Real Chips!

I bought some "Beets and Sweets" chips.  They are made with sweet potatoes and beets.  They were pretty good - except for the oil in which they were cooked - canola and/or safflower and/or sunflower.  Liquid vegetable oils are not stable for frying.  When they are heated they produce toxic compounds and by products.  So obviously anything fried is going to have heated vegetable oils, unless.... you don't cook them in vegetable oil!
That's why I decided to make some chips the old fashined way - the way that is good for you.



So I used lard I rendered myself!  Over a month ago I got a big chunk of back fat from the local farmers' market.  If you don't have all natural non-hydrogenated lard, you could try non-hydrogenated palm oil. (Probably won't taste as good...)

I rendered it and stored it in a glass jar in the fridge. 

I used my handy mandolin for slicing. (this thing saves so much time) Just watch your fingertips!

Then I fried them in small batches in a deep cast iron skillet.

The beets were tricky.  There is a fine line between still soggy and burnt.  I think next time I will lay the beet slices out to dry for a while before frying.

I used a spinkle of Real Salt when they were done and Voila!

They are delicious - and beautiful.

I gave Ben a taste test last night and he said my chips taste so much better than the ones from the store. Duh! 

America's Next Top Baby Model

 I decided to let Ruthie do some modeling of our new inventory.  She is so cute.

Hope you enjoy the pictures.

College Savings? Probably Not

It's no secret that I like to do crafts with my kids.  A friend of mine gave me some of the cutest handmade hair clips as part of a baby shower gift before Ruthie was born.  I knew I would enjoy making something like that.  A seed was planted.

There was a ladies craft night featuring how to make said hair clips but I missed the activity when Ben and I decided to go see Harry Potter 6.  So I asked for a brief explanation over the phone and then decided to wing it.

First we found lots of fabric flowers on clearance at craft stores and at the dollar store.  This is the part that Julie and William love the most.

Then we start putting all of the disassembled flowers together in different ways to see what would look good.

Then I hot glue them together and we list them in our online Etsy store.  Of course many clips are kept in Julie's personal collection.  Like a baker who eats too much inventory - Julie has a hard time letting go her favorite ones (or any ones).

William likes them too.

Julie hand makes all of the packaging,
which is a lot of writing for a little girl.

Julie also did some "modeling".

Once they are in our online store we just wait for some one to buy them. After a purchase is made, Julie writes a personalized Thank You card, I package them up and we ship them off!

 So there you have it.  I run little business with my 5 year old daughter.  So far we have not made a profit yet, so I don't think college will be paid for by hair clips, but you never know...

To enter in our current giveaway please visit http://veaterfam.blogspot.com and follow instruction on how to enter. Giveaway ends on Nov. 13th.  There will be 2 winners! Good luck!

      

 Check out our store for up to date inventory.

www.sewmagical.etsy.com

Here are some of my favorites we have made (some still for sale, some long gone).

Happy Halloween!!

 We had a great Halloween.  Hope yours was great too.

  

Twins - Five Years Apart

It has been so fun to have both of my girls born at the same time of year.  The clothing has worked out so well!  The sizes and seasons are matching up perfectly.  As some of you may know - I had been waiting 5 years to use the nun Halloween costume again.  Here is a look at both Julie and Ruthie at this time of year. And just so he's not left out, I'll throw in a picture of William too!

Julie

Julie

 

Julie

Ruthie

Ruthie

Julie

 

Julie

 

Ruthie

 

 

Ruthie

William at 4 months

Ruthie at 7 months

Happy Halloween!!

More costume pictures to come!

Raw Butter! mmmmmmm...

We are so fortunate here in Washington State that raw milk is legal.  You can purchase it right in the store from Whole Foods or PCC and at various farmers' markets.  We personally buy it from a milk drop at someone's home.  It comes directly from the dairy, at almost half the price of that in the stores, and it's a couple of days fresher! It is certified which means the cleanliness is regulated. It is safe and it is way more nutritious than the stuff in the super-market that has had the life cooked out of it!

Most of all it is delicious!!

For more info on raw milk check out realmilk.com

So, what is raw butter, you may ask?  Well, it is butter made from raw cream.  That means that it has not been pasteurized.  Since I had some raw butter last weekend on Vashon Island I have been thinking about how much I loved the all grass-fed raw butter and how I could get my hands (or lips) on some more, and then I got this email!

Quote:

Well, I have discovered a new source for raw butter from grass-fed Jersey cows in PA.

Elmer and Martha King live in Pennsylvania and have cancelled their contract with Organic Valley to go all raw! In order to be sustainable, they have to sell all 1500 lbs of butter they have on hand. Let’s keep them in business!! They sell their butter for $9 lb. I just placed an order for 30 butters so that with shipping (ground) it is only $10 per pound all in. Anyone who wants to purchase some of that from me just let me know. He’ll be shipping it to me Monday, November 2^nd and I will have it by the end of that week.

For those who would like to place their own individual orders, especially for my friends who do not live in Washington, here is their information:

Elmer and Martha King

814-349-4890

 So there you have it.   A great source for raw butter.  Sorry to those of you who are North of the border - I'm not sure this could work out for you...  

If you live in the Seattle area (Eastside) and want to get in on the upcoming order I can get you in contact with my friend, let me know and I will pass along the info.  

While the sale of raw butter is illegal in almost every state, I have found an interesting method for making your own cultured butter at home.  I think I'll give it a try! 

You can find more info on cultured butter at  Body Ecology.

 For kefir cultures click Body Ecology and Wilderness Fmaily Naturals.

For buttermilk culture click Cheesemaking.com and GEM Cultures. 

Happy Butter Making!

 

More info on Pasteurization: from the The Douglass Report

5 arguments against pasteurization

This is just a partial listing of the problems with pasteurization, but it should be enough for
you to get the picture.
 

1. Pasteurization alters the quality and structure of the milk itself. For example,
when milk is pasteurized and homogenized, the lactose sugar is converted to beta-lactose—
a form that can cause milk allergies.
 

2. Pasteurization ruins the taste of milk. If you’ve ever had raw milk, you understand—
the pasteurized variety just isn’t the same. But beyond that, pasteurization
destroys the creaming ability of milk. It also destroys the souring bacteria of milk,
causing it to putrefy if kept long enough instead of souring normally. Pasteurization
also makes milk decompose when exposed to air.
 

3. Pasteurization sucks the nutritional life out of raw milk. The process diminishes
the vitamin content and destroys vitamins C, B6, and B12. Raw milk is an excellent
source of calcium, but once it has been pasteurized, your body can no longer absorb many
of the nutrients that are left. Plus, the pasteurization process destroys all the beneficial
enzymes, antibodies, hormones, and fatty acids (like cancer-fighting conjugated
linoleic acid or CLA).
REAL Health Breakthroughs
fromWilliam Campbell Douglass II,M.D.
 

4. Pasteurized milk can lead to a variety of health problems. The most obvious evidence
of this is that infants do not develop well on pasteurized milk. (Even calves do
poorly and sometimes die when given the pasteurized junk food.) Pasteurized milk is
more likely than raw milk to lead to tooth decay, constipation, allergies, arthritis, cancer,
and osteoporosis (so much for the whole “milk for strong bones” theory). And it may
diminish resistance to disease (especially in the young).
 

5. Pasteurization isn’t perfect. Most people are willing to give up all of the benefits of
raw milk because they’re concerned about safety. But the truth is that pasteurization is
not infallible: It may be carelessly done, which could result in various bacterial infections
such as helicobacter pylori, the cause of peptic ulcers.

- The Fringey Housewife

All Carrots Great and Small

I decided it was time to harvest my carrots and beets before the bugs ate them completely. 
Here are the fruits of my labor!

3 butternut squash (plus 2 we already ate), all of the carrots and most of the beets.

Don't you just love all of the colors!

The largest carrots.

The smallest carrot.

The most artistic carrot.

The most socially acceptable carrots.

 

The tallest carrot top.  The red line is how tall I am.

The one and only cabbage head, full of worms - yum!My cabbages didn't do well. 

This is the best out of a dozen plants.  Any tips?

The largest broccoli head.  (It's that tiny thing in the middle).

If anyone knows why my broccoli didn't head, please let me know.

Our biggest pumpkin - that's my boot.

Too bad it won't be orange in time for Halloween :(

And from earlier this summer:

 

I forgot to pick cucumbers for a few days when it was really hot and ended up with some really big ones! (That is a wide mouth quart jar!)

This was my entire broccoli harvest a couple of weeks ago.  Maybe they will keep producing - pretty pathetic, I know.

I'm very sad I didn't take any pictures of my tomatoes and beans.  It was a great crop!

I plan to double the size of my garden next summer.