Nasturtium Stars and Jewel Toned Vinegar!

 

I love to nibble on these lively colored delights...

The nasturtium is fast and easy growing (it actually likes a little neglect...my kinda flower ;). It offers a continual, generous show of delicate frilly blooms, in splashy shades of orange, yellow, red and mahogany ~ stunning and delicious!

These edible petals bring fiery color and tangy flavor to all foods they grace ~ even their  young and tender leaves are edible, lending that peppery flare where ever they go.

With summer coming to a close I was hungry to find a way to collect this sunshine~infused flower and preserve it to be able to enjoy all winter.

I was so happy to discover these wonderful ways... 

 

Nasturtium Lemon Butter

 

How about pulling one of these sweet stars out in the dead of winter and slathering some of this sunshine on your food!

 

For these stars you will need

1/2 cup unsalted butter softened

1-2 teaspoons grated lemon peel (according to taste)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

3 tablespoons finely chopped nasturtium blossoms

(or double this recipe for plenty to share)

Mix all of the ingredients well until smooth and well blended. 

Roll out between wax paper until butter is 2-3 cm thick, chill slightly and then cut out with cookie cutters ~ what ever shape your heart desires.
To freeze: wrap each star in parchment paper and seal all stars together in freezer bag.

This butter is has a mild peppery lemon flavor with magnificent swirls of yellow, orange and red.

I also had to try...

Nasturtium Vinegar

Fill a clean glass jar or bottle with nasturtium blossoms. Pour white wine vinegar over the blossoms until it reaches the top. Tightly seal. Let sit for at least 3 weeks in warm place (out of direct sunlight) before using. Strain into a decorative bottle. (you can even place a fresh nasturtium in the finished bottle for decoration ~ making sure the vinegar always covers the flowers or they will mold). Now it is ready!
Great to gift or use in salad dressings, drizzle onto food or to add some zip where needed!

I left for the day and was so delighted to come home and see the jewel tone color that had emerged! 

~  loving those  *happy tasting* nasturtiums ~

much love

~Shanti~

* Ode To Calendula *

"The Earth Laughs In Flowers" 

Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Calendula flowers are easy to grow, versatile to use and a gorgeous ray of sunshine in the garden!

With Autumn beginning to emerge upon us *feelin' that nip in the air* I was motivated to collect and store these summer filled flowers to enjoy throughout the winter.

Off to the garden we went!  The girls enjoyed filling their baskets with the beautiful flower heads...

 I wanted to make simple cream from what I had on hand and not a lot of fuss.

Here is what I came up with (with some advice)

1 cup calendula petals

1 cup organic cold pressed coconut oil

Simmer them together on VERY low heat (1 or 2 on the stove) for a couple of hours.

Strain through a cheese cloth and pour into a glass cream jar.

You can then tie up your cheese cloth (with petals still inside) and use it for a luxurious bath.

These two ingredients make quite the dynamic duo ~  calendula brightens the skin (and man do we need that in winter!) and also carries powerful healing, anti aging gifts for the skin!

Coconut oil works as a wonderful, antioxidant-filled moisturizer. I once asked a woman I know (who began St.Francis Herb Farm)  what her secret was ~ her skin was incredible ~ she told me it was coconut oil!

I look forward to treating my face with this sunshine infused cream all throughout those dry, cold months!

***

I also wanted to make a calendula infused oil ~  a healing balm for chapped skin, wounds, burns,  cracked nipples, bruises, insect stings,  diaper rash, and eczema!

Again my goal was to keep it simple and simple this was.

Luna filled up a jar with our calendula flower heads and poured grape seed oil in until it reached the top.

Then we left it on a windowsill that is graced by sunlight and now will let that sunshine work it's magic!

In a month or so we will bottle this oil to be used it as the need arises ~ perhaps a gift for a new mama...

So many ways to enjoy calendula ~ fresh petals sprinkled on salads and sweets or dried and placed in a shaker for year round, in food for a saffron inspired flare, added to bath salts, blended with cornstarch for a silky baby powder, drying and stringing whole for decoration (apparently they hold their color and shape!) or to just plain admiring their beauty!

These plants love to be planted ~ they are prolific in the garden, re-seeding themselves and offering their lavish sunset blooms from spring to late fall.

What are some of your favorite ways to use flowers from your garden?

with love

~Shanti ~

Getting there...

As promised here are my after pictures!!!

This is our homeschool room which was in some desperate need of attention!

I redid the bulletin board by covering it with a piece of Autumny fabric, and glue gunning some felt leaves on the corners.  I think I'm going to do this every season and change it up!

I cleaned out and organized our homeschool cupboard too!  This cupboard is a life saver for me...it's where we store almost all of our learning supplies for the upcoming year...it also helps to keep things out of sight, (out of mind), for our little explorer toddler!

Here is the other side...this room is shared by Matilda and Ruby...I try to keep Matildas toys on the lower shelves and the books that I hold sacred on the top shelves!

And if you turn around, you see this under our stairs...a little play nook for the girls.

The kitchen and wooden fridge was built by my 15 yr old nephew Ryan. 

And here is the living room...note the absence of clutter!  (okay...I'll confess...most if it is sitting on my stairs, waiting to be put away upstairs or thrown away, but at least it's not on the window sills)!

My mother found the couch cover/quilt at the dump!!!!!  It needs a bit of mending, but it's just beautiful!

I'm astounded that people throw these things away...but, delighted when I receive such a treasure!

And here is our door that leads to an outdoor porch.  I've been meaning to sew curtains for this door for the past 5 years or so.  I decided yesterday that a cheap stained glass effect would work for me.  So we got out the tissue paper and modge podge and Ruby and I went to town!  Cheap and effective...gotta love it.

Now I just have to work on planning our daily homeschool schedule.  I'm hoping to get that done tomorrow, and we're going to ease into it slowly starting on Tuesday!  I'm pretty excited about this upcoming homelearning year...we'll be doing grade two this year, and I can't wait to see where Ruby leads me in her delight of learning!

Also...I mentioned before that I LOVE canning and preserving food...so I started another blog called

Putting Away the Harvest.  I'd LOVE to have other bloggers, gardeners, homesteaders, locavores and home canning enthusiasts contribute their recipes as well, (and ideas for putting away the harvest).  I'm dreaming that it will be a community blog where we have many contributers and ideas.  If you want to contribute please send me your recipes and posts, (even if you have old posts on your blogs relating to the subject...send them to me)!!!  I truly believe in the power of growing, preserving and storing food for winter...it's awesome to see the pantry filling up with food!

Send to valleyvixen@mail.com

Don't forget about our giveaway...please go HERE to enter! 

There are 2 lovely prize packages...each containing 4 creams!!!

(and one will contain a little extra)

Go and enter!!!

Happy Weekend Everyone!

xo mauren

Celebrating the Gardens Bounty Week! Feeling Mighty Peachy!

It's peach season here in Ontario.  The peaches are bountiful, juicy and abundant in our local grocery store.

While I don't grow my own peaches, I do try to support and buy any and all Ontario grown produce, and preserve and eat it in season!  Here's a fantastic way to preserve the freshness of these wonderful fruits...

Spicy Spreadable Peaches

5 cups pitted, peeled diced peaches

4 tart apples, think granny smith

1 can undiluted, frozen apple juice concentrate (thawed)

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp grated lemon peel

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg

5 250ml mason jars or 10 125ml sized mason jars.

I LOVE seeing the colours and fruit sitting altogether at the beginning of the process!

Place all ingredients in a large, stainless steel pot and bring to a boil.  Boil gently for 30 minutes, stirring occassionally or until spread reaches desired thickness.  Pour into your prepared, steralized mason jars within 1/4 inch of rim.  Wipe your rims clean and put on the lids.  Place in a water bath canner for 10 min.

Put on a counter and leave them alone for 24 hours before moving them!

Yum!!!  A couple hours of canning and now we have a pantry full of peaches!!!

*this recipe comes from the Bernardin Home Preserving book...it is well worth the $$ to buy this book for yourself...it is like my bible come harvest time!

You could also make these in the smaller mason jars...the 125 ml size.  I find that those size are perfect for putting into a Christmas basket.  I make several different jams and spreads in the 125ml size, and pair it with a loaf of fresh baked bread.  What a delightful gift to receive on a cold winters night!

And, just to make your spreadable peaches a little sweeter...here are some awesome free printable lables from  How About Orange that I recently came across.  I think they're awesome and would just make your preserves look even more amazing!

I'd love to know what you're putting away in other parts of the world!

xo maureen

Celebrating the Gardens Bounty Week! All Hail the Mighty Zucchini!

The trouble is, you cannot grow just one zucchini. Minutes after you plant a single seed,

hundreds of zucchini will barge out of the ground and sprawl around the garden,

menacing the other vegetables. At night, you will be able to hear the ground quake

as more and more zucchinis erupt.

- Dave Barry

Well, we're back from our blog "vacation"!  This past week has been full of fun, and gave me a chance to get caught up on some of the work going on in my garden!  When I went out this morning, much to my dismay, there were 10 zucchini just aching to be picked.  While I LOVE zucchini and the bounty of my garden, to be honest I just wanted to turn my head and be in zucchini denial!   Once picked these wonders of the garden just have to be used up.  In gratitude though, and in knowing that people in this world of ours are suffering and hungry...no zucchini will go to waste!  Thank goodness though, for a friend who came over and took away two of the biggest one's for baking!

Here are a few creative and tasty ways to use up a zucchini!

First off...bring on the zucchini latkes!

You will need

1 zucchini...medium sized

2 potatoes

1 carrot

2 eggs

1/2 cup flour, (white or whole wheat)

salt and pepper to taste

olive oil, (or other vegetable oil)

So...get out your grater, and shred your zucchini, potatoes and carrot.  Put it all in a large bowl.  Add the eggs, flour and salt and pepper...stir it up.

Fill your fry pan with oil...at least a couple of cm worth.  Heat it up and drop in your batter by the tablespoon full.  Flatten it down and fry for 3 min per side.  Get out your sour cream and/or maple syrup and devour!

I usually serve this dish with a side salad, however on this night we are also drowning in beans, so beans and side salad it is!

The next best thing to do with zucchini is to make Chocolate Zucchini Bread!

You will need:

3 cups whole wheat flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup applesauce

3 eggs

2/3 cup soymilk

2 cups shredded Zucchini

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1 teaspoon vanilla

Oil up 2 loaf pans.  Then get a large bowl and pour in all of your dry ingredients, give it a stir to get out any lumpy bits.  Make a well in the middle and add all the wet ingredients.  Stir it up and pour into your prepared loaf pans.  Put into an oven set to 350 degrees for 1 hour.

That's it!  What I've been doing is making two at a time and freezing one of the loaves for later!

And here is another favourite recipe from the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.  It can be found HERE!  Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Honestly, try them...they're delicious!  And if you haven't already read the book, then GO and read it NOW!!!!  I insist!

Any of the leftover zucchinis that aren't used for baking get grated and put into freezer bags, in 2 cup amounts.  This way when I want to bake something in winter I have the perfect amount of zucchini per bag!

What do you do with your zucchini's...please share your ideas and zucchini inspiration!

Happy harvesting!

xo maureen

Maureen's Famous Strawberry Preserve Recipe!!

It's strawberry season here in Ontario...this is one of my favourite times of the year, because it all starts with the strawberry...the other berries will soon be following, and I just can't wait!!   I've been making a conscious effort in the last few years, to put away as much food as possible, pick things in season,  and spend less at the grocery store!  With the strawberries I picked, we made 25 jars of jams and preserves, and managed to freeze 4 bags full.  I'm hoping to get out once more before the season is over...strawberries don't tend to last long in this house, especially in the dead of a Canadian winter!!

I want to share with you my recipe for Strawberry Preserves...this is my absolute favorite thing to do with berries!!!  There is nothing like cracking open a jar of these...I had a friend who told me she had a bath, and ate the whole jar with a spoon in the tub, (I consider that to be a great compliment)!!

To make the preserves you will need...

8 cups strawberries

2 Tbsp bottled lemon juice

5 cups sugar

7 half pint jars, (250 ml size)

To start, clean and stem the strawberries, then cut them in half.  Put berries lemon juice and sugar into a large saucepan.

Stir, bringing the mixture to a boil.  Cook the mixture on med heat until the preserves thicken...this usually takes about 30-45 min.  Depends on how thick you want them to be.

Remove pan from the heat and skim off the foam that has formed...

Ladle into hot, steralized jars...seal the jars and put them into a water bath canner for 10 minutes.  Put the jars on a flat, dry surface and leave them alone for 24 hours.

Now avoid the temptation to eat them right away...save for fall and winter when you desperately need a strawberry fix!!

Trust me...you want to make these!! 

Happy pickin' and preservin'

xo maureen