Fresh Homemade Butter

This butter mold and paddle belonged to my Mamaw Ola Mae.  It's a special piece of my family history.  I'm so thankful that my Aunt Carol gave them to me.  I would love to find an old glass jar butter churn.  I've seen plenty at the antique stores in Amelia, Va. but they can be kind of pricey for a really nice usable one. I'll put that on my wish list.

Butter has to be one of the simplest things to make.  Sure you can buy a tub or box of butter in the grocery store but making homemade butter with your kids is so fun. It makes a wonderful gift too. It's easy to mix in honey or jam for an extra special treat.

Whip as much heavy whipping cream as you want. You will watch it turn to whipped cream, then curdle, and them magically the butter solids separate from the buttermilk.  The butter fat will cling to the mixer, leaving the buttermilk in the bowl. (You can use a stand mixer, hand mixer or even a mason jar with two marbles and shake.)

Remove all of the butter and rinse under cool water to remove any buttermilk.  The butter will last longer since the buttermilk spoils fast than the butter fat.  Fold the butter over itself to squish out all liquid. Now it's ready to eat!  It will be firm like real stick butter. You can now add salt, honey or jam to it and whip it up.

Store your butter and buttermilk in the fridge.  You can drink the buttermilk or use it in cooking.

Homemade Yogurt

We love yogurt in our family.  We use it for more than just a breakfast food.  I use yogurt instead of sour cream and mayo for a lot of my recipes.  I LOVE making things from scratch.  I find myself on the look out for other things I can start making from scratch. The other day I read on BlueBirdBaby's blog about homemade yogurt. I was like, duh! Why haven't I thought of making homemade yogurt before?!? So with my husband's permission I bought a yogurt make from Amazon.  If you don't want to buy a yogurt maker you could always use the oven method as well as other types of methods but I prefer the yogurt maker because it has a constant temperature and I can leave it over night.

Homemade Yogurt

 42 oz of milk (whole, skim or 2%) or enough milk to fit in the containers you will be using.

 6 oz plain yogurt (store bought or homemade yogurt) or 1 oz for every 6 oz of milk.

   Wash and dry all of your utensils well.  Heat milk to 180F. Remove pot from heat and let cool to 110F.  Add in the yogurt to the cooled milk and stir until dissolved completely. Carefully ladle the mixture into your containers.  My yogurt maker's directions ask me to put all seven jars in the machine WITHOUT their lids.  I covered the jars with the machine's lid and turned on the machine and let it sit for 12 hours. After they were finished I chilled them for a few hours.  

 

It was so exciting to see that firm texture come out of these cute little jars! 

She got a little carried away with the honey stick

Amelia insisted on eating out of the jar.  She loved the yogurt so much we ended up eating THREE jars today! She kept asking for more.  We added some frozen blueberries, a touch of vanilla and raw honey. It was perfect. Now I need to make some of my crunchy GF granola.

Edited 7/6/11 to say that I started using yogurt cultures from Cultures For Health. I bought their reusable heirloom Greek yogurt cultures which means I can use the cultures indefinitely! Yogurt A is used to make yogurt B and yogurt B makes yogurt C and so on!  I love the tangy flavor and thickness of the Greek yogurt. I also bought the Bulgarian yogurt culture which they compare to commercial yogurts. I make a new batch of yogurt once a week to keep the cultures strong. They even carry yogurt cultures for making dairy free yogurts as well as Kombucha, kefir, buttermilk, sour cream, and sourdough!

hanging bird seed "cakes"

My daughter loves birds and when she spots one she goes nuts.  So excited.  I thought making bird feeders would be a nice craft to do with her.  I found a recipe for bird seed "cakes" from The Magic Onion.  It's so simple.

Bird Seed "Cakes"

1 oz knox gelatine (4 packets)

1 cup boiling water

3-4 cups bird seed (I used finch bird seed)

Mix the 4 oz gelatin with the 1 cup boiling water and stir till dissolved.  Add in the seeds till a stiff mixture forms. Spoon seed mixture into molds of your choice.  Cut ribbon, yarn or jute string 12-24 inches long. You will want it long enough to bury 2-3 inches of one end into the seed mixture while leaving the other end long enough to tie on a tree branch or hang from a nail.  Let sit for a few hours.  Putting it in the fridge will speed the process up a little. Make sure the "cakes" are completely firm before removing them from the mold. 

To un-mold, dip the bottoms of the molds into hot water for a minute or so and if needed, use a knife around the edges to loosen a little.  Gently remove the "cakes" and hang.

We also filled some pines cones that we brought back from Va. The seed mixture stuck really well into the pine cones.  We tied jute string to the top of the pine cones.

Here is the finished product.  I hope the birds like them.  I love to hear a bird sing. 

Victorian Flower Press

I remember pressing flowers as a little girl.  I used a book instead of a nice flower press.  I bought a flower press from Michaels.  Very basic and inexpensive  Amelia and I had a lot of fun picking flowers from around the yard.  This is the only time Amelia is aloud to pick my flowers! She has a habit of picking every flower and with an excited look on her face she hands them to me.  It's hard to get mad at that happy face.

I picked up a pack of transfers for another project but couldn't resist adding a few butterflies to our flower press.  I may even stain the wood.  I'm not a fan of the "new wood" look.

 

I think I will dry a bunch of flowers so that I can use them on Amelia's birthday card envelopes to add a special touch. I like the idea of adding them to a journal or handwritten recipe book.

Apple Turnovers

Oh the iconic apple turnover. As popular as the apple pie. So country, so humble and oh so good. Both of my grandmothers used to make these with their own personal touch. Nana Shirley would toss the turnover in cinnamon sugar after pulling it out of the cooking oil but Mamaw Ola Mae did not.  I remember Mamaw making them more than Nana. My aunt Carol said it was her job as a child to place slices of apples on top of the chicken coop(on newspaper) to dry. I think that using dried apples to make apple turnovers made my Mamaw's turnovers so flavorful. They are the perfect little dessert or snack for picnics or people on the go.  I had some dough left over from quiches that I made for my cousin's bridal shower so I used that.  I used the Better Home and Garden pie crust recipe.  It makes two pie crusts.

After letting the dough rest I rolled it out pretty thin. Then I cut out 3 inch rounds. I then rolled the rounds even thinner.

I cooked down about 5-6 large apples with 1 stick butter, cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar to taste.  This is all about personal preference. Some apples may need more sugar than others.  Once it cooked down to a chunky apple sauce texture it was ready. I filled each round with about 2 tablespoons of filling. I folded over an edge and "glued" the edges together with a little water. Press edge with fork to seal.

 

Heat up oil of your choice.  I prefer using a cast iron pan. Brown on both sides.  They cook pretty quickly.  I haven't tried to bake these but that is an option.

I tossed them in cinnamon and sugar. I ate way too many.

Party Inspiration

While researching birthday party ideas I came across some very useful websites.  Catch My Party and The Sweetest Occasion have unlimited amount of ideas when it comes to decorating and planning a party. There is so much to look at that I'm sure it will take me awhile to go through each party. 

Catch My Party categorizes the parties my theme which is very helpful since they have tons of parties to go through.  I can't help but to notice many of my ideas which I thought were original being displayed on Catch My Party and The Sweetest Occasion.  It is so weird to see the ideas you have dreamed up on other people's websites. I ask myself, "How in the world?!"

{Fairy House by Enchanted Gardens}

For Amelia's Fairytale birthday party I want rustic and "realistic" looking fairy decorations instead of the commercial looking party decorations I see for fairy/fairytale themes. Real or silk flowers and natural materials. My local Micheal's craft store has most of their Spring flowers and greenery on sale for 50% off! I had to take this opportunity to buy as many as I could so that I will have them for Amelia's party decorations and for making fairy crowns and clips. So far I see my color scheme being dark blue, yellow, purple, greens and pinks. I may add in some teal.  I spotted a moss table runner and place mats which will add a nice texture to the tables but I'm holding off on those for right now. I seem to always add butterflies to every party I throw. My wedding, Amelia's 1st and 2nd birthday parties. I adore butterflies!

  Since I love adding lots of elements to my parties I have to be on the look out for bargains. I was so pleased to come across a website properly named, Save On Crafts. So many awesome things at great prices. Oriental Trading is always full of fun stuff too.

{$2.99 each! Save on Crafts}

{Moss Sticks $2.99 by Save on Crafts!}

{Roll of Moss $24 by Save on Crafts! Cheaper than Micheal's)

{These are so FUN! There are wild flower seeds in the natural paper! I want to fill these with small party favors and then after they are emptied the guest can plant them in the ground or flower pot and watch them grow.  I am so excited about this!! By Save on Crafts}

{Or I can fill these Jute bags with favors!}

{Or these burlap bags!}

Ideas, Ideas! My head is spinning right now.  I am most definitely leaving my backyard and patio decorated with the Fairytale theme when Amelia's party is over. Kill two birds with one stone.  

I do enjoy going to the Renaissance Faire when it comes to town. One particular decoration that I noticed everywhere were the fabric and ribbon garlands. So beautiful. I want to pull a little from the different whimsical elements that can be found at a Renaissance Faire.  It has that Pixie Hallow feel to it especially when the music is playing. I think I'm going to buy inexpensive muslin fabric and dye it different colors, then cut them into strips. I can then tie the strips onto jute twine and hang them all over the backyard and patio to give the party a whimsical feel that I love.

I better come back to reality for now! lol I could go on and on for hours about all of my ideas.  I have to save something for the actual reveal which won't be until July!

Crochet Granny Square Pillow Cover

I am quite pleased with how well my crochet pillow covers came out. I started out by crocheting a large granny square as big as I wanted it then finished it off with a single crochet around, triple crochet around and then a shell stitch around.

I bought pillows and slipcovers from IKEA. I ironed the pillow case after this pictures. ;-)

I stretched out the granny square and laid it on the pillow case. I tried to leave a 1 1/2 inch boarded all the way around the granny square. I just pinned the edges down to the top part of the pillow cover. (First layer)

I took thread that matched the pillow case and sewed a running stitch all the way around the very edge of the granny square. The thread hides really well as long as you don't take too big of a stitch.

The finished product is a fun and colorful accent to your home. I like to call it Anthropologie-esque. Hehe