Soothing Body Balm, with Lemon & Lavender

 

I have fairly dry skin, especially in the winter. I used to slather my face with Vaseline before bed, but wanted to find a non-petroleum alternative (FYI, aquaphor is 41% petrolatum). I began experimenting, trying many formulas and ingredients, and this is my official "Becky's Body Balm" recipe. It is soothing, moisturizing, and chock-full of great stuff for your skin!

I started out making it as just a blend of oils, but it was too....oily. The beeswax helps a lot. If you make your own, experiment with varying proportions of ingredients to suit your taste and/or budget. 

The basic recipe is 1 part beeswax, 1 part coconut oil, 1 part shea butter, and 1 part a mix of olive/sweet almond/jojoba oils. I also add some raw cocoa butter, pure Vitamin E oil, and essential oils.

Step One: set up a double boiler. Mine is just a stainless steel bowl set over a saucepan filled with water. I turn it on to medium, but then keep it low once the water has heated up.

Step Two: Add beeswax; I like these little pellets. Keep an eye on it and, when the beeswax melts, you'll probably want to lower your heat.

Step Three: Add coconut oil. I try to put in the things that can take a higher heat first, so the heat will only go down from here!

Step Four: Add raw cocoa butter. This is what it looks like, if you've never seen it before, and yes, it does smell like chocolate. 

I was so excited when I first got my cocoa butter that I decided to make something with only cocoa and shea butters, but what began as a "deliciously chocolate" aroma was so overwhelming after heating/cooling in my kitchen for a few hours that I actually became nauseated. Now I only add a small amount (as you can see above).

Step Five: once all of that has melted well while I mix gently, I turn off the heat completely and add in the shea butter. Shea butter can range naturally in color from a more ivory to a yellow color but it's never pure white in color. What I'm using in this picture is actually Shea Butter’s fraternal twin, Kpangnan Butter (sometimes called Golden or Yellow Shea), and is very similar in quality to shea...it's a good substitute if you can't find shea.

Step Six: add in olive oil, sweet almond oil, and jojoba oil.

Step Seven: Remove bowl completely from the saucepan and stir regularly. If you have a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, I think it would be ideal to use here on a really low speed, but I don't have one. I set my bowl on a towel stir it very regularly. Once it begins to firm up at all around the edges/top, stir continuously. This is very important to ensure a smooth, even consistency.

Once I can see it getting firmer/thicker, I add the Pure Vitamin E oil and any essential oils. Currently, I use tea tree oil, and lemon/lavender essential oils until I like the smell.

Once it has cooled down and smoothed out, pour into your container of choice and use/share! This is a great way to reuse old body butter containers. Jelly jars also are an affordable/convenient option. I recently found a great source for these little tins, which are wonderful for the Body Balm.

I use this on my face and body every day. It is terrific for dry, cracked hands in winter, and for soothing skin in summer. Not everyone can handle the emollients on their face, but I don't know anyone who doesn't like it for knees, elbows, or ankles. I am experimenting with adding some zinc oxide to the mix for a mild barrier sunblock, and thus far I like the results! I'll keep you posted.

Go forth, and make your own!!

Teacher Appreciation = Edible Bouquet

Who wouldn't want a beautiful bouquet....that you can eat? (Well, all except for the bright yellow Rudbeckia, but they are sunshine itself, aren't they?)

Includes freshly-harvested lettuces (grown from seeds I saved), Thai basil, parsley flowers, and chives with the blossoms. Grown and given with love for all of the amazing work and creativity our teachers share with our community.

Better than a Bakery! Artisan bread for dinner in less than an hour.

There is nothing like still-warm-from-the-oven bread on the dinner table.

I absolutely love freshly-baked breads and muffins, but have always found kneading/rising and the intricacies of yeast to be daunting. It all just seemed like a lot of work when I can pick up a really nice loaf of bread at the bakery for a special dinner. Then I started hearing/reading about "no-knead artisan bread" and was intrigued. Finally, about two years ago, I stumbled across this "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, Seriously" post and decided to give it a try. 

Basically, it goes like this: dump ingredients into bowl, mix, cover loosely/let rise, put in fridge. Later, cut off dough, let sit, put in oven, eat yummy bread. Have I mentioned how my family raves about this bread? So, here it is again, with pictures. A printable recipe is here.

My ingredients: Flour (my "everyday" flour is a mix of unbleached white and King Arthur's white wheat), flaxseed meal, yeast, kosher salt, and warm water.

Put 1 1/2 Tablespoons of kosher salt and 1 1/2 Tablespoons of active dry yeast in a large bowl. If you are using the packets of yeast (this is what I bought at first), use two. Now that I make bread often, I buy yeast in bulk. I keep a jar of yeast in the fridge for regular use and store the rest in the freezer.

Add 3 cups of warm water (from the tap is fine). It should feel warm to the touch, but not hot.

Add 6 1/2 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour, using the "scoop and sweep" method to measure. This is a great place to experiment! Whole wheat, spelt flour, sprouted grains flour, etc. Here, I used 6 cups of my unbleached white/white wheat mix and 1/2 cup of flax meal. I love the subtle, nutty flavor of flax meal, it gives a beautiful color/texture to the bread, and it's also a really great thing to put into our bodies. 

Mix until there are no more dry spots of flour. You can use a mixer if you have one, but I don't and I wouldn't use it for this even if I did. Here I am about halfway mixed; it's coming together, but I still have spots of dry flour.

Here, it's well-combined and ready to rise! I scrapes down the bowl sides also. I have a lid for my bowl  with holes punched in the lid (more about that later), but you can just loosely cover your bowl with plastic wrap.

Bread rising: pictures from l-r at 2:30, 3:30 and 4:30, respectively. You can cut off a bit now for your first loaf or just pop it right into the fridge, which is what I did this time. I think the flavor develops better if it has some time to sit. With this amount of dough, I'll typically make three loaves over the course of 5-8 days. You can leave the dough in your fridge up to two weeks; it will develop more of a "sourdough" flavor as it sits.

You need to bake in a preheated, 450-degree oven. You can bake it in whatever you usually use in the oven: pyrex pan, pizza stone, cookie sheet, cast-iron skillet. I did try baking on a pizza stone with a little dish of water, but decided it was too fussy for me. Then I went searching for other options and loved the idea of using an enameled dutch oven as shown here at Oregon Cottage. I don't find that I need the parchment paper she uses and my dutch oven is quite large, but I use a little enameled stoneware baking with a lid. The crust comes out beautifully with this method! 

Whatever you use, I recommend preheating the dish in the oven.

Here is the dough the following afternoon when I took it out of the fridge. As you can see, it lost a bit of mass as it cooled. Sprinkle some flour on the top and dust your hands. Have a sharp knife or kitchen scissors ready.

Pull and cut the amount of dough you want. Then stretch the dough to create a gluten cloak. 

I did not even attempt to photograph myself shaping the loaf because this short video will be much more helpful.

Do note that your bread may look different from the bread in the video because she used 100% white flour and bread flour at that! Here is what my finished loaf looks like before I let it rest. You should really let it rest for at least 30 minutes, though 45 is better if you have the time. I have popped it in the oven after only 15-20 minutes in a pinch and it comes out fine, though it doesn't rise up quite as much in the oven.

Before baking, dust the top of your loaf with flour and then slash the top (I sometimes do an X design as well). I pop mine in the hot pan, put on the lid and cook for 15 minutes. Then I remove the lid and cook an additional 15 minutes. When it's finished, the crust should be brown and it should sound hollow when tapped. Remove to a cooling rack.

To store uneaten bread, turn the cut side down on a plate or cutting board. Sometimes I wrap it in a clean tea towel. I did try storing it in a plastic bag but the crust became soft right away and I found it was prone to mildew in the summer as we are in the humid South.

If you start making this often, as I did, you'll probably want to invest in a bowl with lid that is a good size for your fridge. I'd initially meant for this picture to show the holes drilled in the lid, but then I saw the cool reflection of my kitchen window in the lid and went that way instead. Just make sure the dough is mostly covered but has a way for any gases to escape.

I cannot believe how easy it is to make fresh bread for dinner! Basically, I make a ball, let it rest for 15 minutes, preheat the oven and my pan, pop it in when the oven beeps that it's preheated and cook for a half hour. It's simple to do while making other food -- or to have fresh bread for a leftover night. I love being able to take freshly baked bread when I visit a friend or neighbor.

Updated 4/8 to add picture of bread interior. This was the last loaf from this baking and had been in the fridge for about 6-7 days. The crumb is denser if I use a higher proportion of wheat flour, I have found. The little nooks/crannies make excellent buttered toast!

I hope you will try your own hand at making this simple and delicious bread! I encourage you to explore further, either via web search or here at the original Artisan Bread in Five web site. 

Bon appetite!

Is homemade worth the trouble?

I've been trying to make more gifts for those I love and appreciate. I dipped my foot in the water last year by making some stocking stuffers with my (then) four-year-old. We cut bookmarks out of the previous year's calendar, with quotes on the back for each person. I loved using them through the year and decided to try a few more projects to give as gifts or as part of a gift.

You'll have to forgive the lighting in these. I realized the night before going out of town for the holidays (in the midst of packing, no less) that I needed some snapshots, so we have to be happy with what I got.

Flax Seed Pillows

I saw these flax pillows at An Oregon Cottage and thought they seemed like a terrific idea! I bought fleece on Etsy and found them very easy to make, even for a novice seamster like myself. The one pictured is for the Kindergartener's teacher (he picked the fabric). Other variations on a theme: flax seed hand warmers or foot warmers for your cold-footed friends to take to bed. 

Time: < 30

Cost: < $5

Recommended: yes!

Girl's Catchall

This Girls' Catchall from Martha Stewart took quite a bit of time, but I think it was worth it. The bulk of the time was spent painting the frame/dowels and waiting for them to dry (I applied three coats over the course of a few days). I made one for my daughter and one for my niece. It should surprise no one that I chose bright colors instead of Martha's tastefully cool tones. Mine is larger (12X12) and I secured the ribbon to the back with tacks since we don't own a staple gun. I also used superglue to affix the dowels vs. wood glue.

Time: 1-3 days for painting; ~ 1 hour for the rest

Cost: I'm approximating, but this was relatively expensive when all was said and done...between $30-35.

Recommended: Sure. Attractive and functional; also a good project for other children to help with.

Sweater Pillow

This is a down pillow covered with a sweater that my grandfather used to wear. It was a gift for his daughter, my mother. The down was upcycled from a pillow I already owned, which mom appreciates. I got the idea from my cousin, who made one for my aunt. It does look a little lumpy in the picture, but it's very comfortable and my mother loves it. I used a storebought pillow case as the underlayer and then cut/handsewed the sweater to fit in a relatively square shape. I don't know that I'd necessarily give it as a gift unless the sweater had some meaning to recipient, but this was my favorite homemade gift this year.

Not pictured is the kitchen towel I embroidered for my mother-in-law (Eiffel Tower!), but you can see a sample of my needlework in the first picture with the flax pillows. The green/yellow design on the towel is my second embroidery project and I am excited to be developing this new crafty skill, so I did make sure to at least get it in the shot.

Did you make gifts this year? Are they well-received? Worth the trouble? If you have pictures, link and share what is worth the time and what was a bit of a flop.

Icebox Pickles: No heat required!

No cooking required.

My last summer before college, I dated a fellow whose mother always had a bowl of what she called  "icebox pickles" in her refrigerator. She explained to me that it was perfect for summer because it required no heat, just mix and leave overnight in the fridge. Icebox Pickles take full advantage of a cucumber's natural crispiness and, as they're stored in the "icebox" (aka: the fridge), they're cool and refreshing in the heat of summer.

I'd never tasted anything like them before. I found my fork actually seeking out onions for the first time in my life; they were super-thin, just this side of raw, with a pickly-sweet crunch that perfectly complemented the cucumber.

This is a double batch, sliced super-thin with a mandolin, to give an idea of how much veg you need.
"Six medium cucumbers" is so very subjective!

A few years ago, I began trying to reproduce these unique pickles (with two unsuccessful attempts), when I found a recipe for "Marinated Pickles" on the recipe blog for my CSA, and suddenly I was in heaven. The recipe required no cooking, no heat -- cool and crunchy, all the way, so I adapted it to suit what I keep in my pantry/garden. Slice veggies thinly, toss it all together in a jar or bowl, and leave it in the fridge overnight. Easy, Fresh, Crisp. Summer!

Marinade (because it's technically not a brine if you don't boil it), before vigorous shaking.

The recipe is below, and calls for cucumbers and onions, but as you can see I added some green pepper and super-thin carrot. Use what you have.....

UPDATE, Summer 2018: After several years of experimentation, I have significantly reduced the amount of sugar from 1/4 cup to 1-1.5 TBSP. I kept cutting it and not finding a difference in flavor...until I went below 1 TBSP this year. Try this for yourself! See where your palate notices the change.

Click here for printable recipe.

Gifts for the Gardener: Seed Starter Set

Recycling is great! But reusing something is even better. So when I stumbled across a link for making your own seed starter pots at You Grow Girl, I decided to adapt it slightly and make some to use and some to give as gifts. This is an excellent project for children.

Now, seed starter kits are not expensive in general. I think I paid $6-8 for mine last year. The problem is that unless you are a commercial gardener, you don't need to start all of your seeds at the same time, but I was forced to use this bulky "greenhouse" kit for several months. These little homemade pots are sturdy and you can use as many/few as you need. They are fully biodegradable and can be planted directly into a pot or the garden.

Step One: Save your toilet paper rolls. I also save the plastic pots and trays for seedlings, so I have one below that we are going to fill up for Grandpa! You could also use/make a box or any container you like.

Simple materials: Scissors, TP rolls, some kind of container

Step Two: Cut each roll in half, then fold in half to crease. Then fold in half again so you make "corners" for the roll.  I flattened each roll twice on the table.

You want a squarish shape.

Step Three: Cut a groove halfway up your pot on each corner and in between each corner.

Ready for folding.

Step Four: Fold each flap down firmly, allowing them to overlap slightly. 

Press well to make a strong crease. This will allow them to sit flat when filled with soil.

Step Five: Flip the roll and push the folded flaps halfway up, allowing them to interlock.  DO NOT USE TAPE!! Tape is not biodegradable. The interlocking design provides all the support these little pots need.

Finished pots, ready to fill.

Step Six: Fill pots with soil. You can buy prepared soil or make your own.  I had a bag downstairs so that is what we used.

A cookie sheet helps contain spills.

Voila! A personal and useful gift for anyone who likes to grow things.