Making Gingerbread Houses



We made gingerbread (graham cracker) houses Sunday night with the grandkids.
 Frosting : 6 egg whites, 1/2 tsp. cream of tarter, and 2 lbs. of powdered sugar.
Mix it all until smooth. (I used the mixer but don't "whip" it.)
 The frosting went into a freezer qt. size bag, and the corner was snipped off.





Every seam gets frosting inside and out.
The more it "drips" the better...it looks like snow.





Gracie insisted her house be a triangle.





We thought it came out rather Frank Lloyd Wright-ish. :-)
There is a lot of helping the kids yet with the placing of the crackers......









....but they love placing the candy.



We only had one cave in.....

......but it all came out all right.
We buy all the candy at the dollar store...and save left overs from year to year.



They had a great time. 
This was our 2nd Annual Making of the Gingerbread Houses,
we expect the houses to get better every year. :-)



.....jean

Linked To: Homestead Barn Hop

Decking the Halls

     Everyone (I'm pretty sure it's everyone :-) in Northeast Wisconsin is putting up their outdoor Christmas lights today.  It's 53 degrees outside!!!  Probably the last 50's we'll see.  Tomorrow it is suppose to be 45 degrees, and raining all day.  After that -- in the 30's.  Nothing is worse (ok I'm exaggerating) than trying to put up lights when it gets that cold.



A direct quote...."It's like putting lights on a
cactus it's SO picky!"   ....Rick (my husband)
I do believe that bush
is getting moved in the spring!





Now all we need is a new cover of snow!

    .....jean
  

Decorating With Winterberry

     I love using these red berries for fall and winter decorating.   They stay fresh looking for a long time, and when they finally do dry, they still look beautiful.  Winterberry will hang on the cut branches all winter if they are not disturbed. 



Winterberry bushes with the leaves gone.

      Right now in Northeastern Wisconsin the wet ditches are loaded with winterberries.  If you pick them before the leaves are off, the leaves stay on too!  Hand picking leaves off one by one is not fun, so I always wait until the leaves fall.  If you wait too long though, the birds will have them gone or the berries will fall off of the growing bush.  Cutting the bush does not harm it.  It will only grow twice as big next year!

     If you cut a branch with berries on, they will stay on all winter, in the house or outside.  When I am done decorating with them, out to the chickens they go.  A special treat for them.






Winterberries begin the transition from summer flower pots
into fall/Christmas pots.  Before the dirt is frozen hard in the
pots (mid Nov.), pine boughs will replace the flower greens and
the winterberries will be the center of the display.
The start of winter decorating at the office.





The start of winter decorating at the house.

 
.....jean


Linked To: Farm Girl Friday Blog Hop

Crafting With Tansy

     It grew in the ditch 1/4 mile away, but that wasn't good enough for me.  How much easier it would be if I had it growing right here in my garden.    .......don't do what I did.  I planted a packet of seed. Where I got it from I can't remember, but, a little warning on the packet would have been nice.  If you let one tansy flower go to seed you will be sorry.  It is a perennial -- and they will be everywhere -- to the point of taking over a field. (unless of course you use sprays)

     The reason I like tansy is it makes such a beautiful dried flower.  I particularly like to make wreaths in the fall, and the homey yellow of the tansy really is a nice touch.

     As an herb, tansy can make you quite sick (fatal in large doses).  In years gone by it was used to worm animals, (and people) and to help keep flies away.  I wouldn't experiment on my animals or myself, and I've tried the fly keeping away thing....not really helpful by my standards.  So, in my opinion, don't give it to your animals or try drinking it yourself.

Tansy is just starting to flower here

Tansy usually grows in "patches" in the ditches.
It's not in the farmers field only because they spray.

The leaves need to get stripped. 
Use your thumb and forefinger to strip the leaves all the way down the stem. 
 Tansy is very aromatic, and I am sure some of those volatile oils are absorbed through your skin. 
No big deal except if I was pregnant I would not do it. 
 If you are pregnant, leave the leaf stripping to someone else.

Tansy has to be hung upside down until it
is dry.  When it is dry it will hold it's shape.
I keep it on long stems in case I want to use it
in a flower arrangement instead of a wreath.

     Later this fall I'll make grapevine wreaths and show you what it looks like all "done up" with dried flowers.

.....dr momi

Medicinal Herb -- Yarrow

     I collect yarrow every year, but, I have to admit I collect it for it's crafting properties first.  I love to use dried yarrow in flower arrangements, and decorating fall wreaths.



Yarrow

 

     This year I will be collecting enough to be used medicinally too.   Yarrow is specific for fevers.  Drinking a cup of yarrow tea will cause you to sweat, which will lower a fever and help get rid of toxins.  I would not use it right at the beginning of a fever.  I'd let the fever do what it's suppose to do.  (kick in that immune system)  But a fever that is hanging on,  I would use it.  The flavonoids in yarrow and the action of dilating peripheral arteries, will also help to bring blood pressure down.  Yarrow will also help to stop bleeding due to the tannins in it, .....a good reason to store some in your emergency kit.

     I have to admit that yarrow is not as easy for me to "slam" down as the herbs that just taste "green".  It has a distinct taste -- pretty strong.  (It tastes like the crushed leaves smell.)  I still store it, because I will use it if I have to.  I really doubt you would be able to get it down small children.  I don't think you could mask the taste.  Just a little too medicine-y.



Strip the leaves off .  It's the flower heads you want,
whether you are crafting or using it medicinally.



Dry it upside down.  When dry, the flower heads will
stay upright, making it a beautiful dried flower.  If
you are storing it as an herb, crumble the flower heads off
of the branches and store in a glass jar, out of the light.
Steep about 1 TBL. of dried flowers in hot water for a cup of tea.



When picking yarrow in the field, please be sure not to pull  up the roots.
(The roots come up easy.) Yarrow is a perennial. 
 Use a scissors to cut it,  and next year it will grow in the same place.

Disclaimer

The information on this blog is being provided for education purposes only. Statements about the possible health benefits provided by any foods or diet have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration, and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Please consult your health care provider with all questions concerning your health.

.....dr momi

Propagating Dogwood - Accidently

     After the growing season in the fall, I will fill all my pots that had flowers in, with red dogwood for some winter color.  I simply stick branches into the dirt.  Lots of times in the spring it grows.





This dogwood is growing after all winter in the pot.
Last fall the branches were cut,
 and stuck into the dirt.




      That's about all it takes to propagate dogwood.  Put a thin branch of it into the ground, keep it wet, and it will grow.  Even if you leave it in over winter.  There is so much dogwood around in the woods that I really don't need to grow it.  But I love decorating with it.  Dogwood and pumpkins for fall.  Dogwood and winterberries, and pine boughs for Christmas.
     When you cut your branches from the bush it is just like pruning it.  The bush will just get bigger and wider next year. Rick will take this dogwood that has rooted, and plant it out at the hunting land for the deer.  The deer eat the branches and the turkeys and partridge eat the berries.  The wildlife is happy and so am I :-)







.....dr momi

Pussy Willows

     I always look for the pussy willows for a decoration for Spring.  My favorite bush (in our deep ditch) is just starting to pop.  I cut tall branches and make arrangements.  Don't use water.  If you just make the arrangement and let it dry, they will stay just like they are, until one day when you say, "it's not spring anymore" and throw them out.  Cutting pussy willows from the bush only makes them grow bigger and wider for next year, you're just pruning them.

Butsch barked at the bunny when I put it out ..lol.



And...make some small bunches up to give to friends.



Wheat Grass For Decoration

     Wheat grass -- I can't stand it.  It tastes so green.  Pond sludge, that's what I call it. (I just shuddered thinking about drinking it.)  More power to you guys who can drink it, it is chocked full of vitamins and enzymes.  I prefer to recycle my wheat grass.  I grow it for Easter time because it looks like spring.  I use it as a decoration.  But, when I give my creations a haircut, the ducks and chickens get the greens. (I eat the eggs --- did you follow that recycle bit?)  Buy your whole wheat berries in the health food section of your grocery store, or at your health food store.

Sprinkle wheat berries generously on top of your potting soil.
Leave plenty of room for water -- and it mounds up as it's growing.

Sprinkle a thin layer of potting soil on top and water.
Keep the top layer moist. (don't overdo it though)



By the 2nd day it's getting growing.



...and by day 4 you have a "lawn"

     By day 6 I will be "cutting the lawn" (with a scissors) and giving the clippings to the chickens.  I keep it trimmed to about 3 1/2 inches.  This will scream "spring" for a couple of weeks, looking absolutely beautiful.  Keep it watered, but again, don't get it so soggy you kill it.

     If you want a beautiful (cheap) Easter table decoration, start a new batch on Palm Sunday.  Put some colored eggs in it --- cute.  If you are going somewhere else for Easter dinner, start one for them!

"Free" Curtain Rods


      I checked out curtain rods at the store today.  $25 per rod (for the ones I liked).  I just couldn't bring myself to pay $50 for the two rods I need in my upstairs loft yet.  Call me cheap.  The thing is, I know there are "free" rods
out in the woods.  It takes a little work to find a nice straight branch to make your new rod, but they do look neat, and you will get lots of compliments on them.  This works best for tab curtains so you can see through to the wood rod.


Box elder curtain rod for my curtain
 panels downstairs.  As long as it is fairly
straight, I love all the nooks and crannies.

 The rods I have downstairs are made out of box elder branches, which

gives me a beautiful blonde color.  Spring is the time to go find your branches

because if you want the bare wood look, the bark just strips off in big chunks



A small plant hanger works
 great for holding them up.



with hardly any work.  When people start putting out their maple syrup buckets you know that the sap is running.  That's when the bark is easiest to get off.  If you wait till the middle of summer that same bark will be "glued" to the wood, and you will be basically carving it off --- a whole lot more

work.

    





Works for me :-)



     How do you hold up the rods?  I buy cheap, ($4.00) short, plant hangers and put them

on the wall.  Walla  --  the rod sits in there beautifully.  If I had small children in the house that could possibly pull on the curtains and pull the whole bit down, I would somehow tie the rods down.  (Maybe with fishing line?)

      Try it, your curtain rods will have character.  If you don't live near a woods, maybe a

neighbor is trimming some trees?  Keep your eyes open, I bet before you know it you'll find something.