Posts Tagged ‘ gifts ’

Last Minute Handmade Gift Ideas

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Last Minute Handmade Gift Ideas

One more week! One more week til Christmas! And you still don’t know what you’re going to take to your office mates or Great Aunt Sally. Not to worry. You can pull most of these gifts together in under an hour. From the Kitchen: This berry sauce can be made from frozen berries and comes together in a hurry. If you have a few days, throw together a batch of homemade grainy mustard. It takes five minutes to make, but you’ll need to let it sit for a few days before it’s ready to give. Got citrus? A bottle of tangerine syrup would be a novel gift for a foodie. Put a little chocolate under the tree with a plate of homemade fudge or a batch of peppermint bark. From the Heart: Stitch up a set of mini bags for buying spices in bulk. Or follow the same directions and make larger bags for produce shopping. A ‘Make Your Own Laundry Soap‘ kit? Brilliant! Gather the ingredients (I’ve used Frugal Kiwi’s laundry soap recipe) into a pretty basket (I’d make mine sans plastic wrap). Years (and I mean years) ago, I made what became known as ‘rice babies’ for...

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How to Make a Bow

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How to Make a Bow

Everybody has one obscure skill, don’t they? Mine is the art of making a bow. Not the bend at the waist, thank-you-very-much kind of bow, but rather the twisting and tying of ribbon into a lovely package decoration kind of bow. This skill comes to me courtesy of a very short stint working in a florist shop for the absolute worst people in the world. Mean people, selling flowers. There’s something seriously wrong with that picture. But, I digress. I did walk away from the situation with a skill that has served me well over the years. It’s easy to make a bow, though it does take a bit of practice to get all your fingers working in conjunction with each other. Start by cutting a length of ribbon long enough to go around your package, plus about 12″ to work with. Set this length of ribbon aside until you’re ready to tie the bow. Now. (Click through for photos and step by step directions.)

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Tangerine Syrup

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Tangerine Syrup

December means citrus around here – lots and lots of citrus. Two of my neighbors have trees that they can’t keep up with, so we’re eating tangerines and oranges hand over fist. When I ran across a recipe for tangerine syrup over on the hip girl’s guide to homemaking, I wondered if it was something we’d use. (I’m famous for going all gung-ho and canning a bunch of stuff that seems like a good idea, but in retrospect is just not something my family will eat – hello, mint jelly!) The list of possible uses that the hip girl included with her recipe sold me. Add it to sparkling water for a citrus-y soda! Make a marinade! Sweeten granola! How could I not try it? The recipe was really very simple and easy to do. Since this was the only canning project I had going on, I processed the small jars in my stock pot, rather than heating up my big canner. The cute little jar you see up above was not processed; it will go into the fridge for my neighbor. Hip girl suggests using 3 cups of tangerine juice, or up to 4-5 cups juice for a...

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Best Fudge Evah!

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I have the best recipe in the world for fudge. Seriously. You know those fudge booths at the fair where they charge one million dollars for a half pound? Hubby insists on breaking our bank every time he has the opportunity, then proceeds to say, “yours is better.” My kids concur. I was gifted with the recipe eons ago, and now in the holiday spirit, I share with you. This makes about five pounds of fudge, so plenty to share and still have some left over for yourself. Andrea’s Fudge 3 Cups semi sweet chocolate chips 1 Cup butter 4-1/2 Cups sugar 1- 7 oz.  jar marshmallow cream (Avoiding high fructose corn syrup? Check out my hfcs-free marshmallow success!) 1 -12 oz. can evaporated milk 2 Tblsp. vanilla 1-2 Cups chopped nuts Put chocolate chips, butter, and marshmallow cream in a large bowl. Set aside. In heavy dutch oven, bring milk and sugar to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until mixture comes to a full rolling boil. Continue stirring frequently for exactly 8 minutes. Pour hot mixture over ingredients in bowl. Stir until well mixed, then beat with an electric mixer until fudge begins to hold its...

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A More Sustainable Mother’s Day

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A More Sustainable Mother’s Day

How about a dozen red roses to celebrate your mom for Mother’s Day? Or not. Instead of giving mom a bouquet of roses that have likely been trucked in from a distance and grown with chemical pesticides and fertilizers, seek out locally grown flowers (try your farmers market!) or buy her a plant that she can add to her garden for a long lasting reminder of your love. And for goodness sake, don’t buy flowers that have been bundled up in plastic.

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Welcome

It’s one thing to think, “Hey, I’d love to be more self-sufficient!” and quite another to implement a lifestyle change that might require learning some new skills.

Attainable Sustainable is about bridging the gap between wanting change and making it happen without becoming overwhelmed. Nobody’s saying you have to go get a tractor and a cow. Attainable Sustainable is about discovering – one step at a time – how to make changes in your life to support a sustainable lifestyle.

The Author

Kris Bordessa has been gardening for most of her life. She's been authoring books and writing features for the past ten years or so. It's about time she combined the two, don't you think? [More about the author]