Welcome to Century Farmhouse®!

The Texas iPad Follies...or Country Living Fair Fun

Welcome to Century Farmhouse, Austin, TX - at least for this weekend. Country Living Fair is going on right now! While I'd love to send you photos of the gorgeous antiques and eclectic gifts available at the Fair, the new iPad that was supposed to do everything including my dishes seems to require app after app. I can't keep up.

So, when I return to Wisconsin next week photos will be posted, and you can find out more about the new Country Living Soap, Bluebonnets & Roses www.centuryfarmhouse.com (specialty soaps). In the meantime, follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com CenturyFarmhous. I will be posting photos on Twitter because that works! Come on over to the Fair if you are nearby; we're making soap at 11 AM today! www.countryliving.com or www.stellashows.com

This Easter Bunny knows her onions

 

Peter Cottontail, hop your heart out!  There is no need to stock up on egg dippers or dye tablets or food coloring.  We've got onions, and we're not afraid to use them!

Love, love, love the rosy-mahogany hue of the Easter eggs dyed with onion skins.  My grandma Rosa always colored eggs with the skins of golden onions, and our Easter baskets would shimmer with bright spring colors and the rich, earthy tones of her eggs.  So pretty!  This is how to do it:

Peel the skins of 5-6 golden onions and place them in the bottom of a large cooking pot. For the deepest, richest color, use the skins of golden onions.  Red onion skins may be used too, but expect the color to have a slightly matte finish.  Place eggs on the skins and add just enough water to cover the eggs.  Add a splash of vinegar to the pot, bring to a boil over medium heat, cover, and remove from the heat.  Let the pot stand until cool. Check the eggs and allow to soak in the cooking water for up to eight hours for the deepest color.  Remove eggs from the pot when the desired shade of color is reached and refrigerate.  Then, on the night before Easter when everyone else in the house is sleeping, help the Easter Bunny by hiding the eggs in the most unexpected places!  An Easter egg hunt is fun, fun, fun!

Look closely at the eggs in the top photo.  The exciting thing about coloring Easter eggs with onions is that the dye colors unevenly, letting natural irregularities in the eggshells show.  Can you tell which of the three eggs in the top photo was dyed with purple onion skins?  (Trust me, one of them was!)

 

A little Bling in Spring!

I'm supposed to be working on bills and taxes and everything boring, but I just can't do it until I share a bit about an upcoming event.  Do you remember when you were small and just couldn't wait to tell everyone about a really fun thing?  I'm almost goofy with excitement over an event that I won't even be in town for!

OK, all you Divas out there!  We are planning a fabulous, fun-filled event in West Bend; a shop-till-you-drop event on April 19 that will feature in-store specials, prizes, complimentary trolley rides, and a little bling, all to raise funds for the West Bend Labyrinth Garden and Chix 4 a Cause. 

At Century Farmhouse, we'll have a drawing for a beautiful Lavender Spa package that includes a lavender wand, a bundle of our organically grown lavender, and one each of our Lavender Luffa Spa Soap, Sweet Almond & Lavender Flowers Soap, and Patchouli & Lavender Soap...not forgetting a big, fat luffa to scrub with!

But the Bling  of this party is probably the most fun!  From now until April 19 you can purchase an expandable charm bracelet with the Diva flower charm for $10.00, the proceeds of which will go to Chix and the Garden.  Each of the participating shops will have the bracelets for purchase, and you can also buy a bracelet on April 19 at the Diva Welcome Center in downtown West Bend.  Now comes the really fun part...many of the shops will have their own charm for you to collect.  When you have shopped-til-you-drop, you'll have a completed bracelet! Don't you just love our tiny soap basket charm (above)?

Bling, Bling, Bling!

The poster below has lots of info for you...the charming shops with the asterisks* have the charms!

and the winners are...

A little bit of this and a little bit of that; part maple sap and part imagination, and the soaps - yes, two new soaps - are now reality!  There were so many responses to the request for maple sap soap ideas that we created two new soaps and incorporated suggestions from you! 

Orange and vanilla were proposed most often as new scents (Did you know that we already have a vanilla-scented maple sap soap?  Maple Sap with Oatmeal & Vanilla contains essential oils of cinnamon, vanilla, & clove.)  We now introduce Sugar Moon Soap - a maple sap soap scented with orange & vanilla - and the scent is divine.  Many thanks to the following contributors whose ideas helped to create this lovely soap, and who will receive a travel-sized piece of Sugar Moon Soap: Grace Barbone, Pawcatuck, CT; Lisa Batton, St. Charles, IL; Kelly Towle, West Bend, WI; Jean Hartnett, Fox Point, WI; Judi Yingling, Hummelstown, PA; and Carol Gill, Burnsville, MN. Thank you also to Philip Wooley, Manchester, England, for his contribution of Sugar Moon as a name for the soap. 

You'll notice that we've retired the Maple Sap with Citrus, Oatmeal, & Mint soap, partly because of the addition of the orange/vanilla Sugar Moon, and partly because the other new soap is a bright mint soap.  Witch Hazel & Mint Soap is scented with peppermint, spearmint, & eucalyptus essential oils, and is graced with beautiful witch hazel flowers from Washington State.  Thank you to Amy Hopkins, Mequon, WI for the suggestion of mint.

Very special thanks to Cindy Ericksen of Port Angeles, WA for picking each and every newly blossomed petal from her witch hazel bush...this was the first year of bloom and she shared them with us for soap!

Amy and Cindy, you can expect to see travel-sized pieces of the witch hazel soap later this month as well.

There were so many creative suggestions for soaps - many thanks to everyone who contributed ideas.  If you'd like to try the new soaps - or any of the maple sap soaps, just pre-order now.  The soaps will be cured and ready to ship by March 27.  Spring is here!

a sappy sort of invitation

I have to confess that I didn't actually tap the maple trees this year.  My husband was at home on President's Day (Monday) and he beat me to it!  We have only about 12 trees that produce sap well and they can pretty much be tapped in an afternoon.  So, the sap is dripping, and dripping with vigor!  When the temperatures drop below freezing during the night, we get the maple sap popscicles like the one in the photo at left.

Maple sap is the first taste of spring; cold and wet and slightly sweet.  It is ambrosia!  Tasting it is also a good way to chip a tooth, so make certain that your open mouth is below the metal spile.  (Writing this from experience - no chipped tooth, but a sore one, nonetheless!  Do you think I'd remember to take a small cup with me to collect the sap rather than just tasting it right from the tree?  Of course, which is more fun?) 

Winter in our area of Wisconsin has been nearly non-existent.  We've experienced only fits and bursts of snow, which would melt before the next snowfall could cover it.  The temperatures have not dipped below zero degrees Fahrenheit...well, maybe once... so it should come as no surprise that the sap is running quickly this early in the season.  In any other year, we'd just be getting our gear ready for the tapping day. 

Cooking all that sap to syrup is a long process involving lots of wood, fire, steam, and syrup tasting.  Do not try to cook the sap down in your house unless you want the wallpaper steamed from the walls.  This is definitely an outside job.  I remember collecting sap before catching the school bus when I was growing up, and I remember that my mother learned about the wallpaper trick before she moved the entire process outside onto the open back porch.  We still have the old kerosene stove that my mom and my grandmother used for outdoor cooking, but it isn't too reliable and we have better luck cooking the sap in stainless steel pans over wood on our grill.  The manner in which we cook the sap down might be primitive and not tremendously efficient, but the end result is a smoky, deep, rich, sweet taste that is unforgettable.  Mmmmmmm.

So what does all of this sticky, sweet talk have to do with soap, you ask?  We'll be making the maple sap soaps in the next few days, and you are invited to suggest ideas for the scent of a new one!  Simply comment on the blog or send me an email by March 1, 2012.  If your idea is used, we'll send you a free travel-sized bar of the new soap!

 

Tiny gifts from the heart

Valentine's Day 2012 is beyond us now, but cute little cards were the project of the year, and many of my friends and loved ones received them on February 14.  I LOVE tiny cards, especially ones with hidey-holes for secret messages or tiny gifts.  The intrigue of tiny-ness must be universal, since everyone I've gifted with these cards loved to see what they contained and kept them just to look at.

Confession time:  I didn't design them.  Too bad, because they are really fun to create and even more fun to pass on to others and I'd like to take the credit.  About a year ago, I was up late working on soap (what else?), and to entertain myself was watching late-night Create Channel (PBS) TV.  The show was The Spotted Canary, and these cards, along with other interactive cards, were the highlighted demonstration during that segment.  Since then I've created gift cards, birthday cards, Christmas cards, thank you cards, and again, this year's Valentines.  Using pretty papers and details that you can create yourself or purchase or collect, you can make gorgeous cards for just pennies. Follow along below to see how I created some of the Valentines this year.

The trick is to start with an envelope or three. Truly, working with an odd number of envelopes will result in a card that opens and closes correctly. While you can make these cards with any size envelope, the tiny ones use the least amount of materials and are the most intriguing & fun.  The ones used for this project were letterpress envelopes purchased at a local hobby store and were about 3.25 X 3.25 inches square.   

So, you will need the following materials:

envelopes of your choice - an odd number of them

pretty papers, ribbon, stickers, buttons, glitter, use your imagination! (even old newspaper can make an interesting card), scrapbooking odds & ends work very well

adhesives: glue dot rollers, glue sticks, spray adhesives work best.  Liquid glues can make the paper wrinkle, so use sparingly. hot glue

scissors, paper cutter, crafting shears with decorative blades

patience

If you've chosen to use just one envelope, you can skip this step.  One envelope will result in a card that opens and closes with one pocket for a treat or a message.

If you'd like to create a larger card, begin by attaching the flap of one envelope to the lower front of another, and so on, so that all of the pockets are on one side and the glued flaps are on the other.  It will be necessary to use more adhesive than the gluey strip on the flap edge, as the entire flap needs to be attached.  The bottom edge of the envelope should be lined up with the fold of the next envelope's flap.  There will be one flap that is free...which will eventually become the front cover.

Next, choose the papers you'd like to cover the envelope with and cut them to fit the overall exterior dimensions of the main envelope body.  You will need one for each side of the envelope, two to cover the envelope flap, and one for the lining.  Actually, the lining piece needs to be only about 1/2-inch (about 1.3cm) wider than the back of the pocket opening.  Apply the adhesive to the back of the paper lining.  Glue the liner into the pocket, first lining up the top edge of it with the fold of the envelope flap, then smoothing it into the pocket.  If you are creating a card using multiple envelopes as shown in the top photo, insert the lining piece into each envelope before beginning to cover the outer surfaces.  Believe me, it is easier to insert the liner first!!

Apply adhesive to the outer side of the pocket and apply the paper covering.  Turn the card over and trim the edge of the paper to the edge of the envelope.

Next, apply adhesive to the entire inside of the flap, and line up the paper with the flap's fold line.  Smooth into place.  This is now the inside of the front cover.  Turn the card over and apply adhesive to the backside of the flap and the paper.  Apply the paper you've chosen for the front cover.  Fold the card closed and trim the papers to the edge of the envelope for a neater look.  Open the card and attach the paper chosen for the back cover to the flat side of the envelope; trim it, and you're ready to decorate your card!

If you've chosed to create a card using multiple envelopes, insert the pocket liners on all the envelopes first as described above, then cover the pocket sides of the envelopes. Trim as necessary.  Create the front cover of the card with the papers attached to the remaining envelope flap as described above; trim.  Cover the remaining backs of the envelopes - each one individually - trimming to the edges of each individual envelope by folding the ones around it and cutting any excess paper away carefully. 
Finish by accordion-folding the card, starting with the front of the card.  If done correctly, the outer edge of the front will line up with the outer edge of the back of the card, with all the envelopes folded accordion-style within the booklet. Open the card up to decorate.

Now comes the fun part!  Use stickers, glitter, cut-outs, computer-generated designs, etc. to decorate the card.  Create a secret message or find a tiny treasure to include in the pocket of the card.  It does help to attach a ribbon to the treasure or note to facilitate removing it from the tiny pocket.  Decorate the outside of the card, both front and back, and don't forget to sign and date your artwork!

To keep your card closed or to make it seem more of a treasure, you can attach a system to keep it closed.  A frog -type closure could be attached on the outsides of the front and back.  A ribbon loop attached on the back could slide over a button sewn onto the front.  Hide the ribbon ends by attaching them between the paper covering and the envelope back - before you put that paper covering onto the envelope!  I chose to hot-glue an 18' length of ribbon to the front and another to the back of the card, securing each with a glittering tab or a button.  To close the card, wrap the front ribbon over the back, and the back ribbon over the front, and twist back and forth as if you were wrapping a special gift package.  Tie with a tiny bow at the front of the card and trim the ribbon.

         Who wouldn't love to receive a card like this?  Who needs a gift??

 

We bring you Flowers...

Flower of Flowers sounds so romantic, doesn't it?  Flower of Flowers....literally, it is the description of ylang ylang, a tree which grows in the Phillipines-part-of-the-world - a tree which produces beautiful yellow or white or pink flowers which smell like lillies and symbolize love and devotion.  Traditionally, leis are made of the flowers; petals are strewn in bedchambers, and the tree is venerated for its flowers' beauty.

Romantic or not, this soap smells heavenly!  The scent combination of tangerine, lavender, ylang ylang, & jasmine is softly floral, yet heady.  Mmmmmm.  But the story of the soap doesn't stop there; even the label has a story to tell!

I've been bitten by the scrapbooking bug lately.  I like to create mini-cards - collages of designs and ephemera that celebrate a theme.  So inspired by that scrapbooking concept, I designed a paper background that utilized ephemera from my family archives along with bits of antique botanical prints and lots of swirlie-loopy lines.  And you just might see more of that in the future!

When she was about 12 or 13, my paternal grandmother, Maria, created a family tree.   She was born and raised in Germany, so it is written in German, in a fine hand that details the important dates and relationships of everyone depicted on the diagram.  I was able to incorporate parts of the family tree and parts of her description on the soap label. 
You can see the names of the many children in her family (there were ten), some of whom also imigrated to the United States, and who I had the privilege of getting to know.

On another part of the label, you can see snippets of her handwriting detailing how everyone fits into the family; when they were born, etc. 

My soap making grandmother also has a place on this label.  My mother has a collection of postcards that were written to my grandmother when she was quite young - in the early 1900s.  One of those cards appears to be written by a young person; one of my Grandma Rosa's friends.  I've included her name, Miss Rosa, from the address area of the postcard, as her name is that of a lovely flower. 

Finally, as a musician, I couldn't not include music to celebrate the beauty of flowers.  The Last Rose of Summer is a poem written in 1805 by Thomas Moore (the Irish poet, not the other Thomas Moore).  It was set to music by Sir John Stevenson and published in Ireland in the early part of the nineteenth century.  Even though the words are lovely but sad, the tune has always been one that I've loved.  Had to include it!

 

Flower of Flowers soap is packaged with surprises and lovely tributes.  I can't wait for you to see it, smell it, and touch it.  I think you'll love it as much as I do!

Thinking Spring in January!

When the snow and sleet and wind create an environment worthy of an Antarctic expedition, my thoughts often turn to spring.  We've had a pretty quiet winter in our corner of Wisconsin, but today the season is upon us and I'm thinking of a brighter, warmer future!

Two events are approaching in April (we are going to be busy!), and the tickets are now on sale for both of them!  If you're in the area, why not join us?

The Chicago Botanic Garden's Antiques & Garden Fair is scheduled for April 20, 21, & 22 at the Garden in Glencoe, IL (north side of Chicago).  If no other one event breathes springtime into my psyche, this one will do it!  See some scenes from last year's show.  If you look carefully at about 2.75 minutes into the video, you'll see our soaps!  Thank you Garden staff and Stella Shows! 

 

 

 

The second April event is a new one - join us at Country Living Fair - Austin, TX - April 27,
28, 29 at the Travis County Expo Center in Austin.  If you've never been to a Country Living Fair, get ready!  It is like walking on the pages of the magazine; meeting editors, seeing gorgeous home exhibits, watching demonstrations, shopping for Country buys, eating fabulous food...Fun!  Watch for a brand-new Texas soap!  

We're excited!  Hope to see you there!

 

See our ad in Where Women Cook!

Nope, Century Farmhouse isn't featured in this magazine - yet - maybe someday, but I don't think we'll be sharing soap recipes for dinner!  If you look carefully though, you'll see our very first ad in a national magazine!  Take a peek at page 133. 

Where Women Cook, and its sister publication, Where Women Create are beautiful, book-sized copies filled to the brim with photos of some very creative women and the spaces in which they work and live.  What is even more exciting is that the articles are written by the women themselves.  The editor-in-chief of both magazines is Jo Packham...who is also the president of The Creative Connection Event.  You might remember that we created two soaps for The Creative Connection: INSPIRE! (2010) and ASPIRE! (2011).

The design of the ad is simple: a beautiful photograph of our soap, a description of the products, and website contact information.  What you probably don't know is how that lovely photo came about...and under what unorthodox circumstances! 

The soap is our Persian Bloom, inspired by a spice recipe for a Middle Eastern koresh (stew) given to me by a friend who loves to cook and bake.  After I made certain that I had all of the spices I wanted to include in the photo, I needed to find the pop of color.  In the middle of winter in Wisconsin, one has to be creative in finding almost-open roses.  How lucky that the florist at our local upscale grocery shop was willing to dig through her "toss" barrel to find nearly-blown red tea roses!  To make this photo even more fun, I styled the soaps and details on my kitchen counter in front of a sunny, south-facing window at early afternoon.  Isn't the lighting great?  Here's the trick...cover the lower half of a double-hung window with two over-lapping white pillowcases to filter the light, tuck black velvet over the lower half of the pillowcases, turn on the light directly overhead and the light over the adjacent stove, make yourself comfortable on a chair with the camera propped just above counter height, point and shoot!  

You can find our ad in the Winter 2012 edition of Where Women Cook, and in the next four editions as well.  The Studio will begin carrying both Where Women Cook and Where Women Create magazines in the very near future.  It can be a little difficult to find these publications in the Midwest, so let me know if you'd like one - I'll send one to you!

A Holiday Cake, Just in Time!

Since it is not yet 2012 where I live (it's presently 9:53 PM), I can still say that we're celebrating the Holidays, and not a moment too soon!  We had a memorable Christmas celebration this year, no thanks to our oven, which exploded - yes, it really did - just a week before December 25.  The fireworks which accompanied that debacle were not exactly what we were thinking of when we spoke of celebrating with family and friends.

In true make-do farm-girl style, we had a fabulous picnic supper on Christmas Eve, complete with English crackers and fine china!  No one complained; in fact, it was rather fun and we might do it again next year.  Just without the oven disaster, thank you very much.

So, no baking this Christmas: no cookies, no Christmas stollen, no roasted turkey, and no homemade dinner rolls.  While some folks might be glad of the break, baking withdrawal was setting in at our house.  I dreamed of roasted maple-glazed butternut squash with sage, and pumpkin cake with whiskey vanilla cream, old-fashioned gingerbread men, and eggnog stollen with brandied fruit.  So I did the only thing I could think of and called my mother. 

I am very lucky that Mom lives right next door.  I am also lucky that she has an oven that works, and that she is very willing to let me use it - especially if the goodies are shared.  Several days ago I gave in to the urge to bake and tonight we celebrated the new year with old friends - and cake.  The oven?  We'll be getting a new one next week.  Finally.




Pumpkin Spice Cake with Brandied Fruit

This deceptively decadent cake gets its moistness and delicious sweetness from roasted pumpkin and brandied dried fruit.  It is an adaptation of a Pumpkin Spice Cake recipe that first appeared in Country Home Magazine several years ago. 

Prep: 45 minutes   Bake: 1 hour    Oven: 350°F

2 cups dried fruit - any combination of dried cherries, raisins, golden raisins, currants, figs, cranberries, etc.
Brandy - enough to just cover the fruit in a small saucepan - about 1 1/2 cups
3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract (homemade whiskey vanilla is best - see recipe below)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 Tbsp. apple pie spice (or 1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon, 3/4 tsp. ground ginger, 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg, and 1/4 tsp. ground cloves)
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups pureed, roasted pumpkin or 1 15-oz. can pumpkin

1 recipe Whiskey-Vanilla Cream (below)

1 recipe dark chocolate sauce (below)

1. In a small saucepan, place dried fruit and cover with brandy.  Warm the mixture over low heat until hot but not boiling.  Remove from heat and allow to cool; let sit for several hours or overnight to plump the fruit.  Drain, reserving brandy and fruit separately; set aside.



2. Grease and flour a 10-inch fluted-tube pan; set aside.  In a large mixing bowl beat butter until softened. Add granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, and 1/4 cup reserved brandy and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. In a medium bowl stir together flour, baking soda, spices, and salt. Add flour mixture and pumpkin alternately to butter mixture, beating on low speed after each addition until combined. Stir in dried fruit.

3. Turn batter into prepared pan. Bake about 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely on rack. Wrap and store overnight to blend flavors. Slice and serve with Whiskey-Vanilla Cream and Dark Chocolate Sauce. Garnish with freshly grated nutmeg or grated, high-quality dark chocolate, if you wish.  Makes 12 - 16 servings.

 

Whiskey-Vanilla Cream

1 pint whipping cream - pasteurized, but not ultra-pasteurized (it tastes fresher!)

2 T. bourbon vanilla

Chill medium bowl and whisk for about 20 minutes in refrigerator or freezer.  Pour cream into the bowl and whisk until frothy.  Add the vanilla and whisk until loosely stiffened.  Do not over-beat.  Chill until used.

 

Dark Chocolate Sauce

In a medium-sized saucepan, whisk together 1 cup good-quality dark unsweetened cocoa powder, 3/4c. turbinado sugar, and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon.  Add just enough water to moisten, then add about 1 1/2 cups cream or half & half.  Over medium heat, cook (whisking continuously) until the mixture becomes a slightly thick, fudgy sauce.  The sauce will thicken as it cools.  This sauce can be made several days in advance and refrigerated; bring to room temperature to serve.  Drizzle over cream and cake. 

Bourbon Vanilla Extract

1 good-quality vanilla bean

1 pint bourbon

Split the bean lengthwise, scrape out seeds, add the bean and seeds to the bourbon in a glass jar or in the bottle if it is glass.  Shake vigorously.  Shake once per day to mix for about three weeks.  Use as you would regular vanilla.  This vanilla can be stored in any glass container.  The bourbon can be refreshed several times without changing the bean.  When the bean is exchanged for a fresh one, the old one can be used to flavor liquid for vanilla ice cream, pudding, etc., before discarding.   Also, any alcohol such as vodka, whiskey, brandy, etc. can be used, which produces varying flavors of vanilla extract.  The alcohol content of this extract is the same as the vanilla extract available in stores.