Summer is....

Well, the garden is thriving, except where the rabbits have attacked! I've just finished putting up the deer/rabbit netting and replanting the beans and adding in some kale. The tomatoes and coriander are happy as can be. I even had enough to freeze.

Summer is well under way. At the lake there are baby ducks (and swans too)

A DIY project to make a terrible dresser loved by two little girls (they picked the spray paint)

This guy was caught having a rummage in the garden

Fishing at the lake

Washing Machine Wars

There are many things that describe us around here--frugal, creative, stubborn.  Yeah, mainly stubborn.  I may only be in my mid 30's, but I can remember a time when things were supposed to last longer than 5 years.  I'm talking white goods, cars, jeans.  You name it, and things lasted longer. 

A few months ago my washing machine (age: approximately 5 years) stopped spinning.  It came at a really bad time when we didn't have much money to spend on a new machine.  However then we thought--WHY should we have to buy a new machine?  It is only 5 years old.  Yet everyone I talked to said the same thing--"It isn't worth paying a repairman, it will cost almost as much as a new machine."  "They only last about 5 years, that's just how it is."  What?  5 years?

My husband and I weren't prepared to accept that.  So I hopped on the internet to try to figure out what was wrong with it, and he hopped behind the machine and started taking it apart.  I will pause here to say that I'm lucky Dave's handy.  He is quite willing to tear things apart and try to fix them.  I know not everyone is like that.

Here's what we learned: it was most likely the carbon brushes.  Before you ask, no, I had no idea what they were, what they did, or what they looked like.  I'm still only mildly aware, but I'm sure my husband could write a page or two about them if he weren't so busy.

Here's what he did:

Remove the motor from the back of the machine---please, unplug first, and only do this if you know your way around a motor (or find a really good step by step online, they are out there, including a video I found!). 

Locate carbon brushes on either side of the motor.

 Here's what ours looked like.  I'm sure they are all different.  Ours were worn down so that they weren't pressing against the round metal part of the motor, seen below.

Dave was able to pull the carbon brushes out a bit, and that bought us about another month.  Then the machine stopped spinning again.  So he did it again, and we went ahead and ordered new carbon brushes from a shop online.  We spent £33 including the extra money for next day shipping.  Well worth it.  And hopefully, that should buy us another 5 years.

Home made gnocchi

Once before I made potato gnocchi and I thought they were really good.  I also thought they were rather labour intensive, because I am a really lazy cook.  However the universe recently ensured that I had a glut of kale, and a glut of potatoes, and I decided I need to make a recipe I had been saving for some time, Spinach Gnocchi Bake.  And yes, I know that the dish isn't pretty.  But oh my did it taste like a little bit of heaven.  Days later and I still can't wait to make it again!

I used the gnocchi recipe from my Italian cookbook, which I will write out here, mainly because it is the only recipe I use from this book.  When I made them this time I didn't think they were that difficult at all, and I had enough from a 1/2 recipe to make dinner and freeze 1/2 for dinner later on.  Perhaps I've matured as a cook.  At any rate I was well chuffed!  However I was just doing a web search on making gnocchi and everyone is saying how hard it is.  I thought it was dead simple, and they were really good.  I think if don't go into a project thinking it will be hard, you will be better off. 

To make potato gnocchi my super easy and tasty way:

1kg/2lb potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
60g/2 oz/1/4 cup butter
1 egg, beaten
300g/10 oz/2 1/2 cup plain flour
salt

1) Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water for about 10 minutes or until tender.  Drain well.
2) Press the hot potatoes through a sieve (strainer) into a large bowl.  I use the back of a large spoon to do this.  Add 1 tsp of salt, the butter, egg, and 150g/5oz/1 1/4 cup flour.  Mix well to bind together.
3) Turn onto a lightly floured surface and kneed, gradually adding the remining flour, until a smooth, soft, slightly sticky dough is formed.
4) Flour your hands and roll the dough into 2cm/3/4" thick rolls.  Cut into 1cm/1/2" pieces.  Press the top of each one with the floured prongs of a fork.

5) Bring a large pan of water to a simmer.  Add the gnocchi and cook in batches for 2-3 minutes until they rise to the surface.  Remove with a slotted spoon and put in a warmed, greased bowl.  At this point you can use them for a recipe, or simply pour a sauce over them it is up to you.

When I made these, I made 1/2 a recipe, which gave me about 1lb of gnocchi.  I used 1/2 of that to make the recipe above.  The rest I froze without cooking, so when I am ready I can just pull them out of the freezer and pop them into the boiling water.  Talk about fast!

A few notes about the recipe Spinach Gnocchi Bake. I didn't use spinach, I used kale.  I washed the kale, removed their very stiff ribs, and whizzed it in my food processor until it was quite finely diced.  I find kale very similar to eating a brillo pad, so I like to break it down first.  Then I sautéed it with the onions and it was wonderful.  Also, don't skip the Gruyere cheese, it makes the recipe.  I DID skip the mozzarella cheese, because that seemed WAY too cheesy for me.  I didn't miss it, I don't think you will either.

Making Digestives

One of things we are trying to do is make (or bake) things that we normally buy.  You can have all of the goodness, without all the extra ingredients that keep things fresh almost indefinetely.  I've had some failures (Jaffa Cakes should be bought, at least by me) but this one is a real winner.

Perhaps I shouldn't admit this, but I printed this recipe out back when we were living in Michigan (uhm, 6 years ago) and then never made it.  Sure, I added it to my recipe book, but that's as far as I got.  Today my husband was craving something sweet and this suddenly seemed the perfect time to try making my own digestive biscuits.

If you follow the link and give these a try, you won't be sorry.  The only thing I did differently than the recipe is, being a very lazy cook, I threw all the ingredients into my Cuisinart (dry first, with a quick mix) and mixed them up that way.  From start to finish it took probably 25 minutes, and that includes baking.

My daughter ate three after her dinner, all the while saying, "These are SO GOOD.  I mean, really, really good.  Make more tomorrow."  That is the biggest compliment I can get.  You will see in the picture some of mine are over cooked.  I rolled them unevenly (and a bit too thin if I'm honest) and the 15 minutes the recipe calls for was too long in my oven.  My second tray came out better.  I was going to put a layer of chocolate on the top and we found it wasn't necessary, they are so good on their own.  So simple.  So lovely. 

Eggs!

Well our chickens seem to be kicking the egg laying up a notch.  It started very gradually, with one a day, then two, and now finally five a day!  And even better, four of the chickens are laying where they should in the nesting boxes, and the fifth is laying in a cardboard box we left laying in the garden.  It is thick cardboard, but I'm not sure how much longer it can last against the elements.  It will be interesting to see where she lays when the box disintegrates.

So here are two very simple things I've done with eggs this week.  The first was prompted by my daughter dropping an egg yesterday, and we all felt sad.  It was obvious for the kids to collect eggs they would need a basket.  Luckily we have quite a few baskets that my Grandma made.  We swiped a bunch last summer when we visited, and filled our suitcase with them.

My second project was what to do with an over production of eggs?  Today I made an old favourite, pickled eggs.  There are loads of recipes out there, and I'm going to bet that none are easier than mine.  Here is what I do:

1) boil about 11 eggs (or more if you husband always swipes a few like mine)
2) allow to cool and peel eggs, rinse in water and add to a quart canning jar
3) boil enough plain vinegar to fill the jar to the top, then pour over the eggs
4) seal with lids, and as the heat dissipates it should actually form a seal.  Then label with the date and put in the cupboard for a few weeks
5) enjoy!

Making liquid handsoap

I've recently been thinking about getting back into soap making, which I did years ago when we were living in Michigan.  Since then we've had the girls, and both of them have sensitive skin.  In our house (and even at their school) they exclusively use Dove soap, which doesn't irritate their skin.  However at £1.50 for a 250ml bottle, it is rather expensive.  No one sells soap refills here, so I decided to take matters into my own hands.  I did quite a bit of internet searching on how to make liquid hand soap, and one of the fastest, easiest options I found was at Savvy Housekeeping.  This morning I put her recipe to the test:

I grated the bar soap in my Cuisinart.

 
Then dissolved the soap in water over a medium heat.  I did not let it boil, just get warm enough to melt the soap.  After cooling to room temperature I put it in the fridge to set it faster.  I have no patience!






 


A quick note, I used 1.5 bars of soap, and 7.5 cups of water and no glycerin.  Her recipe calls for 10 cups water and 1 tbs glycerin, however Dove isn't a true soap but a body cream bar, and some of her comments stated people had a harder time getting it to the right consistency.  Since I figured it would always be easy to add more water later (or glycerin for that matter), I decided to start with less, and of course, I just guessed an amount.  Originally I used only 1 bar of soap but my testers (5 year old daughters) said it was too runny.  I waited a day just to make sure it was set, and added another 1/2 a bar to the mix, reheated, and went through the process again.  This time it was the perfect consistency.

roughly 1.5L of soap

Cost of project:

1.5 bars Dove soap       £0.81

1 2L bottle of water      £0.17

1 soap dispenser           £3.00

                                   £3.98 for 6 bottles of soap, or £0.66 each

Keep in mind that the next time I make it, I will already have the soap dispenser, and the cost will go down to £0.98 per 6 bottles of soap, or £0.16 per bottle!  WOW, when you do the maths, you can really see how cost effective it is.  Additionally, when the girls current bottle of gentle body wash runs out, I'm just going to refill the bottle with this dove soap mixture.  Perfect!