Happy Rustic Thanksgiving

Today I am doing a little prepping for Thanksgiving.  I like to get my table linens all figured out, washed and ironed,  my centerpieces figured out,  and my flowers arranged.  I thought I would share with you a very easy and inexpensive way to brighten up your table.  So simple,  but your family will feel like you really went the extra mile...So, here is my 10 minute centerpiece...

So, first of all you will need a container. I don't have any fancy vases in my house, and frankly, they just wouldn't fit in.  This year I chose some cute storage jars that I have,  but you could use canning jars too.

Next, you will need something to cut branches with.  I would not use your good  scissors, unless you want them to never work good again.  I grabbed my pruners and headed out for some "fillers".  I chose to use Alder branches, but any kind of branches will work. I have used spruce bows, birch branches, anything close will work.  Arrange these in your container.  These will serve as the framework of your design.

Next, You will start adding your flowers. I just bought a bouquet of fall colored flowers from the grocery store.  I separated the flowers,  and divided them up between my three jars.  You want to recut the stems and remove any leaves that will be submerged.  I did this until the jars seemed full and balanced.

Next, I wanted to dress up the jars a little bit, and al least cover up the screw rings at the top.  Hmmm... I decided to just cut some strips of burlap that I had out in my garden shed, wrap them around the tops, and tie it with twine!
So, thats it! Super simple, Super cute, Super inexpensive.  Thats the thing I love about rustic...Most of the things you need to decorate with are readily available in your house, or just outside your door.  Natures Bounty <3

Ta Da! <3

Merry Rustic Christmas!

So, with all this beautiful weather we have been having up here in northern Minnesota, I thought I would get a jump start on some of my Christmas decorating. I decided this year that I wanted to decorate the two whiskey barrel planters that sit in front of our log home. I did a little looking around on the web and found some pretty neat ideas that looked fairly simple (I like simple). Plus, it looked like I could get most of my supplies right here in the woods (I like cheap, too). I thought they turned out pretty cute, so I thought I'd share it.

Spruce top

First of all, you will need a container. Like I said, I used my whiskey barrel planters for mine. I like that they had dirt in them and they are heavy enough to not blow over. My only problem was that they were frozen, and I had to poke holes in the dirt with a screwdriver!

Mixed greens

 Second, You will need a spruce top. We have a lot of those, so the dogs and I set out to find the perfect ones. We were out of luck. They all seemed a little thin or too big or too small...finally I just picked two that seemed "okay" and we headed home.  I got them stuck in the frozen dirt and called it a day.

Umm..?

The next day the dogs and I set out to go get our "fillers". You want to get a mix of greens to fill in around your base. I tried to find different textures and colors. I used Blue spruce, Juniper, Pine and balsam. Arrange the greens around your base, and get it all filled in. At this point, I started to second guess the whole process...It didn't look very promising, but I kept going...

Next was a trip to the local craft store to find some red berries on a stick. According to the info I read you want to get plastic berries. The real ones fall off right away, and the foam ones will pop in the freezing weather. Trust me, It was not easy to find the plastic berries. While I was searching for the berries, I came across these silver glittered curly sticks. I thought they looked kinda fun, and my containers seemed to need a lot of help. The curly sticks were cheap, so in the cart they went. If they were horribly wrong, I thought I could always stick them in the Christmas tree!

Getting better...

I was amazed at how much the little sticks and the red berries helped! It seemed that maybe this was going to work out. I was getting excited, BUT, it still needed a little something more. I decided to sleep on it, and figure it out the next day.The next day I went in to get some groceries, and they have all the Christmas stuff out, so I decided to look around. I picked up a bag of pinecones and a couple of red bows. Hopefully this was the little extra that it needed. I hurried home and put away the groceries. Finally, I thought, after four days of playing around with this , The end is in sight. So, I went out and I wired the pinecones on to sticks and put them in, attached the bows, and WAH.LAH. The finished project! It really was quite simple, and very inexpensive, and Fun.

Merry Rustic Christmas!

Cranberries ~ Canned or Cooked?

Our family has always used the canned cranberries, and to be honest, I'm just not a fan. So this year I'm thinking I will switch it up a bit. I did a little searching, and I found this recipe on the SBCanning web site. The recipe was simple to make, and I think its pretty darn good, so I thought I would share it with you. Maybe It will inspire you to ditch the can too :)

Leslie's Cranberry Orange Sauce

So, you will need:

8 to 9 cups cranberries  (2 bags of the Ocean Spray brand)

4 cups sugar

4 cups water

2 oranges

This recipe makes 12 half pint jars, but you can easily cut it in half if you like.

Preparation : Prepare 12 half pint jars, lids, and rings. Sterilize the jars and keep them in the hot water till its time for processing. Make sure to fill your water bath canner and get the water to a simmer.

Cooking: In a large stainless steel add water, sugar, zest and juice of 2 oranges and heat up over medium heat. Bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Add the cranberries and bring back to a boil. the cranberries will begin popping.  If you like it whole cranberries and some sauce use a potato masher to smooth the cranberries. If you want it to be just sauce you can use an immersion blender. Cook stirring occasionally until the mixture thickens, about 10 minutes.   Remove from heat.

Filling the jars:  On a dishtowel place your hot jars and using your funnel in each jar using a ladle then fill the jars leaving ½” headspace.   Remove air bubbles and refill to the proper headspace with the mixture if necessary. Taking a clean papertowel wet it with warm water and wipe the rims of the jars removing any food particles that would interfere with a good seal. Using your magic wand extract the lids from the hot water and place them on the now cleaned rims. Add your rings to the tops of each of the jars and turn to seal just "finger tight". 

Processing: Make sure your rack is on the bottom of the canner and place the jars in the water bath making sure that the water covers each of the jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add hot water to the canner if it doesn't measure up. Cover the pot and turn up the heat under the canner and wait for the water to start boiling. Once the water has come to a boil start your timer for 10 minutes. When complete turn off the heat and remove the cover and let the jars sit for another few minutes. Remove the jars and place them back on the dishtowel in a place that they will sit overnight to cool. Do not touch or move them till the next morning.

Sealing: Some time in the next hour your jars will be making a "pinging" or "popping" noise. That is the glass cooling and the reaction of the lids being sucked into the jar for proper sealing. Some recipes may take overnight to seal. Check your lids and reprocess any jars that did not seal.

Tincture To the Rescue.

Immune boosting Echinacea

 So, today I woke up with that tell-tale sign of an oncoming cold...watery eyes and scratchy throat. Darn! However,  I am excited to say, that thanks to a friend of mine that encouraged me to try making echinacea tincture,  I feel like I may have a fighting chance to ward this one off...

Echinacea tincture is believed to be very helpful in fighting many bothersome seasonal afflictions, such as cold and flu, and boost your immune system.  It's very popular and can be purchased quite readily, BUT, it is also super easy to make yourself, especially if you grow this hardy perennial in your garden.

I have to admit I was skeptical to try this,  I mean after all this is medicine were talking about, and I really did not want to be responsible for poisoning anyone!  However, after a reassuring talk from my friend and a few google searches,  I decided I would give it a shot.

So, lets get started.  First you need to purchase your alcohol. You want to purchase vodka that is at least 40% alcohol, or 80 proof.  You can use stronger ones, but this is what was recommended to me.  Next, you will need a jar with a tight fitting lid.  I used a pint canning jar for my first batch.  The bigger the jar, the more vodka and echinacea you'll need.  Next, you need to go harvest your plant material.  You can use the flowers, leaves, stems, and even the roots.  I personally did not want to take a chance of killing my plants, so I left the roots alone :)

So, first, you chop up all your plant material. chop, chop. Second, you stuff it in the jar. Third, you top off the jar with vodka, leaving enough room so that shaking will be effective. Fourth, put the lid on it, give it a good shake, and write the date on the lid.  Now put it somewhere where you will see it and remember to shake it up every couple of days. I put mine in the cupboard with the spices. After 4 to 6 weeks of that, your ready to filter out the plant material. I used a coffee filter and a funnel and filtered it right into a amber bottle. The dark bottles help to protect it from light, which can deteriorate the potency of your tincture. Label your bottle, and thats it!

So, the next time you get that warning that your about to come down with something,  you will have your very own immune system booster!  Just take a couple of drops (yes, drops, not spoonfuls) a few times a day. You can even dilute it in tea or water if you want.

I hope that you found this post helpful, and that you might even try to make this home made remedy yourself. It's amazing the gifts that Mother Nature provides for us...Just outside, in our flowerbeds.

A big THANK YOU to my friend Nancy for giving me the courage to go down this path :)