Mini Pies

When you take a brown bag lunch to work multiple days a week, you're bound to eventually come up with some creative, frightening, and even desperate concoctions. This is one of the more edible ones that I came up it. It makes a nice after lunch dessert, and sort of breaks up the monotony.

Ingredients:
Rolled Piecrust
Fruit for pie filling
Honey
Oatmeal
Brown sugar (optional)

It is easiest to make several of these pies at the same time. Start with a rolled piecrust. They’re usually found in the freezer section and are very flexible. Cut the piecrust into 4×6 inch strips. Take your fruit of choice; apples, strawberries, pears, and blueberries all make great mini pie fillings. Chop or mash the fruit, then test the tartness. If the fruit is too tart, add a little brown sugar to sweeten it.

Spread the mashed fruit onto the pie filling. Carefully wrap the edges of the piecrust over the filling, completely encasing it. Pinch the edges to keep them in place.

Using a basting brush, spread honey on all sides of the mini pie. Then roll the honey-coated crust in the oatmeal. It will give a pleasant crunch to the finished pie.

Stick the pie in the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees. The piecrust should be a nice golden brown when it is done. The fruit inside will have melted down a bit, forming an almost jam-like interior. These pies are best fresh, but will last for several days, and no refrigeration is needed.

Clamshell Tealights

These little candles will burn brightly for 10-20 minutes.

You will need:
Empty clamshells halves
Beeswax or another type of wax
Double boiler or two pans
Wicking
Newspaper

To begin, cover your work area with newspapers, as this is a messy craft. Soak the clamshells in warm water, then vigorously scrub them out to remove any clam residue. When the shells have dried, place them on a flat surface to see how well they set. Most of them will lean forward a bit, but try to use the flattest shells as they will hold more wax.

I always use beeswax for these candles as it is the longest burning and it is easy to wick once it begins to cool. However, other waxes can be substituted for beeswax.

Melt beeswax in a double boiler. If you don’t have a double boiler, this can be easily done by placing a pan of water beneath the pan with the wax. Melting wax this way is a safety method, as it keeps the heat from directly hitting the wax. Beeswax is highly flammable so do not leave it unattended even for a minute. If it begins to smoke, remove the pan from the heat immediately.

It is best to melt the wax on a low temperature. It may take a bit longer, but it also reduces the risk of wax fires. Do not cover the wax when melting it, but keep a lid handy in case the wax does catch fire. The lid can be used to quickly smother the flames.

Once the wax has completely melted, remove it from the burner and let it cool for 1.5 minutes. If you wish to add color, now is the time to do so. You can also add scent after the color, but it is usually not necessary with beeswax as it bears a natural honey scent.

Measure a length of wicking 1 inch for each shell candle you have. i.e. 12 candles is a 12 inch wick. Dip the wick into the wax, completely covering it, then set aside and let it cool.

Fill each clamshell to the brim with beeswax, taking care not to overflow it. While the beeswax is cooling, cut the wax covered wicking into 1 inch sections.

When beeswax cools, the bottom and the sides are the first to harden. Watch the shells carefully and when the wax at the edges has hardened about 2 millimeters from the edge, place a piece of one-inch wick into the liquid center. Let go and the wick should stand on its own. Repeat with the remaining shell candles.

After 4 hours, the candles should be cooled completely. At that point, they can be lit or saved for another special occasion.

Upcoming Shows

I will be at the Canandaigua PTSA Holiday show on November 19th. I'll have a few new kinds of soap that I didn't have at the market over the summer, as well as some holiday oriented crafts.

Also stop by the Cheshire Union open house November 18-21st.

Broom Ladies

These cute little brooms are functional as well as decorative. Made of broomcorn, they are excellent as hand brooms.

You will need:
Broomcorn (also called ornamental grass/sorghum)
Material for dress, face, and hands
Cotton
Yarn
Markers
Raffia
Needle and thread
Glue
Before the invention of nylon brooms, broomcorn was (and often still is) used to make corn brooms. It is not actually a type of corn, but in fact a very large grass. The nickname of broomcorn was derived from the fact that the grass stems are so large they closely resemble cornstalks.

Begin by shucking the seeds from the broomcorn heads (if your broom will be merely decorative, the seeds can be left on for the colorful effect) Tie several of the shucked broomcorn stalks together with raffia just above the heads, and again about an inch from the broom’s top. Form a raffia loop, and attach this to the top tie.

Cut 2 identical dress shapes from material and sew them together. Make sure the neck hole is large enough to fit over the broom handle. Cut a head and a pair of hands from material. Stuff them with cotton. Sew the head to the front half of the dress. Sew the hands to the sleeves of the dress.

Slip the dress over the top of the broom handle, sliding it down until the skirt part of the dress covers the heads of the broomcorn. Leave about an inch and a half of the broomcorn peeking out beneath the dress. Using the markers, draw a face on the broom lady. Cut a few pieces of yarn and glue them to the top of the head as hair. Embellish the broom ladies with miniature baskets or tiny brooms of their own glued to their hands.

Toll Painted Glassware

Toll painting glassware is an inexpensive way to create festive serving glasses for autumn parties. After the party, the paint easily washes off with a little soap and hot water.

You will need:
Toll paint (acrylic paint)
Paintbrushes
Scratch paper
Glassware to be painted

When choosing your toll paint, be sure it is not the kind made specifically for glass, as this type of paint is permanent and will not wash off the glassware after the party. Avoid anything that says “Patio Paint” as it is usually permanent. The best paint to use for this project is just the generic acrylic paint available in craft stores.

To make autumn leaves, load a flat-tipped paintbrush with red on one half and orange on the other (you can also substitute yellow for one of the colors). Run a short stroke down the scratch paper, squiggling the brush from side to side to blend the colors a bit.

With the red half of the brush facing out, paint several small maple leaf shapes on the glassware. Use a quick stroke through the center of the leaves to fill in any open spaces. Pumpkins, jack-o-lanterns, spiders and webs make equally appropriate glass decorations for autumn parties.

Once the glassware is painted, leave it to dry for several hours before using. After use, simply soak them in a sink full of hot, soapy water, and the paint will easily rub off with a dishtowel.

This project need not be saved only for autumn. It can easily be adjusted for any time of the year. Snowflakes, snowmen, and evergreen trees work well for Christmas. Shamrocks for St. Patrick’s Day. Hearts for Valentines Day. Flowers for Midsummer’s Eve. Almost any time of year presents suitable symbols.

Simple Pleasures Project, Day 130

Hiding in the woods with my brother so we can jump out and scare people coming to the Halloween party.
Simple Pleasures Project

Fracking: Short-Term Benefits, Long-Term Catastrophe

With the current possibility of New York State being opened to fracking, the debate about whether the benefits outweigh the risks is a hot topic. There are extremes on both sides, with some people claiming that there are no benefits to fracking, and others claiming there are no adverse effects from fracking. The truth is, fracking has both benefits and detriments. The problem is that, while the benefits are certainly instant gratification, the long-term impacts are often catastrophic.

First and foremost, the greatest benefit of fracking is that it will immediately provide jobs. What is often overlooked, however, is how many jobs it will undoubtedly destroy in the long run. Fracking consumes huge amounts of drinking water and uses toxic chemicals. When spills occur (which is inevitable in any man-made operation), those toxic chemicals are released into the environment, right into the path of drinking water sources. Aside from the hazardous chemicals used in the process, fracking also releases naturally occurring deposits of dangerous substances, including radioactive materials, found in high levels in the Marcellus Shale where the NY fracking would take place. There will be many sites flunking their radon tests if fracking is allowed in New York.

Such chemicals have ended up in the water sources at hundreds of places in Pennsylvania, New Mexico and Colorado, which has suffered over three-hundred spills of chemically contaminated fracking waste water. In Pavilion, Wyoming, the EPA found high levels of cancer-causing substances that are often used in fracking, in the water supply of over forty homes. Residents in this city have also contracted a number of neurological ailments from exposure to these chemicals. The residents of this city had fresh clean water until the fracking began, at which point their water began to turn black as well as smelling and tasting like gas.

Perhaps the most alarming fact is that fracking is exempt from the Clean Water Act of 2005. Fracking companies are exempt from disclosing what toxic chemicals they use in the process. In short, they can pump what whatever toxins they want into the drinking water, reap the profits from the gas produced, and be long gone while the residents are left to deal with the aftereffects.

Due to these ecological impacts, people who will be adversely affected include, but are not limited to, farmers whose livelihood depends greatly upon water availability. Waiters, cooks, and others in the restaurant industry when tourism rates fall due to polluted water sources. Hotels workers for the same reason. People involved in real estate will be affected, as banks know the impacts of fracking and are reluctant to loan to those in the vicinity of fracking wells. Not to mention the fact that property values plummet in the wake of fracking fallout due to contamination.

Gas is not a gift that keeps on giving. With our current rate of consumption, it is something that will inevitably run out. Therefore it is ludicrous to destroy so many lives for a few extra years worth of what is ultimately a finite resource. The ones who profit are the ones who will be least affected by the aftermath of fracking; the gas companies. The rest of us pay for the gas companies' greed.

People often tout fracking as a way of gaining energy independence. This is a misleading claim, however. Fracking produces natural gas, a liquid that is used largely for home heating. America’s larger energy consumption, however, is petroleum. This oil is used in everything from cosmetics to plastics to medications and of course is the gasoline that fuels American automobiles. In fact America consumes more oil than any other country in the world. The oil for this country’s guzzling appetite is fueled largely by other countries such as the Middle East which hold the largest deposits of oil. No amount of fracking will change that, and therefore will never lead to energy independence.

The natural gas produced by fracking is claimed by supporters to be a “cleaner” energy source, and while it is cleaner than oil (most of which doesn’t come from this country anyway), it actually leaks more emissions than coal. Robert Howarth, a professor at Cornell University conducted a study on the emissions produced by natural gas and found that "Compared to coal, the footprint of shale gas is at least 20 percent greater and perhaps more than twice as great on the 20-year horizon and is comparable when compared over 100 years."

Additionally, hydrofracking has been found to cause earthquakes, just one more way fracking will harm people and their properties. Cuadrilla Resources, a British hydrofracking company actually admitted that their fracking well did cause multiple, minor earthquakes. Unlike seismic events on the west coast, where the damage is generally more localized, quakes on the east coast are often felt throughout an area ten times larger than the west coast, due to the fact that the east coast ground is colder and more intact. East coast quakes are often felt throughout several states, making the damage area more widespread. Also the locations of many fault lines on the east coast are unknown, making it all the more difficult for fracking companies to avoid. Just one more reason to keep fracking out of New York.

In the end, I think there’s one phrase that sums up the situation. Don’t frack with my water supply! Don’t frack with New York!

Sources:

The DEC

The EPA

National Geographic Magazine

Cornell University

60 minutes

Naturalgas.org

The American Petroleum Institute

The US Energy Information Administration

The Daily Messenger Newspaper

Pennsylvania Newspapers

Bittersweet and Broomcorn Wreath

I've made a lot of broomcorn wreaths over the years, usually using a metal coathanger or the premade 12 and 18 inch metal hoops. This week, however, I had a request for a larger wreath, which I knew would be the perfect time to experiment with adding bittersweet to the broomcorn.

To begin, you will need a 24 inch grapevine wreath to use as the base. Cover it with broomcorn, using 22 gauge wire to secure the broomcorn to the grapevine base. Normally I go around the edges with brown thread (which is pretty much invisible against broomcorn) to keep the broomcorn tight, but since this wreath was so big, I thought it looked better with the edges loose, so I left them alone.

Tie a large, two loop bow from some autumn wire-edged ribbon. I found that plaid looked very nice. Secure it to the wreath with wreath wire.

Make four bunches of bittersweet stalks, each piece being about 4-6 inches in length. Fasten them to the wreath with wire putting two bunches at the top near the bow, and two bunches toward the bottom, but leaving several inches of space in the middle between them.

Make three bunch of dried roses (yellow or red work best as they're autumn colors). Use wreath wire to fasten the rose bunches on the wreath, in between the bittersweet bunches.

Hang this wreath on an indoor wall or outside under an eave.

Halloween Spider Soaps

My aunt had a cute idea of putting bugs into soap bars for Halloween, so today I went ahead and tried it. It's a very simple project, and can be done using transparent melt and pour glycerin. You'll also need some plastic spiders which can be found pretty much anywhere this time of the year. Black is traditional, but other colors look great too.

Start by pouring a layer of glycerin into a brownie pan. Quickly set the spiders in the glycerin layer, making sure their legs poke down into the glycerin. When the first layer of glycerin has hardened, pour a second layer over it, covering the spiders. You can also allow a bit of the spider to stick out the top for texture.

Cut the soap into bars allowing one spider for each bar. Put the bars in a soap dish and warn arachnophobics to be ware!

No spiders were harmed in the making of these soaps.