Art in My World

Ball puts out these silicone trays with a plastic lid that you fill with oil and herbs or butter and herbs. Who doesn't have herbs in abundance at the end of the season? Well, throughout this season these little trays came in handy when the herb plants needed to be picked, but I didn't have time to dry them or use fresh, and herbs do better if they are picked often. Along with the trays comes a recipe booklet for herb combinations. What can be simpler? Just take out a cube and saute up some veggies, top some potatoes or marinate some meat. Some Ideas: Asian Sizzle 1/4 cup fresh cilantro 3 tablespoons fresh basil 1 tablespoon of mint 2 teaspoons minced ginger chopped hot chiles if desired Combine the above ingredients and fill cubes with the herb mixture and then cover with olive oil or toasted sesame oil. Freeze, pop out of tray and place in freezer bag. Add frozen to stir fries and curries, or thaw and rub over pork or chicken before cooking. Barbecue Rub Com

Sourdough Waffles with Dried Blueberries When you have sourdough starter to feed and take care of, and don't have time to make bread, waffles are the answer. This batter also makes great pancakes. Sponge 2 1/2 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour 2 tablespoons sugar 2 cups lukewarm buttermilk 1 cup sourdough starter Batter All of the prepared sponge 2 large eggs 1/4 cup melted butter 3/4 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking soda If you can get them, I love to add about 1/3 cups of blueberries. To make the sponge: In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour(s), Hi-maize, sugar, buttermilk, and starter, stirring just to combine. Cover loosely and let rest at room temperature overnight. (Feed the "mother" starter as you usually do, using 1 cup flour and 1/2 cup water.) To make the batter: Beat together the eggs, butter or oil, salt, and baking soda. Blend this into the sponge.

Remember all those potholders made as a child? I loved making them and they lasted for decades, really! But they were always so small and I wished the colors were different. Well, looking for a gift for my poor niece going through knee surgery, I ran across this company which not only offered a large loom, 10 inches compared to the 7 inch loom, but they offered some real nice colors as well.  So sitting down one day, watching a little movie, I completed my first larger pot holder, the first one since a little girl. The company is Harrisville Designs

I began with this company because I wanted to try my hand at sourdough bread making and this company offered over ten varieties of sourdough cultures just for breads. They also offered cultures for buttermilk, yogurt, kombucha and kefir. The sourdough culture worked beautifully. I followed the easy directions and within 4 days I was making bread, and waffles, and pancakes, and even cakes. The directions were easy to follow and the website has many recipes to try. Basic Bread Recipe: I put these ingredients in my bread machine on the dough cycle. While the machine is running I watch the dough carefully and add flour a tablespoon at a time if needed. If you have ever made bread you know how bread should come together all silky like and stretchy. Sourdough bread is tricky, trickier than regular bread, because the starter can have various liquid content. 2 1/3 cups of sourdough starter 1 cup of water (spring or filtered water) 3 1/3 cups of regular organic unbleached flour scant

Dash Yogurt Maker This has been the neatest little machine. I found it at Sam's Club for only 14 dollars. Along with the machine comes two plastic containers to store the made yogurt and a top to these containers to store nuts or granola. It also comes with two pop up containers to make and store frozen yogurt.    This little machine is so easy to use. You heat up 5 cups of your milk of choice till it reaches 185 degrees, let it cool and then add 1/2 cups of yogurt, stir and then add to machine. This machine keeps the milk at the perfect temperature and no fiddling. Then to make a thick Greek-like yogurt you put the yogurt in a strainer and place it in the fridge to let it drain. Now you can flavor it to your hearts content or use it plain in smoothies. Why make yogurt? The best reason is the ability to use the milk of your choice. Whole Foods now sells a milk that is organic and from grass fed cows. Plus it is not homogenized. It is the closest to raw milk that I can get r