The Dancing Housewife

Egyptian Lavender? It Exists??

2012-01-26T11:36:00.000-08:00

Hello! As I mentioned last week, I've planted some of my seeds (but not all, since it's been so rainy, and I think Love would have a conniption fit if I did this indoors), have almost finished my herb jars, and was able to take photos of the mini lime babies that have popped up on the tree! I haven't been out to look in the last few days, so I hope they've been surviving the rain alright, but as of a few days ago, they were there, and CUUUTE!

So first things first: I finished the jars to the extent that I have been able to store the herbs in them and put them in the cupboard, but to be completely honest, I actually forgot all about making the labels! This is probably because I'm subconsiously afraid of how they will--or won't--turn out. Meh... I'll do it this weekend, and take pictures. Honest. 0:-)

I planted the seeds last Friday, so hopefully we will see some growth soon. I know that it takes a few weeks before they officially sprout, but I'm just so excited for them to grow up into little adult plants! I also treated myself to two types of lavender when I was at the nursery, getting more soil: French Lavender and, apparently, Egyptian Lavender. Go figure. ;) I was hoping to get some Bulgarian lavender, but these will work just fine, especially considering that now I know that there even IS such a thing as Egyptian Lavender!

Like I mentioned before, Mr. Lime seems to be doing well. Here is a post-blossom photo of a few of the little survivors, as of probably 5 days ago:

Anyway, this is it for now. I intend to finish the jars this weekend, as well as make some garden labels for all my newly-acquired plants. If I'm able to catch the sun, I'll even plant the rest of the seeds!

Have a wonderful weekend! :)

Being Productive

2012-01-19T13:04:00.000-08:00

I GOT MY SEEDS THIS WEEK!!!! I'm so excited that I don't know what to do with myself! Of course, it would stand to reason that I should perhaps start by sticking them in some dirt and giving them a drink, but I don't actually have anything to plant them in right now, so I'll have to stop at the nursery after my ballet class tomorrow to get some new pots and soil.... heh. Can you imagine me carting around potting soil in pink Capezio tights? ;-P

Anyway, since it's the rainy season, I'm worried about Mr. Lime. Certainly, he benefits from the rain, and lately he has been much happier than during the dry season, but this week it got to the point where the tree actually suffered leaf-and-blossom drop! :( I read up on it, and apparently it will feel better once the weather stops being so drippy, but I just hope we will still get at least some pseudo-limes this year... not to mention that it's been so dreary, due to the rain clouds, that it's been dark by the time I get home from work so I can't even go outside to check on the poor thing. I'll make a visit tomorrow, though, once I'm thoroughly dirtied up from the above-mentioned potting soil, as I might actually have some daylight to burn.

In other news, I know that before, I said that soon I would be in the mood for Valentine's Day, but to tell the truth, my mind oftentimes skips holidays in favor of others. Last year I was ready for Valentine's Day during the Christmas season, and this year, all I want is a good feis on St. Patrick's Day. Unfortunately, those don't exactly happen in my neck of the woods. Hopefully, at least, I'll soon get my head out of the clover fields and back to the heart-shaped chocolate box, where it currently belongs! ;) I do have some adorable ideas for Valentine's Day decorations, and will hopefully be able to get started on those in the next week or two. First, however, come the potting of the seeds and, of course, the herb jar project I started this week.

Speaking of the herb jars, I've gotten the labels off successfully, and am currently trying to make the lids look decent and decide on what sort of labels to make. Since I don't have a printer, let alone specialized printing paper, my labels will be done completely by hand, and attached with something probably scarily similar to generic white school glue... not that I have any idea if this will even work. I'll let you know, though, and soon, as Love wants my project out of the living room! Hehehe!

Anyway, I'm off to work on my jars. I keep motivating myself with the notion that the sooner the jars are done, the sooner I can USE them, and that's the part I'm actually excited about. :)

Talk to you later! I'm off to be productive!

Sewing, Raw Fooding, Herbing.

2012-01-15T11:08:00.000-08:00

Hello, hello! I know I haven't posted now for, officially, over a week, but please don't hurt me! I haven't exactly been inspired until this weekend; last weekend was so hectic and this past week was a mess as well. Hopefully things will go much better this week, though! :)

I finally got to try out my Christmas sewing machine, and it is soooo cute! I'm going to have to get used to it, first, because I haven't used a sewing machine in years, and second, because it's so small that there is no foot pedal, only a stop-go button. I feel now as though I need about 4 hands to operate it, but I can see how I will be using it with ease later. In case you are wondering, my first project with it was a pot holder, because I need more pot holders, they still function if they aren't pretty, and it's simple enough to start with a small square. x-P

This week I'm also going to be trying some raw recipes, I think. I was really into this idea before I got my appendix taken out, but you know how a catastrophe can put everything on a standstill. Anyway, we will see if it goes, and if I can actually commit to this sort of thing. I hope so, and I especially hope that my first foray into nut-butter-making won't be a complete and utter disaster! ;) Don't worry; I will definitely let you know what I end up trying! :)

Today I started "making" herb jars--and by that, I mean that I am currently soaking old jars that have interesting shapes, after which I will scrape off the glue remnants and THEN start making them pretty. Interesting stuff, eh? ;) I doubt I will actually get the project done tonight, as I went to a ballet class and am EXHAUSTED (it went amazingly well, by the way, and I'm quite smug about today's barre performance :-P ). However, I WILL let you in on my herb jar vision; check out these little lovelies:

Harry Potter herb jars from Cognizant Dreamer
Potion Ingredient Jar Set from She Creates Stuff
Harry Potter Magnet Set from Entertainment Earth
Glass Potion Jars from Cydney's Antiques

Of course, mine will be much more cooking herb-oriented, and not quite as macabre as the last three, but they're a good start! At least you know the general genre I'm going for. Also, just so you know, this is going to be my first real "I can't find it, so I'm making do" project that is posted here. That's actually the majority of my crafting and cooking, but up until now, I haven't really discussed it much in this location.

Anyway, it's 9:30 at night (oh, my!), and I'm exhausted (how embarassing). I'll be sure to post the jars, once they're wonderful and done!

The January of Cleansing

2012-01-07T14:47:00.000-08:00

For the first time in my life, I think I understand what my mom meant when she said that she was ready to put Christmas away. It's not that we could ever get sick of it--there's not much that I like better than the Christmas season, and my mom is the same. However, considering that we celebrate from the first day of Advent (a few days after Thanksgiving) until Epiphany, or the 12th day of Christmas (January 6), and this year I got hoodwinked into being much more grown-up about the whole thing (added responsibilities at home, church, and work), the concept does make some sense. Today I was ready, instead of sad, to take down the tree and all the house's trimmings.

First of all, yes. I AM that person. I don't believe in Christmas being over on Boxing Day, or December 26 for you Americans. ;) I believe in Advent and the Twelve Days of Christmas. :) Happily, I have somehow found a Love--of another religion, mind you--who feels the same, and you know what? It works for me. Who REALLY wants to take down a Christmas tree the day after, anyway? There's too much to play with, and too many yummy leftovers and stocking stuffers to gorge upon!

This leads me to WHY I am ready for a "cleanse." First of all, let's face it. It's HARD to clean around a Christmas tree! It's also a busy time of the year, which leads to less time in the house..... all in all, my house needs a good cleaning, I'm sick of the cat attacking the tree, and to be honest, now I'm ready for spring. Fortunately, I'm currently located in a climate where it's actually a good thing to be in the mood for spring in January. The dandelions have already started to bloom in my yard! It's crazy. I'm itching to get out there. (Still no word on my supposedly-shipped seeds, by the way.)

It's not just the house that needs cleaning out, however. I can't believe how much sugar I've consumed in the past few months, and when compared to how much healthy food I haven't been consuming, the number is practically horrifying. Now, I am definitely not someone who makes a New Year's resolution involving weight loss, diets, or food in general. I don't feel that restricting myself is going to do any good, and besides, to be honest, I don't need to diet. (Don't hurt me. ;-P ) However, I'm about done feeling like I'm stuffed to my ears in... how do I say it? PROCESSED "foods." It's time for a cleanse for my body, too.

I have never done a traditional cleanse, per say, but about a year and a half ago I actually started watching what I was eating, as well as how much of it was going into my body at a time, and this past summer I had a very near brush with raw veganism, before I had to go into the hospital for emergency surgery, which REALLY threw off everything--my eating patterns and habits, my yoga, and my exercise two-a-days I was doing at the time. I'm telling you, it takes a while to get into all of that, and I'm still not back to where I was before the surgery. Now, however, I'm starting to feel like it's time to check out the raw recipes again. :-D

The thing with "raw" is that I REALLY like to bake--as in, old-fashioned, yo-gramma-don't-make-it-so-good baking. I don't think I would ever actually want to be a raw vegan, but the food itself looks amazingly delicious, and when I took even baby steps in that direction, I couldn't believe how good I started feeling. It even enhanced my yoga and workouts in a way that did NOT involve calories. I repeat, however, I'm a little too old-fashioned in the kitchen to become a complete devotee. I'm more excited by the idea of my kitchen expertise and table being enhanced by raw foodism. During the summer, it was my personal goal to stay raw until dinner. I was getting good at it, too.

This means that I'm officially DONE with processed and junk food, especially sweets, for a while now. This doesn't mean that I will completely swear them off, not try the Mexican hot chocolate that Love and I bought recently, or not try out sweet raw vegan recipes that are actually packed with nutrients. It just means that, well, I kind of feel like I'm "over" junk food and really into "healthy" food. I already have my eye on a few raw recipes that look incredible! I'll definitely post what I try, and let you know what I think. :)

For a change of pace, what do YOU think? Could you ever do a raw diet? Do you know of some (simple for beginners with no special equipment) raw recipes that you think I should try? Let me know! :-D

The Beginnings of a Garden

2012-01-05T13:19:00.000-08:00

Hello there! Happy Thursday! :) Guess what? My lime tree is now BLOSSOMING! Yep! Check it out:

It also has lots of new growth!

Today I went out with the cinnamon and the aphid annihilator to ensure that there weren't any new invaders. There was some new growth, which did have some of the little buggers attached, but I did away with them, as well as putting more cinnamon around the base. Overall, the tree is doing nicely. :) As you see above, the buds are now blossoming, and it's so exciting to think that I actually kept this tree alive for a full year, and now it's happy enough to adorn itself with Spring's finest! :)

I also have a few other little seedlings in my home right now, alongside a nice and fat aloe plant, and an avocado tree that supposedly will never bear fruit. (It might if I grew another next to it, but I'll save that for after my garden is established, when I have a spare avocado pit and nothing else to do.) It's not exactly a garden fit for a self-sustaining expert, but considering that plants don't normally do well with me, I'm pretty impressed with myself. :)

I tried trimming some of the branches of the huge flower bushes that were already in place when we came to live here, but those things are TOUGH! I'll have to get some serious pruning shears to deal with that mess.... those, and perhaps a man to do the work. B-) Also, I have plans for many more seedlings, but of course, I'm still waiting on the seeds that I ordered. Apparently there was some mistake with our order, so it was cancelled, so we had to order again. I have two packages waiting at the post office, so hopefully one of them contains my seeds. :)

Stay tuned, because soon, Epiphany will have passed, Christmas will be taken down (boohoo!), and I'll be brainstorming for Valentine's Day. :)

A Few Plans for 2012

2012-01-03T07:10:00.000-08:00

Well, happy (late) new year! I'm sorry to say that I've not worked on anything that I can really post, but never fear! I'm sure most of us have gotten a "whole lot of nothing" done this week. ;) I CAN tell you, however, that I did get a Pinterest account, and am already getting excited for Valentine's Day! I'm not exactly sure why, but for some reason, Valentine's Day has always given me this perfect vision of sitting warm on the couch, next to your honey, sipping hot cocoa and watching snow drift fluffily from the sky. That isn't to say that I've ever experienced this picturesque situation, and there's no way it's happening this year where I'm located, unless Love has a surprise trip planned to someplace--dare I say it?--EXOTICALLY snowy. ;)

All this aside, one good thing about living somewhere warm is that I can already start working on my garden--I have already noticed buds on my lime tree--its first buds ever, I should add--and with that, have already battled ants and aphids. ;) What I did was combine veggie oil and dish soap in a spray bottle, and copiously spritzed the little monsters on a cloudy day. (If you do this when sun is directly on the plant, it will scorch the little guy.) I then sprinkled enough cinnamon powder around the base of the tree to make it look as though it's surrounded by reddish-colored dirt. The cinnamon keeps the ants from getting close enough to the tree to climb up, and since ants farm aphids, it seemed to be the best course of action. I did this right after Christmas, and as of two days ago, the tree seems to be doing much better. Of course I'll keep checking it; the last thing I need is for something to have survived and started making babies on my tree.

Just as a side note, of course I've also started planning the rest of my garden, because right now, the entire thing looks mostly like a waste land, save for the aforementioned lime tree and a brand new patio. I'm already growing peppers and exotic vine fruit from seed, and have ordered plenty more seeds of different varieties. I'm hoping to get the yard looking decent enough to hold a Cinco de Mayo party this year, which means that Love and I have a little bit of work ahead of us! Wouldn't it be perfect to hold our first ever Cinco de Mayo party in a garden with it's first crop of limes just beginning? :)

For now, however, here are two photos of my lime tree's buds! I hope they actually last and produce something that at least looks like lime babies this year.

I have other things planned for 2012 as well, obviously, but for now, these are first and most important on the list. What do YOU have planned so far for 2012?

Happy 2012!

2011-12-30T15:55:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't been around the past few days. I'll be back and posting *real* blogs after the new year... unless I get REALLY bored tomorrow. Have a wonderful New Year's Eve celebration, everyone, and stay safe! See you in 2012!

PS:

(No, I didn't draw this... just saw it online. ;) )

The Perfect BAKED Recipe for Non-Edible Gingerbread Ornaments

2011-12-27T09:36:00.000-08:00

So, since I've fairly successfully cleaned the house today, as I promised Love, and still find myself with some extra time (even though I SHOULD be sorting beads from one of my more temporary Christmas projects, which has, at last, come to an end), I thought I'd let you in on how to make my version of gingerbread Christmas tree ornaments. :) In fact, it's such an exciting prospect that my tree is literally sparkling with anticipation. (Not really. Actually, it's just plugged into a wall, but one can dream.)

Anyway, as aforementioned, I looked all over for a "just-right" recipe for "cinnamon Christmas ornaments," but ended up putting one together myself, based off of others I'd found. Now, I want you to know that this IS safe, even though I myself wasn't so sure about it at first, and if you are worried about fumes from the glue lingering inside your oven, by all means, leave the oven's fan on for a while after you're done making these, and leave plenty of room for the kitchen to air out.

The fun thing about these is that they don't have to be just for Christmas--can you imagine these (without the extra spices alongside the cinnamon, of course) cut into hearts and decorated in red for Valentine's Day? I sure can... and if I hadn't reached my patience-for-cinnamon ornament-making quota already (they're easy; I'm just impatient), I'd definitely be considering making more for THAT holiday!

In any case, whatever you decide to make these for, and whichever cutters you decide to use, have a wonderful time, and here's the recipe:

NON-EDIBLE "GINGERBREAD" ORNAMENTS

1 cup white school glue
1 cup PLAIN, unsweetened applesauce
2 cups powdered cinnamon
2 tbsp. powdered ginger
1 tsp. powdered clove
1 tsp. powdered nutmeg

Combine the above, adding more cinnamon powder if you want the mixture to be "doughier," and adding more applesauce if you think it's too dry. The consistency is, for the most part, adjustable to what you'd like to work with, since they will dry completely in the end, if they're of any consistency which can be cut with cookie cutters. Remember to work quickly with this, and save any unused portions for later by wrapping them airtightly (is that a word? My spell check doesn't think so) in plastic wrap.

To roll these for cutting and not ruin your rolling pin, sandwich the dough in between two large pieces of waxed or parchment paper. Roll the dough flat with the rolling pin on top of this paper-dough-paper sandwich. This way, the glue won't get stuck to the rolling pin, not to mention saving clean-up time!

Use whichever cutters you'd like to shape the cookies, and transfer them onto a parchment-covered baking sheet. Don't forget to poke holes in the top of each ornament so you can hang them later!

When you are ready to bake, put them in the oven for anywhere from a half an hour to two hours at 93 C or 200 F. Obviously, you will need to keep an eye on these until you know how long to leave your particular mixture and thickness of "cookie" in your particular oven. Since you can't poke a hole in them to see when they're done, and this is more of a dehydration process than a baking process anyway, the best way to tell is to feel it with your finger--but quickly, so you don't burn yourself! If it feels done, but still a tiny bit moist or bouncy, that means that they're done. Take them out of the oven and allow them to cool. Then flip them over and let them sit for about 24 hours. After that, you can decorate them however you like, and hang them anywhere for a wonderful fragrance.

Check out two of mine (the star and the moose) on my Black Forest-themed tree! I used traditionally-shaped cookie cutters, as well as a woodland creature cookie cutter set that I got from Ikea. See? The options are endless!

I hope you enjoy, and what about you? Have you ever made these before, or just wanted to? What shapes will YOU cut out next?

"Leftover Fruitcake Ingredients" Muffins

2011-12-27T04:53:00.000-08:00

(Wait! Don't go! I will apologize for the 90's vibe of my muffin photo later! Please stay for the recipe. :) )

So today I made a new recipe--I do that from time to time. This time, I was in the mood for something vaguely healthy, unlike the cookies and bonbons I've been preparing since Thanksgiving went along its merry way. However, I didn't have all the ingredients for the specific recipe I wanted to make, so instead, I improvised with all my leftover fruitcake ingredients. (Don't judge me. I didn't KNOW that I had to make a fruitcake months in advance of its eat-date! We will just have it for St. Patrick's Day, instead.)

Without further ado, here is my first-ever trial-run of the "Leftover Fruitcake Ingredients" Muffins:

Ingredients:

1 egg
1 unsweetened personal-sized yogurt (I typically use Greek, but since all I had was a regular one of Love's, into the mixing bowl it went. Sorry, Love, but you weren't eating it anyway.)
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 cup milk, oat milk, or soy milk
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp. brandy (optional)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2/3 cup rolled oats
5 chopped dates
tbsp. dried blueberries (optional)
1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 cup slivered almonds
tsp. citrus zest (I used lime because it's what I had on hand.)
1/3 cup golden raisins; increase this to 1/2 cup if you don't add the dried blueberries.

Directions:

Get ready, get set, go! For me, this included taking more photos of my new toy. :-P

Combine the egg, yogurt, olive oil, milk, brown sugar, and brandy.

Mix it up. (I couldn't resist the action shot.)

Add the salt, baking powder, baking soda, and flour. Since these things tend to go up in a cloud when mixed, I first worked them in a bit with the little spatula my new mixer came with.Go ahead and mix it up as well. Then add the oats, and mix that, too.

Once it's become batter, add the chopped dates, dried blueberries, walnuts, almonds, zest, and raisins. I mixed mine in by hand and then turned on the mixer for just a second, because it's been ages since I used one, and I was being overprotective and silly, and didn't want to break mine on the first use.

Once all is combined, scoop the batter into muffin tins, lined with muffin papers--but not as much batter as is seen in each muffin cup in the photo below, unless you want a mess. This gets very sticky, and if you don't use the papers, trust me. It WILL be a huge mess. This mixture makes approximately 16-18 muffins. Bake them at 205 C or 400 F for approximately 10 minutes...

...and voila! warm, moist, fluffy, fruity and nutty muffins, made with things that you needed to get out of the house, anyway! ;)

Now, I'm not yet very good at muffin glamour shots, so please forgive me for that, and especially the 90's portrait shot seen at the beginning of the post. The photos will get better! I promise! In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the muffins!

My Christmas 2011 Top 5

2011-12-26T13:02:00.000-08:00

Hello, blogging world! Honestly, I haven't been so sure on what to write about for my first post--I have a sneaking suspicion that, unfortunately, it won't be so monumental. I wanted to get started on this last week, because I had a ton of baking and crafting projects for Christmas, but you know how it goes.

Since I missed blogging for Christmas, I suppose I could go at it the retroactive way; it IS only Boxing Day, after all. ;) So, without further ado, I present to you my top 5 activities-worth-mentioning from Christmas 2011!

5. PINECONE ORNAMENTS

I actually made these for my pseudo-Thanksgiving, back in the "Fall" (I put quotes because, where I live, there are two seasons--Scorching and Slight Drizzles of Rain), but I added loops at the top to add to my tree, which I've been trying (successfully? Unsuccessfully? I don't really know) to give a Black Forest sort of theme. The thought-process was that I couldn't find real pinecones anywhere; it's not like Christmas trees naturally grow in the desert! I ended up making only a few of these, but they worked wonderfully for both late "Fall" and for Christmas. I will definitely be making more next year!

I got the tutorial over at Salt Tree.

4. TRADITIONAL SWEDISH GINGERBREAD

Now, I am not, by any means, of Swedish decent, and with recipes, I usually prefer to either stick to family recipes or create my own. However, when I came across this incredibly old recipe, meant to make literally hundreds of cookies (I cut the recipe in half), I couldn't resist.

It's been a while, so even though I did quite a bit of searching, I couldn't find my recipe source online. :( I'll be sure to post it some other time--sooner rather than later if there's enough interest. Let me know! :)

3. A BLIZZARD OF PAPER SNOWFLAKES

Like I mentioned in this blog in other places, I come from someplace that could, essentially, double as the North Pole, but I'm currently located in a desert. No snow for me here! Of course, I'm not a huge fan of being cold, but in my experience, there's nothing quite like a Christmas with plenty of snow--even if it's the handmade variety. ;) I decided to up my blizzard's ante this year, and ended up cutting out a TON of paper snowflakes, and hanging them from the ceiling in my little apartment's entryway. Trust me; these took a LOT of time!

2. GINGERBREAD COOKIE ORNAMENTS

I know you see these things everywhere, but in honor of my attempts to create a pretty traditional Christmas, not to mention (like I said before) a Black Forest-esque tree, I thought making a batch was in order. I made several to send to various friends, with whom I was engaged in a homemade-ornament swap, and of course I made some for myself. I decorated them with puffy paint to make them look more like the real thing.

I actually improvised on a recipe for these little guys, because I couldn't find one on the internet that I liked. As with the *real* gingerbread, I'll post the recipe after a while. The world could, after all, use my recipe--one that involves both baking AND glue (yes, it's completely safe)! Also, in case you are wondering, I used woodland creature cookie cutters from Ikea.

1. THE RECEPTION OF CRAFTY PRESENTS!

Of course, with all the above, it must be obvious that my Love understands that, well, I make things. I have to say, he is the BEST, because what did Mr. Santa Claus get me for Christmas? Well, among other things (including a new dance bag; possibly more on that later), he got me a mini sewing machine and a full-sized stand mixer--with a top that comes off to become a regular blender, if need be! I'm in love--with Love, of course, but also with my new prezzies! This shows how spoilt I am. ;)

If you are interested, the stand mixer is from Morphy Richards, and the mini sewing machine is from Jolly. :)

Of course, the presents above guarantee that, even though I'm fairly crafted-and-baked/cooked-out from Christmas, I won't stop because I want to try my new toys! Also, we still have New Year's Eve/Day to look forward to (I was brought up in a classy sort of way that honored the occasion on the "Day" rather than the "Eve), not to mention Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day. However, that's enough from me for now; I hope you had a fabulously merry Christmas, as well as a laid-back Boxing Day. ;)