a little building over the break

Spring break is over and we're back in our normal routines.  Our break was a "stay-cation" this year, but was far from boring.  The week began with lots of snow on the ground but with the unseasonably warm weather, it was soon gone, leaving plenty of mud in its place.

We spent tons of time outside playing, working in the yard, and hanging laundry (me, that is).  We visited a park, had a bonfire, and I finally got around to some home projects I've been wanting to make time for, but hadn't.

First up were some new chicken feeders, inspired by a primitive piece I had fallen in love with online.  I made mine out of some leftover planks of cedar, and added a handle to the top for carrying.  Over time it will earn its own patina, which is what I loved so much about the primitive piece.

The girls seem to dig them, and it makes feeding time much more orderly.  The slats across the top keep them from walking in their food.  (because they do that)

Also on my to-do list was an elevated holder for Charlie's food and water dishes.  I used up the end cuts and leftover pieces of board from building the chicken feeders, and a few boards pulled from an old pallet to make this.  It's nothing to look at, but it suits the purpose fine.

All in all, it was a really nice break.  I do love to tinker.

This week I'll be focusing a bit more and hope to have some new craftiness to show you soon.

Have a great start to the week, everyone.

grinding garlic

When it comes to food I'm a hands-on kind of girl.  I bake my own bread, dry my own tomatoes, and make my own cheese from time to time.   We brew our own beer and ferment our own sauerkraut so I find it odd then that I never once thought about making kitchen staples like garlic powder. 

I was running low on garlic powder and as I was writing it on my grocery list I suddenly wondered if I could make my own.  The answer was yes, and the process was really simple, to boot.

I picked up a few heads of good garlic at the store, peeled and sliced them, and put them in the deydrator on low until they were dried to a crisp.  (a full day and a half)

I ground them up with my mortar and pestle until I had powder and that was it.  Now, it did take some time to process all of that garlic, and 5 heads only gave me about 2/3 cup so the question for me naturally, is "is it worth the effort?"  I stuck my finger in a bit of the store bought garlic powder and tasted it.  It was vaguely garlicky.  I stuck my finger in the homemade and tasted it.  Whooo!  It definitely had some kick.

A little will go a long way with this, and it comes with no extra packaging, which I appreciate.  The overall cost was about the same as store bought too.  I can couple it with some finely ground salt when a recipe calls for garlic salt.  I'm glad I tried it.

Do you have any pantry staples that you make?  Have any good tips for me?