Notable crafting this week follows. I have no control over the picture orientation — they rotate on their own.
“I” of GAIN Academy’s first venture with the “big” sewing machine — a baby hat. Go, girl! It’s modeled on a handy ceramic Garrrigan figure. (We think it’s supposed to be high school aged Uncle Andy. We are giving it to him on Monday.)
I used another T-shirt (how did I get so many?) to make a bib. This goes along with the checkerboard bib that I began the night before. Construction is much faster when the fabric is all ready to go 🙂
Tomato sauce and grape jelly. Verdict: I’ll probably never can tomato sauce again. Freezing tomatoes and making the sauce the day I need it is more efficient with my time. Grape jelly? YES, I would make this again. Less labor than elderberries, flavor is much better (awesomely tangy!), very easy to make with little time at the stove.
Finally, I made a drying rack for dehydrating food today. I made a cardboard box dehydrator and it is hard to use — cumbersome to move, awkward to put into position, little area for food (I was using soda can cases), just not working for me. I found a wooden frame of some sort in the basement. It must have been in the basement when we moved in. I cleaned it off, reinforced with string, and stapled fiberglass mesh (window screen) to it. I had apples on it this afternoon. I’m thinking two more days and I should be able to decide if it’s working for me or not.
Check out the dehydrator Alton Brown did on his show Good Eats (Food Network) about dried food. It used a box fan and screen. I have been going to try it, but haven't had a chance.
homemade dehydrator, very cool! Would love to see pics 🙂