For Garlic Lovers

cooking, garlic, Garlic Recipe, Garlic Soup, homemade,

I am a bit afraid that things are getting somewhat confusing on my blog since I’ve recently written about soap and sap, but I still feel the need to add this post about a soup that I made recently. To be clear this is definitely a recipe to eat but I would not recommend bathing with it 🙂 .

The soup which I might call cream of potato with mushroom and garlic was loosely based on this recipe  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/13131/cream-of-garlic-soup/ . I’m really not sure how much you have to change a recipe before it can become your own, but I am fairly sure that the original recipe would be good as well. I didn’t precisely measure most of the ingredients so I’ll just share with you the changes that I made to this recipe.

I started with three medium size bulbs of garlic, I peeled each clove and minced it in the garlic press, this was at least 3/4 of a cup maybe more. I heated the olive oil in a pan and then added the minced garlic to the hot olive oil and turned off the heat. I had also peeled, cubed and boiled three good size potatoes. Instead of white wine (in the original recipe) I increased the amount of chicken broth to about 3 1/2 cups. I added the garlic/olive oil to the chicken broth. I drained and mashed the potatoes. I then began using a mixer to beat the potatoes and slowly adding the broth. If you decide to use the mixer like I did, instead of a blender that is recommended in the original recipe, it is important to add the broth slowly because at some point the mixture might become so thin that it begins to splatter. Take it from me, you really don’t want to find yourself washing it off the counter, walls,  your shirt and anywhere else it happens to land. When the mixture did get too thin to use the mixer I found that I was able to stir in the rest of the broth. I put this mixture on the stove over medium heat, stirred in about 3 cups of half and half and added about one teaspoon of salt.

While that was cooking I washed, sliced and sautéed about 12 ounces of fresh mushrooms. I then added them to the soup. I let this cook over low heat for about an hour, stirring every now and then to make sure it was not scorching.

As my title says this soup is for garlic lovers. It does have a very strong garlic flavor. Yumm!  I am not sure that I would like it as much without the mushrooms and it might even be better with cheese melted on top.

As garlic farmers we are interested in all things garlic, so I invite you to share how you like to use garlic. Do you use it medicinally? Do you have a favorite recipe? Please feel free to comment on this page.

 

 

 

 

 

Soap Of The Week – Pumpkin

homemade, ingredients, Making Soap, Pumpkin Soap, soap, ,

Lately it seems that I have traded (Don’t Eat It!) soap making for (I can’t wait to eat it!) sap/syrup cooking, so I didn’t make this, or any soap in the past week, but the Pumpkin Spice Soap that I made back in December is ready.

This is not a new recipe. In fact I think adding pumpkin to soap was one of my first experiments in soap making, probably 7 or 8 years ago. “You’re out of control! 🙂 ” was my husband’s response the first time I made this. He has laughingly repeated this phrase several times since – coconut soap, coffee soap, peanut butter soap. Nowadays, however, he is more likely to instigate a new recipe, than he is to be shocked but my creations.

I have made changes to the recipe over the years, but I am very pleased with the ingredients that I am now using.  The fats/oils that I use are olive oil, coconut oil and tallow. This combination makes a hard bar that lathers nicely and rinses off well.

The other ingredients I add to this soap are pumpkin (our home grown), cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar. While pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg are all said to be beneficial in skincare, I really can’t say whether they retain their beneficial properties though the soap making process. They do however add color and a light, spicy fragrance to the soap. When sugar is added to a soap recipe it is said to intensify the lather.

When each batch of soap has been cured for at least six weeks my husband and I test the soap before anyone else gets to use it. Our test is simple – grab a bar and hop in the shower. “It’s a nice soap,” my husband said after showering with this batch of pumpkin spice. After my critical evaluation I think the word that best describes this soap is fun. In case you’re thinking, “this woman needs to get a life,” please remember that soap making is a big part of my life. I say “fun” because I enjoyed the light cinnamon/nutmeg scent of this soap, and the nutmeg which has a bit of a coarse texture felt like small sand particles embedded in the soap –  adding a bit of scrubbing power, but mostly it was fun to see the large bubbles magically appear as the soap was rubbed across wet skin. It does develop into a rich lather that feels really nice. This is a soap I am pleased to sell.

If you are interested in purchasing this or any “Don’t Eat It!” soap or skin care products found in my store email me at ruth20012001@yahoo.com and put soap in the subject line.

 

 

 

 

 

February 17, 2017 -A Glimpse Into Our Day

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It was our 10th wedding anniversary and we spent the day together at our favorite place doing something we both enjoyed. We spent about five hours at our farm boiling sap from the maple trees. img_2250 Keeping the fire fed was a constant job. We took turn adding wood to the fire.

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It took a lot of heat before the sap really started boiling and a lot of wood to maintain the boil. It was around 10:00 a.m. when my husband got the fire going and filled the sap pan with about 10 gallons of sap.

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It was around 3:30 when we brought this (almost syrup) home to finish cooking it on the stove.

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We ended up with four 1 cup jars or 1 quart of delicious maple syrup. I see pancake or French toast breakfasts in our near future. 🙂 It took 40 quarts of sap to make 1 quart of syrup.

We could have done more today but we had planned to make a special dinner together. In the morning while he was getting things started at the farm, I baked our dessert. My husband had suggested devils food cake. It had vanilla frosting because that’s one of my favorite combinations. All I had to decorate it with were a couple of store bought tubes of frosting with tips that screwed on the ends of the tube. I have never been able to make a pretty cake using these, and I don’t even know why I keep trying.

I told him, even though the cake looked corny, it was filled with love.

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After dinner we did something that we have never done before. We watched the DVD of our wedding. It took us back to that day. It was so much fun to be with family again, to see  everyone (10 years) younger, smiling, laughing, and hugging. My Mom (who passed away in 2011) wore a pink sweater the same color as my dress, I hugged her. Our eyes were teary as we spoke our vows; the promises we made, the promises we’ve kept. It was a simple day filled with so much love. We are so thankful that we have this treasure.

It was an incredibly blessed day and I can’t think of better way to have celebrated our marriage.

As we stepped into our second decade as husband and wife we have spent two more days making syrup on the farm. Even though the calendar says February, the temperatures in the, 50’s and 60’s, say “spring”. img_2285

The sun has been bright, the sky has had been a beautiful, deep blue, and we have been watching the pond level rise as the ice melts. The honey bees have been out.

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On Sunday our Grandson, Jackson had his first visit to the farm. This was a happy day.

At this point we have produced just under 1 gallon of maple syrup, and we plan to continue collecting sap and making syrup this week as long as the sap flows clear.

 

 

 

 

 

Rescuing the Brown Sugar

Brown Sugar, Cookies

Last week I decided to make cookies, they were white chocolate chip, but that’s not really important for this post. When I took the bag of brown sugar out of the cupboard I remembered that the last time I made cookies (peanut butter 🙂 ), a few weeks ago, my bag of brown sugar was full of hard lumps. I did my best to break up the lumps, first with a spoon as I put it in the measuring cup, then with the mixer as I blended it with butter, sugar, egg and peanut butter. This was successful except for a few pebble-size lumps that remained after my cookie dough was completely mixed. I just picked those out and disposed of them before I baked the cookies.

I knew there was a way to make lumpy brown sugar soft again. I thought I remembered learning that if you put a slice of bread in the container with the brown sugar and seal the container the brown sugar would become soft again. What I couldn’t remember is when or where I learned this, but I decided to give it a try. I placed a soft slice of bread in the brown sugar bag. I then tied the bag and put it back in the cupboard, and I forgot about it until I decided to make cookies again.

To make a long story short, I’ll just say that when I opened the brown sugar bag the bread was very hard but the sugar was very soft. It had transformed from the hard clumps back to fine crystals. I was so glad that I remembered this simple tip, and I am happy to pass it on to you.

P.S. Watch for the long version of this story in a future post.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Sap Is Flowing and The Hens Are Laying

Bees, Chickens, Maple Syrup, spring, Tapping Maple Trees, The Farm

Over the weekend, as we looked ahead at the 10 day weather forecast and saw that 8 out of 10 days were predicted to have high temperatures above freezing, we decided it was time to tap maple trees. Here is the link to my past from last year about tapping maple trees. https://donteatitsoap.com/2016/02/20/tapping-maple-trees/?iframe=true&theme_preview=true

So yesterday, (Monday, February 13) we set a total of 18 taps (and buckets) in 8 maple trees at our farm. It seems early to be tapping the trees, but the sap began flowing as soon as the taps were in place. I guess, like many things farming related, weather conditions mean more than the date on the calendar. We also set up a fire pit where the sap will be boiled down.

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Today, after lunch, we went to the farm to collect the sap. When all 18 buckets were emptied we had collected 10 gallons of sap. Our plan is to collect the sap for the next couple of days before we begin boiling it down. Our intention is to leave the taps in place, and continue to collect sap and make syrup, as long as the sap runs clear. When the sap turns cloudy maple syrup season is finished.

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Throughout the month of December the chickens’ egg production gradually slowed, and through the month of January we only collected one or two eggs per day. Last week we began getting 5 or 6 eggs daily and now we are up to 8 or 9. As the days grow longer, and the chickens enjoy more sunny days, egg production will continue to increase. This makes feeding the hens all winter worth while.

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The bees were out today when the afternoon temperature climbed to around 50 degrees. I don’t think there was anything for them to forage, but at least they could take a cleansing flight. Later this week when temps get back into the 50’s we will check their food supplies and feed them if necessary. We do have honey and wax reserved for them so we do not have to feed them sugar water. We did lose one hive earlier this winter. We could not determine the reason for the loss, as the hive was not full of dead bees. At this point it seems as if the three remaining hives are okay, and we plan to start two new hives in May. We will also capture swarms to if the opportunity arises.

Regardless of the date on the calendar, or the groundhog’s prediction, all signs on the farm are pointing to an early spring.