This year I discovered rose hips and I have totally fallen for them! They are super packed full of Vitamin C, but not so tasty, so I made an infusion with them to add to my elderberry syrup this year. For those of you that don’t know, rose hips are the fruit that forms at the flower of a rose if you do not cut it, but let it fall off. I have found the wild roses to have bigger, redder hips than those cultivated for flowering. But as Mark and I were out freezing our fingertips off and barely feeling the multitude of cuts from the wild rose thorns (the kids had enough after about 3 minutes and watched from the car), I thought how beautiful this fruit is and there has to be another use for them. A more aesthetic use for them. I immediately thought they would be a great substitute for cranberry garlands. Each year all the “green” blogs, magazines, news, etc. suggest making cranberry garlands as a green alternative for decorations. I never could get myself to do this because 1) it’s rather expensive if you have to buy them and 2) cranberries are so go to eat, it seems a shame to waste them. But harvesting wild rose hips for a garland, now that I can get behind. Unfortunately I will have to wait until next year because I already used all my rosehips for elderberry syrup and the freezing temperatures  have ruined the rest here in Idaho. But for those of you who live in milder climates, you probably can still get some beautiful red rose hips for your garlands. If you try it, let me know what you think! (Note: Rose hips are really tough, so you will need a big embroidery needle.)

Some of our other favorite Natural Decorations include:

• popcorn garlands
• silver twig decorations from What Shall We Do Today?
• felt ornaments (a nice thick wool felt holds it’s shape best)
• pine cuttings and cinnamon sticks used almost frivolously though out the house
• citrus pomanders (here are directions if you want, but we just usually stick cloves into oranges)
• gold tipped pinecones (I like getting those cinnamon pinecones each year, I save them to use as crafts the next year)

Read more:http://www.brainyquote.com/

• The average American throws away 1,600 pounds of trash each year. That’s 4.4 pounds every day!
• Americans make enough plastic every year to shrink-wrap Texas.
• 600 plastic bags are thrown away every second in California.
• Each year, more than 1 million sea birds and 100 thousand marine mammals die from plastic materials like bags from the grocery store.
• Composting is nature’s way of recycling leftover food into nutritious soil that saves space in landfills and helps prevent global warming.
• It takes 18 years for one corn cob to decompose in a landfill, but only a couple of months in a compost pile!  When food is composted, it breaks down much faster and recycles itself into new life instead of sitting trapped in the landfill for many, many years.

Here are a few choice shots. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed taking them!

This last one is Claire and her teacher Mrs. Brinks whom she loves dearly. I’ll try and get the pictures of Claire’s Singing and Dancing as soon as I can (which maybe next week)! Can’t wait for next year!

We did run into a little poison oak, but that was easily avoided. I think Bill and I were the only ones close enough to maybe get some on our clothes, and we didn’t have any problems. But it was a good lesson in identifying it, especially since it was still all nice and green with no tell tale reddish leaves. Poison Oak spreads it’s toxin through an oil it excretes. These oils spread easier when in heat, sweat, hot water or steam. But because it is an oil, it does not easily come of with soap and water. For those of you who are not used to dealing with poison oak here are a few basic tips:

1. Take off all your clothes and bath in cold water immediately after exposure. (never warm or hot)
2. While bathing rinse any areas you think might be exposed in rubbing alcohol. Then rinse again with soap and water.
3. Keep all these clothes separate from others and prewash usng rubbing alcohol. (You may want to make sure it will not bleach your clothes, but I haven’t had any problems.) Then follow with a regular wash.

Following these basic steps we have never had an out break in our family. But enough about poison oak, we saw so many other beautiful things. Like the Sacramento River in the morning, red tail hawks soaring, great egrets, wild roses, jack rabbits, not to mention the elderberries! It was a beautiful and productive morning! I am very greatfull to Bill and Wildlands for all their help with this field trip.

I always freeze the berries immediately when get home, they are so much easier to get off the stems when frozen. This time I laid them on cookie sheets and before placing them in the freezer. This made it easier because the did not get tangled in one another.

Then I took them out one cookie sheet at a time and shook the berries off. It worked very well. I rinsed them a few times in a bowl of ice water to clean them. I like to try to keep the berries cold, so they are less likely to pop and let some of the juice leak out. I think next year, I might try washing them while on the stems and before freezing them. I am still experimenting with the best way to wash them with out loosing the juice. Even so, I still had plenty of juicy berries left.

Next I place them all in a large pot with just enough water to cover them all. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes.

I then juice the berries in batches. I place a layer of cheesecloth in a strainer and them mash the berries in the strainer and collect the juice in a bowl below. I them place the remaining pulp in a bag before throwing away. (It doesn’t have the most pleasant smell).

This time I then poured the juice into ice cube trays to freeze it. After they are all frozen, I transfered them to a freezer bag. That way, I can take out what I need through out the year to make the syrup.

Recipes on the next page…

Elderberry Syrup

1. Boil 3 cups of elderberry juice with 15 whole cloves for 10 minutes. Optional: I also add 1 cup raspberry or dark cherry juice (unsweetened).
2. After the 10 minutes, you can choose to remove the cloves, or leave them in the syrup.
3. Take off the heat and add 1 cup honey and 1 cup sugar. Many recipes call for twice the amount of sugar, so you can add sugar until desired taste, but remember it will taste sweeter as it cools. I like using half local honey because consuming local honey can help build the immune system.
4. I place the syrup in jars (makes 6-7 cups) and can using a water bath method (bath 10 minutes).
5. Let cool completely before storing the well sealed jars in a cool dark place until opened. Once opened store in the fridge.

Since I already had enough syrup right now, I set aside 1.5 cups of elderberry juice to experiment with elderberry jelly. I liked it, so here is the recipe…

Spiced Elderberry-Cherry Jelly

1. Boil 1.5 cups of elderberry juice, 1/2 cup unsweetened, dark cherry juice, and the juice of 1/2 a lemon with 3 whole cloves, 2 whole all spice, and 1 cinnamon stick for 10 minutes.
2. While the juice is boiling, mix in a separate bowl 1/2 cup honey with 2 t pectin powder (use the amount as specified on your pectin package).
3. At this point, remove the spices and add 2 t calcium water (use the amount as specified on your pectin package).
4. Take off the heat and add the honey/pectin mixture and 1/2 cup sugar. Return to a boil.
5. I place the jelly in 1 cup (2-3) jars and can using a water bath method (bath 10 minutes).
6. Let cool completely before storing in well sealed jars in a cool dark place until opened. Once opened store in the fridge.

Let me know what you think and if you have a few recipes of your own!

Here is the basic information for or field trip:

• We will meet at their elderberry mitigation site Tuesday, July 27 in the morning at 10:00 AM. For those of you who sign up, I will email you the directions this weekend. I would allow yourself 45 minutes from downtown Sacramento to get there.
• We will first be given a guided tour of the elderberry mitigation site as one large group.
• Then we will proceed to a riparian area adjacent to a levee where we will harvest the elderberries.
• The children and I will stay at the riparian area at base of the levee and explore while the adults harvest.
• Then we will all leave together.

What to bring:

• Water, Water, and Water.
• Sunscreen and Hats
• Snacks
• Thick plastic bags or a few plastic shopping bags (the stems can poke holes in the thinner bags)
• Shears or scissors

I would recommend everything you bring fit into a backpack or something you can wear and keep your hands free. Also the same for infants. There will not be a good place for them to be on the ground, so I would recommend packing them too!

I am very excited about this opportunity and grateful to Wildlands for their generosity. For more information about elderberries, please see my previous post: Come with Me to the Harvest.

Stone Fruit Crisp

Ingredients for the topping:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 Tbsp Turbano sugar
• 6 oz cold butter, cubed
• 1/4-1/2 cup crystalized ginger, chopped

Ingredients for the filling:

• 4.5 pound cherries, peaches, and apricots, pitted and chopped
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup Turbano sugar
• 1/4 cup flour

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a food processor, combine the 1 and 1/2 cup of flour and sugar. Add the cold butter until the mixture looks like wet sand. It should still crumble. You may need to scrape down the sides a few times. Add more flour if the mixture is too pasty.
3. Take the topping mixture out of the processor and mix in the chopped crystalized ginger with your hands. Try not to over kneed the mixture, keep it light. Set aside.
4. Combine all the fruit in a bowl and mix in the sugar and flour. Let stand until gets moist.
5. Put the mixture in to two sprayed 9×9 casserole dishes.
6. Sprinkle the topping mixture evenly over the top of both dishes.
7. Put in the oven for about 35-40 minutes or until the sides are bubbling with thick juice.
8. Let sit 5-10 minutes before serving, while still warm.

Note: Claire got a little over zealous with the topping and I think I did not have enough butter to flour ratio, so the top was not browning. After I thought they were cooked enough, I placed the oven on broil and set them on the bottom rack, just to brown the tops a little.

Hope you all had a wonderful 4th!

[amazon-product text="The Omnivores Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals" type="text"]0143038583[/amazon-product], I (Mark) became very interested in meat.  I wanted to know how to get the highest-quality chicken, beef, and pork locally.  So I started out by creating a spreadsheet (yes, I’m an engineer) that listed all the locally available meat vendors and ranchers in the Sacramento area.  The “meat matrix” is divided into two categories – Grass Fed meats and Grain Finished meats that received no antibiotics, no animal proteins, and non-GMO corn.  I then sorted each meat vendor by how many miles from downtown Sacramento so I could see how things stacked up from a local perspective.  I really enjoyed investigating all the options available while creating and populating the meat matrix because it became a great learning tool.  I talked to a lot of butchers, ranchers, grocery-store workers, restaurant chefs, and farmer’s market vendors about a whole range of topics.  “What do you do if your cow get’s sick?”  “How do you kill your chickens?”  “Is your steer grain-finished or grass-finished?”

So it became obvious really quickly that the best sources of the most responsible grain-fed beef and pork came from our local farmer’s market and co-op.  But the biggest challenge was finding a local supplier of grass-fed beef.  I checked some websites such as www.eatwellguide.org, and www.livingharvest.org, and came across one rancher in El Dorado (about 45 minutes east of Sacramento, on your way to Tahoe) called Forni Ranch.  We emailed back and forth, and they seemed like the real deal right off the bat.

Here is their story (from their info sheet):

“Forni Ranch in El Dorado County reflects four generations of commitment to quality beef and sustainable land management.  Our beef is what is known as “grass fed”.  That means our animals are not confined in a feedlot; they range on foothill pasture.  Nor are they subjected to the use of steroids or hormones.  For you, the consumer, that means the flavor of the beef you purchase will be slightly different than what you’re used to.  It also means you will be buying fresh, locally produced food.”

And here is what they say about their cost:

“Three costs are involved in the purchase of Forni Meat.  The cost of half an animal runs approximately $425 – $450, depending on the size of the animal.  This is paid directly to Forni Ranch when the animal is taken to the butcher.  A flat fee, known as a kill charge, is paid directly to the butcher – approximately $65 for a half animal.  The butcher also receives approximately 80 cents per pound of hanging weight for cutting, wrapping and freezing your meat.”

I had to get some of this grass-fed stuff!  I can’t be sure I have ever eaten grass-fed beef, all I know is that it is very expensive when you go to Whole Foods (usually costs about $8/lb just for the ground beef!), but cutting out the middle man brought down the price for half a cow to around $5/lb.  Now when you purchase half a cow, you are looking at about 140 lbs of meat, and our family would take about a year to go through it all.  So we talked to some of our friends in Sacramento, and it didn’t take long to find three other families that wanted to share our half a cow.

In April I emailed Forni Ranch requesting our half a cow, mailed the $100 deposit, and waited.  And waited.   During all that waiting, I thought it might be fun to visit the ranch, and see the cows with our own eyes.  Hey, it can’t hurt to ask.  I guess I was a bit surprised when the Forni’s said yes, I wasn’t sure they would be up for it.  So during one weekend in May, Bill (my father-in-law) and I took the kids on a trip to the Ranch.

I have to say it was well worth it!  The kids had a blast – they took us on a hay ride through their 400 beautiful acres in El Dorado, California, and we got a chance to feed the cows, walk around some marshes, and even catch some frogs (the kids favorite activity).  Toni and George Forni were class-acts, very friendly and so awesome to spend so much time with us.

And then a week later, I received a call from the butcher.  He asked me about thickness of cuts (we went with 1”), size of packages (two steaks in each package, one pound of ground beef in each package), and went through a selection of cuts to see which cuts into ground beef.  Our group of families wanted about half steaks, and half ground beef, so we converted the all of the roasts (rump, chuck, cross rib) to ground beef.   Here is a breakdown of our 135 pounds of beef:

Steaks: top round, T-bone, Porterhouse, Filet, Tri-tip, Sirlion, Flank, and Prime Rib

Other: ground beef, stew meat, liver and bones (for soups).

About two weeks later, the butcher called to say that our beef was cut, wrapped, and ready for pickup.  So the next day Kate drove out to Castle Meats in Shingle Springs, picked up the meat, and then the four families met for a “meat-swap”. The butcher’s facility was actually beautiful, clean, and friendly. Now our family has about 33 pounds of various cuts of beef in our freezer, that should take us through the summer.

I really have enjoyed working with a local rancher that can be our new source of beef, and I hope that our friends want to keep sharing a half of a cow in the future.  If you live in Sacramento and are interested, contact Forni Ranch directly. They may still have some left this year.

Now for a local source of pastured poultry!

(We used our extra tomato seedlings as a center piece and party favor)

The Menu

Bourbon Pork Tenderloin and Chicken Breasts
Coleslaw
Fresh rolls
Fruit salad

We like to get our pork from a local rancher, Bledsoe, at our local farmer’s market. He raises and butchers natural pork and the tenderloin is only $6 a pound. He is at the Davis Farmer’s Market on Saturdays and the Sacramento Farmer’s Market (8th and W) on Sundays. I have liked everything we get from him, especially the pork sausage. As I mentioned earlier, I got this recipe from the Texas Ties cookbook. It calls for equal parts bourbon, soy sauce, dijon mustard, brown sugar, and olive oil with a little Worcestershire and lots of minced fresh ginger and garlic. Yum! But if you don’t have bourbon you could substitute apple cider vinegar or another sweet/fruity vinegar.  Bernice (Mark’s mom) made the coleslaw so I don’t have a recipe (sorry), but it was delicious! Ruth (Mark’s sister) provided the fresh rolls (still hot!).  Mark and I made a simple fruit salad of mango, pineapple, and fresh cherries, and Mark did a great job on the BBQ!  The dinner was great, but this year what I really focused on was the beverages.

The Bar

Bourbon Cherry Coke

Pour 1 shot bourbon over ice
Add one shot (or less) cherry syrup
Add coke as desired
Top with bourbon cherry

Bourbon Cherry Lemonade

Pour 1 shot of bourbon over ice
Add 1 shot of cherry syrup
Add lemonade as desired.
Top with a bourbon cherry

Mint Julep

Place fresh mint at bottom of the glass
Fill glass ¾ full with ice
Pour in 2 shots of mint syrup
Pour in one shot of bourbon and mix

Sweet Mint Iced Tea

Pour tea over ice
Add mint syrup as desired
Top with fresh mint

Cherry Lemonade

Pour lemonade over ice
Add cherry syrup as desired
(about one shot)
Top with maraschino cherry

Cherry Coke

Pour coke over ice
Add cherry syrup as desired
Top with a maraschino cherry

Arnold Palmer

Fill glass about halfway with ice and tea.
Add lemonade as desired

OK, so maybe it got a little out of hand, but I was having fun. It all started when I got the idea to make Bourbon Cherries for the party (recipe below). I made them earlier in the week because you want them to sit at least two days before serving. Then I just kept going… Saturday I made fresh mint simple syrup and cherry syrup, fresh lemonade, and decaf black iced tea. If you have ever been to my house, you know my vice is “mexican coke.” It’s made with cane sugar instead of corn syrup. It also comes in those cool glass bottles. So we threw a few in the cooler and it was BYOB&W (bring your own beer and wine). I made little recipe cards and set everything out on the buffet for self service. It was a lot of fun and I think at least one of each recipe was made and tried by someone in the group. We ended with dessert and I think over did it a little…

The Dessert

Peach Pie
Vic’s Vanilla Ice Cream
Bourbon or Maraschino Cherries
Anna’s Ginger Wafer’s
See’s Chocolates

Marty and Carol (Mark’s dad and his wife) brought a delicious peach pie from a bakery in Oakland (sorry I don’t know the name, but if I find out I’ll post it). Larry (my brother-in-laws father) generously brought the ice cream from our local ice cream parlor and Kate (my brother-in-laws mother) brought the See’s candies. I provided the bourbon cherries and ginger wafers. I highly recommend the peach pie topped with ice cream and bourbon cherries!

We really had a wonderful and fun Father’s Day celebration and I wish you all the same!

Bourbon Cherries

1/2 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of bourbon
2 TB minced crystalized ginger
2 lemon slices
1 cup water
1 pound fresh pitted cherries (I highly recommend a cherry pitter)

Warm your canning jars in hot water. Combine all ingredients except the cherries in a medium sauce pan and let simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and remove the lemon slices. Quickly fill the warm jars with the cherries. Carefully pour the syrup over the cherries. Be sure to leave enough room at the top to get a good seal. Be sure the rims and lids are dry before screwing on the lids. Let cool completely before refrigerating (makes about 5 cups).

P.S. These make great gifts or party favors, especially in one cup jars.

]]> http://naturalmomhealthychild.com/fathers-day-potluck-bourbon-bbq/feed/ 7 http://naturalmomhealthychild.com/sewing-for-spring/ http://naturalmomhealthychild.com/sewing-for-spring/#comments Wed, 26 May 2010 04:59:10 +0000 admin http://naturalmomhealthychild.com/?p=1150 So about a month ago my friend Blithe (Hi, Blithe!) got together for a day of sewing! We were very focused and only stopped to pick up the kids at school and eventually to feed them dinner (sort of, Mark really helped out there). We each got about 80% of the way done with these [...]]]> So about a month ago my friend Blithe (Hi, Blithe!) got together for a day of sewing! We were very focused and only stopped to pick up the kids at school and eventually to feed them dinner (sort of, Mark really helped out there). We each got about 80% of the way done with these cute little “Wrap-a-Rama” dress out of the book Absolutely A-line by Wendi Gratz. Actually Blithe adapted the pattern to make more of a tunic shirt. It was really cute! (But I don’t have a picture that I can post of hers…hint, hint). So three weeks later, I finally put the finishing touches on Claire’s dress and tah-dah, it’s too big! Oh, well. She’ll grow into it. Although she really wants to wear it now, as you can see.

The pattern called for one fabric with a liner, but I decided to use two fabrics just because I had them and thought they were fun. I got these Kaffe Fassett fabrics on sale when visiting my mom in Idaho, so I did not want to spend a lot of money on the lining. But I did feel it needed a fabric that blended well. So what did I do? When to Target of course! Now, you maybe a little confused here, but that’s OK. I had read on Mother Huddle about a skirt made from a pillow case and it was a eureka moment for me. Sheets are soft (a requirement for Claire), come in many colors, and I could find them CHEAP! You can get two good quality pillow cases for about $7 at Target or a whole sheet set for about $14 (that’s a lot of fabric!). I found a great purple colored sheets and decided to by the set because I wanted to make more stuff with the same Kaffe fabrics. (I see a pillowcase skirt in my future).

I had to adjust the pattern in Absolutely A-line to make a 3 in the body, but add the length of a 5. I think next time, I will have to bring in the bodice even more. This book is real fun and has great quality patterns. Just as a note: because my mom has taught me what I know of sewing, I don’t cut out the paper pattern. Instead I use wax paper to outline the pattern onto muslin. And use the muslin as my pattern. I will have to admit that the directions has us pulling our hair out at times, but I usually have this problem with all patterns. But I do recommend reading over the directions a few times before starting. Also I highly recommend a sewing buddy, just like all activities, it’s safer with a friend. I have never done a button hole before, and did not feel like waiting another 3 weeks to practice, so in the end I sewed on some snaps and placed a cute false button on the front. And called it good.

Ever since I finished this dress, I have been itching to make the “Candy Stripe” dress out of this book. Now, I just need some time!

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If you have any cute sewing projects you want to show off, please post them and send them to me via Facebook. I’d love to see them.