It’s another very cold Saturday – a little bit of a snowed in kind of day. It’s windy and too cold to play outside. We are all hoping perhaps this is the last winter blast, but we shall see. This frigid weather does make the perfect day to work on a few indoor small and easy projects for the house.
I made a huge pot of quinoa beef stew in preparation for guests that we will have in the next few days, which will also double as tonight’s dinner. It smells so good simmering on the back of the cookstove. We are running very low on our beef (which we purchase in the fall from a farmer) so a stew is a great way to spread the meat further for a few meals.
I also made some spelt buns and bread for dinner.
The girls helped me scrub the grout on the kitchen floor tile (a time consuming job), we washed all the bedding for the bigger girls and dried it by the woodstove, along with a second load of regular every day laundry. The girls cleaned up under their beds (a collecting spot for junk, if not monitored) and I scrubbed down our bathroom. We also did our regular Saturday chores, which usually is a cleaning of the house from top to bottom.
Lucia and Lovelyn made oatmeal jam bars, which the girls are snacking on while they work on an art dvd which our good friend gave to us.
After our regular chores were finished, I decided to make some almond extract. My mother recently gave me some extra alcohol she had in her cupboard, which was to be used for making our tinctures. I’m waiting for my vanilla beans to arrive in the mail (which will be used for vanilla extract), so in the meantime, I thought it would be a good idea to make a small batch of almond extract.
It It is so easy and simple to make. All you need to do is put your almonds in a jar and cover with vodka! I chopped mine up a bit but I am sure it is not required.
Once your almonds are covered with the alcohol (which extracts the almond flavor), place your jar in a dark cupboard to allow it to six for six weeks or so. After that time, it is ready! So simple and easy, right?
What home projects do you like to do a cold, snowed in Saturday?
by Gigi
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