Making Horse Chestnut Soap

So I like to experiment with things. This year I've been trying out different wild foods. Some have been pretty successful, and others were an absolute bust.

Here's another experiment...

My neighbors have this huge Horse Chestnut tree, and this year it's dropped a TON of nuts. It seems like such a waste. Now these nuts aren't edible, they contain the saponin aescin and also tannin, both of them would give you a pretty nasty case of the "green apple trots", or worse, for toddlers could be fatal.

I've read that Horse Chestnuts can be used to make a soap, that's not lye-based, to use on linens. Supposedly it whitens and brightens them. Really?!

So here goes...... gather some inedible horse chestnuts.....

They're kind of pretty, some folks use them in decorating, in wreaths and such. I'm not a big decorator, so I'll make soap.....

I needed to crack this thing to get at the nut meat, so I tried a potato masher...

No luck

...maybe my meat smasher flattener mallet thingy..

Nope still fine...

Out comes the hammer, the trick was holding it still without hitting my fingers, which I eventually accomplished.

Peel the nuts

Slice meat into boiling water

Let sit in boiling water for 10 minutes or so.

Ok now I have boiling soap water, that I have to say looked and felt like it was not going to work, and smelled like potatoes. I was pretty sure I'd wasted my time at this point. Well except for the hitting the nuts with a hammer, that was fun.

Now for the experiment. I took one of my linen towels and dropped wine on them (ps this was a bad idea, I love this towel, I should have used a towel I didn't like).

Then I soaked one side in the horse chestnut soap, the other side I washed with woolite.

Here's the result, can you see that the horse chestnut soap side is better?

I was amazed actually, really surprised!

Then I washed the whole thing in horse chestnut soap to get the stain out of the woolite side too. Once it was dry the linen towel was pretty as ever, but stiff, like I'd starched it (which I guess I technically did, right?).

So the verdict is:

On new stains it works better than woolite, smells like potatoes, and starches your linen. Is a little bit of a pain to make, and not sure how I'd store it. Also I've no idea if it'd work on old stains.... an experiment for next time I suppose. Overall, if I had some stained linens that I loved and wanted to resurrect without using harsh chemicals, I'd make it again.

Harvesting and making elderberry jelly

"Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries."

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

A few weeks ago, while walking the beasties, I saw some bushes loaded with berries that I suspected were elderberries. So I did some research, consulted with all my books, and a few folks I know and these are indeed Elderberries (Sambucus Canadensis).

Note: Be careful when foraging. Make sure you have correctly identified what you are picking. Elderberries do have some poisonous look alikes. Some people confuse them with poke berries which are poisonous, and there's a red variety of elderberries that aren't edible. Also the leaves and stems of the elderberry are poisonous.

I'd recommend buying a few books or even taking a class with a wild edible food expert.

Now Aaron had his doubts about making jelly out of berries we picked on the side of the road (or "crazy berries" as he called them). So I "correctly" labeled a couple jars just for him.

This is an elderberry, tiny aren't they?

So, once you have correctly identified plants, it's time to pick berries. Make sure you get ripe berries, not green (green makes you sick). Don't bother picking individual berries, just pop off the whole cluster at the joint. (gather about 3-4 pounds) Gather the rest of your ingredients.

• 
  
  4 1/2 C sugar
• 
  
  1/4C lemon juice
• 
  
  1 packet of pectin

Gently rinse. Take the berries off the stems, this is a little time consuming, but I found the best method was to pick off and discard any undesirable berries (these were a little late so some clusters had little "raisins" and some wrinkly berries). Once those berries are off, then hold the cluster upside down and rake your thumb over the berries.

Then I rinsed the berries about 3 times, twice letting debris float to the top and pouring it out with the water.

Next mash the berries in a saucepot over medium heat. While it comes to a boil keep mashing to release the juices. When it reaches a boil, lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Then place berries in a jelly strainer, or a fine sieve would work, maybe even a few layers of cheesecloth. Let it strain out for a few hours. In the meantime you can prepare your canning jars. I used about 10-12 4oz jelly jars.

Measure about 3C of elderberry juice into a saucepot (use a big one this stuff foams up). (I found I got about 1C juice from each pound of berries) Stir in lemon juice and pectin.

Bring to a boil. Add sugar. Stir with a wooden spoon (this will stain your spoon purple, be ready)

Bring to a boil again, stirring continuously. Once it reaches a rolling boil that doesn't diminish when you stir, start timing. At 2 minutes remove from heat and ladle into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch of headspace.

Wipe rims of jars, position 2 piece lids.

Process in a water canner for 15 minutes.

Remove and let cool. Listen for the pop that means the jars have successfully sealed.

Enjoy your jelly!!! It tastes a little like grape, but with a wilder flavor.

How to preserve butter and sugar corn:

We love butter and sugar corn. It's just about the best part of late New England summers. It's tasty and messy and I could eat it every day.

......and if you freeze it you can eat it in the winter too!

So I bought 3 dozen ears of corn, husked, and rinsed them all. Then I cut off any funky ends.

Immersed them in boiling water for 3 minutes. (this is called blanching I'm told) =0P

And once the timer went off I quickly put them into a big bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process.

Then I packed them all tightly into large freezer bags. About 8 ears to a bag. The next step is important. I close the bag up except for a teeny slit and insert a straw, then I suck out all the air, quickly remove the straw and completely seal the bag.

The top bag has had the air sucked out, the others haven't and you can see the difference. This helps eliminate freezer burn and the corn lasts longer.

How to make rose hip oil

Well it's a little early for  harvesting rose hips, usually they are best (especially for tea) right after the first frost. However, we've spent quite a few August weekends down in Rhode Island at a beautiful beach in the Narragansett Bay. They have wonderful beach roses (rosa rugosa), and I felt the urge to make some rose hip oil.  It's great for scars and moisturizing super dry skin.

If you want to make your own, here's the recipe. Make small batches because this stuff does have a shelf life.
First pick your rose hips, then wash them thoroughly.

Then cut off both ends and place rose hips into a jar, then pour in your carrier oil. In this case I chose sweet almond oil for it's pleasant mild aroma and lightness. You could use safflower oil, grapeseed oil or any other light oil. I wouldn't recommend using olive oil.

Let sit in a warm darkish place for about 2 days. You can cover it with a towel to keep it dark if you need to.

After 2 days put the oil and hips into your crockpot and let simmer on low, uncovered for about 10-12 hours.

 When your oil is done strain out the rose hips. Squeeze them well to get the oil out. (be careful they are likely HOT!!!)

Then pour the strained oil back into the original jar or whatever container you like. Glass is best, and the darker the better, but you can always use what you have. Date and label and keep in a dark cool place. It will last for about 6-8 months before it goes stagnant.