Part 3: Cottage Pantry potentials

This next Cottage Pantry addition tempted me with it's multitude of uses in addition to it's storing potential.

(Hibiscus sabdariffa) A valuable plant for making cranberry-flavored bright red beverages, jelly, pie and tea. Much grown in Asia and the mid-east as the flavor is wonderful. A tasty sauce can be made by boiling and sweetening the fleshy calyxes; the leaves are also used to make a drink. The entire plant of this Hibiscus is red and very beautiful. Start early, unless you live in the far-south. Citrus-flavored flowers are delicious on frozen deserts. This plant has too many uses to name here. Collected in Thailand.

This is the Thai red Roselle * offered by Baker Creek Heirlooms. I became rather intrigued with the thought of a new twist in our teas & summer drinks grown on our own vs. buying. Upon more research, discovering this plant has an amazing array of uses & potentials, I KNEW I had to share & of course grow it ourselves.It has a cranberry like taste, not sweet, but not overly tart and of course rich in Vitamin C as well as antioxidants. Although Wikipedia's source * shares a massive piece on it's uses & growth, let's delve into a few here. Between medicinal, fiber & blow your mind array of EDIBLES!

lets hop straight to dessert with a Hibiscus infused Lemon tart!

The mingling of lemon & hibiscus in a creamy light textured tart with this amazing flavor filled crisp crust won us over from first bite. Not too mention, a great way to incorporate some of that homemade Limoncello!

Maybe you prefer cheesecake? Then how about a  fat free  Oatmeal Cocoa Crusted Hibiscus Cheesecake! Topped with a Hibiscus Jam & syrup...

From Cafe Nilson with the cheesecake baking challenge. The recipe link is here*

Who knew you could make a great tasting JAM from Roselle Hibiscus? Wonder how it tastes with peanut butter... or even better Nutella! {We are planting hazelnut trees this spring due to the insane love our kids have for this expensive alternative to peanut butter}.

This is one useful flavoring flower! Everything from Hibiscus infused salt for Fin Tuna to Popsicles , a multitude of drink varieties, as well as ice cream and cookies.  I found over 60 recipes for Hibiscus at this link* {http://www.tastespotting.com/tag/hibiscus}

As for growing Red Roselle ,aka Hibiscus, one must take in mind it is not a northern acclimated plant. To grow in the north, we must start the seed indoors as early as January or February. Do not plant out until temps are staying at least 65-70 F degrees. When the temps are getting cold, well before that first frost, pot a few up * place under grow lights so you are able to let the smaller later blooms go to seed. Replenishing your supply for the next year. Mother Earth News has a very nice article for further reading on growing your Thai Red Roselle over at this link*.
For reading more on it's medicinal use as a tea for ailments such as high blood pressure, lowering of cholesterol & prevention of liver damage from acetaminophen, I direct you to yet another link* due to the mass of information.

Another use  I discovered which is non edible related, Hibiscus is also used as a Natural bright red dye for fabrics. I am experimenting this winter on natural plant derived dyes on cotton and hope to make my way to the art of hot Batik. I have so many plants & flowers we grow that are great for naturally dyeing fabric. I'm starting with Flour sack cotton towels to use as  a cover for my rising yeast breads. My SIL has an embroidery machine so I may send some off to her for putting a few Black silhouette roosters on the edges...

Who knew that the main ingredient in red zinger teas would be so versatile?! From drinks to desserts to condiment flavoring. Lots of potential packed into a plant that will also look outstanding with it's purple red hues against all that greenery in the garden.

Our next & last Cottage Pantry Potential is coming soon. Not as exotic or rare but often overlooked for the winter Pantry, being American diets have turned away from their "Roots"..

Sweetest dreams,

~Tammie

1/18/2012**I must add this to my post, when brewing the hibiscus, steep it in hard boiling water {take water off the stove once at hard boiling level then add the roselle} by itself for at least 10 minutes before adding any other tea ingredients. I have personally found that by doing this, the Roselle gives a much "deeper" berry taste before adding Rooibus to the tea pot. I also add a hefty tablespoon of Rose hips when I do the roselle hibiscus. The 2 make an excellent tea which the children & I agree it is much like a berry juice! Just a tad of sugar or honey for balance is all you will need. This has become a huge hit with our tea times and I find myself having to make a dash to the co-op for more Hibiscus now that the large Jar is almost bare. Not the average tea taste. Very fruity, Berry like. Sure to please almost any non tea drinker.

Part 2: Cottage Pantry Potentials

How any one person can say they do not like squash is beyond me. With hundreds of different varieties, there is bound to be at least one or two fitting to such picky taste buds. In this house, we prefer the more sweet potato varieties. Well... The captain does enjoy Spaghetti squash but I have yet to find one that is more "unique" from the grocery aisle variety. 

Today, we focus on an unfamiliar acorn squash I came across whilst dreaming of spring soil. I decided to go grow acorn squash this year being my Mother In Law is rather fond of them. I thought a new variety would be nice to share with her while also adding to the pantry storable choices.

This year, we've decided on Thelma Sanders Sweet potato squash.

Excerpt from SSE: "Family heirloom from Thelma Sanders in Adair County, Missouri. The seed was passed from neighbor Everett Pettit to Sue and Tom Knoche, Ohio squash collectors and two of SSE’s earliest members. Wonderful cream-colored acorn squash. Sweet chestnut flavor, enormously productive. Our favorite two-serving baking squash. 85-90 days."

Don't ya' just love edibles with a story? Hopefully seed companies will catch on & begin to give a bit of history lesson as well as basic description with each of their offerings. That would be nice.

 

photo by Seasonal Ontario Food

 This variety is said to be a VERY good pantry storing squash, according to abundant life seeds*." One of the longest storing winter squash we have grown." Impressive. Especially being Acorn Squash are said to not be more then an avg of 2 months in storage.

  Over at the SSE forum*, I found this very helpful advice on storing the Thelma Sanders by a member named  bcday:

"The hardness of the shell is the indicator. This is a winter squash and should have a hard shell like a pumpkin. It won't have its full flavor and it won't store well if it's harvested before it has matured with a very hard shell. I wouldn't use either the color or the stem as an indicator. In my NY climate we don't harvest winter squash until a few days before the first expected frost."

I am sure you can manage to grow winter squash without my input. Not that I do anything special for each kind of plant. Leaves, grass & compost on the whole thing. I know there is a section more sandy where root crops grow best. There is a section with more clay that is slowly working its way to more versatility by adding the compost and of course there is a spot rich & dark. No science class needed or top soil trucked in}. Just some Common sense.

So lets get to the Harvesting.

Do not cure acorn squash. The high temperature and relative humidity during the curing process actually reduce the quality and storage life.

As for WHERE to store them? I have heard of people placing a sheet under their bed, where the squash hang out until cooking time. Great idea for those with limited space. Others can make room in a garage or basement, using shelves from floor to ceiling. How about a shelf  2 feet below the ceiling all the way around the room? Up & out of the way, without taking up floor space.

My basement has a wall of closet like pantry shelves, built from the original owners sometime in the 1940's. Plenty of room for squash & jars. And one of the reasons I am in love with our little cottage.

Simple shelves like these from Farming for life* are all you would need:

 Rather soothing of a site. I am rather fond of such a basic set up, adorned with the winter edibles. Must be rather uplifting to venture down while the wind is howling & icicles hang from the gutters, to hold the many colors from your summer garden, untouched from their original form.

I did take note many people eat winter squash rather simply. Baking with a pat of butter. Some with the addition of simple seasonings  like pepper or cinnamon. They are far more versatile then such primitive forms. Majority of winter squash can be substituted for each other in any recipe you choose.

There is Gratin*, Savory Squash rolls*, Puree & mashed*. Heck, there's even a Squash cookie recipe* with addition of oatmeal!

Expand your Squash savoring with a new variety along with plenty of new recipes for your discernment this upcoming season. Go beyond the tomatoes and other canned goods. Think simple preserving. After all, taking a quote from my Son whom was talking to his father about why he didn't eat breakfast with 5 box's of cereal in the pantry :
" A man can only eat so many cheerios dad! That's all there is. Cheerios. Cheerios. Cheerios."

I gotta agree. The same old thing gets tiring real quick.

Sweet Garden Dreams,

~Tammie

My Pennant Pantry -- plus a couple cool things!

I had a terrible sinus infection last week, and got all hyped up on Sudafed. On Friday night at eleven-o-clock I thought it would be an awesome idea to rip my pantry apart and paint it. So that's what I did.

I'm not saying it didn't need it. It totally did!!

 

This floral shelf liner had been on the shelves since we moved in 8 years ago, and even then it wasn't my favorite. I told you I was a procrastinator - lol. 

I painted it my favorite color -- this bluish-green. And since it was midnight by the time I was ready to paint, I rummaged around and found this left over paint from my 

Beachy Bathroom Redo.

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Saturday I decided that it just needed something else. And you know there are so many great pantry makeovers out there. I love Shelley's at House of Smiths and Beth from the Stories of A to Z recently did a great pantry makeover too.

I decided to make some pennants on my Silhouette. I started experimenting and discovered that there were a set of three downloadable pennants at the Silhouette Online Store and for .99 cents, that was so much easier than trying to design my own!

So I printed them off and had a fantastic time adding a little whimsy to a part of my house that we use more than anything else!  

And at the top of the pantry I hung a real pennant. 

I just love it!!

{And another great thing about vinyl is you can peel it right off when you are ready to change things up again}  

I had a hard time getting the lighting right since it's a pantry and pretty dark. I almost went a little crazy and wanted to hang a chandelier in there, but ultimately I thought that would be going a little too far for a pantry. But, who knows -- maybe I still will. A very small chandelier!

 I couldn't find any shelf liner that I liked. Then I remembered that I had bought some patterned felt placemats on sale at TJ Maxx last year -- so I used those on the shelves. It's lucky that I bought four sets. I guess it was fate - lol. And, I had some empty silver containers that I had bought for my office and never used. Perfect!

I also printed some vinyl labels off for some canisters I found at Ikea.

 It was great to organize all of our food. I had some wire baskets that I had bought for my Laundry Room Redo and never used, so I brought those out. 

 And then on a trip to Ikea on Saturday, I found some round gift tags. I brought them home and sprayed them with some Chalkboard Spray Paint to make little tags. I'm still loving those Chalkboard pens. If you don't have those -- put them on your Christmas list! You can find them at Michaels.

I added a few pennants to the front of the pantry door too. And I printed off a Thankful list so my kids can think about what makes them thankful every day. {And yes, I used to have a darling knob, but it fell off and broke - so now I am back to the beautiful gold fixture. I need to spray paint that!}

Another thing that I love is the over-the-door organizer that I bought. It is a great place to keep things that get a lot of use, like salt and pepper shakers and big spice containers. It frees up much needed shelf space. 

 I am really excited to have a place to keep extra serving pieces and glass water pitchers. 

And I even found a spot for my Silverware Wreath!! 

So there you have it -- my weekend Sudafed project! 

I have a bunch of tutorials that I am so excited to share. I am going to sneak them in this week, along with the other fun stuff that I will be sharing.

And speaking of sharing, I am guest posting a Burlap Scrabble Thanksgiving Wreath on a super fun blog -- Living Locurto! 

If you aren't familiar with Amy's blog -- come over and check it out! 

Amy has so many great ideas and tons of amazing printables on her blog and in her shop: 

{Damask Party Wheels}

{Christmas Tags}

{Owl Party}

And, I'm having a giveaway over on my Tatertots & Jello Facebook page!! 

Check out TWIG -- an awesome shop I found a couple weeks ago!! 

It's run by the cutest couple -- Michelle and Steve.

 They make really cool, modern gifts. 

Come over and see what they are giving away!

XOXO

I'm linking up to these fabulous parties  - check them out!!

 

  

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