A Special Valentine’s Dessert

Matt was home for the weekend…I know this because I did 5 loads of his laundry. lol

Since he was home, and we were all together, we decided to pull-ahead our special St. Valentine’s dinner. Every year since my kids were toddlers, we have prepared a fun Valentine’s dinner. Everything heart-shaped, pink or red, little tokens of affection ~ just silly things, but my grown kids still enjoy this family tradition and have come to expect it.

Meatloaf is comfort food at my table so,

…heart-shaped meatloaf along with ‘pink’ mashed potatoes, heart-shaped sliced beats (which Katie cut-out with a mini cookie cutter), heart-shaped biscuits, pink/red beverage of choice, etc. I’m sure you can think of a few of your family’s favorites and start your own little St. Valentine’s tradition? I even pulled out some of the hand-made Valentine place-mats the kids made years ago. I know, I’m such a sentimental slob!

But, for dessert, we tried something new ~ Coeur a la Creme.

I found the recipe for Coeur a la Creme (which translates to ‘Heart of the Cream’ in French) on Ricki’s Cheesemaking website. Basically it’s Fromage Blanc cheese with a little sugar and egg whites folded into the cheese. You can also buy the heart-shaped cheese molds on her site, but I think you can use any heart-shaped (economical) mold. It’s important to line the ‘mold’ with cheese cloth to easily remove the cheese dessert from the mold! Katie spooned some of our garden strawberry preserves as topping, but you could also use sliced fresh strawberries (or any fav fruit) or chocolate drizzled on top.  Here’s the recipe: 1 cup Fromage Blanc, 1 T granulated sugar, 1 T heavy cream, 2 egg whites, beaten until stiff. Combine the cheese, sugar and cream. Fold in the egg whites. Spoon into your (butter muslin/cheese cloth) lined mold. Let set for 6-10 hours in the refrigerator. Gently pull up the butter muslin to remove the heart from the mold. Serve with fresh fruit, syrup or melted chocolate! YUM!

A Natural Dye Garden – Part III

So far, we’ve talked about the basics of natural dye-stuffs, plant selection, mordants, etc. But, before you actually begin to dye (wool) fiber, recordkeeping is probably the most important consideration, especially if you hope to achieve similar dyeing results in the future. Make sure you have notebook paper and pencil in hand and record your process! Don’t leave it to memory…because you will forget the details.

Here’s an example of the dye info you may want to record.

DYE CARD RECORD

Date:___________________                                SAMPLE/SWATCH:

DYE SOURCE:____________________________________________

RECIPE:________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

FORMULA:______________________________________________

MORDANT:_____________________________________________

ASSISTANTS:___________________________________________

POST-TREATMENT:_______________________________________

­­­­­­­­­______________________________________________________

COMMENTS:____________________________________________

______________________________________________________

Natural Plant Dye Bath Equipment List:

- enamel & stainless steel pots, plastic buckets

- wooden spoons, strainer, thongs, paint stir sticks

- rubber gloves

- drying rack or clothesline

- measuring spoon, cups, thermometer

- scales for weighing fiber & dye plants

- camp stove/portable electric burner (if working outdoors)

- well-ventilated workplace

- access to water

Generally speaking, the dye process (for protein/wool fiber) consists of:

1) Pre-Treatment  – scouring, weighing, mordanting (chemically bonding the color to the wool)

2) Making a dye bath; extracting the dye (substantive dyes or adjective dyes = mordant-assisted)

3) Dyeing the fiber

4) Post-mordanting

5) Rinsing

6) Air drying

So, to get started dyeing, we’ll pre-mordant our wool.

Pre-Mordanting Protein Fibers with ALUM:

1) Weigh the dry fiber; thoroughly wet fiber in tub of warm water

2) Fill your dye pot with warm water (4 gal/pound fiber)

3) Add mordant: 10% WOF alum + 5% WOF cream of tartar (WOF = weight of fiber)

4) Add wetted fiber to bath

5) Bring pot to gentle simmer, 30 – 60 min.

6) Remove pot from heat and allow cooling until lukewarm

7) Remove fiber and rinse with lukewarm water

Dye immediately or air-dry for later dyeing (label ~ that the fiber has been pre-mordanted ~ and date)

Now for the fun dyeing part…BASIC DYE METHOD:

1) Add chopped natural plant dyestuff into pot

2) Add H2O and simmer 30 – 60 min. to extract natural pigment

3) Strain dye bath; add wetted fiber (pre-mordant treatment)

4) Bring dye pot to gentle simmer, 30 – 60 min.

 5) OPTIONAL Post-mordant/modifier Treatment

~ OR ~

6) Cool fiber overnight in the dye bath

7) Remove and rinse fiber; air dry

Ta Da! You have just dyed your first wool fiber with natural extracted dyestuff!

Here’s an easy onion skin dye project recipe:

You’ll need 8 oz. of yarn or fleece, 2 T alum, 8 oz. onion skins, cheesecloth or old nylon hosiery to make a ‘tea bag’ for the onion skins, large enamel pot.  (Note: Red or yellow-skinned onions will result in a ‘golden’ color.)

Procedure: Tie the yarn/fiber in several places to minimize tangling. Soak the fiber in the lukewarm water just enough to cover it until it is wetted thoroughly. Dissolve the alum in a small amount of water and add to the pot. Gently heat the water to simmer for about 1 hour. Meanwhile, place the onion skins in the cheesecloth or hosiery and tie to secure the skins inside. Place the ’package’ of skins into the dye pot and return to simmer. Gently stir occasionally until you’ve achieved the desired color. Remove the yarn from the dye bath and cool before rinsing (don’t shock the fiber!). Or, allow the fiber/dye pot to cool to room temp overnight…then drain and rinse. Hang the yarn/fiber to air dry.

I’ve only skimmed the surface of dyeing! There’s so much more detailed info out there for you to peruse if you’re truly interested in natural dyeing!  

Resources:

A Dyer’s Garden, Rita Buchanan

Dye Plants and Dyeing, John & Margaret Cannon

Early American Weaving and Dyeing, J. and R. Bronson

Nature’s Colors – Dyes from Plants, Ida Grae

The Craft of the Weaver, Sutton, Collingwood & St Aubyn Hubbard

The Dyer’s Companion, Dagmar Klos

The Herb Companion/The Herb Quarterly (Magazine)

The Weaving, Spinning, and Dyeing Book, Rachel Brown

Wild Color, Jenny Dean (My favorite!)

Almost Back Together…

My family room/great room or whatever ya call it…is almost back together again. I guess it’s been several weeks since we’ve embarked upon this little (?) chore – re-painting, that is, but seems a lot LONGER! I would call myself an organized person for the most part. A little ‘bump’ in the road and I’m dis-cum-boob-i-lated!!!! I don’t handle the unexpected/unplanned very well…  

Here’s a before shot of me doing all the ‘cut-in’ while hubby is away. The ceiling and crown molding have been repainted in ivory linen.  

Before...

My ‘before’ paint palette was a very neutral ‘ivory linen’ with a blue/black crown molding. Now you can see from my cut-in work, I’ve chosen ‘Earth Tone’  C19-6 in satin from the historic paint selection from my friendly, local, down-town Armada, ACE Hardware – ya gotta support local business! There’s a theme ~ or mood(?) ~ going on here…Earth Tone, Wicker (for the kitchen) and Bronze Beauty (for the dining room). Lots of earthy colors for sure! See the ‘milky’ haze on the little cupboard? Well, now that we’re almost done painting – but I’ll get back to that – I’ve been really deep cleaning and polishing everything! I find that a beeswax & orange oil stuff I use called “Howard’s Feed-N-Wax”, brings back the badly needed moisture into the furniture and gets rid of all that ‘chalky’ (?) residue. As for the almost done painting…see that evil black shelf in the photo? Well, it hangs on the wall by a ‘keyhole-type’ hanger thingy. We had sooooo much trouble trying to get it back on the wall - we pulled the wall insert out, scratched my new paint job (oucheeee!!) and finally gave up! Errrrggggg @###%&###!!!!  We decided enough of this crap, we’ll come up with a new ‘hanging’ method’, that is, AFTER we repair our nice new wall!!!! That’s my little speed bump!  

After...

Here’s a little peek of another corner of my re-painted family room. I like it; I think it looks okay.

Well, aside from painting, I’m just keeping busy. My pregnant ewes and goats seem to be doing well. My kid goats (they’re 10 months old now) are getting big and ‘push’ me around easily during feeding time. They each get fed one-by-one on the stanchion, in order; they all know their name. 

I have to confess, my daughter is totally UPSET with me…her lunatic fifty-something old mom has taught one of the goat kids to dance! Picture this: I grab ‘Cloves’ front legs and we jump up and down like a pogo stick. Now, EVERY time I’m in the barnyard, Clove jumps on me and she wants to dance! Not a very good habit!!!!  But, she is such a sweetie…I can’t help myself! I shouldn’t have animals – I get sooooo attached!

I still owe you Natural Dyeing – Part III. I haven’t forgotten…

Tea Dyeing

Do you prefer the OLD, faded and worn look of antique needlework or hooked rugs? A simple technique of ‘aging‘ a hand-piece may be accomplished right in your very own kitchen by tea dyeing. Tea dyeing will dull down a ‘bright’ piece of wool or fabric and give it an antique, primitive look.

Start by pre-soaking your wool or fabric in warm water with 1 drop of Jet-Dry. Fill your enamel or stainless steel dye pot approx. 1/4 full of water and bring to a boil. Add about 4 tea bags – I prefer Lipton, but you may experiment with other tea brands. Red Rose gives off a more distinctive reddish tint.  Remove the tea bags and add your wool to the pot and continue to simmer until you’ve reached the desired color/effect. Add 1/4 cup vinegar and boil an additional 10 minutes to set the color. Cool thoroughly, then rinse well with water and dry.

Similarly, make a tea ‘bath’ by boiling a kettle of water, add 4 – 5 tea bags and steep for an hour. When cooled, use the tea bag to blot your finished hand-worked piece to achieve the desired effect. Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees F and place your tea stained ‘piece’ on a cookie sheet in the oven to dry. Check frequently so that it doesn’t burn!

Also…vanilla flavored instant coffee may also be used for ‘dyeing’ a deeper color than tea dyeing. Add about 1 tablespoon instant coffee to 1-2 cups boiling water. Fill your dye pot 1/4 to 1/2 full of water and bring to a boil. Add the coffee solution and your pre-soaked wool. Watch closely for the desired color and repeat as for tea dyeing. I also like to use coffee ‘dyeing’ for staining paper and card stock to create primitive-looking tags & labels!

Enjoy creating a hand-made today… tomorrow’s heirloom.

Valentine themed ‘Make-Do’

Brrrrr baby…it’s cold outside! Thermometer said 12 degrees F yesterday, but I’m sure it’s in the negative range with the wind! Between busting out frozen water buckets, slipping and sliding on frozen ice everywhere from the monsoon RAINFALL we received this past Sunday (yes, rain!) ~~~ I’ve been trying to keep warm inside making sweet little Valentines! Ya gotta love Michigan weather!

I know…sheepies on a Valentine?????  I just can’t help myself…!!!!

'Back' side of Make-Do.

Why not make one for yourself? It’s easy!

 How-to: Draw a heart-shape that pleases you on a piece of paper. This is your ‘paper pattern’ so you can make one for all your friends! Trace or pin the pattern onto your fabric. I used 100% wool fabric (pink front/tan back). I like everything a bit primitive, so I tea stained the fabric first. Sew the 2 pieces together; remember to leave an opening and turn right side out. I stuffed my make-do with wool fleece and dried lavender buds from my garden…heavenly! Finally, stitch the opening closed by hand. Embroider and embellish away!

My Make-Do is ‘mounted’ on an old thread spool which I stained/painted. Sew a running stitch along the base and pull tight to gather/close.

This ‘Valentine’ heart is made with a wool front and homespun/calico back…also stuffed with fragrant herbs from my garden. I used a piece of #8 cut wool strip (from a rug hooking project) for the ‘hanger’ which I attached while I was sewing the 2 pieces together. But, you could use ribbon, knitted I-Cord, yarn…etc and top-stitch afterward with a decorative button. I embroidered a feather stitch all along the heart’s perimeter and I blanket stitched the ‘applied’ accent heart on both.

I say…make-do with what materials you have at hand, and ENJOY!

2010 Herb of the Year ~~ Dill ~~

Dill is the International Herb Association’s 2010 Herb of the Year!  Dill, Anethum graveolensis, is native to the Mediterranean region, an annual or biennial, propagated easily from seed, prefers a rich well drained soil and full sun.

Dill has a long and ancient history in many countries as a culinary and medicinal herb. The earliest known record of dill as a medicinal herb was found in Egypt 5,000 years ago when the plant was referred to as a “soothing” medicine. Dill seeds are often called “meetin’ seed” because they were chewed during long church services to keep members awake or kids quiet. The seeds were also chewed in order to freshen the breath and quiet noisy stomachs. Today, dill is used in grippe water for babies with colic. 

Charms were often made from sprigs of dill to provide protection from witchcraft; they were hung around the house or worn on the clothing. Dill was often added to love potions and aphrodisiacs to make them more effective. The herb was also believed to have an effect on marriages bringing happiness and good fortune.  

You’ll probably know dill best from making dill pickles. Whole dill seed heads can be used for this purpose. Dill weed, seed, and oil are frequently added to baked goods, snacks, condiments and meat products. The fragrance industry makes use of dill essential oil to produce soaps, perfumes, detergents, creams and lotions, but I can honestly say I never purchased any dilly perfume or soap! I prefer to eat my dill!  

Cooks often prefer to use dill weed (leaves) because it has a stronger flavor than that of dill seed. The seeds are often used as a condiment, but they can also be combined with onions, cabbage, potatoes, cumin, chili powder and paprika. Chopped or whole dill weed can be added to soups, stews, casseroles, meat dishes, pasta, and eggs. It can also enhance all types of sauces, dips, butters and cheeses. An especially good combination is that of salmon and dill (tartar sauce?). 

Like most herbs, dill is harvested in the early morning after the morning dew has evaporated.  The higher moisture content of the plant when harvested at this time results in better flavor. Don’t let your dill plants bolt if you want a continuous supply of dill for harvesting. As with most herbs,  keep their tops trimmed regularly…cut, cut, cut.  Dill weed is best harvested before the plant is fully mature and before the flower buds have opened. Dill seed may be harvested at the end of the plant’s life cycle when the seeds have turned a golden brown color…or allowed to self-sow for next year’s harvest. 

Most cooks prefer fresh dill to dried because of its superior flavor, but leaves will stay fresh in the refrigerator if placed in a cup of water for two to three days. Dill may also be air-dried and stored in a dark, airtight container for later use (but, replace the dried when you’re back in the garden). I prefer to store my winter supply of dill picked fresh and placed in a zip-lock bag in the freezer. 

I hope you plan to include dill in your herb garden!

A Sheepy ‘Make-do’ Pincushion

In days gone by, women didn’t have money to go out and buy items they needed or wanted; they had to “make do” with what they had around the house. Pincushions were very important to needlewomen to keep track of their valuable pins & sewing needles. They usually consisted of stuffed balls of fabric made from material available around the house and usually perched on top of a stand which was often a recycled household item.

I wet-felted a piece of felt for my project and cut it roughly to the shape I was after; next, I needle felted my ’sheep’ for texture; hand stitched the finished front piece to a back piece of recycled wool from a left-over rug hooking project, and stuffed her with my wool fleece. She’s mounted on an antique ‘hog scraper’, but, a recycled antique textile bobbin or wood candle stick would ‘make-do’ nicely!  

Here’s another 3-D  ~ all needle felted ~ sheepy that I think I’ll mount to an old textile bobbin to create another  make-do pincushion. What do you think?  

A 'make do' project...?

Or, I was thinking of stitching up a body and making a sheepy pull-toy?

Sheepy profile...hmmm?

I can’t decide…

I am thrilled…

…with my practically new CUISINART CIM-20 Frozen Yogurt, Ice Cream & Sorbet Maker!!!!

A little background info is in order. I’ve heard our 4-H goat kids talking about making ice cream for the past couple of years. Since I’m their new (and first-time) 4-H leader, and they are still expressing a desire to make ice cream, I thought I better do some ‘research’ on  ice cream making in general, making ice cream with our goat’s milk and if there’s any tried and true goat’s milk ice cream recipes out there???

Well, all my goat-y resources (don’t ya just love folks who are passionate about one thing or another?) came through with lots of useful info! Anyway, best of all, I was able to find MY gently used ice cream maker (with an additional bowl too) locally - practically from a neighbor – for $20 – Yippi!!! Now that’s reason for jumping up and down.

Per the instruction booklet, I can also make frozen strawberry daiquiris - a fav with my kids – ‘virgin’ of course…with all those garden fresh strawberries! Yum! I’ll have to experiment with a batch or two of ice cream beforehand. I know it’s a tough job, but someone has to do it!  

On the home front, my kitchen ceiling is repaired, repainted and all’s put back together. We’ve patched the wasp ‘hole’ in my son’s bedroom, and we’ve moved on to painting the great room…MAJOR house cleaning required!! I didn’t know the lamp shades could get soooooo dusty! I used the vacuum brush attachment and gently vacuumed – oh my, there’s a whole NEW lamp shade under there!!! Oh dear, I’m bad!  Everything got a deep clean! So, I’m feeling like I’ve got a jump on Spring cleaning. This week I’ll tackle all the cut-in leading up to painting the walls this weekend. Until then, I’ll just have to live with the temporary mess created by my STUFF everywhere!

Have a blessed week!

A Natural Dye Garden – Part II

People have been coloring with natural dyes – animal, vegetable or mineral – since prehistoric times. Dyeing wool fleece or yarn (animal or protein fibers~ vs~ vegetable/plant fibers) with dyes you create from plants, bark, roots, insects, food and such is a rewarding colorful adventure!

Photo courtesty The Natural Knitter by B. Albright; wool fleece dyed with (top clockwise) brazilwood,logwood,mullein & goldenrod.

Categories of Natural Dyes:

1. Substantive Dyes – dyes fixed within the fibers without assistance of other substances or mordants

2. Adjective Dyes – require a mordant for color development and permanently “fix” to fiber

3. Vat Dyes – substantive dyes, but insoluble in water; deposited on external surface of fiber; color develops upon exposure to oxygen (indigo, woad = blue) or light (shellfish + purple)

Mordants Matter! 

French mordre, ‘to bite’; boiled with the fiber to chemically fix the dye to the fiber; often produces much stronger color on fibers. Mordants join the fiber with the dye to set the color permanently. The most common mordants are:

- Alum – common pre-mordant; use with cream of tartar (too much can make wool sticky!); 8% alum or 1- ¾ tsp per 4 oz (100 g) fiber + 7% cream of tartar or 1- ½ tsp per 4 oz (100 g) fiber

- Copper – gives similar results as chrome, but slightly more green; to make copper liquor, add several pieces of copper pipe to a 1:1 solution of water & distilled vinegar to a glass jar

- Iron – ‘saddens’ or dulls (too much can weaken fiber); to make iron liquor, add rusty nails to a 2:1 solution of water & distilled vinegar

- Chrome – toxic; rich, deep color; more permanent than alum; leaves wool feeling soft, silky

- Tin – enhances and brightens

- Oxalic acid – toxic (found naturally in rhubarb leaves – caution toxic!).  To make mordant from rhubarb leaves, simmer 1 pound rhubarb leaves in water w/covered pot outdoors or in a well-ventilated work area for 1 hr; strain.

Assistants

- Cream of Tartar – used with Al mordants

- Vinegar (5 % distilled) – used with Cu; increase acidity

- Ammonia – used with Al & indigo; increase alkalinity

Variables affecting the natural plant dye bath (in terms of RELIABILITY, PREDICTABILITY and CONSISTENT Dye Results):

- Moisture and temperature during the plant growing season

- Plant’s stage of growth when harvested for dyestuff

- What part of plant was gathered

- Used immediately or stored (fresh vs. dried)

- How long was dye bath simmered or soaked

- Water pH & mineral content (municipal water, well water, bottled water?)

- Bath temperature during dyeing

- Ratio of weight of dye plant to weight of fiber (WOF)

- Mordant used (pre or post treatment)

3 Basic Methods of Dyeing:

♣  Mordant wool first, then add it to the dye bath

♣ Mordant and dye wool in the same dye-bath

♣ Dye wool first, then FIX by mordanting

Simply put, Basic Steps for Dyeing Wool (Protein) Fibers:

1. Pre-Treatment  – scouring, weighing, mordanting (alum is most common)

2. Making a dye bath; extracting the dye (substantive dyes or adjective dyes = mordant-assisted)

3. Dyeing the fiber

4. Post-mordanting

5. Rinsing

6. Air drying

Finally, in DYEING PART III, we’ll talk about preparing a dye bath, dyeing, recordkeeping, simple recipes to get started & resources!

Blessings!

A Natural Dye Garden – Plant to Dye Pot – Part I

Natural Dye Day

Early dyers relied on easily obtained natural materials to add color to their textiles.  Natural dyestuffs come from flowering plants, bark, fungi, lichens, insects, shellfish and various ‘earths’.  Dye materials can be gathered at most times of the year, used fresh or dried.  The amounts of natural dyestuffs required to dye protein fibers are not very precise because so many variables are involved in natural dyeing.

Dyestuff: cochineal

What’s the appeal of dyeing with plants?

♦ An ancient craft, rich history, sustaining old traditions

♦ The beauty of natural colors

♦ Simple pleasure of tending a dye garden

♦ Enjoyment of gathering leaves, flowers, and other natural materials

♦ The alchemy ‘magic’ and unpredictability of plant dyestuffs

♦ Unique, one-of-a-kind results

Dyestuff: apple leaves.

Guidelines for choosing natural dye plants to grow

◊ Consider annuals and fast-growing perennials

◊ Grow plants that provide interesting color, especially blue & red

◊ Grow plants that are inexpensive – that you don’t mind chopping up

◊ Grow plants & herbs that you’d want in the garden anyway

◊ Consider potential yield of the dye plant, especially if your garden space is limited

◊ DON’T grow plants that are considered weeds that you can gather from vacant lots or along the roadside (with the owner’s permission of course!)

◊ Be responsible; avoid invasive or endangered species

◊ Use common sense and safety practices; some natural dyestuffs can be TOXIC!

Dyestuff: dahlia

A few natural dye plants

Most common colors from plants are yellows and tans; a true green is almost impossible to achieve from a single plant dye - most is achieved by overdyeing.

 - Rhododendron, leaves

- Clematis, leaves

- Asters, flowers                                

- Dahlia, flowers         

- Zinnia, flowers                    

- French marigolds, flowers & leaves

- Pot Marigold/Calendula

- Hibiscus/Rose of Sharon

- Coreopsis, flower heads

- Sunflower, flower heads

- Hollyhock, flowers

- Yellow Cosmos, flower heads

- Rudbeckia/Black-eyed Susan

- Yarrow, flowers

- Tansy (very invasive)

- Purple Basil

- Rosemary

- Comfrey

Dyestuff: madder

Natural dye WEED plants

- Queen Anne’s Lace (wild/domestic carrot)

- Goldenrod

- Purple Loosestrife

- Common Yarrow

Dyestuff: french marigold

Historically significant natural dye materials

- Madder (Rubia tinctorum), roots harvested in their third year – red (‘Turkey Red’)

- Brazilwood (Caesalpinia), heartwood sold as wood chips or shavings – red

- Cochineal (Coccus cacti), insect bodies which live on the prickly pear cactus – red

- Saffron, pistils of autumn crocus- yellow

- Safflower, petals; requires long, hot summer– yellow and red

- Logwood, heartwood sold as wood chips or shavings – purple

- Lichens – purple and red

- Shellfish – purple

- Indigo, leaves contain indigotin, insoluble in water; tropical/sub-tropical growing conditions – blue

- Woad, (biennial) leaves harvested during first year; mustard family, 2-3 ft tall; “weed”? – blue

- Weld/Dyer’s Rocket (Reseda luteola), leaves & flower stalks – yellow

Dyestuff: goldenrod

There’s so much more to talk about…

Part II - Mordants, assistants, dye bath variables

Part III – Equipment, preparing a dye bath, dye process, recordkeeping, resources