mjkisner – Page 25 – Mary's Musings

Making Arnica-Infused Oil for Topical Salves

Now that we’re heading into the more active summer season, I wanted to share what I’ve recently learned about the herb Arnica. It is not as well-known as lavender and calendula and it is sometimes included in over-the-counter ointments and creams sold to soothe occasional aching knees, joints and muscles. It is often used in homeopathic remedies, which means the products contain very small amounts of the active ingredients. Making infused oil with dried arnica plant material is a great way to incorporate these ingredients into body care products.

About Arnica

Arnica is a perennial herb Arnica montana. It is a yellow-orangish flower that grows in the mountains of Europe, Siberia and the mountains of northwestern North America. It is sometimes called the “mountain daisy,” because its color and petals look like the familiar flower. It yields an essential oil that is appreciated for its ability to reduce pain in osteoarthritis joints and reduce bruise discoloration.

Note: This plant does have some drawbacks or cautions for people that are allergic to certain plants of the Asteraceae family–like ragweed, marigolds, chrysanthemums and daisies, or are using blood thinning medications. I wanted to have some of this infused oil on hand to make a salve if needed this summer. Because of these cautions, I do not plan to share any salve I make with others, since I have no way to know who might be sensitive to the plant.

Please do your own research about any plant material you might work with, but this process of infusing oil with any plant material would be the same process.

Making Infused Oil in General

I’ve previously shared how to do this with Calendula plant material at https://marykisner.com/making-calendula-nfused-oil-for-topical salves/. Dried lavender works the same way. I usually use olive oil, but you can substitute sweet almond oil, jojoba oil, or even grapeseed oil.

Arnica-Infused Olive Oil

Here are the basic instructions to make this oil:

First, I filled a quart jar with dried Arnica flowers. I ordered this bag of dried flowers from Amazon. This 8 oz. bag will probably last me the rest of my life!

Starting with a quart jar, I filled the jar loosely with dried flowers and poured about 2 1/2 cups of olive oil over them.

This filled the jar about 3/4 full. I used a long-handled spoon to gently poke the flowers to distribute the oil. I put the filled jar in a deep pan of water and brought the water up to a boil and lowered the temperature so it would just simmer for about 6 hours. I did have to add water to the saucepan every hour or so as it evaporated and poked the flowers down now and then just to make sure they stayed submerged.

Then, I poured the oil/flower mixture through the strainer and pressed flowers to squeeze out as much oil as possible.

After straining, there were still some small pieces of plant material in the oil.

After disposing of the plant material, I strained the oil again by lining the strainer with cheesecloth to make sure I didn’t have any crumbs left from the dried flowers.

After straining out all the Arnica plant material, first with a large strainer and again with cheesecloth, I had about 1 3/4 cups of lovely arnica-infused olive oil. Before pouring it back into the washed and dried quart jar, I added about a teaspoon of Vitamin E oil to help as a preservative.

This jar of oil will be stored in the refrigerator until I need it.

Making Arnica Salve

This recipe will make a small batch of salve. Since I don’t plan to share it yet, I’ll keep the batch small.

Combine 3 1/2 Tbsp. of Arnica-Infused oil with 2 tsp. beeswax (about 8 gms).

Place the cup into a pan of water and bring the water to boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer.

Simmer until the beeswax is melted. Remove from heat.

Add 10-20 drops of your preferred essential oil. (I chose Vanilla for the scent and Manuka for its healing properties).

Pour into small containers or lip balm tubes. Cap tightly and label.

My first pour was into these small containers, however it was pretty firm when cool. I could hardly apply it with my finger tip.

So, I scooped the salve out of the round containers, melted it down again and poured the oil into these wide dispensers. Worked much better!

So now I have a simple salve ready for my aches and pains, bumps and bruises! I’ll keep you posted on how it works this summer!

If I find it works really well, I’ll have cards ready to go with the samples.

Look for Arnica in your over-the-counter creams and salves! It might be the magic ingredient. Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

Garden Update May 26, 2022

Our weather has flipped from very hot to quite cool, dry to pouring rain for days. By today, I wasn’t sure what I would find as I finally wandered outside. Bert has already pumped the water twice from the rain barrels by the shop up to the larger one by the garden so we’re ready to water as needed.

Because of all the crazy weather, we found the strawberries were not doing well in the tower, so we had to take it apart to give the plants more light. A few plants didn’t make it, but others have already sent out runners, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens. Here is what they looked like two weeks ago:

By this week they had changed. The two pots on the left looked great!

I couldn’t get the other big pot photo to download here…it was just better than 2 weeks ago.

But the tower had to be taken apart:

Continuing to the rest of the patio plants:

All the other beans look about the same as above…I can’t get the pictures to download! Grrr! Very frustrating!

So much for trying to show you everything! These are the only pictures that will download today! Luckily, all the other sections have pretty small plants, so hopefully by the time there’s something to see, the pictures will download! Check back in a week or two!

Hope you’re enjoying your May weather. Email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

From Wheat Berries to Bread

Baking bread has always been my favorite activity when I want to do something that reminds me of my mother. I learned the “feel” of a well-kneaded loaf of bread when I was young and carried that skill over to my family when I became a mother. When sticky buns made an appearance in my mother’s kitchen, I was always glad I had hung around and could try the first batch.

Fifty years ago, we had few choices at the grocery store…white bread was everywhere. There was much in the news about how white flour had lost much of its nutrition by sifting out the wheat germ and bleaching it with chemicals. Of course, then we used wheat germ in cookies and added the bran back to our diets with bran cereal! When I cruise the bread aisle today, I’m always struck with how many choices I have of whole wheat and multi-grain artisan bread and buns. However, I still enjoy the process of making my own bread.

I’ve already shared my Oatmeal Bread recipe (https://marykisner.com/marys-oatmeal-bread/) but I’m still struggling to find a good whole wheat recipe that tastes good and isn’t as heavy as a brick. Last week, I did an internet search with “the best whole wheat bread recipe” to see what came up. Lo and behold, a recipe called, “The Very Best Whole Wheat Bread Recipe” was at the top of the list! The recipe was from https://www.fivehearthome.com/. It looked pretty simple so I thought I’d give it a try.

The day before I was going to bake, I went to the health food store and picked up about 10 lbs. of white whole wheat berries and a small bag of Vital Wheat Gluten. This powder will add more wheat gluten so the loaf sticks together better.

I set up my wheat grinder and got it running. Within an hour or so I had about 10 lbs. of beautiful flour ready to go.

I’ve had a grinder from this company since the early 1970’s. This is their new version and will even grind quinoa into flour! www.organicsbylee.com

Now I’m ready to bake! I did notice the grocery store carries King Arthur brand of “White Whole Wheat flour” now, so I shouldn’t have to grind my own if I don’t want to.

Here is the recipe:

Here are the rest of the ingredients:

Directions:

Step 1: Measure out the flour, vital wheat gluten and yeast into the mixer bowl.

Steps 2-3: Add 2 1/2 cups of very warm water. Mix up for 1 minute (I did this by hand) and let rest for 10 minutes.

In 10 minutes, the yeast is going to town.

Step 4: Add salt, oil, vinegar and honey. Mix for 1 minute.

Step 5: Add and mix in 2 1/2 to 4 cups of flour, 1 cup at a time.

Step 6: Knead in the mixer until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and feels smooth rather than sticky (5-15 minutes). Turn the dough out on to a floured surface. Form into a smooth ball.

Steps 7-8: Grease 2-3 bread pans. Divide dough into three oblong loaves and put them in the pans. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. for one minute and then turn off the oven. Place the pans in the warm oven and allow them to rise for 20-40 minutes, until the dough is nicely domed above the tops of the pans.

Step 9: Without removing the pans from the oven, turn on the oven again to 350 degrees F. and set the timer for 30 minutes. The oven will go through the whole preheat cycle now, which sets the crust.

Step 10: The bread is done when the tops are golden brown and the internal temperature reaches 190-200 degrees F.

Step 11: Once the loaves are baked, immediately remove the hot bread from the pans to cool on a rack.

I think this recipe will be my go-to recipe for whole wheat bread. I was so happy with it that I ordered a 25 lb. sack of white whole wheat berries from Amazon! Beats trying to bag it up myself at the health food store!

Give it a try…even mistakes taste good! Enjoy!

Please leave a comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

More To Do on Memorial Day Weekend in Boalsburg

The Boalsburg Village Conservancy is hoping you take advantage of the many things to see and do during the Memorial Day weekend celebration. While Main Street and Church Street will be filled with over 115 vendors and entertainment on the Diamond on May 30, three specific locations invite you to check them out.

For a general overview of the celebration and the specific musical entertainment, see https://marykisner.com/memorial-day-is-happening/ and https://marykisner.com/musical-entertainment-for-memorial day/.

The Boalsburg Heritage Museum (www.boalsburgheritagemuseum.org)

On the East end of Main Street, The Boalsburg Heritage Museum will offer a variety of activities to engage you and your family.

Follow the balloons to the Museum to tour the House, see antique carriages and wagons in the Barn, and sample a cookie baked on the Open-hearth Fireplace in the Summer Kitchen.

Listen to music all day long beginning at 10:00 with the Dan and Galla Musical Show. Enjoy delicious Bees Knees Coffee and food from The Cakeshop by Tati.

Chat with your friends and neighbors as you take a break and relax in our charming garden where you and your family can:

–play corn hole and other games,

–throw seed balls into the wetlands and have fun making art with nature,

–meet Mattee Stoichneff, a student at State College High School, who is the Centre County Grange Fair Queen, and

–meet Sandy Faller, who is a history major and the Museum intern. She is also a member of the Penn State Blue Band!

The Boal Mansion Museum (https://boalmuseum.com/)

On the West end of Boalsburg, The Boal Mansion’s estate grounds provide the perfect setting for our diverse activities as part of the Village-wide celebration. Enjoy live music, Civil War re-enactors, living history demos, great food, craft vendors and special museum tours!

The Boalsburg Fire Company (https://boalsburgfire.com/)

Carnival Information

The Boalsburg Fire Company sponsors the carnival held behind the fire hall. It will run from Thursday evening, May 26 through Monday, May 30, 2022.

Parade Information

The Parade will be Saturday, May 28, 2022. No preregistration is required. Line-up will begin at 3:00 p.m. with the Parade beginning at 5:00 p.m. “Rain or Shine.”

Marching groups will be staged at Blue Spring Park on Wagner St. Depending on weather prior to parade day, smaller vehicles participating in the parade may be staged at the park also. Large vehicles will be staged on W. Main Street. Personnel will be out to assist with further direction on parade day. Watch for the signs.

Please come and enjoy Memorial Day weekend with us!

Please comment or email me directly if you have questions at marykisner@comcast.net.

Garden Update May 15, 2022

Surprise! The whole garden is now planted! Just a week ago we were thinking we weren’t going to be able to do that for another week or two. We were still anticipating a few nights with below, or near freezing temperatures; and then the days of rain made it impossible to even get into the garden. So much difference a week can make! The long-range forecast does not show any below freezing temperatures, so we decided it was safe to plant the things Bert had started in the shop under grow lights.

In the last few days, Bert set up the rain barrels and I didn’t even know it! (See last year’s detailed post about how that is done (https://marykisner.com/setting-up-the-rain-barrels/). It finally stopped raining…and now it probably won’t rain for a week or two!

Yesterday, we got to work. A few things just needed to be moved outside to the patio, like the strawberries:

I put seeds in the raised planter for my lettuce and radishes two weeks ago and all the rain must have really helped get things started.

I bought 6 tiny Swiss Chard plants and a single Cherry Tomato plant at a local greenhouse tent set up near the mall to round out the patio plantings. It felt good to see something already growing, while we wait for seeds to sprout in other areas.

I did plant Spinach seeds here…but nothing interesting to look at yet!

The rest of the planters down near the patio are not quite as interesting, but hope springs eternal in May!

I planted a few seeds each of four different shell beans in one planter…just to see if they will work here. I’m sure I won’t get much, but I should learn something about what I’d like to grow next year.

The Cucumber plants (2 kinds) were small but healthy and the Delicata Squash looks very similar. They are in the second fenced beds so they will have wire to crawl up.

The upper garden looks pretty barren, but hopefully in a week or two we’ll see evidence of all the seeds we planted. I’ll try to document the growth in the same order each time so it makes sense as things grow.

Two rows of carrots and the lavender coming back from last year.

Garbanzo beans (not sure how they will do, but we’ll leave them in the garden until fall to dry).

Now the challenge will be to keep up on watering. There is something about the anticipation of sprouting seeds that keeps us going this time of year! I am jealous of all you folks that live in places where you can garden all year. On the other hand, after a long cold winter spring anticipation feels pretty good too! Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

Making Tinted Lip Balm

Last weekend I was wishing I had some lipstick or tinted lip balm. Getting dressed up (a little) for a niece’s outdoor wedding reminded me I don’t often wear lipstick but it’s been so long since I dressed up I didn’t even have a lip gloss anymore! When I got home, I started thinking about whether I wanted to go to the drug store to find some, or look up how to make a tinted lip balm myself. Making it myself seemed to be my choice! Pinterest to the rescue!

I found a simple recipe and got to work. For ingredients I needed: Beeswax, Coconut Oil, Jojoba Oil, Shea Butter and Mica Powder (for color).

I got my lip balm holders ready. The recipe makes about 10 lip balms, so I decided to make a double batch so I could share them with my high school friends at our next monthly luncheon.

To see more about this holder, see https://marykisner.com/two-lip-balm-flavors-and-a-cool-new-tool/.

The ingredient list says to measure out 1 Tbsp. each of the Beeswax, Coconut Oil, Jojoba Oil and Shea Butter. Since I was doubling the recipe, I measured out 2 Tbsp. of each ingredient into a glass measuring cup and placed it in a pan of water on the stove. It did not take too long to melt everything together.

When melted, I stirred in 1/4 tsp. of Rose Pearl Mica Powder.

I did not add any scent because it wasn’t necessary and several folks in my high school group prefer unscented products.

Using a disposable pipette I filled 25 1/2 lip balm tubes! (I’ll use the half-filled tube). I guess the original recipe is going to make more than 10 tubes.

I always try to make a card with ingredients for the stuff I make…by our age, we are all allergic to something!

Now I’m ready to get dressed up! Hopefully it won’t be another two years before I need this! Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

Making Egg Rolls in the Air Fryer

I love egg rolls! Since I was diagnosed with egg and dairy allergies several years ago, I have been very careful about eating anything that was mixture of ingredients. I have avoided casseroles of all kinds, especially if I didn’t make it myself…too often they have hidden eggs, cheese and other dairy products. Somehow, egg rolls fell into that “unknown mixture” label and I avoided them. I recently came across a recipe for egg rolls and discovered there were no eggs anywhere in the recipe! I went to the grocery store and read the ingredients on the wrappers…no eggs! To think I’ve avoided egg rolls all this time when I didn’t need to!

This picture shows egg rolls that had been deep fried. Look so good!

I also wondered why they were called egg rolls…when no eggs were involved! An early reference to egg rolls appeared in a 1917 Chinese recipe pamphlet published in the United States. The 1917 recipe described a meat and vegetable filling wrapped in an egg omelet, pan fried, and served in slices. (Wikipedia, Egg Rolls).

According to Wikipedia, while they are closely related to the spring rolls served in mainland China, the American egg roll was probably invented at a Chinese restaurant in New York City in the early 1930s. Originally, egg rolls included ingredients like bamboo shoots, roast pork, shrimp, scallions, water chestnuts, salt, MSG, sugar, palm oil and pepper. Notable, they did not include cabbage at the time, which is the main filling ingredient in modern egg rolls.

A 1979 article in The Washington Post speculated two possible theories for the word “egg” in the name: “1) that the Chinese word for ‘egg’ sounds very similar to the Chinese word for ‘spring’, and 2) that Chinese chefs in the South relied on using actual eggs when trying to make the thin noodle skin from flour and water.” (From Wikipedia, Egg Rolls).

The other issue I had with egg rolls was the necessity to deep fry them…sounded messy! But this recipe said I could use my air fryer or even bake them in the oven! That sounded possible!

So, here is the recipe for the egg rolls:

(From https://lilluna.com/fried-eggrolls-recipe/)

The ingredients were pretty simple: egg roll wrappers, cooked chicken, cole slaw mix and salt. I added little minced onion just for flavor.

The ingredients shown with my first batch of egg rolls ready for the air fryer.

Preparing the stuffing

Step 1: In a large frying pan (or wok) saute the cole slaw with a little olive oil until wilted (I added the minced onion here).

Step 2: Add shredded chicken for a few minutes until all mixed. Season with salt and pepper to taste. I just added the can of chicken, broken up with a fork.

Making the egg rolls

Step 3: Add 2 tablespoons of slaw/chicken mixture to the middle of the egg roll wrapper. Fold up the sides one at a time and for the last fold add a little water so it sticks. Makes 11-12 egg rolls.

Step 4: Fry your egg rolls until golden brown.

Air Fryer Instructions:

Lightly spray or brush the basket or tray with olive oil. Place egg rolls in the air fryer. Be sure they are not touching. Cook at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes, turning halfway.

Oven-Baked Instructions:

Lightly coat egg rolls with cooking spray and place, seam side down in a greased pan. Bake at 425 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown, turning halfway.

Store in an airtight container. Refrigerate for 3-4 days. Freeze for up to 2 months.

Reheat in 350 degree oven, 10 minutes if thawed; 18-20 minutes if frozen, turning halfway.

With our son visiting, these egg rolls did not last very long! Yummy!

Another idea:

One of the suggestions in this recipe was to try filling the wrapper with apple pie filling. That would be like a mountain pie cooked over a campfire! Sounds like a great dessert!

I can see lots of potential for stuffing! I’m sure I’ll get better at rolling the egg rolls up too! Give it a try! Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

Garden Update May 6, 2022

Seems like it’s time to share our beginnings of this year’s garden. It is still too early to put plants in the ground because we could still have a frost over the next few weeks, but Spring is definitely making obvious inroads.

Our Redbud trees are beautiful and the grass is so green.

Redbud flowers are so stunning in the spring!

The hummingbird feeders are ready and the birds have found them. The geraniums are beautiful this year.

I planted lettuce and radish seeds in the raised planter on the patio.

The Super Sauce tomato plants have thrived under grow lights. Now a little sunshine and wind will toughen them up.

The strawberries are determined to get on with making berries, so off they go!

We’ve got to get the ones in the bucket into a different planter soon!

The cucumbers, Delicata squash and zinnias are still under the grow lights.

Up in the main garden the Lavender is showing signs of surviving the winter. I’m not sure what to trim away, so I guess I’ll just have to wait!

The Echinacea came back so that end of the garden should be pretty this year.

So that’s the tour of what’s happening right now. Soon it will be time to get the rain barrels set up, but we’ll wait another week or two. We set them up last year on April 27, 2021, so we must have been optimistic that the really cold nights were over. If you’d like to read about how we set them up, you can see it here: https://marykisner.com/setting-up-the-rain-barrels/.

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

Making Aromatherapy Soap Dough

I recently came across an article about making aromatherapy soap dough. This project sounded like such a neat idea! The article was written by Jan Berry who has written my favorite book about working with melt and pour soap:

The focus of this aromatherapy project had to do with the various scents and how working with dough that had a specific scent could, for example, calm the child (lavender), brighten their mood (lemon), or even soothe overexcitement (Himalayan cedarwood). Therefore, the amount of scent in each batch was quite strong. The recipe called for 1/8 plus 1/16 tsp. of essential oil. Since most essential oils are measured by the drop, 1/4 tsp. of essential oil represents 20-30+ drops in 5 oz. of soap.

For this project, you melt the soap of your choice, add soap tint and essential oils, and then stir in 3-4 tablespoons of cornstarch until it makes a soft dough. The pictures in the article showed a small ball of tinted play-dough-type clay that kids could roll out and cut out shapes, let them dry and then use them to wash their hands.

After giving this recipe a try my final recommendation is…this project was more trouble than it was worth. I can’t imagine trying to make enough of this dough for kids to play with. You might have a better result than I did, but I don’t plan to spend any more time trying to get it right!

Making the Soap Dough

Step 1: Melt the Soap

I started with 1 lb. of Goats Milk melt & pour soap base. I divided the pound into 3 glass measuring cups by chunking it up and weighing each cup. I needed 5 oz. in each cup.

I put two of the cups into saucepans with water on the stove and started them melting.

I decided to work with one cup at a time.

Optimistically, I had three sets of tint and essential oils ready for three colors/scents of soap dough.

Step 2: Add tint and scent

When the first cup of soap was melted, I added the purple tint (directions said to mix the tint with twice as much rubbing alcohol). I’m not sure why that was important, but I mixed a few drops of tint in a metal measuring cup with a teaspoon of Everclear alcohol and then added it to the soap.

I use Everclear in my perfumes so I had it on hand.

Then I added about 20 drops of Lavender essential oil. I would never use that much in such a small portion of soap but I did in this first batch.

Step 3: Add cornstarch.

Next, the recipe said to begin adding 3 to 4 tablespoons of cornstarch a little at a time.

The cornstarch stayed in lumps…kind of like lumpy gravy! Don’t you hate that!

I was to keep stirring as the soap cooled. By the time I had added 4 tablespoons of cornstarch the soap was making a sticky ball in the cup.

I dumped it out onto parchment paper and tried to make it into a ball of dough. It stayed lumpy with the cornstarch that didn’t mix in. I finally pressed it flat and tried to use a cookie cutter to make a heart. It sure didn’t look pretty!

The final chunk I just patted into a circle and called it quits! Now they are supposed to dry for a few days. Then they can be used to wash hands.

At this point, I decided to just melt down the soap in the other two cups, add tint and essential oils, and pour them into my heart molds. These heart soaps, scented with Lemon and Rose essential oils can be used in a few hours. Much simpler!

In a few days I’ll see if the “aromatherapy soap dough” hearts work well for hand washing. However, I think the small molded hearts have enough scent to be useful as good smelling soap.

If I really want to calm down a child with lavender scent, I think an essential oil diffuser in the room where they are playing might be more effective and much less messy! Even a small pillow stuffed with dried lavender buds would work well. Give it a try! Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

Using Quinoa Flakes

Quinoa is a grain that has lots of potential, but personally, a pile of it on my plate doesn’t excite me. I have a powerful grain grinder that I can make it into flour, which expands ways I can use the grain. I also found a box of Quinoa Flakes that I thought could be used in my standard Oatmeal Bread recipe (see https://marykisner.com/marys-oatmeal-bread/).

The back of the box showed several ways the flakes could be used…as a hot cereal, in cookies and muffins.

Today was the day I needed to bake bread so I thought I’d try using it…mostly to see if it changed the flavor or texture of my favorite bread. I followed my standard recipe and added 1/2 cup of Quinoa flakes when I added the 1 1/2 cups of rolled oats. Here’s the difference in the size of the flakes:

Rolled oats on the left, quinoa flakes on the right.

I wasn’t sure if that little bit in four loaves of bread would even be noticeable but amazingly…it was!

The bread was very light and had a nice consistent texture. There was no noticeable difference in taste. It was a nice enhancement to my standard oatmeal bread and added a little more protein to the bread. I think I’ll make it part of my standard recipe!

I think I’ll try adding a tablespoon of the flakes to my morning bowl of oatmeal just to enhance the protein. Give it a try! Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.