༺ Weeds Be Gone ༻

If you hate to use nasty chemicals to get rid of weeds coming up in walkways and patios, I have a great alternative method. I found a recipe that creates a spray to help keep grass, sunflowers, dandelions, and other weeds from filling the cracks in your walkways. I used it recently, and can say "It Works"!

Here is the recipe:

• Vinegar - Two Cups
• Liquid Dish Soap - One Tablespoon
• Salt - One Tablespoon

I found an old jar, doubled the recipe, and mixed it all up. Then I found a simple spray bottle to pour the mixture into (I used a funnel). Next, I took the spray bottle outside and gave those unwelcome weeds a nice soaking. It was easy and I felt good not having to buy or use more serious chemicals on areas where my dogs and I hang out.

The results were pretty fast. Within a few hours I saw the weeds starting to turn brown. I resprayed tough patches of grass to be sure they got a nice covering. Soon, the weeds were very brown and shriveled up. Success!

This is one recipe I want to keep on hand and use as needed.

Cinnamon Rolls - First Attempt

Learning to make homemade bread has been great, but it has also been a slippery slope. Why not try pizza dough? (Terrific and thick!). How about cinnamon rolls?

Today I took the next leap and explored making my own sweet bread rolls. Where was Barney during all of this? He's such a big boy now that I can leave him with the big dogs, sleeping happily in the sun, and I can move around the house with much more ease.

The cinnamon rolls start like bread. I warmed yeast and mixed flour with a few ingredients just like bread dough. I added more sugar than usual though, which makes sense for a sweet treat. After an hour long rise time, I rolled the dough out into a rectangle. Then I added chopped walnuts plus a sweet sticky concoction that I prepared in a sauce pan. It started getting messy.

Next I rolled the dough up into a log with the sweet part in the center. Flour was everywhere, and sweet stuff was trickling out the ends. Fun ! Finally when I had a nice log roll, I used a knife to cut it into slices. These slices were placed on a cookie sheet and left to rise for about 15 minutes. Here is what they looked like at this point:

All that was left to do was the baking - 350 degrees for 30 minutes. I watched carefully so that I didn't burn the bottoms. Once done, I tried adding a topping of heated maple syrup and cinnamon, but it just rolled off so I'll skip that next time. Why add more calores LOL.

Here is the final view:

Next time I think I'll add in some whole wheat flour, and look around for a thicker topping to add to some of them. Readers - let me know if you have a good recipe for a topping !

Bread Making

Colder weather finds me looking for ways to fire up the oven more frequently. Today I made a loaf of bread, experimenting with adding almond extract and poppy seeds. The results were delicious, and the house not only warmed up, but also had a lovely smell all afternoon.

Here are a progression of pictures, showing the dough and the loaf as they rose, and finally the baked results.

♪ Best Friend ♪

This garden season, I made a new best friend !


I can't tell you how many times I've referenced this great book as I learned about putting garden produce by. I canned salsa recently, and before that made pickles and plum jam.

The plum jam was fun to do. After visiting a garage sale we found out they had a plum tree full of ripe fruit for the taking. As is usual, the picking, cleaning and cutting was the hardest part of this process. But in the end, we froze even more fruit than we were able to turn into jam. Maybe in the depths of winter we'll make a few more jars of jam.

Here are a few more pictures of the plum jam project. I just used the plums and some sugar . Here are the exact numbers: 5 cups of chopped plums, 3 cups of sugar, and 3/4 cups of water. I cooked this mixture for about 1.5 hrs until it seemed 'gelled'. Then I poured it into the jars, and processed them in a boiling water bath for 25 minutes (I live at high altitude). Pretty easy !


Hope everyone's summer is going well too !

✈ Cucumbers, So Many ✈

I'm swimming in cucumbers from the garden, and I only have two plants ! I eat a salad most days, and still find I have to manage the cucumber supply. Here's a recipe I've been using to make 'pickles', that I keep in the refrigerator instead of canning.


Start by gathering some jars with lids. Slice the cucumbers any way you like and put them in the jars. I fill them full, and notice that in about a week they have shrunk up. Next, combine these ingredients in a saucepan and heat until about boiling. I use this amount of liquid for 2 pint jars.

~ 2 1/2 Cups White Vinegar
~ 2 Cups Sugar
~ 2 TBs non-ionized Salt
~ 1 TBs Celery Seed Spice
~ 1 TBs Mustard Seed Spice
~ Dash Dill Spice

Once hot, carefully spoon the liquid into the jars until the cucumbers are covered. Allow the jars to cool, then put on lids and place the jars in the refrigerator.


As the jars cool down further, the liquid will thicken up. I gently turn the jars upside down and back a few times over a few days. This causes the spices to mix and stay further down in the jars over time.

After a few days, the refrigerator 'pickles' are ready to eat. I use them sparingly because of the sugar, but a few on a garden burger or in a salad add a really nice taste.

♪ Granola Recipe Favorite ♪

Recently, after tiring of buying granola so often, I decided to try my hand at making it at home. I searched around on blogs for recipes and opinions, finally finding several recipes that sounded tasty. The whole process turned out to be pretty easy, so I thought I'd share my experience here. This recipe makes enough granola to fill two large freezer bags like this:


First let me say that I'm not a real kitchen person. I know the basics, but even at that, I sometimes mess up simple things. So I needed a recipe that wasn't too complicated or challenging.

Here is what I use (it is a blend of a few recipes I found):

- Liquid Mix Ingredients: 2/3 cup Honey, 1/2 cup Vegetable Oil, 1/3 cup Brown Sugar, 2 tsp each Vanilla and Almond Extract
- Dry Mix Ingredients: 1/2 cup Almonds (whole), 1 cup Coconut Flakes, 1/2 cup Sesame Seeds, 1/2 Cup Sunflower Seeds, 5 Cups Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats
- 2 Cups Raisins or other dried Fruits
- Cooking Spray for baking sheets

Let me tell you upfront that making granola takes an hour or two in the kitchen, plus utilization of a few bowls, pans, measuring cups/spoons and spatulas. The time starts when you start digging out everything you need, continues during preparation, cooking, cooling, and then finally there is a bit of cleanup. So don't plan to try this process if you only have a half hour to spare.

I use one very large bowl, two metal baking sheets, a manual nut chopper, and a small sauce pan. Plan on having the counter space to lay the baking sheets out on, since there is stirring to be done during and after the cooking steps. The oven needs to have two racks that are arranged pretty low in the oven. I have found that the lower rack browns the granola better.

Pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees, then:
1) Combine the Dry Ingredients in the very large bowl, mix well. Chop Almonds as part of this step
2) Combine the Liquid Ingredients in the small sauce pan - all except the Vanilla and Almond Extract for now
3) Heat the Liquid Ingredients til it is all combined, then remove from heat, and stir in the Vanilla and Almond Extract
4) Pour the Liquid over the Dry Ingredients, mix well. I use two large spatulas to turn and mix
5) Spray the baking sheets, then dish on the mixture, smoothing it out to cover all the surfaces
6) Bake for 30 minutes, with these activities mixed in:
a) stir after 10 minutes
b) remove after 10 more minutes (total 20 minutes) to add the raisins
c) remove after 10 more minutes (total 3o minutes) and start the cooling process
7) Allow the granola to slowly cool down. Stir every 5-10 minutes to prevent clumping
8) Optional - I like to put the granola back in the large bowl to finish cooling, since it is easier to stir it there
9) Once cool, put the granola in your favorite container
10) I refrigerate 1/2 of it for immediate use, and put the other half in the freezer

As I mentioned earlier, my lower baking sheet tends to brown the granola better. That's probably why I mix the batches back together to even out the colors. Regardless, this recipe has worked well for my family and it has become a frequent activity at our house.

Do you have a good granola recipe? Please share in the comments section so that I can continue to improve.

♪ Favorite New Tea ♪

This tea is fantastic !! I was looking for a caffeine free, sweetener free beverage and found out I love this stuff !!

Typically I enjoy cold drinks which used to include way too much diet pop. I'm trying to be more healthy, so went looking for a replacement. Water is ok, but is pretty bland. I found some good flavored waters, but it gets old always having to recycle the bottles. Finally I remembered how much I love cinnamon spice iced tea. It is so easy to brew and delicious to drink cold.

I take a glass jar (about the size of a mason jar left over from my peaches) and put 4 tea bags in with water. The jar sits on a sunny table for a few hours, then I have two large servings of great iced tea. No caffeine, no sweeteners, and no bottles to recycle. Great !

What drink ideas do you have along the lines of being more healthy?