Fruit Rollups

Last week I ordered some non stick drying sheets for my Excalibur Food Dehydrator.  I wanted to make some fruit roll-ups from some of the fruit I canned this summer.  They arrived on Tuesday and I put them to use right away.  So far I have made apple and pear/apple fruit roll-ups and they are super. A good way to get in some fruit and a good way to use up fruit.   I plan to take some of the peaches that I canned and run them through the blender to make some roll-ups.   Pure fruit, no additives and good for you. 

The dried fruit waiting to be be cut up.

2 half gallon jars of fruit roll-ups, these will be nice for the kids to snack on when there over.

Therapy Appointment

Had my hand therapy appointment at 8:30 this morning.  My hand is doing very good and am much further along with recovery than most people do when having this type of surgery.    He was very surprised that I was able to crochet and as long as my hand doesn't swell I can continue doing what I have been doing.   They have added some strength exercises for my hand and don't go back to see him for 4 weeks.
While I was in town I dropped off 12 dozen eggs that I had an order for, picked up a Christmas gift for one of the grandchildren and stopped at the post office.  When I go out I try and get as much done as possible.
When I got home I took down 4 lines of linens and hung up 4 more lines of linen.  Washed up 4 loads of old linens so I can get them cut up for crocheting rag rug, bags and baskets.  By crocheting I am doing something I enjoy and getting free hand therapy.

Rag Baskets, Rag Bags

This last week I've been keeping myself busy making rag bags and rag baskets.  It has kept me busy and is helping me rehab my left hand.  Tomorrow I go back to therapy so I will see how much progress I've made.
I taught myself to crochet almost a year ago by watching YouTube videos.  The reason I wanted to learn was I wanted to learn how to make rag rugs like my grandmother made.  I can't read patterns and have no idea what stitches I make are called, I just crochet.   I made about 18 rugs and gave some away, sold some and use several.  After seeing some pictures on some blogs of rag baskets I liked them and decide to make some.  As you can see below I have made 11 so far and am almost done with number 12.  I am almost out of rags that are ready to be crocheted so will need to get out the stuff I have washed and start cutting some more.  I have several loads of old linens to wash to use and will wash some tomorrow so I can hang them out to dry.

Baskets/bags made using recycled clothes and linens.  I used some old buttons and crocheted items I had to embellish them.

More baskets/bags made using recycled items.

Misty Day

It's been a misty, cloudy, ugly day.  I slept in until 4:30 today, WOW a whole half hour and right now am pretty tired.  We went shopping for groceries this morning and got a turkey for next Sunday when Gina and family come over, and a ham for Christmas when the rest come over.
I've been begging Gina to make me some Christmas cookies but no luck so when we were shopping I picked up a few things and when we came home I made 4 dozen Chocolate Chip Cookies, 4 dozen Oatmeal Raisin Cookies and 4 dozen Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies.  My favorite cookie is Oatmeal Raisin.  Several years ago I made a batch of Bacon Peanut Butter Cookies and were really good, Ian has request some and I have everything except some salted peanuts so he is going to pick some up when he is out tomorrow.  The recipe I use is the one put out by the pork industry.   I will also make a couple batches of Spritz Press Cookies which are Ron's favorite.  I froze have of all the cookies so we can have them when the kids come over.
Ron put in a new roost system in the coop.  We had two 8 foot long roosts and I wanted to put in a ladder style roost so they would have more room.  The new one is 6 feet wide with 5 steps/roosts.  So we went from 16 feet of space to 30 feet.  

Click on the below picture to get the recipe for Bacon Peanut Butter Cookies.

Making Rag Baskets

I've been getting up at 4 everyday; the older I get the less sleep I need or that's what they say.   After making a couple of rag baskets on Monday and loving them I've found something to do on long winter days.  I had a lot of material/old sheets/old shirts already cut into strips that needed to be connected and then wound in balls.  I did that yesterday for several hours and have all that I had cut up done.  It takes longer to prepare the material than it does to crochet it.  Last night I made nice size basket and so far today I've made 3 and working on the fourth.
It took me 45 minutes yesterday to clean the living room after working with the material.  You'd be amazed at all the dust/lint that it creates.  Cleaning everyday after working on the stuff is a pain but I can't stand to see anything on the carpet.  I have a lot more old items that need cut up and hopefully I have enough stuff ready to keep me busy until after Christmas.
My hand doesn't hurt as bad as it did yesterday which is good.  I've taken more pills for pain in the last week than I did after the surgery.  The doctor said that would be the case.
What am I going to do with all these baskets after I make them, no plans.  It keeps me busy and costs NOTHING.  It's a lot better than just sitting watching TV, I'm a little hyper and have to have something to do all the time.  My sister-in-law Gale is always telling me to cut back on things and rest.   I always remind her that I will get all the rest I need when I'm dead!!! :)

Crocheted Rag Baskets

A couple weeks ago while "surfing" I saw some cute crocheted rag baskets and wanted to try to make some.  I had to wait until my hand was better and since I was up at 4 this morning I decided to try to make one.  They are made just like the rag rugs and I really think they are cute.  The first one I made today was from some recycled white t-shirts from my son-in-law.  After making it I wanted to age it a little so I picked some used tea bags out of the top of the garbage and boiled them and then put the basket in it to age it. Then I made another one from some old sheets that someone gave me.  My hand is hurting pretty bad so I overdid it a bit.
There are so many uses for these; use it in the garden to put veggies in, egg basket, use as a purse, put a baking dish in to take to a pot luck, fruit basket and many more.  I have a lot of old sheets, table cloths, t-shirts and misc fabric that people have given me to make rag rugs so these are made using recycled items at no cost.  You can make so many different shapes, with or without handles and different kind of handles.  I will post pictures of mare as I make them.

Basket before I tea aged it.

T-shirt basket and sheet basket.

The tea aged basket will be my new egg gathering basket.

Stuffing Mix

I've been wanting to make some homemade stuffing mix so when we want stuffed pork chops or chicken and dressing we would be able to have it.  So on Thursday I cut up 3 loaves of home made bread and let it sit out overnight.  Then I put 1/3 of the bread cubes into a bowl and stuck them in the dehydrator.  I dried them for about 10 hours stirring them during that time; I did this until all the bread was good and dry.
I was able to get 6 bags and this is the ingredients that went in each bag:

10 oz dry bread cubes
2 Tbsp dried celery
1 Tbsp dried onion
1 Tbsp chicken base
2 tsp sage
1 tsp dried parsley

When we get ready to have some I will add some canned chicken or turkey broth.  This was so easy to make and will taste so good.

6 bags of stuffing.

Homemade stuffing.

Spices/seasonings used.  The celery and onion were some I dehydrated, the sage and chicken base I got at the Amish bulk food store and the parsley I purchased.