Spiced Cherries

These are a great garnish for dish presentation if you leave the stalks attached.





Ingredients

• 1 kg cherries
• 6 cups white vinegar
• 750 g sugar
• 12 cloves
• 1 tbsp peppercorns
• 2 cinnamon sticks

1. Clean the cherries. Discard any that are marked (eat them!).
2. Put the clean cherries into a large jar that has been warmed slightly.
3. Combine the vinegar, sugar, cloves, peppercorns and cinnamon sticks in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and allow to boil for 2 minutes.
4. Pour this hot vinegar mix over the cherries in the jar. Cover the fruit completely with the vinegar mix.
5. Cover the jar with a cloth and put somewhere out of the way for one week. During this time, the cherries are pickling.
6. Pour the vinegar off into a saucepan after one week. Bring it to boil and pour over the cherries again. Allow the contents to cool completely before sealing tightly. Store in a cool place or the refrigerator.

• Leave the pit in; provided you leave the stalk attached, it is obvious that the pit is still intact.

Photo courtesy of Bensonkua's Flickr Photostream. I am the original author of this article but it is placed elsewhere on the internet in tradition with my wish to spread the knowledge widely.

Repair Hair Damaged with Split Ends with Sunflower Oil

Sunflower oil is an excellent hair treatment. It can do wonders for healing split ends.




Ingredients

• 40ml/ 8 tbsp sunflower oil

Steps

1. Massage the sunflower oil into dry hair. Massage it right from the roots down to the tips of your hair.
2. Relax. Let the oil sit in your hair for 20 minutes. This is a good excuse to kick back and read a good novel somewhere comfortable. Just be sure to put a towel between your hair and any chair.
3. After 20 minutes have passed, massage through a quality, unscented shampoo. Again, massage right from the roots to the tips of your hair, aiming to cover every hair.
   
4. Hop into the shower and rinse the oil and shampoo out. Your hair will feel soft and lovely after this treatment.

Tips

• Repeat weekly until signs of improvement occur.

Photo courtesy of Chris de Curtis' Photostream.

Venetian Glass Beads - A Small Wonder

Venetian glass beads are wonderful - they have long been the height of elegance and beauty in glass beads. They are produced in Murano, Italy. Back in 1291, the ruling Doges were afraid of the potential for a fire in Venice, so they banned the fire kilns and furnaces used to make glass beads from Venice. The manufacturers moved to Murano but couldn't go anywhere else for centuries because the Doges wanted to keep their monopoly over the glassmaking. This strict monopoly lasted for centuries. However, in the late 1600s, rival glassworks were set up in other countries, in such centres as London, Amsterdam and Bohemia.

You are probably familiar with millefiori glass cane mosaic beads. Their name refers to it seeming as if each bead is decorated with a thousand small flowers. An old technique once used by Phonecians and Romans, the artisans in Murano redeveloped it for their glassworks and we still have it to this day!

Photo courtesy of Iris Dragon's Flickr photostream.

Using Natural Materials for Beading

A lot of people are enjoying bead craft in one form or another. Beads can be expensive to buy if we need a lot to sustain a hobby; or, they may be made of materials such as plastics which are not so great for the environment. The solution can be to make more use of natural materials for beading projects. Here are some suggestions.



Steps

1. Make your own clay beads. You can make beads really easily using clay. Shapes are really endless - circles, ovals, tubes, squares, diamonds and more. They can be used naturally once dried, or you can paint and/or glaze them.
2. Consider animal by-products. This won't be for everyone but it is a time-honoured tradition to use up all of an animal, including horns, hooves, hair, teeth and bone to make ornaments. Plus, you don't have to kill an animal to get some animal derived bead material. Consider horsehair rolled into a bead - if you own a horse, you'll easy find tail and mane hair stuck to fences, posts and stable areas etc. The seaside is crammed with shells, fish cartilages and bones and other washed up debris of animal origin. Antlers, horns and other items are often shed and found on the forest floor. All of these items can be turned into excellent beads.
3. Think plants. Seed pods can make wonderful beads, as well as other tree and plant seeds, nuts, gnarled wood knots and other hard plant pieces with interesting shapes. Pieces of fossilized plants can make excellent beads too; if you're lucky enough to find them and they aren't classified as protected.
4. Try minor gems. Those little treasure chests of tiny gems sold in museum and science discovery shops are not just for cluttering up the mantelpiece - these make great bead objects for beading.
5. Keep an eye out when walking in nature. You can be inspired by anything natural to make wonderful beadwork. Let your imagination help you choose.

Materials

• Natural beads
• Project patterns or plans
  

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Designing a Good Kitchen Layout

Kitchens have to be perfect; they are so vital to the smooth running of the whole house. They can either make or break your desire to cook. So getting it right when you renovate or build from scratch is absolutely essential. Here are some things to think about.

Steps

1. Look at your current kitchen. Think about what works and what doesn't. Keep this in mind the entire time you are planning. You will want to avoid what has driven you crazy and you will want to replicate those essential things that you couldn't imagine being without.
2. Think functional. Sure, a pretty design is important but above all, a kitchen must work and work well. Always put quality of functionality first; if you buy well, you'll get both functionality and beauty in one.
3. Always leave space for preparing food next to the cooking area. And make sure that the sink is also near both the cooking and the preparation areas.
4. Plan your cupboard and drawer space down to the last detail. Even before you build, you should know the purpose of each cupboard and drawer. That way, you won't be burdened with the wrong choices or miss out on having enough space. Don't skimp on drawer space - drawers in kitchens are like shoe rack space in bedrooms - you can never have too many.
   
5. Make space for rubbish disposal, recycling bins and food scraps. These are better out of sight and close to hand for ease of use.
6. Get good lighting. A well-lit kitchen is a dream to work in. A poorly lit one will be avoided and the fast food mentality might creep in...
7. Make a space for condiments and herbs and spices that are used regularly in cooking. These are best near the cooking space, to inspire and for ease of access.
8. Borrow ideas from restaurants, friends' houses, magazines, travel etc. to import into your kitchen design.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Drive to Preserve Australian Wildlife

Driving in Australia can be a hazard for you if you hit a roo. But mostly, it's a hazard for the wildlife that unwittingly venture out onto our roads. If you want to help keep the wildlife encounters right down, here are some ideas.




Steps

1. Be a defensive driver. This means being alert at all times and being ready for the unexpected. Know in advance if you are driving through an area of high wildlife; usually there will be signs alerting you and other clear indicators include bush, trees, grass on the verges etc. And droppings and other roadkill are also big indicators.
   
2. Keep your speed to allow for wildlife stopping distances. 90 kph is a recommended wildlife speed on open stretches of road; lower for curvy and blind corner roads. Much lower for nighttime driving.
   
3. Drive during the day in rural, outback, mountainous and wilderness areas. Most Australian native animals are active at night. If you do have to drive in these areas at between dusk and dawn, slow down! This is a time for careful driving rather than fast driving. Use all your headlights at night (front and side) and make sure that they are in good working order.
   
4. Take extra care during drought and prolonged dry seasons. Roadside vegetation becomes very attractive when all else has been munched out. More wildlife will be around during drier seasons.
   
5. Slow down when you see wildlife. As soon as you spot wildlife, slow right down. The animal doesn't know that you just intend to drive on through; it will be afraid and may react by running at you rather than from you. Give it wide berth and time to pass safely across the road or back to where it came from. Small toots as you slow right down can help discourage it from your car but only do this if no other cars are around or it could simply run in front of someone else's car.
6. Slow down around fresh roadkill. This is a danger sign that there might be birds hovering around and other wildlife that is either trying to eat the kill or there even could be a baby or family member hanging around.
7. Understand how Australian animals react when frightened. Unfortunately, they have their own style each:

• Kangaroos and wallabies - hop quickly, across a lot of ground and can bolt all of a sudden
• Wombats - they usually keep going in a straight line
• Possums - will often freeze
• Bandicoots - randomly hop about with no certain path
• Ferals - cats tend to run straight, horses can bolt and rear, pigs run straight or alongside etc.
  

Tips

• Use your horn to warn. If you think there might be animals, alert them of your presence by tooting as you pass through. This can be specially helpful for mountainous curves where animals can spring out across the road without warning as you turn corners. Also areas with long or thick vegetation can hide animals.
• Feed yourself and your rubbish bin, not the wildlife. Never throw food scraps out the window and don't leave food by the roadside. This is asking for wildlife to come too close.
• If you do hit wildlife, and it is safe to do so, pull it to the side of the road so that other animals do not become inadvertent victims while feeding of it. If possible, check for joeys etc. in pouches and rescue them if you can. It can be handy to keep a pair of thick gloves in the back of the car for such a task and a blanket to wrap any baby in.
• You can have warning devices fitted to your car; enquire about them at your local RSPCA, environmental organisations etc.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Make a Pumpkin Seed Necklace

Elizabeth Cullum in her delightful book A Cottage Herbal tells us how to make a pumpkin seed necklace. This is a great activity to share with youngsters, who enjoy finding the best pumpkin seeds and helping to make the necklace.





You'll need:

• Pumpkin seeds, washed and well dried (put out in the sun or dry in a very cool oven)
• Strong thread
• Needle

Steps

1. Make sure that the pumpkin seeds have dried completely.
2. Prepare your strong thread in the needle. Pull the thread through each pumpkin seed.
3. Tie a knot in the end. The length of the necklace is completely up to you.

Tips

• Elizabeth also suggests dyeing them if wished. She uses cold tea to soak the pumpkin seeds a mahogany colour. Hang the seeds to dry in the wind after dyeing.
• Pumpkin seeds can be replaced by melon or marrow seeds.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Quinoa Salad

Quinoa salad is delicious. Quinoa is very high in protein - a complete protein filled with essential amino acids - and it was a staple grain of the Incas. It tastes nutty and has a very enjoyable chewy texture.





Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked quinoa
• 1/2 cup cilantro/coriander, fresh and chopped
• 1/2 cup watercress
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions (spring onions/scallions)
• 1/2 cup lemon juice, fresh
• 1/4 cup olive oil (good quality)
• 1/2 tsp crushed garlic
• 1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
• 2 tomatoes, quartered
• 1 lemon, cut into 8 quarters

Steps

1. Mix the ingredients together, apart from the tomatoes and lemon.
2. Continue mixing until well blended.
3. Refrigerate for 3 hours in a glass bowl.
4. Remove the salad from the refrigerator. Garnish with the tomato wedges and lemon slices. Serve.

Materials

• Bowl (glass)
  
• Mixing spoon
• Fridge

Photo courtesy of Fran Ulloa's Flickr Photostream.

Tuscany Beans

Tuscany beans is a dish that is tasty and easy. It pretty much cooks itself and to complete it, all you need to add is a delicious green salad. It's a very healthy dish and not for the garlic feint-hearted.



Ingredients

• 500g / 1lb haricot beans, soaked in water overnight (cold water)
• salt
• 3 plump garlic cloves, chopped finely
• 5 sage leaves, fresh and finely chopped; can substitute 1/4 teaspoon dried sage
• 6 ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped (canned ones are fine)
• Black pepper, freshly ground
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Steps

1. Drain the haricot beans after soaking. Put into a saucepan and add a teaspoon of salt and enough cold water to cover. Bring to the boil and let simmer for 20 minutes.
2. Strain the beans. They will still be very firm. Keep the liquid in a large bowl.
3. Preheat the oven to 150ºC/300ºF.
4. Toss the beans, garlic, sage and tomatoes together. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Put the mixture into a casserole dish. Pack down soundly and pour over the olive oil.
6. Cover with a piece of greaseproof paper and then add the lid.
7. Bake in the oven just below the centre until the beans are soft. This will take about 5 - 6 hours.

* Serves 6

Materials

• Saucepan
• Strainer
• Large bowl
• Mixing spoon
• Casserole dish with lid
• Greaseproof paper

Photo courtesy of Eric Perrone's Flickr photostream.

On Selecting Beetroot

Beetroot is a fabulous winter vegetable that brings a vibrancy to salad and main meal dishes. Selecting quality beetroot is easy if your follow these steps.




Steps

1. Look for firm beetroot when buying. If it is soft, it is too old to have a good taste and texture.
2. Look at the leaves. If you are purchasing beetroot that has leaves (which is preferred), make sure that they are green and not wilted. Yellowed and wilted leaves are a sign that the beetroot has been around too long.
3. Select unblemished beetroot with firm roots. Damaged beetroot can be eaten but it will not store well. (Thoughtful Foods)
4. Prefer smaller beetroot over larger ones. They are usually sweeter. (Weight Watchers, All About Beetroot)

Tips

• Older beetroot tends to have lost its sugars, which turn to starch. This makes the beetroot texture turn "fluffy" and it is less palatable than when it is sweet and new.
• Fresh, unblemished beetroot will store for 10 days or so in a refrigerator crisper. (Taste, Beetroot) Remove the stalks and leaves and keep these in a separate bag (these can be eaten too).
• Beetroots can be eaten raw or cooked.

Materials

• Quality vegetable supplier

Taken from my post on wikiHow and Ethical Living. Photo courtesy of Zed.Cat's Flickr Photostream.