From the Good Ole Days

I read somewhere, one time that dandelions are good for reducing inflammation and helping with itching. I don't know how true this is. But then I saw on Pinterest a pin for dandelion soap and they said something about it helping with itching. Again, I don't know how really true it is. What I do know is that we happened to have approximately 78 dandelions growing in our yard that day. And I do know that Levi had approximately 32 mosquito bites on him that day. And I also know we were desperately needing a project to do. So we picked dandelions.

We boiled them to make an extract. As they were cooking, I asked the boys what they smelled like. "Dandelions, of course!" Levi said. "No, they smell like broccoli!" added Clayton. And he was right. It made me really wonder if I could ever drink a cup of dandelion tea. And it definitely made me wonder how anyone could have ever thought it would taste good as wine.

We took the easy route on the soap making - melt and pour. I had some left over from our dinosaur egg project. We very carefully melted the soap, added in as much of our extract as we could without changing the consistency and then added in dried dandelion flowers that I had saved all spring as Levi had picked them for me. Thirty minutes later we had soap! They've been using it in the bath. While I don't know how much it has helped Levi's itching, we had a good time making it.

 Later that day, as Clarey was sleeping, I discovered 4 cucumbers in the bottom drawer of our refrigerator. They had been on sale and I stocked up. I decided it was time for them to get useful. So we made pickles. With much supervision, the boys very carefully cut up all of the cukes.

I was really impressed with their knife cuts. Levi was especially good at making uniform-sized pieces.

Clayton did a great job keeping his fingers tucked under and gripping the chef's knife properly.

We salted them, made the brine, added in the spices and packed the jars. We only made 3 pints so we didn't go through the process of processing them. It was a great lesson in patience: carefully cutting the cucumbers, waiting for the water to draw out, letting them sit in the fridge for 24 hours before eating. But it was all well worth it. They are delicious. There is only a jar and half left and we've only had them in there for 5 days.

I don't know what we'll do next. Quilt, perhaps. Or whittle.