My Week on Wednesday… January 8

 

 

 

 

It’s Wednesday… the sun is shining, a few glittering snowflakes are falling through the air, and it is a balmy 16 degrees outside! And it is time for this week’s edition of My Week on Wednesday… where I take a few minutes to share some of the things I did, and learned throughout the week. And some of the blogs I visited and articles I read.

I hope you all survived the FREEZING weather we have been having with your toes, nose, and sanity intact. There really is nothing like having two full weeks of holiday break, one day of school, and then a Polar Vortex Day!

It was a day of curling up in front of the fire, wearing hats in the house, and drinking tea and hot chocolate; of reading tons (The Pixie, while reading out loud to us from The Wind in the Willows, got to say, “‘Stop it, you silly ass!’ cried the Rat…” which completely made her day!); and of watching Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone–which (usually) is my favorite of the Harry Potter movies–and crocheting things. I thought it was a very good day! 🙂

 So what did I learn this week? I learned more about buttermilk. (More remembering, than learning, I guess.)

My first attempt at making buttermilk was somewhat less than successful… It cultured beautifully, but it was thick, and almost impossible to drink from a cup. My problem… I’m an idiot. Er… not exactly; I had just forgotten what buttermilk actually is.

So, what is buttermilk? It is the liquid byproduct of making butter. (Hence the name, buttermilk, get it?) And I had tried to make buttermilk with whole milk… because that’s what we drink. Um… yeah, all that fat is supposed to be in the butter… Right. Got it. I bought some skim milk, and I’m going to try again!

If you want to try making buttermilk yourself, here are the directions I used. And this fabulous and timely post from The Elliot Homestead, explains all about buttermilk, why you would want some, and what to do with it once you do have it.

What else did I learn? I learned about Chocolate Gravy, and why I might feed it to my kids for breakfast this weekend! (And me too! Definitely, me too!) I read this post about pressure canning chicken stock, and The “S” Homestead makes it sound so easy! I had always thought using a pressure canner was Difficult and Scary, but I am putting it on the Must Try list! (That and a pressure canner would be cheaper than buying another freezer! This is the Pressure Cooker/Canner that is on my wish list.) And I found this recipe for an Ancient Moroccan Soup to Cure Flu or Cold. I hope I never need it, but it sounds like it would really, really work on a cold or flu. Plus I’m a big fan of Middle Eastern dance, music, and food… why not their cold “fixes” too!

And I added another post to my new “Preserving Summer” category — How to dry your own MINT and make TEA!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Finally, I am hoping to reach my goal of 500 Facebook followers… and I would be forever grateful if you would hop over to Once Upon a Time in a Bed of Wildflower’s Facebook page and hit “like” or “follow”! Thank you SO much!!!

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

 

 

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