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Musings of a frustrated former small-town "farm" wife, who's waiting on pins and needles to "get outta town" and back to the country life.
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Monday, December 31, 2007 Making "Tub" butter
Do you, like me, despise that tub margarine that seems to be about 80% water and lasts less than a week, since you have to spread so much of it on your bread to get any taste? Do you, like me, wonder what it's actually made of? What a waste of money and it's not very healthy.
However, butter is too hard to use if left in the fridge, and too soft (especially in the summer) if left out. Ta-Da! There is hope. I learned how to make butter that keeps in the fridge yet stays SOFT, just like tub margarine. The perfect homestead compromise between natural butter and healthy canola or olive oil.
You need:
1) A blender 2) 2 cubes (1 cup) soft butter
 3) 1 cup Canola or Olive oil
 4) A 2-cup Tupperware or Ziplock plastic container with tight lid.
   
Blend the oil and soft butter together until smooth and creamy. Pour into the storage container, snap on the lid, and put in the refrigerator. It hardens up to the consistency of tub margarine! It lasts a lot longer than tub margarine because you don't need very much to taste it. And it cuts your butter costs in half.
Enjoy!
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Monday, December 10, 2007 Pine Cone Wonder--Easy Fire Starters
Are you tired of saving all those newspapers for fire starters? Tired of scrounging up bundles and bundles of cedar kindling to get that early morning winter fire going? Well, here is a sure-fire way to get a roaring fire going in no time at all.
Pine Cone Fire Starters!
First you need some nice, large pine cones (we use Ponderosa pine cones). We collect them when they are nice and dry. Make SURE they are completely dry or this will not work.
Then you need some parraffin and...
...and an old, large (large enough to dip the pine cone in) coffee can. Break up the parraffin and put it in the can.
You need a heat source...something to melt the wax.
When the wax is melted, you dip the pine cones in the melted wax, lightly coating them. Then lay them aside to dry. Once dry, we keep them piled in a box next to the wood burning stove.
How to start a fire with pine cones:
1) Place a couple of pine cones on the bottom of the woodburner
2) Pile 2 or 3 logs on top of the pine cones.
3) Light the pine cone.
4) You're done. Truly...in less than a minute, you've got yourself a REAL fire! No newspaper, no kindling, no BLOWING a dying fire. It works!
Note: These pine cone starters work well to start outside, brush-burning fires also.
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About Our Homestead
We have 14 acres on a mountain in North Central Washington state, where we plan to move and establish a homestead in the middle of nowhere. Right now we have a cabin, a shed, and a good well. Most of our place is fenced.
Ongoing Projects
- Split Wood
- Fence the North Boundary
- Bring in Power--DONE!
- Move Shed--DONE!
- Level Ground for Pole Barn
- Dig Out a Basement
- Move Access Road
- The Burn Pile
- Bring in Another Well--DONE!
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