Rose Hip Salve

Also at that same recent talk I gave, I demonstrated making a salve from rose hips.

You can find previous posts about salve making

  here

and 

additional notes here

This salve is ideal for the face but can of course be used anywhere.

I roughly chopped a big handful of fresh rose hips and then covered with cold pressed almond oil and gently infused over a very low heat till the oil had taken on the colour and smelled of the hips. I used my thermomix but some people use a slow cooker on low for a few hours making sure the oil doesn't get too warm as we are trying to preserve as much of the Vit C properties of the hips. The other method is to place the hips covered in oil in a jar and leave to infuse in the warmth of the sun over the month.

Strain the oil through a cloth lined sieve and extract as much as possible squeezing the pulp. 

Measure the resulting golden oil and add 10% in weight of bees wax. This is best grated and added to the oil to gently heat to dissolve. 

Once it is dissolved, you can also add a couple of drops of Vit E oil and pour into sterile jars and label.

It's best to use a container that is not clear and keep the salve in a cool place away from light. Always use a stick or clean finger and use within a few months.

If you prefer a scent, you can add a drop of essential oil but I like to keep the salve as simple as possible and enjoy the benefits of the almond oil and rose hip oil.

You can use any rose hips but I find wild rose hips in abundance around our road ways.

We also shared some rose hip cordial on the night and the recipe is found 

here

Mini Pavan Mandarin Cheesecakes

This is another version of my Mini Layered Cheesecake recipe

Being mid-winter, berries are definitely out of season but mandarin is king so I have taken this fruit as my starting point and paired it with Pavan French liquer, made from muscat grapes and infused with orange blossom. Elderflower cordial also makes a lovely compliment.

Peeling the segmented mandarin is a little fiddly but worth it. Here is a step by step photo helper here

Mini Pavan Mandarin Cheesecakes

makes 24 x 75ml tubes

1 packet of gingernut biscuits (cookies) crushed

place as the base layer in the tube

Whip together 1 packet of Philadelphia cream cheese 

and 1 tin of condensed milk

with the juice of one lemon

1/4 cup of Pavan liquer (60ml)

place a layer in the tube atop the biscuit

 segments from aprrox 8 mandarins 

Reserve a few for top decorating and chop the rest quite finely so you have a chunky pulp

Macerate in a couple of  tablespoons of elderflower cordial.

you want to have a lumpy sauceish fruity layer.

Spoon onto the cheesecake layer.

Whip 300ml of cream

Top off the layers and add a piece of mandarin segment on top for decoration

Elderberry Preparation and Preserving

I have already written before about elderberry tincture and you can easily make it into a cordial, elixir, shrub etc. and benefit from it's wonderful healing and health properties. Remember to follow directions, remove stems and strain the pulp containing the seeds as both stems and seeds have an emetic effect. A number of blogs are failing to advise this important step.

Due to popular demand within the family and friend circle I have harvested three times as much as in previous years. One day this week I spent 5 hours in total removing the berries from the stems and usually the staining washes off but this time the deep purple has remained quite stubborn around my nail areas. I now have about four kilos of berries macerating in vodka.

Pick them at their peak when heads are heavy and full of plump healthy berries. I harvest into woven baskets and let them sit a while somewhere cool, this allows the critters time to escape and find new lodgings. I always give them a good swishing wash in a sink full of water to remove any webs, dust and bird poo. You will have a couple of days window of opportunity to de-stalk but I have found the sooner you do it after harvest the better they pop off the stalks. Some people use a fork to rake the berries from the stems but I'm a bit fussy. 

The rest pictured above are washed and drying. on teatowel covered racks. Once they loose a bit more moisture I will hang them in a calico bag to completely dry off for emergency dry stores in case we run out of tincture. Once dry the stalks are easily rubbed and winnowed away and they can be re-hydrated. 

Hand Made Gifts for 2015

This year my gift bags contain Rhubarb and Vanilla infused Vodka that I made some months ago. Assorted cordials include, Wild Nettle, Rhubarb and Blackcurrant.

These are lovely with chilled sparkling water but can also be used as syrups for desserts. The blackcurrant is particularly good with hot water for a bedtime soother.

As for last year, I have used the chalkboard look labels and very sorry to say that I have sourced the last of these bottles. I love being able to keep everything uniform in the goodie bag.

I made some "Tranquillity" room sprays for a soft calming fragrance (sometimes Christmas gets a little tense don't you find). These atomisers are about 50ml. I filled 3/4 of the way with witch hazel and added 9 drops of my blend (lavender, bergamot, ylang ylang, geranium and chamomile) and then topped with distilled water.

Last month I made a series of soy wax candles and named their different fragrances for local areas that they inspired. 

I can make jam but I bow down before Miss Kate, a true artisan of preserves, and I am so excited to share some of these creations with loved ones and colleagues. As you can tell from the labels, she sources local produce and blends the most incredible flavours. But even beyond the flavours, she works with the textures of the fruit and the moisture contents that vary from season to season and even the weather on the day plays a part in her delicious science. 

Her label name is...

JustAddMoonshine

My all time favourite is Blue Raja and to be honest I even just eat it off the spoon!

Kate's creations were also in keeping with a natural and black colour theme so I kept carrying that through with stamped tags and plain brown bags and silky black cord.

A little bit of this and a little bit of that.

They are not created overnight and are the product of seasonal selection and preserving. 

Made with thought and love.

I have done several posts on cordial making and you can find them all by simply typing "cordial" into the search box on the right somewhere over there.

All Kate's contact info can be read easily from the labels in the pictures above. 

You can re-read last years' gift bag post here

So what have you made for gifts this year? I'm looking already for new ideas for next year... 

Wild Nettle Cordial

Stinging Nettles are perfect and tender, ready for picking right now (here is Tas anyway)

Use gloves and long sleeves so the irritating hairs don't sting you. If you do happen to get stung cast your eye around for dock, it usually always grows where nettles do. Crush the stem and leaf and apply the moist mash, it works almost instantly. If you can't find dock, go for plantain.

Young nettle tops can be made into pesto, ravioli filling, soup and many people enjoy it as a simple tea. Nettle tea in your kombucha brew is so yummy. Nettles are power packed with nutrition and health benefits and a much better choice for a "cleanse" than some of the more extreme methods. A cup of nettle tea every morning for a couple of weeks will move your winter body into a revitalised state. A word of warning though, it can lower blood sugar and blood pressure so if you are already on medication for those complaints then you should only use nettle medicinally under supervision.

You know me though, I can't resist a cordial experiment.

Most of the recipes I found suggested steeping/fermenting for a week. I thought that was not necessary for nettles. I simmered a huge bunch of tender leaves with 2 litres of water for at least half an hour. It was an amazing rich green colour. After straining I added 100g of sugar for every 100ml of liquid, stirring over a low heat to dissolve. Most cordial recipes also add citric acid (from lemons) for preserving and erring on the side of caution I added about 50g and I was horrified to see my gorgeous green liquid turn brackish brown. You live and learn. All you chemists out there are probably nodding your heads sagely. 

I have found some great cocktails that call for nettle syrup (here and here)but you can also just enjoy it in a punch or in a long glass of soda water. Great splashed in a Pimms too I should imagine.

Do google and read up on nettles, they are an amazing plant and perfect for a novice forager as it can be harvested in meaningful culinary quantities easily and is very versatile. You could even substitute for spinach in the pasta like I did last weekend.

Do share if you have a favourite way with nettles.

Pulling It Together

There is a dozen reasons why I haven't posted recently, most of them boring and some just ugly so instead I give you the "pretty" reasons...

I have been making and creating over the last few weeks and now it is time to pull it all together with some labelling and packaging.

I am having a love affair with these cute self adhesive labels that give a chalkboard effect. 

In my baskets are;

Gardeners' Soaps

Hand made soap

Preserved Peel

Rose Petal Jam/Sauce

Home made Vanilla Extract

Vanilla Beans

Elderflower Cordial

Tub Teas ("Revive","Calming" and "Soothing")

Throw in a ric-rac trimmed teatowel and some colourful tissue paper and your done!

I also include some recipe ideas for using the ingredients too.

And some smaller bags for the great staff I work with.

And the giving is great.

I had a beautiful day at work today with people popping in and sharing the love, lots of smiley faces and a special surprise visit from Pat of Hooks and Books. So lovely to see you and share you exciting plans and news.

xxx

More Gifts From the Kitchen

So how are your gift preparations going?

My vanilla extract is still macerating away in a dark place but there is plenty still happening in the kitchen.

Elders are in bloom here now and the last of my late winter lemons have gone into the Elderflower cordial. Truly it is the nectar of fairies.

Here is the recipe I use.

On Sunday I foraged for spray free rose petals of divine fragrance.

It's that time of year again for making rose petal jam.

I have previously posted here.

I'll not lie to you. It took me a couple of hours to collect the petals and then FOUR hours of sorting, cleaning (read: de-bugging) and snipping before allowing the mass to macerate in sugar overnight.

I then had the crazy idea that I could whip this jam up before work this morning....

54 jars later....

not really but almost....

8litres of jam people!!!

What was I thinking. Before work. Really?

Just finding lids to match that many jars took forever let alone the sterilising.

But it's done.

TRULY WORTH THE EFFORT!

Food of the fairies

Can't you just imagine fairies sipping elder flower nectar from acorn cups and licking rose petal jam from velvety petal bowls.

I've already made my preserved peel last month. This year I also used orange peel and I have bought some special couverture chocolate from the famous Tasmanian House of Anvers and I'm going to half dip those. The bitter orange peel and rich chocolate will be a divine Christmas treat.

So get to gathering and foraging and cooking to make some unique and magical gifts from the kitchen. You still have four weeks to go.

The Whole Lemon

Today I was invited to do a short talk and demonstration at the Uni Open Day as part of the 

Urban Farming Tasmania Display.

There was a really great turn out and other speakers included seed savers and urban bee keepers.

I chose to talk about lemons because they are at the peak of the season now. I wanted to get people using not just the juice and a bit of zest but also the skin as well.

Previously I've posted about lemon cordial so I won't belabour the post repeating it all here, you can click on the link and read more. 

After juicing your crop and freezing it down into blocks and/or making the cordial, it's a prime time to make a batch of preserved peel.

 Again and again people are surprised to discover how delicious this peel is and it is a great bonus in the pantry. I also encourage people to save the juiced halves in the freezer instead of throwing them out and then using them for preserving at time more convenient.

Here is a quick run through again for making preserved peel

Thick skinned lemons make the best peel, like a Eureka/Lisbon variety

Take the lemon halves and push them flat and roughly slice them into strips about 1-2cm wide, this is just rough and they don't have to look neat or even.

Place them in a large pot with enough cold water to cover and bring to the boil, drain and repeat two more times to remove the bitterness from the pith.

After the third boil drain and weigh the peel. 

Return it to the pot with the same weight of sugar and place on a low heat stir to dissolve and rapid simmer for about 1-2 hrs. You will see the peel turn more translucent and the jewel-like.

Drain again and set out to dry. The best method I have found is to use cake coolers over cookie sheets to catch any drips and to allow air to flow around the peel for faster more even drying.

This may take up to a week.

At this point it will be a bit sticky but definitely drier. Toss in some caster sugar to prevent sticking together and store in air tight jars.

This peel is now ready for your Christmas baking in the next month or so. It makes a beautiful gift in an attractive jar and I also like to serve it on the side of coffee instead of a biscuit...but how to stop at just one!

Another wonderful way to preserve the whole lemon is by packing it in it's own juice and salt and I demonstrated just how quick and simple this method is. The preserved lemon is ready in a month and improved with longer time and is delicious added to any slow cooked dishes upon serving. Try it with chicken casseroles or slow cooked Moroccan Lamb Shanks.

My friend over at "Eat At Dixiebelles" has done a superb visual tutorial, proving how simple this method is. You can see her post here. 

There are so many great recipes for lemons and I hope you will consider using the whole lemon too.

I also had a lot of people asking about my cookbook and where to order it.

You can order from here

as a print version in both hard and soft cover and an e-book is also available to download.

Thanks to everyone who came along today, it was lovely to meet you and share your enthusiasm. I hope the recipe and method briefs here are clear enough for you and if you have any questions please ask in the comments or click on the "email me" up there near my profile pic.

( Renae - please email me as you won the meat cookery book and I am still waiting for your address.) 

Coughs and Colds - Elderberry Tincture

The second subject we talked about at the Better Living meet-up was how to alleviate some of the common ills of winter, the primary one being the common cold.

There is much growing in our own backyards that we can harvest for simple remedies and unlike the commercial preparations in stores, natural remedies will work with your body to remedy the illness rather than keep masking the symptoms leaving the body to battle on trying to eliminate the germs.

Naturally there is a caution and warning.....

Just because something is natural doesn't mean that you can be careless with an ingredient or heedless of it's effects. The following is meant as general information and you should always research thoroughly and consult a medical practitioner such as a naturopath or herbal pharmacist. 

Two books that I have found invaluable over many, many years are

"Health Through God's Pharmacy" by Maria Treben

and 

"The Natural Health Book" by Dorothy Hall

I have already posted previously here about the Common Cold recipe by Dorothy Hall here

and I urge you to read that post for a simple practical hot toddy that helps the body eliminate its ills. It has a base of lemon, so cleansing and astringent and readily available in winter, like nature knows what to provide each season.

The tincture in the first photo is from these elderberries I picked and made back in early autumn in anticipation of winter colds. Unlike the delicious rosehip syrup with it's big hit of vitamin C, the tincture is made with an alcohol base and no sugar, so it really is more like a "medicine" as my tasters found at the meet-up. 

Elderberries are quite a super berry. Loaded with Vitamin C &A they are also thought to be anti-viral,  anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory. All very helpful qualities during the onslaught of a cold. Removing the berries from the stems requires patience and I like to do it with bowls on my lap in front of TV or listening to music. The stems, bark and leaves can have a purgative effect and if ingested brings on vomiting and diarrhoea. Likewise their seeds in large quantities so that is why they are heated and the pulp extracted.

Once you have the berries place them in a saucepan on low heat with a scant amount of water, cover and stir  and mash releasing the juices (much the same process as in the rhubarb cordial recipe) The recipe I use from Tina Sams also has ground ginger root and ground cloves. There are many recipes available on the net but I highly recommend this story here on 

The Essential Herbal Blog

and I have been very happy with my purchase of the e-book "An Elder Gathering" from the same site.

Once you have extracted the juice, allow to cool slightly and then place into a wide mouthed jar and cover the berries with alcohol (I see nothing wrong with gin) and tighten a lid on and shake gently to combine. Place it in a dark cupboard and strain into bottles after two weeks and label. 

The recommended dosage I use is 30ml adults every 3hrs and 15ml for children every 3 hours when needed.

We talked about thyme, nettles, rosehips and ginger....but that is another post. 

Foraging For Wine, Cordial and Sauces

This is what the hedgerows look like around our area here in the north of Tasmania. They are thick with hawthorn berries and sloes that look delicious and inviting but are in fact inedible from the bush and very tart. These thorny hedges were introduced to Tasmania (probably brought from England) as a way of fencing stock.

In the above photo you see hawthorn berries (red) and sloe berries (blue and dusky very much in looks like a blueberry) and are best picked after the first few frosts which improves their flavour and ensures they are ripe.

At our last Living Better meeting we were lucky to have one of our group take us through the process of making sloe wine. Imbuing gin with sloes is commonly done but making the wine less so. She also had a bottle for us to try and the flavour was really interesting. The longer it cellars the better it gets and is described to be more like a port as it ages. When she sends us the instructions I shall share them here too but it was quite a simple process of fermenting the mass in a brewing bucket with an air lock. Picking the sloes is probably the most consuming but a family effort is the thing.

Another in our group spoke about his experiences last year with making "Haw-Sin Sauce" using the River Cottage recipe here. You can see the hawthorn berries in the bottom of the basket there in the picture above, just a small bunch nestled beneath the rosehips and sloes. He felt the recipe was a bit too sweet for his taste and would experiment with less sugar next time. 

Another recipe I found that sounds good especially as we have loads of ripened chillies at the moment is one for a "Chilli Hawthorn Dipping Sauce" and I happen to know where I can get some Bramley apples too though I should think Grannies would also do.

Of course my winter favourite is the rose hip cordial full of vitamin C and childhood memories. The recipe is here or if you have the cookbook it is on page 35. I love to have small bottles of this on stand by also for sick friends and enjoy it added to hot water before bedtime.

Our Living Better group meets again on the 30th May (always the last Thursday in the month). We have one in the group presenting "Cleaning Without Chemicals" and another demonstrating the art of "water divining". 

In June on the 27th we will be sharing recipes and advice for common winter ailments, from the common cold to chapped lips and dry eyes.

Hedgerow Harvest Time

Almost time to get your gloves on and head for hedgerows!

Wild rosehips are best picked after the first frost maybe some of your districts have already had one.

You can re-visit my post including recipe for making rosehip cordial here but before you do a reminder....

The Living Better Group 

meets this Thursday 

26th April 2013

7-9

at the new venue

The Workers' Club

66 Elizabeth St Launceston.

Brad takes us through his Hawberry Sauce making using hawthorn berries

Kay is teaching us to make Sloe Wine (not gin) from sloe berries

I'll be taking you through the rosehip cordial process.

Next month (30th May) Elisha will take us through her chemical free cleaning and I'll be talking about common coughs and cold remedies to get you through the winter months.

Living Better Group Venue Change

Our Living Better group has grown in numbers and we are finding it hard to be accommodated any longer at the Cock and Bull so we have found a new venue that is free, centrally located and quiet...

The Workers' Club 

66 Elizabeth St 

Launceston (03) 6334 2100

It is a large old building that once was the original stables for Hotel Tasmania in Charles St. I believe so the building probably dates from the late 1800's. We have booked the room upstairs which has ample space and lots of chairs and tables that can be configured to suit whatever demonstration or guest speaker we have.

There is also a mini kitchen attached that we hope to be able to utilise in the future also for demonstrations. There is full bar facilities but no meals at this stage but snacks are available for purchase.

The entrance is located between Gospel Hall and a two storey Victorian residence and opposite Prince's Square. We always meet on the last Thursday of the month and this month will be 

25th April, ANZAC DAY.

Upcoming topics in the future will be 

Water Divining

Raising Quail

Cleaning Without Chemicals

This coming month we will be talking

Hedgerow Fruits

Rosehip Syrup

Sloe Wine 

Hawberry Relish

Elderberry Time

Just a little reminder that it is time to pick elderberries. The heads will be drooping with weighty ripe dark berries. Don't forget to leave some for the birds too. Remember it is very important at this stage to remove the berries from the stems. The stems and bark contain purgative qualities and are best left in the hands of an experienced herbalist.

I have made mine into a tincture for use as a cold and cold remedy this winter. Warming the berries helps them to release their juice so I place them in a pot with only very little water till they soften and run (similar to the first step in making the rhubarb cordial). A potato masher also encourages the process. I then placed the pulp into two wide mouthed bottles and topped with alcohol. These will steep for two weeks then be strained from the pulp and used for coughs and colds. Adults 1 tablespoon children 1 teaspoon  as required or every 3 hours.

For more information about elderflowers and elderberries I would recommend purchasing the e-book "

An Elder Gathering"

from here (look in the side bar) for $5. Well worth it. 

You could also read more here on the Common Sense Homesteading blog about Elderberry syrups.

Curtain Close For 2012

As we close the door on 2012, I'd like to thank you all for sharing it with me and contributing your wisdom, comments and support. You were all particularly adorable and loving when my husband went away to work for the first six months of the year. It was your thoughtfulness and steadfastness that made it so much easier to bear.

I would have to say that was the most significant thing for me this year. It was so good to be able to SKYPE and see his face every day. He is home now and getting plenty of work here now thank goodness.

The most viewed post for 2012 remains the waffle blanket tutorial which still averages 300 page views per day! Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy knowing there are millions of people in the world getting their crochet on. Declining craft? I think NOT!

The most read post of 2012 was the review I did about "Why I Bought A Thermomix" and the second most popular is my Nan's Green Tomato Pickles

Living Better With Less continues to be a popular topic and I am so very happy that after the class groups finished in April this year we went on to form an interest group that meets on the last Thursday night of each month (and on special occasions in my kitchen!) to share and learn from each other. I'm even happier that readers in other states also decided to form their own groups and continue supporting each other too.

2012 seemed to be the year of the cordial round here;

In summer we made rhubarb cordial

In autumn rosehip cordial

in winter lemon cordial

and in spring elderflower cordial

Our most topical life post this year was "What Would You Do" and we talked very candidly and frankly about depression and suicide in the post "The Secret Of Happiness" and it was also the post that attracted a lot of comments second only to "Breaking All the Rules-Pavlova" which proves my point that you guys are with me through thick and thin!

We learned how to knit socks, make Christmas cakes, rescue echidnas and how to use pintrest.

We learned all about cutlery, clove oil and Tasmania.

We debated the environment, ditched plastic wrap, seed raising, animal husbandry and the value we place on food.

We talked our heads off about Christmas gift ideas again this year.

If you want to revisit any of these stories I suggest typing into the search box that I have over on the right in the side bar there somewhere.

Creating my cookbook was another big achievement this year and it has been a huge success this Christmas with the family and friends. If you contemplate doing one for your family I suggest you start now. It takes many, many months to get it to print stage so don't leave it to November!

There is still so much I want to do but one of my resolutions for next year is to say "no" more I'm afraid. I

have let some volunteer work go that wasn't quite fitting with my life style anymore and I am now setting my eyes towards more local community groups like National Trust and the CWA.

It's been a huge year and a fun year.

Thanks for being along for the ride.

What will we get up to next year?

What is your next focus for the new year ahead?