colors of spring in my pantry

We had a busy week.  After church in Sunday, DH filled my gas tank on the way home.  We parked and stayed home the rest of the day. S1 was picked up by a friend to spend the day at their house, and as they were coming into the house, K said it smelled like fuel by the van.  We went out, and there was gas puddling under the van.  So I was without my van and DH was with out his car for the week.  Oh yeah.  Great fun.  I was getting up to drive DH to work at 4 am.  So I was kind of dragging all week.  I did get a couple of things done after driving him to work, since there wasn't enough time to go back to bed before getting the kids up.

First, some potato bags.  I really only wanted to make 2.  But the there was so much of the batting, that I decided I did NOT want it around the house.  So I made 6.  I gave 2 to a friend that cooks for as many as we do.  Anything to simplify dinner prep.  And 2 more will go into the Christmas box.  I still have some scraps of the batting left, and I'm not sure if I should make some little ones to hold small potatoes or not.  They might be good to make for the bazaar in November. 

  I really love the cooking words fabric.  And I would have preferred unbleached muslin for the lining, but we didn't have any, and I was trying to NOT spend money!

The next thing was peppermint extract.  It isn't done yet, but in another week or so.  S2 had done a cub scout meeting where they were planting seeds, and peppermint was one of them.  It took a while to get big enough to do anything with, and this pretty much used up all the leaves on the plant.  But it's a good start. 

This is one of those "so easy, why do we buy it" kinds of things.  Cut leaves, whack with a hammer, and cover with bottom-shelf vodka.  Put in cool, dark place and shake once in awhile. When strong enough, we'll strain and bottle it. Never buy peppermint flavoring again!! 

The third thing I finished was a batch of berry-rhubarb jam. Blueberries, blackberries, marionberries, strawberries, and rhubarb.

The recipe was for Strawberry-Rhubarb, but I didn't have enough. And there were a bunch of containers of various berries in the freezer, so we just used them up.  DH said it was so good I had better write that one down.

Friday we picked up my van.  So life is back to normal.  Sort of.  We are hosting some college students for a church function this weekend, as well as helping a friend make her grandsons baptismal gown for the baptism this Sunday.  My goals include finishing another quilt, this one for D2, using the leftover backing to finish a few smaller projects, and maybe finishing my crochet bathmat.  The one knit 4 or 5 years ago is finally falling apart.  Although, with 6 people in the house, it probably gets above average wear and tear.  Oh, and I want to transplant my herbs.  Since we grew the peppermint from seed, we are trying thyme, oregano, and basil this year.  I had wanted to try bay, but I can't find seeds or plants ANYWHERE.