Ten out of ten toys

Don’t you just love little kitchen gadgets? They lurk in the most unlikely places - their shiny steel and lurid colours beckoning to me to take them home. I have at least four gadgets for grating ginger and three that will cut fancy shapes, batons and even spirals. I have an antique cheese slicer and butter curler and handmade vegetable slicers that need oiling to keep them from rusting. Some I use all the time, some languish in the back of drawers in between garage sales.

Some of my favourites are from Asia. I have graters made from recycled cans and a zester made from laminated strips of bamboo and a beautiful hand carved wooden mould for making steamed sweets. The most bizarre came from California - a fold up vase made from plastic – perfect to take backpacking!

Returning from a trip to SFMOMA, friends bought me a few goodies. My favourite would have to be the clip from the No mess range from Trudeau Corp, a Canadian company. Made of silicone and steel, it is a spoon holder that lets the spoon drip back into the pot instead of onto a plate or your counter top. If you have ever had a jam spoon glue itself to your work surface, or had tomato/curry/plum stains on your white Formica you will appreciate how handy this gadget is.(if you are crazy enough to have a white counter top in the first place you deserve all you get!)                                                                                                             

 

Making piccalilli in an attempt to use copious quantities of zuc’s and cuc’s and turmeric was its first test. It held the wooden spoon easily. A few days later, it was doing service on a batch of hand cream. One of the biggest hazards with making emulsions is keeping my thermometers from falling in. I usually hook a piece of copper wire over the side of the pot but it tends to slide sideways and I have to fish it out of the hot oil or water. No Mess held onto the wire, no worries and even held my thin spatula, staying there through the whole process! It has the added advantage that you don’t forget where you left the spoon! Ten out of ten!

PS Check out the links...I even found the fold up vase there!

Angels in the garden

Advent begins today, a couple of days after Thanksgiving is celebrated by Americans. We may celebrate with solstice with a circle chant, remember distant relatives with a card, spend far too much money or simply look towards the beginning of a new year. Regardless of our religion and beliefs, this time of year is a pause for reflection and for thankfulness for the richness of life.

I always feel strangely out of kilter over this holiday period. My Celtic born being craves short cold days and the longest night to signal the ending of the year and detest Christmas carols that feature kangaroos. We greet the December solstice here with some relief as it heralds the end of long days, signalling some respite from the summer sun.

As part of my Christmas preparations, I am processing angelica, the herb associated with St Michael and petit fours at the Savoy Hotel, so you can see that I am tuned in on a holy and a secular level! At the start of the warmer weather I had noticed it was getting ready to bolt. It has been years since I last candied angelica stem and thought it would make a nice Christmas treat. Easy to follow instructions for candied angelica, historical, medicinal and gardening with angelica in Down the garden path and a recipe for Angelica aftershave are all on my website.

Tasty kisses

Extreme heat, cold or wind can make us all suffer from dry, cracked lips.If you have made ointment,you can make a very good lip balm that will protect and moisturise. The formula and method is almost the same.

Ingredients

15g beeswax beads

5gm cocoa, shea or mango butter

60ml oils of choice, see below* 

1/2 teaspoon glycerine

Gently heat together the first three ingredients until combined.

Do not overheat.

Cool slightly before whisking in the glycerine. This is made easier if you warm it slightly by placing the whole bottle in a mug of hot water before measuring.

Pour into small jars while still soft.

The lip balm may be flavoured by adding one or two drops ONLY of peppermint or spearmint essential oil before pouring.

Nerys once gave a an after dinner mint version of this for Christmas to which she had added chocolate buttons. It was good enough to eat and made me consider how many chemicals I had ingested from wearing lipstick over the years!

*The oils you use is for you to choose.  Almost any fixed (seed) oil can be used but do include either almond, olive or jojoba and some wheat germ for its vitamin E. Any oil suitable for eating can be used but these three are especially good for dry skin. Beware of using nut oils for people who may have allergies. I have one client who is gluten intolerant and insists on cream that doesn't wheatgerm oil.

In summer you may like to increase the amount of beeswax slightly if the balm becomes too soft in the hotter weather. You can also add a half teaspoon of warmed honey or aloe juice combined with the glycerine if you need to heal badly cracked lips. Don't be tempted to try to add too much as it will separate out of the mixture, sitting on the bottom as healthy sludge!