Spinning Cotton

A little over a year ago I took a spinning class. (Not the kind with stationary bicycles--silly reader!). It was a beginner class on using a spinning wheel to turn fiber into string. I loved it and a spinner was born.

In one year, I went from no wheel to two wheels and I have my eye on a third. There is an astonishing amount to learn, like types of wheels, breeds of sheep and their wool, and loads of spinning and plying techniques.

Next on my list of things to learn is spinning cotton. There are other plant fibers to spin, including something called tencel which is a tree fiber. But cotton is my current challenge. I found a pretty good deal on some used cotton cards- those brush things you use to line up fiber for spinning.

So, with new-to-me carders in hand, I pulled out a couple of cotton bolls that friends had given me, probably as a joke. I brushed them into punis (a word I just learned for a type of cotton preparation for spinning) and tried spinning it. I made string! It's a little lumpy bumpy, but it's holding together.

Next, I'm going to try carding wool into rolags.

Wordless Wednesday--Caribbean

Best Idea I've Had Lately

Sometimes my ideas work and sometimes they don't. This one is a winner. I've had vacation scrapbook supplies sitting around for months. Okay, years. My perfectionist tendencies kept me from starting. You know how that goes-if I can't do it perfectly, why start?

Time to get over it! To be frank, it wasn't going to be perfect anyway. So, here's the idea--turn the children loose with photos, scrapbook paper, glue sticks and stickers. The only rule is that they have to leave room to label who's who and where they are.

It looks like, in less than an hour, our 2008 Grand Cayman trip will finally be documented in a finished scrapbook! These scrapbook pages won't impress the experts, but I'm thrilled to pieces and they will mean more to us in the future than any "perfect" page I could create.

Have you had any great ideas lately?

Fried Chicken

When I was a little girl, my favorite meal was anything, as long as it included my mom's fried chicken. When asked what I wanted for my birthday supper, I always asked for fried chicken. I have wanted to make her chicken for most of my adult life, but I failed to get her instructions before her death in 2003.

Figuring that my mother and her sister both learned to cook from my grandmother, I asked my aunt for her recipe. She kind of laughed and said that there's not much too it, it just takes a while. Here's what she told me-- flour chicken (I added a bit of salt and pepper) and brown in oil on high heat. Then, turn down the heat, put the lid on the pan and simmer for about an hour. Finally, take off the lid and turn the heat back up to crisp. That's it!

And it is heaven on a plate!

Wordless Wednesday--Camel Ride

Almost Summer

A kid in the pool, a thriller novel in my bag and salt and vinegar chips on the picnic table- summer is taking over. We're trying to finish school work this week and I'm not sure who's more ready to be done, me or the children.

The repairs on the house are on hold while we wait for an official estimate. The delay is frustrating because it's so hard to make plans. If we can get our school year complete, that will be at least one thing off my plate.

We finally got some tomato plants in the garden and the flower beds are looking better. I'm also on the hunt for a good place to turn loose some mint. Mint is notorious for being invasive, but I think this family could handle an acre or two of it. After recently delivering an order which included mint ice cream, mint ice cream cones and mint bars, our Schwan man said, "I think this family has a mint deficiency." He may be on to something.

Dehydrating Strawberries

I have new kitchen toy-a dehydrator!  I've wanted one for years, specifically to dehydrate strawberries, although I can envision loads of ways to use it-garden vegetables, herbs, fruit leathers.

Dehydrating strawberries couldn't be simpler.  Just wash, cut off the tops and slice.  After 4-6 hours in the dehydrator they are ready to cool and store.  I also did some bananas.  They were almost as easy. The only extra step was putting them in a bit of ascorbic acid fruit preservative to keep them from turning too brown.  If the darker color doesn't bother you, you can skip that step.

The finished berries are stored in a canning jar.  If I thought they would last more than a couple of weeks (the children love them!), I would look into sealing them with a vacuum sealer.  

 

We're fast approaching canning season. I'll do my best to keep you up to date on this year's progress.