Tea Tin Herb Garden

How to make a Tea Tin Herb Garden

The Tins 

I have been meaning to make this herb garden for a while, but when the temperature dropped, I realized this was my chance (more on that later).

I used to live near the Harney and Sons tea factory.  They have the cutest little shop in Millerton, NY.  Over the two years I lived there I collected a bunch of the tins as various gifts.  I held onto these four because the tins are so pretty.

Unfortunately, I have not drunk much of the teas (I drink loose tea and mostly decafinated).

The tea is great, and these tea bags are so cute.  But I had no need for them.  I just wanted the tins, so the tea went in some plastic bags with the tops to identify them.  Down to the basement they go.

Importance of Drainage 

To make planters out of anything, you have to provide drainage (you don't want to drown your herbs).  The easiest way to make holes in a tea tin is to use a nail and a hammer.  Just puncture the  bottom of the tins.

I put holes in all four tins.

Again to help with the drainage, add rocks.

Add Herbs

Now, all I have to do is add herbs.  Here is where I get back to the season changing subject I alluded to in the beginning.

You see, I made this back porch potted herb garden in the spring (and the spring before).  In the fall, now, with the frost, the herbs usually die.  Instead of just letting the herbs go this fall I decided to transfer them to my kitchen window.  That way I will have herbs all winter long.

Here comes the tough part.  To get my herbs from that large pot on my deck to the small tea tins I have to be brutal.  As my father taught me, you have to break up the roots so they grow into the new container.  When the container is larger, this is very important.  In this case, I just have to make the root system a bit smaller.  For the thyme above I actually had to cut down the plant.  It had grown a lot this summer.

Insert plant, with a smaller root system and some air around it, into the tea tin.  Be sure to have some dirt in the base for the roots to hold on to.  Fill in around the roots with more potting soil.  Pat down, and don't forget to water.

Repeat for all four tea tins (or however many tins you have).

Cork Labels

I added cork labels in case I forgot which herb was which (but really, for other people because I can identify most common herbs).

All Done

Keepin' it Real 

Now, just to keep it real, you can't really just leave the tins on your windowsill because the holes you made will drip water all over the place when you water your herbs.

By the way, I suggest you water the herbs only as needed.  I learned early on that you can kill your plants with too much water, just as easily as too little.  The best way to take care of your plants is to only water them when the soil feels dry.  Just stick your finger under the soil an inch or so and check once in a while to know.

The plan is to get a nice white dish to hold all four tins, but the dish I had in the house was too small (boo hoo). So I put three tins in one dish, and used a smaller dish for the last tin.  My windowsill actually looks like this (above).    Still not bad.  I will have to keep an eye out for a longer white tray (trip to HomeGoods here I come).

In case you have not noticed, I am trying to make my images more Pinterest friendly.  Please, if you like what you see, PIN IT.  I'm trying to get more traffic to my blog.   

The mint, thyme, and rosemary are fine, but the basil might need to be transplanted soon.  I'll just have to wait and see.  At least I have rescued my herbs from the frost for the foreseeable future.

How are you with herbs?  They are not easy to grow indoors.  Hubby and I have killed our fair share.

Home Baked Bread

My First Real Loaf

My friend came over and we had a cooking fest!  We made soup, stew and two loaves of bread.  Today I will try to teach you how to make your own bread.

In the words of my friend ... "Bread is really not that hard."  I have heard that before, but in this case it really was pretty easy.

Now my friend, Elizabeth, has a blog of her own and has written up all the instructions there (follow the links to read it and other great posts), but I took a bunch of pictures, and I don't know about you, but for me, pictures really help.  Elizabeth encouraged me to write this, so I'm not worried about that either.

So here is my rendition of Elizabeth's bread recipe.   

Utensils

Before you start be aware that with bread making you can't use metal (except for the cookie sheets).  You want all your bowls, spoons, measuring cups and such to be NOT metal.  (I did use a metal measuring spoon for the olive oil, I guess you just don't want metal to touch your yeast mixture)

You will need a bowl to mix the dough, and another shallower bowl, coated in olive oil, to rise the dough.

Sourdough Starter 

Elizabeth arrived with the sourdough started that she had made the night before.  Here's what she did.  

2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups tepid water (meaning not cold, but not warm)
1 teaspoon yeast

Let it sit at room temperature or 80°F (Elizabeth keeps her starter in the bread machine at 80°, so I guess that works).  For the rest of us we can just let it sit out or keep in the fridge if you are keeping it for a couple of days.  Keep the starter in an open container (not air tight) that is big enough to have the yeast double in size.  If you want to keep it for a couple of days all you have to do is feed it (like a puppy, hehe).  Elizabeth recommends adding two tablespoons of new flour and a teaspoon of sugar every forty eight hours.  From everything I have read yeast feeds on sugar so this makes sense.  

Sourdough Bread "Recipe"

Because bread is so funny I think it is better for me not to give you a traditional "recipe" but to just give you guidelines and rough estimates.  The element you want to focus on is the consistency of the dough not the amounts of ingredients.  As Elizabeth told me bread is different in every house, in every kitchen, and at different times of the year (I see this with pie dough too).  So read the descriptions, look at the pictures and take the measurements with a grain of salt (hehe, pun intended).  

Activate Yeast Starter

Before you start baking you want to get the yeast going again, you should add two tablespoons of flour and a teaspoon of sugar to the starter and let it rise for about half an hour.  My friend had to drive over and she put the starter under the heat on high to get it ready.

The starter looked like this when Elizabeth got to my house.  This is enough for two loaves.  

Mix one cup of the starter with one cup of tepid water, a table spoon of oil and a teaspoon of salt.(Elizabeth's blog notes that you can use any sort of oil or shortening, or even butter.  I noticed she never uses butter, I think it is an Italian thing.  I like olive oil best, but might play around with it.)

Your dough will look like this.

Add two cups of flour.  We used half white and half whole wheat.  

Because the dough was too wet we added another cup of white flour.  (That makes it two cups of white flour and one cup of whole wheat.  Remember not to rely on measurements...this is an example of that) You want the dough to be pretty dry.  

Then poor out the dough on a wood surface and gather dough to incorporate.  

It is not pretty, but once you kneed it and let it rise your bread will look better.  

Elizabeth's dough looked like this.  She said you want to be sure everything is incorporated and there are no seams.  

Then put in an oiled bowl.  

Cover your dough with a clean cotton cloth and let it rise for about two hours.  My house was a little chilly today so we tried putting the dough in a low oven, it got a little too hot.  I might not try that again, or at least keep it in the oven for less time.  The bread turned out fine, but if I'm cooking on a winter day I can just put it near the heater (or in the sun in the summer).  

Coffee Break

We took some time to make an espresso-like drink.  I don't remember the Italian name, but it was a double shot of espresso with a touch of steamed milk and a little foam.  It was yummy.  

Back to the Bread 

After the bread has risen it should look like this:

Because of the oven debacle, we had a little stickage (that's word, I swear) to the bowl.  I was busy making soup and Tagine, so Elizabeth put the dough onto a flowered wood cutting board and kneaded it "just to get out the air" as she put it.  

You will want to kneed the dough for a few minutes.  Our dough was still very wet, so we added a little more flour until it was a drier consistency and did not stick to the board.  Then you want to roll the dough into a long shape with a small seam that is not too defined.  As Elizabeth put it "you don't really want a seam."  

The bread (I'm calling it bread now, wow.  I wonder where the line is between bread and dough?), should look like this.  

Take a clean knife and cut three lines in the top.  I'm not sure what this is about, but since Elizabeth said to do it, I will (hehe). 

Put the bread (I almost wrote dough, sheesh), on your oil lined backing sheets (mine are so embarrassing, I just can't get them clean, no matter how many cleaning-baking-sheet-tips I pin).  Cover with the same cotton cloth, and let rise one more hour in a warm spot (the oven was cool enough that we put them back in there).  

After the bread has risen one more time you will see that the cuts in the bread looks much better and a little more bread-like.  

Pretty On Top

To add a nice topping you have to make some sort of binding agent.  This is really cool, so keep reading.  You take about three tablespoons of water in a little pot, and a teaspoon and a half of cornstarch.  Heat the water and cornstarch mixture over a low heat and whisk or mix with a fork until it forms a thick paste.  Brush the paste onto the bread with a pastry brush and sprinkle your topping.  We used quick oats because that's all I had.  I would love to use sunflower seeds, yum.  

Looks good already, but now you have to bake it.  

Bake the Bread 

Bake the bread in a preheated oven at 450°F for ten minutes, and then turn down the heat and bake for twenty minutes more at 350°F.  When the bread is cooked and a good golden color it is done.  

Done

Cool the bread on a rack.  I had to try a piece while it was still warm.  It was so good.  

I put butter on the bread and it was so delicious that I had to stop myself from eating the whole loaf (I still want to eat more bread right now, as I write this.  My mouth is, literally, watering).  I really have to try this bread the way Elizabeth likes it, with salt and olive oil (see no butter).  

I know it looks complicated, but really it is harder to write the recipe than actually make it.  Part of me wants to eat this whole loaf so I can make another one.  I can't wait until I am good enough at this to try and play with the recipe.  One hundred percent whole wheat?  Maybe with some flax seeds?  Maybe even an olive loaf or herbs?  I can't wait to try.

Ok, now you have to tell me what you think.  Do you bake bread?  Do you want to try it?  (You should try it, it is so good)  What is your take on the whole "home baked bread" thing?

The Waltz and Ballroom Dancing Classes

Two years ago Hubby gave me the gift of a "coupon" for a class that we could take together.  All I had to do was decided what I wanted to take and find a class.  Well, two years latter I finally found the right class at the right time.  Ballroom Dancing and the Waltz.

When we were first dating we took swing dance lessons and really enjoyed them.  They have weekly swing jams in our area and we used to go all the time.  Now we wanted to branch out a little.  So tonight was our first Waltz class.

It was so fun.  It only took me about 40 minutes to realize that the basic waltz step is the same waltz step I learned in ballet class as a child.  It is just done with a partner now.

I like to think we look like this:

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But in reality I think we look more like this:

Maybe by the end of the five weeks we will at least be able to hold our own at a wedding.

I'm really excited about our class.  It is a chance for Hubby and I to reconnect and have some fun.  Our Fridays are pretty simple.  We meet after Hubby's work and go to the gym together.  We have taken to running on the elliptical (or do you call it gliding?) and talking about our respective days.  Then we do some weights and call it quits.  After a quick shower and a little freshening up we head out for a quick dinner.  The night ends with our dance class.

The instructor wants us to take the other class they teach, Swing and ChaCha, but I'm not sure if that is too much for Hubby after a long day at work.  Maybe we will save that for next semester.

Other classes I thought about over the past two years were cooking lessons, and perhaps French.  I'm not good with languages because I have a terrible memory, but I do want to have some french under my belt next time I take a trip to France (some time in the distant future...we have other priorities right now).  
 
If you could take a class with your significant other what would it be?

How to Make Your Jeans Like New Again

A week ago, I wanted to buy some new jeans, but now I have too many jeans to fit in my drawers!!!  I didn't buy a single pair.  Instead I just stitched up and dyed my old jeans to look like new.  I'm so happy I don't have to go to a million stores to find new jeans that fit right.

Repair Small Rips

First, I had to stitch up some of the little rips that were beginning in the crotch area.  I don't know why but I never wear out the knees of my jeans, instead I get rips by the zipper.  So this is what I did.  

It is hard to see in this shot, but the fabric was ripping right below the zipper.  I took my tip from some recycled jeans I saw in a Levi store back in the 90's.  They stitched over the holes in old jeans with the zig-zag setting on a sewing machine and blue thread.  Really there is no rhyme or reason to the technique, I just kept going back and forth with my zig-zag stitch until the rip was repaired.  Easy as that.  

It may not be too pretty, but after I dyed the jeans and put them on, the thread virtually disappeared!     

Dye Your Jeans

The best way to bring life back to an old pair of jeans is to get that nice dark color back (and it is slimming, yay!)  So I bought two boxes of Denim colored Rit and went to town.  

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The powdered stuff is fine.  Just don't leave some powder in the package and accidentally shower it all over your bathroom (I'm not saying this happened to me, hehe.  My bathroom was covered with a fine sprinkling of blue powder that still has not come out of the toilet seat.  Just sayin'.).  I used two boxes of powder for three pairs of jeans.  I also used two buckets I picked up at Lowes.  

The directions are on the box.  It is pretty simple.  Just wet your jeans and mix the powder with hot water in a bucket.  You can dye clothes in the washing machine too, but mine is a front loader and I'm afraid I will mess up the new washer.  

The worst part is that you have to rinse out your jeans under warm to gradually cooler water.  You rinse until the water from the jeans run clear.  Don't be fooled.  I never got the water totally clear, but it did get better.  

Be sure to use gloves for the rinsing step because this stuff stains.  Don't worry, the dye come out of the tub quite easily.  

To dry my jeans I simply threw them in the washer for one last rinse/spin cycle and then the dryer.  I have worn and washed the jeans since, and the color has not come out, although I would suggest you wash your jeans in cold water and with other darks.  (My white towel got a slight bluish tinge, nothing I can't fix with some bleach and really hot water.)  

Now I have three new pairs of jeans that I am not ashamed to be seen in public wearing.  They look good, and I didn't have to spend more than the $5 it cost for some dye.  Not bad.  

Let me know if you are inspired to dye anything.  The possibilities are endless.  I'm so excited to be wearing jeans again after a summer of so much heat.  Jeans and scarves here I come!  What do you look forward to now that it is fall?  

Staged China Cabinet

After six months to get this China Cabinet (or Breakfront as some call it)  I finally put my favorite crockery to display.  I actually love this piece so much.  The detail work on the doors is amazing and the wood is in such good condition.  I wanted a white China Cabinet but I got this one and I'm happy with it.  In fact, I love it.

When I found this cabinet I was with my step-mother.  She took me shopping at some antique shop in nearby Saugerties.  We found this one and I loved it.  So she bought it for me and paid for the delivery.  But every time they said they were going to deliver the piece they called and canceled.  The guy had one excuse after another.  Finally I decided I just din't want to wait any longer.  I called and canceled the order, asking for my money back.  Three months later, I still did not have my money.  Finally, the guy told me he just didn't have the money to give back to me.  So I kept the China Cabinet and he delivered it two days later.

Six months later I still had not staged the cabinet. Yesterday, I did the deed.  I got everything I wanted and set it all up.  I have to say I'm quite happy with the result.

This is how my China cabinet looked for the last six months.  Not very exciting or impressive I know.  I went through so much to get it, and then just abandoned my poor baby.  I'm a bad China-Cabinet-mother.

I opened it up and changed it all around.

Of course, Rhea had to climb into the China Cabinet and see what it was all about.  I have decided I can never have open shelving because Rhea would climb up and sit on my dishes.  Oh well.

The one piece I get to display is my prized Tea Set that my mother gave to me for a wedding present.

Apparently, this is the same china service that the Queen of England uses.  Not the same design, but the same maker.  I love this set so much.  I have begun quite a big collection of tea pots.  I have four.  Still, I love them all and they all have meaning to me.

My tea pot looks so nice.  I just wish I had some tea cups to go with them (Hubby: hint, hint). 

The China cabinet can be locked and came with an amazing key.  I put it in the bread tray.

I staged my New Cabinets too.  I will save that for another post (read: I have not taken any photos of it yet).

Here is the China Cabinet one last time.  My friend said it looked great so I guess it is.  I'm happy.  (and Mom, if you are reading do you see the other china you gave me?)

Ok I know all us crafters are all about painting furniture, but what do you think about the wood, and the color?  It matches a lot of the other wood in the house.  I just can't paint such a great piece.  Would you?

New Kitchen Cabinets

I must be the luckiest girl in the world.  

This is the before: 

I must say, the after is so much better.  Here it is again just because I love it so much.  

Back in January of 2010 I wrote a post called A Girl (and Boy) Can Dream.  Over a year and a half ago hubby and I dreamed of new cabinets on the wall that was not being used well.  

We designed this mock up at Lowes.  We went and had the cabinets priced out and found that they were way out of our price range.  We just could not afford the expense.  

Well, nothing has changed much in the last year and a half, but we did some research and found that with Ikea shelves and if we did all the work ourselves we could just afford it.  After six hours at Ikea (they made us wait for about two hours to get some help with the ordering process) we had them ordered and ready to go.  Then we had to wait for the delivery.  Six weeks later hubby and my father-in-law installed the cabinets.  

I must say, it was not easy.  

First we had this mess of the delivery to live with.  

Some of the boxes even spilled into the living room and office.  

We spent the week between when the cabinets were installed, and when my father-in-law could come up, to to build the frames.  After we built the cabinets we had even more stuff everywhere.  

We boxed in our desks with all the upper and lower cabinets but we saved a lot of time having them ready.  

I also had to clean out the old pantry shelves.  What a mess.  It was not fun.  

We moved the shelves to the basement.  

I had to mop the floor three times.  

I threw away a ton of old food that passes its expiration date, and even more never uncooked dried beans.  

The whole house was a mess for about a week.  No guests allowed.  

When we finally got to the cabinet built I was so happy.  I could not wait to put all the food away in the new pantry.  

We had a lot of trouble with hanging the cabinets because the ceiling of my house is crooked (shhhh, don't tell).  In the end we hung the cabinets crooked as well.  Unless you compare the cabinets to the refrigerator, you really can't tell.  

Then we had a problem with the bolts that hung the last cabinet.  Somehow the bolts went missing.  We will never know if Ikea did not include them or if hubby threw them out when he was unpacking the boxes.  

In the end, we had to drive all the way to Kingston to get something that would work.  Then the trim had to go up.  

In the end, everything worked out.  We got the cabinets hung, trim installed, and all the work done.  

Let me leave you with one last "after."  I just love looking at it.

Now we need a counter top and we will be all set.  Any suggestions?  Hubby and I like wood, but we might see about something synthetic as well.  What is your favorite counter?