Stop! Don't Toss Those Radish Greens,They're Delish!

Fellow gardeners, have I got a treat for you, this will seriously change your life.  When you harvest those lovely radishes this summer and you cut off all those pretty green leaves, don't toss them in the trash can or compost, I have a much better use.  You work hard to grow your produce, watering, weeding, encouraging, so why wast a bit if you don't have to?

It all started for me when I watched the indie movie Chef on Netflix directed by and starring Jon Fareau (which I highly recommend.) Near the beginning of the film, Chef Carl goes to the market to get fresh produce for the restaurant where he works and he tells the produce guy that he wants fresh radishes with the tops still on, "I use those." What?  I wondered what do you use them for?  I was intrigued.

Chef Carl at the produce market with his son in the indie film Chef.

So when the radishes in the garden were ready to harvest, I remembered the statement and just googled, "radish greens recipes."  Wow! You can make all kinds of dishes with radish greens, so I saved them in a plastic bag and tossed them into the crisper drawer instead of the compost, feeling very proud of myself for not being wasteful. Radish leaves contain more fiber, vitamin C and protein than those pretty red roots do, and the roots are pretty good for you, so that's saying a lot!  Here's more info on the health benefits of radishes, both the roots and leaves, click here.

Tonight, I picked up one of those roasted chickens from the grocery store, it's a quick and easy dinner when I have lots of work to do.  With two book illustration jobs and revisions for my upcoming book all due around the first of the month, I like easy.  Then I remembered those radish greens...

So I looked up some recipes online, and I created this version based on what I had in the house...I must say, it's a new family favorite!  We'll never toss those radish greens again!  I hope you enjoy this one as much as my family did.

Tossing the potatoes and radish greens in the pan.

Sauteed Potatoes and Radish Greens

I've included the magical folklore uses for all you kitchen witches out there.  This is a great happy home recipe, not only does it taste wonderful, but if made with magical intention it's ingredients will fill you with blessings and keep negativity, envy, and gossip away from your dinner table.

Ingredients:

3 cups chopped radish greens, be sure to rinse them before you chop (fire energy, defends against the evil eye, induces passion)
1 medium onion halved and sliced thin (the moon, healing, hex breaking)
2 cups of diced red potatoes with the skin on (primal earth energy, manifestation)
1 pinch of turmeric (purification, courage)
1/4 tsp powdered cayenne pepper (breaks up negative energy and hexes, promotes love and passion)
fresh cracked pepper to taste (breaks up negative energy and hexes, stops envy)
sea salt to taste (blessing and protection and purification)
2 tablespoons olive oil (divine favor, associated with Athena)
1 pinch of sugar (dispels evil, sweetens the family life)
balsamic vinegar to flavor, I used about a tsp. (fire energy, breaks up baneful energy and gossip)

In a skillet, heat the oil and saute the onions until slightly transparent.  Add potatoes, salt, pepper, turmeric, and cayenne and toss.  Reduce the heat and cover, cook until the potatoes are soft.
Add chopped radish greens, toss to combine with potatoes and onions, cover and cook about 5 minutes until the leaves have wilted. Sprinkle with a pinch of sugar and balsamic vinegar, toss and enjoy as a side dish or serve with on warm tortillas and feta cheese.

Our radish harvest!

If you love this recipe just google "radish greens recipes" There are a ton of uses for this healthy green, I plan to try more recipes myself.

Blessed Be!

Mickie

DIY Firestarters

With many of us still having "fireplace days" and the weather soon to warm up so we can start having outdoor fun around our bonfires and chimineas, I thought you might be interested in these easy DIY fire-starters, made out of stuff you would probably throw away anyhow.  They make a great addition to your kindling to get that fire going.

Start saving up those toilet paper tubes, these are so easy, and they actually look kind of pretty, so they'll be nice even if you have guests over.  I have mine sitting on the hearth of my fireplace.  Without further adieu, here's how to make them.

All you need is dryer lint, empty toilet paper tubes, and leftover tissue paper.

Every time you empty your lint screen from your dryer, shove it into a toilet paper roll.  I just put my TP tubes in the laundry room so they're right there. 

Start saving up those TP rolls, by the time it's warm enough to have fires outside, you'll have loads!  Dryer lint is extremely flammable, so these will really flame up.  But, they look kind of gross....here's my solution to that.

Don't toss that leftover tissue paper from gift bags!

Cut the sheets of tissue into quarters and roll the lint filled TP rolls up in the tissue paper.

Twist the ends like a piece of candy or a British Christmas cracker! 

If you want to, you could tie them off using a bit of raffia, leftover yarn, cotton kite string,  I just left mine twisted, but it's up to you, just make sure whatever you use is natural and will burn and not melt.

Taa-daa! A couple of these mixed in with your kindling will help get your fire started whether in the fireplace or outside, man, I'm ready for some bonfires, come on spring!

I hope you enjoyed these fun and easy DIY fire starters, give them a try!

Blessed Be!
Mickie

Birds vs Windows

While working on some writing I heard a loud "bang" at the window. I knew immediately it was a bird, they do tend to smack into these big windows.  I turned and noticed the bird bounce off the glass and then zoom right back and grabbed the screen with his little feet and just hung there.  I found a great solution to keep birds from striking the windows last fall, and I knew I just needed to refresh it, (I'll show you my trick) but first, I was worried about the bird!

So I grabbed my phone figuring it would fly off soon, and I started snapping photos. The closer I got, I realized that the bird was really stunned. It was blinking it's little eyes and it beak was hanging open. The little chickadee allowed me to get really close.

Mouth open, eyes half closed, poor baby....

I was shocked, this bird must have really been seeing stars.  So I decided to Reiki the little sweetie through the glass.  Reiki is a specific kind of energy healing method that originated in Japan.  It allows you to channel universal life energy through your hands in order to heal people, animals, plants, and even situations, it's very soothing and works amazingly well.  I've been a Reiki Master/Teacher for years, but this was a unique situation that I've never had come up.  I sat with my hands against the glass for 3-5 minutes and the little bird just sat there soaking it up! I was just amazed. Finally, it closed it beak and the eye blinking slowed down as it began to turn it's head left and right looking around like, "where am I, what the hell happened?!"  It sat there a bit longer enjoying the Reiki, and then finally fluttered away.

Some Reiki energy for my feathered friend, I can't believe it sat there for that long!

Last fall when I noticed that birds do fly into the windows a lot, I've added some UV stickers to the windows, and I also dot  the windows with transparent UV liquid, both products help the birds see the window. To them, they just see the trees reflected in the glass and they think they can fly right on through, but the UV really stands out to their little birdie eyes so they know somethings up.  The UV liquid lasts awhile, but it's not permanent, and I knew after the experience with the stunned bird, it was time to refresh it.

THIS is the stuff! I found this last fall online on a website called Window Alert, I bought two bottle and some of their stickers too.

This is really cool, it's like a bingo marker, but it has special UV liquid that's designed to help keep birds from striking windows. I ordered two bottles of it last fall long with some UV leaf shaped stickers.

One of the leaf stickers, these are transparent and still are UV visible to the birds.  I didn't want to cover my windows with stickers, so I put them on the panes where birds were striking hard last year, and then I add dots of the less visible to the human eye liquid to the rest.

The stickers are pretty transparent so they don't mess up your view, I bet you never noticed them in my previous blog posts, but the birds can see them and the liquid very well, to the birds, they actually glow! Just so you know, I'm not getting paid to write this post, I'm just sharing it because it works.

Just dot it on, I do the middle of each square and the center of where the white lines on the windows meet.

They suggest you can use the marker in shapes too, if you choose to, you could make hearts, or magical symbols for healing and protection.  The stuff is slightly visible to the human eye, I just kept it simple with dots but applying magical intention and Reiki as I went.

I find that our birds strike the screened part of the windows too, it's a little more bouncy, so they probably don't get hurt as badly, but I like to treat that area too. push the screen against the window with one hand and apply the liquid right through the screen.

Here's the view out my studio window, it's quite jarring when I'm sitting there working on art or writing and a bird bashes into the window! I jump out of my skin, and then I worry about the little guys. You can see the difference between the stickers and the liquid here, it's really hard to take a photo of the liquid dots.  Visitors don't notice them unless I point them out.

You would think sun catchers in the window would help...

...but their little birdie eyes just see the trees reflected off the surface of the glass window!

I do have to add new liquid UV dots from time to time, I know when it's time because the birds let me know with a few big "bam" sounds.  If you love to feed and watch the birds the way that we do, and have a window or several that they seem to be smacking into, this stuff really works, it's affordable, and doesn't ruin your view.  Here's the link: http://www.windowalert.com/

Feel free to let me know if you have any questions, I've been using this stuff for about a year.

Blessed Be!,
Mickie

Pre-Winter Solstice Nature Walk

Dan made a proposal today..."Walk with me outside, let's see what we find."  How could I resist?!  We've been discussing a project that will probably happen as I get further along on my current publishing deadlines, but we need to start gathering bits and bobs from nature to make some new, special, one-of-a-kind creations that we hope to start on in the spring.  So we grabbed the compost to take out, a collection basket, put on jackets, and headed out.

So we ventured out to walk the enchanted grounds of Aelfheim, our home in the woods. At first glance, it seems as if the land is barren,  the ground is strewn with fallen leaves, the trees are bare.

Some of the oak saplings still have their leaves, the sunlight shining through them looks like stained glass.

We found deer tracks everywhere, they are actually coming much closer to the house than we knew. 

Wild rose hips were plenty in the meadow, we have lots of wild roses growing everywhere.  They look quite festive, many of the other wildflowers that have gone to seed look like puffy snow, a pretty effect.

A big hawk flying over got Dan's attention, he's always on the lookout for them.

Even in December, we saw signs of life, a little frog hopped across our path, I told him, "Go hibernate silly froggie, cold weather's coming!" We also saw a honey bee, woolly worms, and a tiny spider on this lone blooming dandelion. 

My basket was filling up by the time we passed by the elder grove.

This is some of the prettiest moss, it's colors seem very Winter Solstice to me.  I think this is where the faeries must meet, on a stump near a grove of oak, persimmon, and juniper.  

My basket is full of some great finds! A turkey feather, many other feathers too, seed heads, berries, wild rose hips, acorns, we even found what we think is the jawbone of a fox, more research and we'll know what it is for sure.  The land rendered forth many treasures. 

Even though it's so close to the Winter Solstice, the weather warmed up more and more while we were out. Dan ended up with his coat tied around his waist, and I tied my hair back, it's actually 66 degrees Fahrenheit right now.  It couldn't have been a better day to get out of the house.  Now I feel refreshed, inspired, and ready to work on some of my illustration projects and writing on my new book as well!

What signs of life are you still seeing near your house?

Blessed Be!
Mickie

Live Shenanigans Friday, Fog and Goulash

Happening at my house, live and un-edited, this is the real deal.  I just went around the house and took photos of what's going on even as we speak.

It's really foggy today, it's been so dark out all day it's hard to believe the sun is up there at all.  My daughter Brittany Sherman, her husband PJ and their little ones are coming out this weekend so PJ can use the barn to do some work on his car.  Dan and I grabbed the Yule tree out of the barn this morning, since the kids are coming, they can help decorate. I'll be seeing them again for Yule here on the weekend of the 21st, so we'll get all the decorations out this weekend and they'll have fun putting all that out and decorating the gingerbread house.   I'm working on making some of my decorated pens of art that people ordered from our Etsy shop right now.  The house smells like Hungarian goulash since Dan and I made up a giant batch in our roaster this morning.  Dan and I are playing old episodes of Downton Abbey on Amazon Prime while I craft pens and he works on the computer.  It's a rainy, cold, and darksome day, but we're cozy and warm.

I love to have a few candles going when it's dreary out, it brightens everything a bit.

The maple and the Four Trees Oak are visible, but the trees in the distance are obscured by fog today.  There was a squirrel sitting on the post nearby, but he wasn't there long enough to snap a shot.  Probably off to gather more hickory nuts. 

I'm making pens today, three Triple Goddess Pens and one Hecate's Key Pen.  Soon they'll be done and I'll have to cure them in the oven, paint, and varnish.

We plugged in the lights to make sure they still worked. The branches are still all bent out of shape, I need to straighten them up so we can decorate this weekend.  Watching Downton Abbey, relaxing and easy to have as background noise while we work because we've already seen these episodes.  Boxes everywhere! That's just our house this time of year.

My Yule altar, it's currently a work in progress.  My mom creates these cool sets with embroidered electric candle wraps and altar cloths,  for her Etsy shop Frogbirds House. I was so happy to get one.  I have more to add to it, but some of it is in the Yule totes in the barn, and some packed in my magical cabinet, I should have it all set up properly after the weekend.  Looking at this pic reminds me of another thing on my to-do list; I need to create an Etsy listing for those printable lanterns now that our Cyber-Monday giveaway is done...I hope I can get that done soon.

Vegetarian and Vegan friends avert your eyes, this is what I keep smelling, my Hungarian Goulash...Oh my, it smells goooood! We'll eat it for dinner with some crusty bread when the family arrives for the weekend.

Well, that's it, the live, unplugged, directors cut...  What are you up to right now other than reading this blog?

Blessings,
Mickie Mueller

Wild Persimmons After the First Frost

This summer, I discovered that we have a persimmon tree growing here at Aelfheim.  I've never eaten a persimmon, so I was delighted. After reading up on wild Missouri persimmons I learned that they are bitter and astringent if not fully ripe. Yes, I did try, I was anxious...whew, I don't recommend it, better to wait.  There is an old saying that persimmons aren't edible until after the first frost....so I waited.

Sunday night we were hit with an early snow and freezing temperatures. We didn't get as much snow as my friends in the east who can't get out their doors, but we got some snow.  I woke up this morning having been dreaming about eating persimmons, and I remembered...it was time!

I bundled up and headed out, the snow was melting and slippery as I made my way down to the persimmon tree.  Wow! A lot of creatures of the forest had gotten to them already, no doubt many had fallen to the ground and were under the snow. Most of them were too far up for me to reach, but I managed to gather seven of them.  It's ok, it was mostly culinary curiosity and many of the wild birds rely on being able to forage for things like persimmons, elderberries and other wild plants, so I left most of them to the birds.  

Now there is nothing beautiful about a wild Missouri persimmon.  They are shriveled looking things.  But I forged forth, cut one in half and examined the fruit inside.  It was soft, gooey, sticky, doesn't really sound very good does it?  I grabbed a spoon and managed to scoop the pulp away from the bitter skin and popped it into my mouth...bliss! Wow, really delicious! It's flavor was sweet and buttery, like nature created the perfect candied fruit.  If the sweetest plum nature could make had a baby with a really moist date who's uncle was a pumpkin...maybe it would taste like a persimmon, it's really not like anything I've ever eaten.  Many people have seen Asian persimmons which are very pretty and look like little pumpkins, these aren't those persimmons.  But don't judge a book by it's cover. Ugly as it is to look at, the flavor is really a treat and there's something magical about picking something that grew in the wild and eating it!

They all look like knives don't they? Well....That's because I cut them the wrong way...what a NOOB! LOL You're supposed to split the seed along the seam apparently which I'm trying to do, but it's making me nervous because I don't want to slice my finger in the process... So I'll try later and update you on how that worked out. 

I couldn't pick persimmons and eat them without examining their seeds for a weather prediction.  There is a bit of folklore that says if you cut persimmon seeds in half you can find out what kind of winter you will have in your area.  If the white inside the seed looks like a knife it means cold and ice,  Spoon shaped means lots of snow, and a fork means a dry mild winter.

So, the persimmon has magical properties, like most plants do.  According to Ozarks folklore if you eat an unripe persimmon you will change your sex,  Now I wouldn't take this literally,  however it may be a bit of useful magic for someone going through a sex reassignment procedure to help you embrace the difficult changes with a little more ease, and even to use for magic to help others accept your true self.  I personally would use a ripe persimmon though, the intention would still be there, and dears, unripe persimmons are just nasty.  I love ya more than that! Other magical properties of the persimmon include healing, and good luck!

On the magic of persimmons, wait, there's more! In addition, I want to share a bit more information that the persimmon spoke to me of in my dream.  As it reminded me that it was waiting for me in the field, ripe and lovely, I was told a story of it's magical use.  It's story was one of our status and station in life.  How we accept our position and therefore agree to it.  The persimmon's magic gives us an opportunity to help us rise above where we are, daring to dream of our own life beyond the other peoples perception of us, stretching our abilities, and boosting our status in our work, community, and life in general.  If you want to "level up" in the game of life, try looking beyond what you thought was possible, try working some magic with the persimmon.  This is a little unassuming fruit that may not appear to be much upon initial inspection, but if we look deeper we discover something amazing in inner beauty that elevates it, delightful flavor, and even wisdom that lies within.

Blessings,
Mickie 

Second Halloween and The Barely Haunted Hayride

On the night of Halloween/Samhain, by daughter Brittany of Va-Voom Vintage called me to tell me that her little kiddos told her that they wanted to come over to trick or treat at my house in the country.  They remembered the fun time we had here on the Spring Equinox riding around in the tractor hunting eggs, so we devised the "Barely Haunted Hayride." It was a Halloween Redoux weekend!

Rhys didn't lick his fingers one time, which must have been hard for his little three year old candy loving heart.  As a reward I gave him the icing spatula when we were done.  I love that expression, pure bliss! That's his momma Brittany working on her Va-Voom Vintage blog and laughing at our silliness.

The first night they arrived, we had to make cupcakes!  Olivia helped me with the baking, she's a very good baker, she cracked the eggs, poured all the ingredients, and did the mixing.  My mom picked up a bunch of cool decorations half off, so I washed their little mitts and set them all up.  I iced and then passed them on to the kids to decorate.  We don't believe in coloring inside the lines, so I told them they didn't have to make it look like the box, just be creative and have fun...and no licking you fingers until we're all done! 

My little baker, the cutest little witch ever!

I left up all my Halloween/Samhain decor for the kids, I think it made the weekend more fun.

They were pretty proud of their creations.

The next day, we did the "Barely Haunted Hayride!" Rhys doesn't wear regular clothes very often these days, he's usually in either his Spider-Man or Superman costume.  For the hayride, he chose Superman, kid's pretty buff, eh?  Olivia forgot her costume, but my teenage son's girlfriend gave her a funny pink hat with ears and a face, and then she wore my feathered witch hat over that, cute as a button!

So here's how trick or treating goes at my house.  We live on a rural highway, so there is no way any trick or treaters come to my house.  Mom, Brittany, and I walked the mowed path around the field and created several "stops."  I saved the jack-o-lanterns from Halloween night, and we used them, little ghosts, and other odds and ends to decorate the stops. We also left little bags at the stops, one for each kid, filled with pre-packaged Halloween pretzels, cheese balls, (like Cheetos) a couple little dollar store toys, and some candy.  We didn't want it to be all candy, and they got some really cool stuff. The cheese balls were a big hit, I'll do those again for sure.

Grandpa Dan put them in the wagon and hooked it up to the yard tractor and drove them all around the circuit, every time they would see a stop ahead, they would yell, "Oh, stop, stop, we see something!" And he would do a whole routine, "Are you sure, should I stop here...or should I keep going?" LOL

They the little ones climbed out and grabbed their loot.  Finger traps, glow in the dark tattoos, bubbles, stuffed orangutans, and Reese's Pieces, what a fun time!

My Little Pony figures awaited them at the last stop. Rhy's favorite is Rainbow Dash, if anyone ever saw this kid run, they would understand why, Rainbow dash is the fastest, and so is Rhys!

But even the quickest has to slow down sometime,  Poor little guy totally crashed in the car on the way home with his Spider-Man costume on, and his "Teddy Monkey" he got while trick or treating. I wonder if he was dreaming about the Barely Haunted Hayride?

And me? Did I run around the house cleaning up candy wrappers and wiping off sticky fingerprints on Sunday as they were on their way home?  Oh, hell no! Frozen pizza in bed, Farscape, and pajamas were the only things on the schedule that evening.

And that's how you do Second Halloween.

Blessings,
Mickie