Chickens in the Road Read online

  Hang the candles to harden for a day before burning. To use, cut the tapers apart and trim the wicks.

  Leftover wax in the pot will be too shallow to dip long tapers, but you can use it to dip homemade birthday candles.

  CANDLE JARS WITH PRESSED WILDFLOWERS

  You can decorate a jar for all sorts of purposes, from holding your pencils to storing your herbs, but flowers and candles go together like . . . flowers and candles!

  The simplest way to press flowers is the same way you did it when you were a kid. Separate flowers from the stems and carefully lay them down on a sheet of paper, cover with another sheet of paper, then press between the folds of a book. Stack up more heavy books on top. Most light, delicate flowers will press flat in a matter of hours or overnight, but you’ll need to keep them pressing longer to thoroughly dry out. How long it takes flowers to dry varies by the flower type, but you can speed it up by drying them in the microwave. (Press the flowers at least a few hours or overnight before drying in the microwave.)

  To dry flowers in the microwave, place the pressed flowers between sheets of paper on a microwave-safe plate. Place something else, microwave-safe, on top. Heat them in short bursts, 15 seconds on high, until dry. Let the flowers cool completely between bursts of heat. Light, delicate flowers will dry quickly by this method.

  To adhere pressed, dried flowers to a glass canning jar, use a clear craft glue. Thin the glue with water. This isn’t rocket science or brain surgery—don’t worry too much about how much water and how much glue. Add several squirts of glue to about a quarter cup of water and stir it up with a small painting brush.

  With the jar resting on its side, brush a small amount of the thinned glue on the outside of the jar where you intend to place the flowers. Transfer the dried flowers carefully—tweezers are a good way to move them. Place each flower and press down lightly with the back of a spoon. (It’s better not to use your fingers.) As you place each flower, brush lightly over each one with the thinned glue mixture to seal.

  The nice thing about this method, as opposed to using a varnish, is that if you ever want to do something else with the jar, you can simply wash it with hot water and soap to remove the flowers.

  You can apply the flowers in any design you like, all on one side of the jar or wrapping around the jar. Get as creative as you like. You could add all sorts of other dried materials, including leaves. Fill the jar with candle wax and a wick to make a unique gift or something pretty to keep for yourself.

  HOMEMADE LAUNDRY DETERGENT

  Make laundry detergent at home. You can! It’s easy, frugal, and doesn’t even take very long. The ingredients are simple and inexpensive—borax, washing soda and/or baking soda, and any supersudsing, hard-grating soap (such as Fels-Naptha, Ivory, or Zote). Even better, start with your own homemade plain soap.

  To make a homemade batch of soap for laundry detergent use:

  Lard, 16 ounces or 453.592 grams

  Coconut oil (76-degree melt point), 16 ounces or 453.592 grams

  Distilled water, 12.16 ounces or 344.73 grams

  Lye, 5.191 ounces or 147.155 grams

  Vegetarian version:

  Crisco, 16 ounces or 453.592 grams

  Coconut oil (76-degree melt point), 16 ounces or 453.592 grams

  Distilled water, 12.16 ounces or 344.73 grams

  Lye, 5.134 ounces or 145.538 grams

  Follow the directions for making hot process soap. These recipes make 2 pounds of soap. If you want to add scent, add 1 ounce fragrance oil before placing the soap in the mold.

  Borax, washing soda, and baking soda are all natural laundry boosters that help remove soils, fight stains, and freshen laundry—they’re soap enhancers. You can find borax, washing soda, and the laundry-size baking soda in the laundry aisle at most grocery stores.

  To make a dry laundry soap mixture:

  2 bars (approximately 4–5 ounces each) plain soap

  2 cups borax

  1 cup baking soda

  1 cup washing soda

  Grate the soap as finely as possible. Combine the grated soap with the other ingredients and mix well. Store mixture in a container. Use 1 to 2 tablespoons per load. Double or triple the recipe to make large batches.

  Laundry detergent is highly personal. Everyone has different issues. You may want to use more or less of any given ingredient depending on your needs. If you wash a lot of whites, you may want to add OxiClean (or a generic oxygen cleaning equivalent) to brighten whites. I work on a farm and I avoid whites like the plague, so that’s not a big problem for me. If it is for you, you could add it to your mixture, or add it separately for specific loads according to the product’s directions. You can add ¼ to ½ cup (or, you know, just a big splash, which is what I do) of white vinegar to the rinse cycle for softening. Vinegar also helps to remove any remaining soap. Take any homemade laundry detergent recipe as a starting point—once you start experimenting, you’ll come to know what works best for you.

  SIMPLE HOMEMADE CLEANERS

  For most basic homemade cleaners that will tackle almost every job in your house, you’ll need these standard supplies (along with water):

  White vinegar

  Ammonia

  Rubbing alcohol

  Lemon juice

  Olive oil

  Baking soda

  Buy plain spray bottles to use for your homemade cleaners, or save old store-bought spray bottles to wash out and reuse. Be sure to label everything and store cleaners out of the reach of children and pets.

  Undiluted white vinegar works wonders by itself. It’s very good for cleaning hard water deposits or soap scum. You can use ½ to a full cup of vinegar in the rinse cycle to soften laundry instead of store-bought fabric softener. (It won’t leave any vinegar smell on your laundry.) You can also use straight vinegar to remove mold and mildew. (Lemon juice works well for this, too.)

  Vinegar is also a great stain remover on many surfaces. (Tip: Run ¼ cup vinegar in with a pot of water through your coffeemaker to remove stains on the carafe.) The wonders of white vinegar go on and on. Buy it in the bulk size.

  This first recipe is very basic and is what I call “Kitchen Cleaner” because it’s great for cleaning countertops, appliances, backsplashes, and so on. It’s also great in the bathroom and effective on many carpet and other stains.

  KITCHEN CLEANER

  Use equal parts—

  Water

  White vinegar

  My all-time favorite and most-used cleaner is glass cleaner.

  GLASS CLEANER

  1 cup water

  1 cup rubbing alcohol

  1 tablespoon white vinegar*

  An easy furniture polish is ½ cup lemon juice per 1 cup olive oil. It will make your house smell so good, you’ll want to polish your furniture more often.

  For vinyl floors, use 1 cup white vinegar in a gallon of water. For wood flooring, use ½ cup white vinegar in a gallon of water.

  If you want any of your homemade cleaners to have fragrance, you can add a drop or two of any essential oil. For example, love the orange scent of some store-bought cleaners? Add a drop of orange essential oil. Or whatever scent you love.

  Once you get the idea of how homemade cleaners are put together, you can experiment to make your own recipes for specific cleaning tasks. Ammonia is a strong cleaner for tough jobs. Olive oil adds softening and protection. Lemon juice dissolves dirt and eliminates odors. Alcohol is added to glass cleaner for the “evaporating” aspect, leaving your windows and mirrors clear and streak free. (Also good for many shiny fixtures.) Baking soda is a mild abrasive and deodorizer. Vinegar is also a deodorizer and a gentle cleaner (and adds shine to floors). A liquid soap (like Dawn dish liquid) can add extra cleaning and sudsing power when you need it.

  Note: In case you get a hankering to include bleach in any of your homemade cleaners when you are experimenting, please note this: DO NOT combine bleach with ammonia or vinegar as this can create toxic fumes.

  * You c
an use ammonia instead of vinegar if you need a stronger glass cleaner.

  RUFFLED CROCHET DISHCLOTH

  This is a very simple project that can be completed in a couple hours with one skein of yarn.

  You can make this dishcloth smaller or larger by adding or removing from the starter chains. Just be sure to chain an odd number and single crochet across your first row in an even number and go from there. You could even add additional edging rows in single or half double crochet before doing the final double crochet ruffle. It’s an easy pattern to adapt.

  Finished size: Approximately 9-inch square

  Materials:

  100% cotton worsted weight yarn (2 ounces)

  Crochet hook, size F

  Directions:

  Row 1. Make a slip knot and chain 27. Single crochet (sc) in back ridge of second chain from hook and in each chain across. You should have 26 sc.

  Row 2. Chain 1, turn; skip first sc, 2 sc in next sc, *skip next sc, 2 sc in next sc; repeat from * across. 26 sc in each row.

  Repeat until work measures to an approximate 6¼- to 6½-inch square.

  Round 1. (Do not turn work from this point forward.) Chain 1 and crochet evenly around all four sides in sc. (Stop periodically to make sure you are crocheting evenly so that work stays flat.) Make 3 sc in each corner and join last corner with a slip stitch.

  Round 2. Chain 1, sc in each sc all the way around, making 3 sc in the middle sc of each corner. Join with a slip stitch.

  Round 3. Chain 2 and half double crochet (hdc) in each sc all the way around, making 3 hdc in middle sc of each corner. Join with a slip stitch.

  Round 4. The ruffly round! Chain 3. Make four double crochet (dc) in every other hdc stitch as you go around—except in the corners. In each corner, in the first hdc of the corner, make three dc. Chain 3. Skip the second corner hdc and make three dc in the third hdc of the corner. (After making each corner, skip one hdc stitch, then carry on with making four dc in every other hdc stitch.) Join with a slip stitch at the last corner and finish off.

  HOMEMADE FLOWER FOOD

  Per quart of cool water, combine 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons lemon juice or vinegar. Stir to mix well and dissolve sugar, then pour into the container where you’ll be placing flowers. You can measure to be exact, or just eyeball it. If your vase is smaller or larger, adjust your quantities to match.

  The sugar is the food for the flowers. The lemon juice or vinegar is used to keep the flower water fresh and free of bacteria. An old-fashioned method for keeping flowers fresh was to drop a copper penny in the water. (Copper is a fungicide.) People also used to (and sometimes still do) drop an aspirin in the water for the same reason. I like to use a little lemon juice or vinegar. The point is to add something antibacterial, antifungal, and/or acidic to the water to keep it fresh. Use whatever you have on hand. I’ve even heard of people using lime soda. You could also use citric acid crystals. Whatever you have!

  A few more tips for keeping flowers fresh longer: put flowers in cold water, not warm. Also, be sure to remove all the excess foliage below the water line to reduce the risk of rotting foliage in the water. If the vase water gets cloudy, replace it with fresh flower food water. If you got your flowers from the store, be sure to give them a fresh cut, at an angle, when you get them home, and cut them under water.

  APPLE SPICE SIMMERING POTPOURRI

  When making apple butter or other recipes using apples, I save the peels and cores, and even a few slices, for the dehydrator—to eventually become simmering potpourri.

  Cinnamon sticks

  Ginger slivers

  Whole cloves

  Dried apple peels, cores, slices

  Use one cinnamon stick, broken, three slivers of fresh ginger, and about a teaspoon of whole cloves per batch, then add enough dried apple to make a heaping cup.

  Place mixture in a pot and pour water into the pot until it’s about two-thirds full. Bring to a simmer. Your house will smell like apple pie.

  WINTER CITRUS POTPOURRI MIX

  I conjured up this potpourri mix for homemade Christmas gifts our first winter at Stringtown Rising, utilizing what was available to me, and have made some version of it every winter since. Think creatively and adjust the recipe to suit what you can get your hands on where you are. Using what you have around you makes the potpourri personal.

  I always have a surplus of cinnamon sticks in my pantry, so this puts them to good use. The pinecones come from Georgia’s yard. She has tall pine trees all around her house. The hickory nuts can be picked up off the farm, and the white pine comes from the cuttings off our Christmas tree after trimming—making each gift of potpourri a piece of our tree. This usually leaves me with only the cost of the fruit.

  And by the time I make up a huge turkey-roaster size pan of potpourri, the cost of that fruit goes pretty far in filling about a dozen bags of potpourri to go into gift baskets for family and friends.

  What you need to make winter citrus potpourri:

  Oranges

  Lemons

  Limes

  Whole cloves

  Cinnamon sticks

  Hickory nuts

  Pine cuttings

  Pinecones

  Fragrance oil

  Quart-size Ziploc bags

  The quantity of each item is up to you. Make as little or as much as you want, and weight each item in the mix according to what you have available or your personal preference.

  Slice fruit thinly. Place in single layers on baking sheets. Poke cloves in orange slices if desired. Dry in a low oven (about 200°F) for several hours. (Watch fruit to make sure it doesn’t turn too brown.) If you have a dehydrator, follow your dehydrator’s directions for drying citrus fruit. After the fruit slices are dried and cooled, place them in a large bowl or pan (such as a roasting pan if you’re making a large quantity) and add cinnamon sticks, hickory nuts, and pine cuttings. Add a few drops of fragrance oil per cup of mix and toss. (For this mix, I like orange or lemon oil or cinnamon oil.) Measure 2 cups mix per quart bag, placing one pinecone in each bag. Seal bags to allow fragrance to steep for at least several days before using.

  Poke cloves into whole oranges to make pomanders for potpourri centerpieces. To give as gifts, pack the orange pomanders separately from the dry mix. To display, 2 cups mix with one large pinecone makes a nice-sized bowl or small platter of potpourri when you add the orange pomander.

  Index

  The pagination of this electronic edition does not match the edition from which it was created. To locate a specific entry, please use your e-book reader’s search tools.

  almond oil moisturizing cream, 285

  ammonia cleaner, 294

  appetizers

  Fried Stuffed Squash Blossoms, 238–239

  Pepperoni Rolls, 231–233

  apples

  Apple Dumplings, 266–268

  Apple-Oatmeal Soap, 282–283

  Apple Spice Simmering Potpourri, 296–297

  Whiskey-Raisin Apple Butter, 253–254

  bacon, peppered, 241

  baking

  baking lard, 247–248

  Quick Mix for, 240, 243–245

  See also breads; sweets and desserts

  baking soda

  as abrasive and deodorizer, 294

  in laundry detergent, 291

  Banana Split in a Jar, 257

  Basil Soap, Lavender-, 283

  beans

  Beans and Corn Bread, 235–237

  Country-Style Green Beans, 241

  beef, ground

  Iron Skillet Upside-Down Pizza, 234–235

  Summer Vegetable Pie, 240

  Beeswax Lip Balm, 285–286

  Beeswax Moisturizing Cream, 284–285

  birthday candles, 289

  biscuits

  Biscuits and Gravy, 245–246

  Quick Mix, 244

  bleach, cleaning with, 294

  Bologna Sandwiches, Fried, 233–234

  borax laundry soap, 291–292


  breads

  Corn Bread, 237

  Grandmother Bread, 230–231, 234

  making flour tortillas, 237–238

  Pepperoni Rolls, 231–233

  Pumpkin Bread, 269–270

  Quick Mix, 243–244

  breakfast

  Banana Split in a Jar topping, 257

  Biscuits and Gravy, 245–246

  burnt sugar pancake syrup, 273–274

  Homemade “Pop-Tarts,” 265–266

  pancakes, 244–245

  Strawberries and Cream Coffee Cake, 268–269

  brown sugar ‘n’ cinnamon “Pop Tarts,” 265

  Burnt Sugar Cake, 272–275

  butter making, 248–249

  buttermilk, 249

  cake

  Burnt Sugar Cake, 272–275

  Mrs. Randolph’s Strawberry Cake, 275–276

  Nut Cake, 271–272

  Strawberries and Cream Coffee Cake, 268–269

  candles

  birthday candles, 289

  Candle Jars with Pressed Wildflowers, 289–290

  Container Candles, 286–287

  Hand-Dipped Tapers, 287–289

  Candy, Cracker, 259

  canning, water-bath, 249–253

  cheddar cheese, 240

  cheese

  Fried Bologna Sandwiches, 233–234

  Iron Skillet Upside-Down Pizza, 234–235

  making, 49–50

  Pepperoni Rolls, 231–233

  Summer Vegetable Pie, 240

  chocolate

  Chocolate Cream Facial Mask, 284

  Cracker Candy, 259

  “Pop Tarts,” 265

  cinnamon

  “Pop Tarts,” 265

  potpourri, 296–298

  Citrus Potpourri Mix, Winter, 297–298

  cleaners, homemade, 292–294

  Coconut-Oatmeal Rum Pie with Walnuts, 264