When Life Gives You Lemons...

Make Lemon Honey (also know as Lemon Curd, Lemon Butter)

This is the Lemon Honey cooking that I made for my mum and dad. My dad is Diabetic, and misses out on alot of goodies I make for mum. But I used his Low GI sugar to make this. At first was worried it wasn't really going to work. 

But the end results were well liked by both my mum and dad. Sorry the photo is not the best.

 After making this Lemon Honey, I just had to make another. So armed with 4 more lemons, and 2 more eggs (thank you dear chickens). Some sugar as well, this time plain white sugar, made some for our family.

Classic Edmond's cook book recipe, cooking in the double boiler.

Finished and setting in the jar before going into the fridge.

Yummy on toast, but also great to have on vanilla cupcakes instead of icing. Or use for the filling in a Lemon Meringue Pie.

Potatoes, Potatoes, POTATOES!

Free potatoes we have been blessed with, (minus an ice cream container we cooked up for lunch).  Perfect for our Sunday roasts, chips and potato salads.

Free fruit and veggies, already some used for homemade Chicken soup. A pack of $2 chicken nibbles used for the soup so a cheap dinner.

Homemade Aioli, with our chickens eggs and lemons. This is great for potato salads, and yummy on toast.

Homemade Lemon Cupcakes, again using our eggs and lemons. These ones are going back to the couple who blessed us with the free fruit and veggies.

We also have a free Guava tree that we need to plant. Now if we could just get a free plum tree :)
when you see the prices in the shops, we are so thankful for this food.

Baking and Gardening Too

I haven't just been knitting :)

I have also been baking ginger biscuits for friends.

A "thinking of you" gift.

Dust baths for chickens. I have been scooping up all the lovely soil they dig for me.

Our mandarins are almost ready. I have been doing some tree maintenance.

While the weather has been good I have been outside, weeding our summer veggie garden. Removing more soil from the chicken run, and trying to catch up on our washing.

Pinata's and Presents

It's been a time of Birthday's
5 in total, so have been busy making and baking.
First was a dear lady birthday and I made the following for her

An Ice cream container covered with scrapbook paper I found in my craft box.

Baked these cinnamon biscuits with raspberry icing to fill the ice cream container.

And all ready to go with a homemade card my DD10 made.

Next was 3 male family friends, so made them gingerbread biscuits in the shapes of cars, trucks and tractors. Wrapped in Birthday seivettes, tried with a bow and a homemade card. No photo's as we were short for time and forgot.
Lastly have to share what DS12 made for DS7 birthday yesterday.

Little Big Planet Pinata

A pinata for his birthday party, which he shared with this cousins. DS7 is a big fan of the play station game Little Big Planet, so he loved it. It didn't cost much to make, newspaper, toilet paper, glue and paint. Oh and a free balloon :)
Going to be busy in the next couple of weeks with a new challenge getting our garden sorted and buliding a new (secondhand wood) deck, can't wait to share those changes with you.

Saved $10 on Cards

With making my own cards, (and the cheapest I can get in the shops costing $1 each) I have saved $10 an awesome saving. So I will keep making more to cover all the Birthdays, Thank You, Get Well etc
The savings really do add up when you think about it. At the time you are in the shop looking for a card, you can think "What a $1, that's cheap" But when you do add up all the Birthday cards you get for a year.
Well for us that would be about $30-40 (kids friends included)
So here are some more cards I have made.

Crafty Cards

While waiting for a visitor today, I decided to start working on making cards for this year. Firstly by cutting pictures out of a couple of magazines. Then gluing them to card, and adding a quote from some rub-on's I have. So far made 2 before the visitor came.

Card making materials

1st Card with the quote "Keep true to the dream of thy youth." Friedrick Von Schiller

2nd card, think I'm getting better at this

Have to also work on envelope making

1st envelope is not the best, but does the job.

Free and Homemade Gifts Challenge

Free soaps given to us, that I have slowly been tied up with free ribbon.

Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter slice.

The Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter Slice wrapped up in Birthday serviette.

This year to save money and use what we have, I'm making it a challenge to give gifts that were either free or homemade.
We are blessed with so much, it would be wonderful to pass on those blessings.
I love to bake. When I am baking I'm pouring love into what I make.
Instead of buying something, (which can be so hard with some people, because I'm stuck with what to give them!) making something from my heart feels far more right/true.
And as I make them will share them here.
Somethings will be free, no money spent. Like the soap we were given, tied up with ribbon from past presents given to us.
Somethings have a cost of ingredients, but is made at our home, not in a factory.
Homemade cards will be fun to make too. But I think I might need to make alot together, and store them so they don't become last minute cards.
Let the challenge begin!