Green Fudge

St.Patrick's Day inspired me to make green fudge. I made two batches in order to have enough to give to the people eating at God's Kitchen on Friday, March 16. One batch is just the coconut flavor from the oil and the other batch is flavored with peppermint extract.
One piece of this protein candy stays with me and I don't crave piece after piece of candy as I do with the pure sugar candy.

Put into the food processor:
5/8 c. cooked white beans
1/2 c. cooked, warm millet
1/4 c. almonds, ground
1/2 c. quick oats
1/4 t. stevia extract (white powder)
5 T. sugar
1 T. extra virgin coconut oil
1/4-1/2 t. peppermint extract
for pale green color use a pinch or two of Spirulina powder

Process until smooth.
Spread into 8" x 8" waxed paper lined pan and chill in freezer. Then cut into 24 pieces and store in freezer. Let pieces warm up for 30 minutes or so before eating.
Option: I put fudge into mini paper cups in an ice cube tray to mold the shape. This way it is easier for me to hand out fudge pieces to a group of people.

Candied Watermelon Rind

It is watermelon time again. I don't like to throw away the thick rind so I looked online for a recipe using the rind and found one for cherry-flavored watermelon pickles. http://www.mysisterskitchenonline.com/2006/08/15/watermelon-picklesor-is-it-candy/ I used fresh beet juice for the red coloring as I had only 1/2 jar of maraschino cherries.

I tried it and liked the results so much I began trying other flavorings. I used cherry and rootbeer oil flavorings that I had on hand for candy making. I added a dusting of powdered ginger to the rootbeer batch. Don't use a lot of ginger unless you like it peppery. Now am experimenting with salty, hickory smoke(like bacon), and licorice using anise. This is just the beginning of my flavoring experiments.



Candied root beer-flavored rind

I decided I couldn't eat so many pickles so I am drying the candied rind. One person said she used the flavored rind in fruitcake which gave me the idea of drying. Now I have many flavored chunks drying on parchment paper on cookie sheets. I turn the chunks once or twice a day. One flavor is drying in the sun window and 2 more are drying in a cold oven. A dehydrator could be used instead. I live in the dry desert so have no problem with humidity.

I will try storing the dried candy in glass jars. Wonder if it will be sticky. May have to dust the chunks with cornstarch.

Hope you will try the cherry pickle recipe and enjoy it.

Mother's Day Flowers

The May project was designing these paper flowers for the tables at the local soup kitchen. Usually I make one large centerpiece for each table. This time I made 23 single flowers and put 3 on each table so that three people at a table could each take one home instead of just one person. After lunch there were no leftover flowers.

The blossom is made like the folded snowflake and creased for 3-D effect. I made the base like a box that is open on the bottom. The chenille stem pokes through the blossom center and is covered with a circle of the flower color. The leaves are cut on the fold and a small hole poked in fold center. Then the stem is pushed through the hole in the leaves, into base, and into second piece of cardboard inside the base so flower will be able to stand upright. I printed the words on sticker paper and cut them to fit the base which is made of marbled paper.

Several flowers without the bases could be used in a bouquet or put into a card.

Nailed for Me Cross Magnet

This Cross magnet was given out by me on Good Friday to 50 people eating at the local soup kitchen where I volunteer each week. I enjoy designing different things to take there each month.

I used the square nails(mason nails for masonry) that I was given by my cousin. She used them in a project for her church.

The design had to be printed several times before I had the right size to fit the nail and the words. I got 8 designs to fit on a page and then cut them apart. A small nail was used to start the holes. On the back of each nail I attached a round magnet using a piece of carpet tape. That tape is very sticky. This strong magnet holds the heavy nail. I got the set of 50 magnets at WalMart.

Paper Daffodils for Spring

For March I was inspired to make daffodils to brighten up the dining tables at the local soup kitchen. I love yellow daffodils and they look pretty in the green vases. I first made these paper flowers when I taught second grade and used them as an art project for the students.

It took a few tries to get the correct, center trumpet shape. I made flower heads for 3-4 days as 21 flowers were needed and then did the leaves and stems. The leaves and stems are folded lengthwise for stability. I put 3 flowers in each vase with about five leaves.

The vase is a lemon juice bottle. I have a supply because the empty bottles are too pretty to throw away. I removed the label of each bottle and cut the bottle into two pieces. The top half of the bottle has a circle shape of cardboard attached to bottom with glue. The edge of lower half of the bottle has been cut about 12 times to a depth of 1 inch or what ever will create a 3/4 inch diameter hole in center when the sections are bent inward to the center. The sections will overlap and stay in place. This way I get 2 vases out of one bottle. I think the Royal brand lemon juice bottle has the best shape.

After 2 weeks of use I gave each vase of daffodils to whomever wanted one.

Refinished Chest of drawers

I found this green chest of drawers at the local thrift shop and loved it. I got it home and found that 2 drawers needed gluing which I easily did. Then I discovered that each leg had a socket so I added casters that I had on hand. I love furniture on wheels.

As I sanded the green paint off an incised floral design emerged. I didn't have time to refinish chest so I painted it white and wiped it with a gold-beige glaze in keeping with the beige carpet.

Click on photo to see larger one.
This is the first piece of used furniture I have refinished and I want to do more.

New URL on Blogspot

My sewmuchfun blog is now live at my new URL:

http://gayleart.blogspot.com/