- enough that I had to wipe a couple drips of mascara from under my eye. Next time, I will buy waterproof.

I spent a lot of time with my mom's mom, 'cause she watched my sister Karen and I when my mom worked at the library when we were really little. Then, we saw her every Saturday when my mom would take her grocery shopping, and on Sunday's when we would pick her up for church. She always looked pretty and smelled good, and we made it a ritual to tell her that each time she got in the car. It was said in the most dramatic fashion possible, with a little sniffing sound for effect: "Grandma, you look pretty and ((SNIFF SNIFF)) smell good!"

In the summer, my grandma grew rhubarb, pickles, and strawberries. I'm sure she probably grew other things, too, 'cause she was from a farm. But, what those things were? I don't remember! I think I remember the rhubarb, pickles, and strawberries because those were my favorite things that she grew, don't you think?

Before lunch each day, she would let us pick berries to have with our lunch. Of course, we ate just about as many before we got into the house as by the time we got them in. They were so red, ripe, sweet, and juicy, and tasted sooooo good.

She had a pretty little bowl that she mainly used for fruit or fruit salad. I liked it because it was emerald green, my favorite color. It's also a nice size -- not too small, not too big. The berries piled in that bowl were so pretty and tempting. Yum.

Late in her life, she moved from her house with the wonderful gardens into senior apartments. Of course, she had to pare things way down in order to fit them into her new, smaller place.

I got custody of the beautiful green bowl. I GOT CUSTODY OF THE BEAUTIFUL GREEN BOWL!!!

I didn't use it. I put it on a shelf to look at because I didn't want it to break from use.

Well, one of my dogs knocked into the shelf somehow one day while I was gone, and I came home to find the beautiful green bowl shattered on the floor. I was so sad.

The bowl was more than just a bowl to me:
It was a symbol of the times my grandma fed us lunch and cared for us.
It was a reminder of the time spent picking berries together.
It was something she held in her hands so many times, then she passed it on to me.

Once, at a garage sale, I found glasses that matched the bowl. Though they weren't the bowl, they were a visual reminder, so I bought them, and they remain in my cupboard to this day.

But! Last year, I found the same bowl online. It was less than $10, and I wanted it because it was like THE bowl.

I was torn about buying it. Sure, it was just $10, but I wasn't sure I deserved the bowl. What if I broke that one, too? I consulted with my sister Kristi, with whom I consult about all the important things on my brain. She convinced me to get the bowl, but to USE it, not just set it on a shelf.

She was right, of course, so I bought the bowl. I have used it several times since, and when it is not being used or going to someone's potluck, it sits on the display shelf in my living room, behind glass so it doesn't have a mishap when I'm not around.

I learned a few important lessons from the loss and re-finding of the bowl.

1. Use the special things that have meaning to you, and don't save them for "good." They are never going to mean as much to someone else anyway, I'll bet.

2. Those special things aren't really that special: the memories they invoke are.

3. A sister with whom you can consult of things is a very good thing to have. I love and appreciate mine.

4. Grandmas stay in your heart long after they have left you to be with God.

I hope that you all have or had really good grandmas and really good sisters and some awesome memories.

And a nice bowl for berries isn't a bad thing to have either.

Jim Update: 7/1/2011

Jim does not have to have surgery on his knee.

He still can't sit in a chair without his leg up very long, but he starts physical therapy today, so I'm sure he'll be back here with you next week. Don't give up on him!

He wishes you all a great 4th of July weekend, aka Independence Day. He especially likes the "independence" in the day, and why we are free. Thank a soldier!

Have a great weekend! Jim will meet you here next week.

Jim Update: 6/28/2011

Jim had the MRI for his knee last Friday. They said he would hear something in two days, so we're hoping for this afternoon.

He's feeling a little better, getting around part of the time without crutches, and having serious cabin fever.

He's able to sit a little longer, so I would not be surprised to see his bloggy self here sometime this week.

He made us an awesome dinner Sunday evening -- steak and veggie kabobs done on his smoker/grill, with a baked potato, and corn smoke/grilled in its husks. I hope he did not over-do standing/walking/sitting. He seemed really happy to be able to do!

I hope to report (or have Jim report) great news soon! Happy Tuesday!
Kathi

Come on over. . .

I didn't have time to post for Jim today, but you can come on over to my blog for something different, if ya wanna: http://www.howweregonnadoit.blogspot.com/

Thanks!
Kathi

Getting Ready to Cookout: Homemade Worcestershire Sauce (for making BBQ sauce this weekend)

Jim is still not able to sit long enough to blog efficiently, so here I am again.

Let's get ready to make some BBQ sauce later this week (for me, this weekend). It's gonna be a good one, and features my favorite fuzzy fruit. From Palisade. Hint, hint.

One ingredient you can make at home that tastes way better than store-bought is Worcestershire sauce. It's quick and easy, and even if you don't can, you can store it in your refrigerator for up to 3 months! That'll get you through summer, right?

You'll need:
3/4 cup soy sauce
1 to 2 tablespoons of packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons of molasses
a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
a whole jalapeno, slit open
1/2 a nutmeg
6 cloves
a chunk of lemon peel, not too big
a chunk of fresh ginger, peeled and grated

Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan. Heat and then simmer 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover, and let rest until cooled, then move the covered saucepan to the refrigerator and let it sit for 24 hours.

Prepare a sterilized jar. (I usually do a load of dishes in the dishwasher and use the heated dry setting.) Boil some water in a small saucepan and prepare a canning jar lid by turning the burner off once the boiling starts, and toss in the two-piece lid and let it sit until you are ready.

Strain the sauce to get out the chunks. I usually use cheesecloth to do that. Then re-heat the sauce and transfer it to the sterilized jar. Put the lid on. Let cool to room temperature, then put it in the refrigerator and store it tightly covered. It will keep about 3 months.

Get it ready now, 'cause we're making BBQ sauce this weekend!

Kathi

Voyeur

I LOVE cooking and food magazines.

I have subscriptions to several, including Bon Appetit, Food Network, and Taste of Home.

I love the colorful pictures.

I love reading the recipes that make my mouth water.

I love the thought of being in my kitchen making something artful and tasty.

I love that as I read the recipes, I'm already thinking of what I might do differently to make them more my own.

Then I remember about the clean up.

Then I remember to recycle by passing my magazines on to someone else.

Kathi

Quote of the Week: 6/20/2011 (and a Jim update)

"Father! - to God himself we cannot give a holier name."
~William Wordsworth


I hope you all had a good Father's Day. Jim still has his dad. Mine has been gone 10 years. Sometimes it seems like forever, sometimes it seems like yesterday. I miss him everyday, though. He was a great one.

Jim's knee is still pesky. He had a doctor's appointment last Friday. Though he is doing some better, and can even walk without crutches for short distances, he's still not doing great. He is still having pain and discomfort and can't sit just anywhere or for just any amount of time.

His doctor wants him to have an MRI, because she is suspicious that he has a torn meniscus or ACL, so she wants to take a look to be sure of what could be going on.

So. . . I will still be blogging while he is "out." Lucky you, huh? :>

Have a great week! I'll see you tomorrow.

And speaking of frosty frozen treats that get me in trouble when I'm with my sister

ALSO with my sister (Kristi): We went to a meeting and decided to stop at Wendy's on the way home for a little Frosty.

Frostys are so cheap and quick and tasty!

Kristi was driving again, and we pulled up into the drive-thru to order, and waited. And waited. And waited.

We were just starting to think that they were closed OR to get indignant, when we saw that we had not pulled up to the drive-in speaker, but to the newspaper box! We were waiting for our order to be taken by the newspaper box! Ugh.

We laughed so hard that I had to raise myself up off the seat to make sure I did not piddle in her husband's car!

We were still laughing when we reached the ordering speaker. So much so, that it was hard to talk. (I can't breathe! I can't breathe!) Kristi finally managed to spit our order out in between laughs.

When we arrived at the pick-up window, there were three or four people waiting to see who we were and what was going on.

Now I'd probably be embarassed enough that I would have skipped the Frosty and driven right on through.

Well, truthfully, I probably just would drive to a different Wendy's.

A little blizzard was all I wanted

Jim can still not sit at the computer for more than a few moments at a time because of his knee. Something he said last night reminded me of a story about my sister and me and our adventures at drive-thru windows when we were in our 20's and 30's.

My sister and I used to live in the same apartment complex, so we would go do laundry together or go to Taco Bell or DQ for a treat pretty often. We also used to go to our parents house and visit with whomever might be there at the time. (There are 7 kids in our family, so you could pretty much always run into someone there, and my Dad was usually available for visiting in the evenings anyway.)

One summer evening I was really in the mood for a Blizzard from DQ, so we met at her little truck in the parking lot and we went to the DQ in our neighborhood, with plans to go see our Dad after.

We can talk. I mean, we can really keep on going, and it doesn't even have to be about anything. Those of you who have a really good sister know what I mean.

When we got to the DQ, the drive thru line snaked around the building and the end of it was right at the street where cars would enter the parking lot. That was okay -- we were used to that at our DQ. The inside was always packed in the evenings, too, so there was no way we were going in. And we always had talking to keep us occupied, so that's what we did.

We talked and waited, talked and waiting, inching up as we could.

Finally we realized we were one car away from the pick-up window. But we hadn't ordered! No one had asked for our order when we were at the speaker, but we didn't even notice with all the talking we were doing.

It had taken us about 1/2 hour to get to that point. There was no way we were going to wait another half hour.

Our little Blizzard-deprived pea brains engaged, and we decided to just pay for whatever was given to us at the window and we would just take whatever it was and go.

Straight-faced, we pulled up to the window and were given a total. We handed over the money, took the order, and left.

When we got to our parents house and could see what we had, we were very disappointed. The people in the car behind us had NO taste buds or imagination, it seemed. They had ordered a cup of ice water, some plain vanilla ice cream, and a Dilly Bar.

It was not exactly what we had in mind.

Dear persons in line for DQ: Please think of others when ordering. Be sure to get something good. Your taste buds -- or mine -- will thank you.