Sweet Peas in July?

Hmm, it's winter...

Off to Maia's Market

Just making my final preparations for Maia's Market (this Saturday, 10-4 at Potter St, Geelong West).  I haven't done a market since November, and I'm really looking forward to it.  There will be a suitcase full of goodies on sale this time, as I clear out items to make way for more upcycled clothing.  See you there!

Making Vanilla Extract

A couple of moths ago I bought a bottle of vodka and 50g of vanilla beans from here, split the beans lengthwise with a knife (but not all the way), and put them in the bottle of vodka.  I had to tip out some of the vodka so the beans would fit in.  Then put the lid back on the vodka, and shake it a little, put it in the pantry where you ideally shake it a little everyday for 2 months.  If you remember.  Today I bottled it into old maple syrup bottles to make it easier to pour.  Vanilla extract- too easy!

Shop update

Copious amounts of kid free time today led to a bit of sewing, baking, cleaning, and a major shop update.  I've had a few items waiting to be uploaded to the shop, but with windy weather which is no good for taking photos, and waiting for more sew on labels to arrive (not yet!), I thought I'd do it all today while I had some uninterrupted time.  I also rearranged my shop sections to better reflect the emphasis on upcycled items, but there's more work to do on that as my shop transitions over to entirely upcycled.

Giveaway winner

Ok, so the random number generator chose number 2, which belongs to Jessie, The Rabid Little Hippy!  Well done Jessie, I'll be in touch for your details and choice of clothing from my shop.. Thanks to everyone that entered.

Happy 7th Birthday Evie

Evie turned 7 on Saturday, without fail she has a cold.  I think all her birthday photos from the last few years have a red nose.  It's been all about Sylvanian families and cats this year.  Happy birthday big girl!

Making butter

 On Saturday we went to Magic Meadow Farm in Lovely Banks to check out what they have and what they do, as our veggie box delivery lady (Kirsten from Casuarina Biodynamic Farm) is having a month off to recharge the batteries.  My good friend Bec has been making butter in her mum's Thermomix with Jonesy's 5 litre bottle of cream.  She'd set the idea percolating in my head until last week when SouleMama mentioned she makes butter in her food processor.  I don't have a Thermomix, but I do have a food processor, so I thought I'd give it a go.  Magic Meadow sells these big 5 litre bottles of cream, I've never seen such a big bottle of cream!

 Here it is with the buttermilk separated, needing to be washed in cold water.  You have to wash out as much of the buttermilk as possible so it stays fresh.

 Washed butter

 Ready to be kneaded on the board for a bit to get the last of the moisture out of it.

Pressed into moulds ready to be frozen.  Then it can be taken out of the freezer a bit at a time, as needed.  This is how much buttermilk I got out of 2 batches, I'm making it in batches of about 1 litre at a time.  We should have enough butter to last quite a while, and it works out at half the price of the organic butter I was buying.  I'll be making a batch per day, until all the cream is used up.  2 down, 3 to go!