Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Roasted Sticky Chicken

I've realized that I need to start taking this blog back to its origins instead of only talking about soap products. At some point, my soapy stuff will take on a life and blog/website of its own, so I need to steer this boat back into familiar territory - FOOD!

Sticky Chicken...just as delicious as it looks
Today, I am bringing you Roasted Sticky Chicken. I don't know exactly why it's called "sticky" when there aren't any ingredients that would cause it to be sticky, nor is it actually sticky IMO. I can tell you that I've been making this chicken for over 10 years, and I am always amazed at how good and simple it is to make.

Also, I can tell you it is simply delicious and worth the amount of time it takes to make it. This is a set-it-and-forget-it type of recipe and it's the perfect thing to make on a cold fall or winter Saturday when you are tucked inside the house doing other things. 

It requires 5 hours of sloooooow and looooow roasting. Yes, that is correct...5 HOURS to roast. You would think roasting a chicken for 5 hours would dry it out to the consistency of shoe leather, but no, these birds are incredibly moist and fall-off-the-bone tender. 

Amazing Sticky Chicken
In fact, since it takes so long to make and it's worth it, I usually roast more than 1, 2, or even 3 birds at a time and freeze the rest. The meat freezes WONDERFULLY and does not dry out. That makes it perfect for future chicken salads, casseroles, soups, or simply served with gravy and mashed potatoes. YUM! 

Roasted Sticky Chicken
Recipe source: Sharon Worster, Personal Chef's Network

3 lb. whole chicken
2 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
3/4 tsp cayenne powder (optional)
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 large onion, quartered

Note: To roast more than 1 bird at a time (highly recommended), double or triple the seasoning amounts.

Combine all spices in a bowl. Rub mixture into the chicken WELL, inside and out; patting into the skin. Place chicken in a large Ziplock bag or large enough container, and refrigerate overnight. If you don't have time for this (I rarely remember to do this), it will still be delicious!

Preheat oven to 250°. Place quartered onion inside the chicken cavity and truss the legs closed. Tuck the wings under the bird. Place in a roasting pan and slow roast, uncovered, for 5 hours. Baste often with pan juices. The chicken will turn a delicious, golden brown. 

To freeze leftover chicken, pull meat off the chicken carcass and freeze in a Ziplock freezer bag. I often vacuum seal as well.


Friday, September 15, 2017

Soapy Friday - Skulltastic!

Happy Friday everyone!

It's really been a tough week for many in Florida, including some of my own family members who were affected my hurricane Irma. I wanted to lighten the mood a little, so I used my skull(s) to bring in some fun!

Apple-Pear and Cinnamon Skull Soap
The thing about making seasonally inspired bath products, you have to start preparing a few months ahead of each holiday. Especially with soap, which can take 4-6 weeks to cure. Also, trends change. so it's good to see how things will look or behave before you sell or give them to friends & family.

Plus it's just fun to play around!

Skull Bath Bomb...waiting for testing.
In addition to making some fun stuff, I had to use my real skull and start this jewelweed and plantain leaf hot olive oil infusion. I went and picked some jewelweed and plantain leaves this week to make this. After it was done, I strained it and put in in the refrigerator.

Next, I'd like to make a jewelweed tea, which will happen next week, and go from there. I plan to make some awesome, anti-itch soap and salve with these infused oils and liquid. Can't wait!

Jewelweed & Plaintain Olive Oil Infusion

Friday, September 08, 2017

Hang in there Florida!

Boy, this has been a stressful couple of weeks for our family. We have family in Houston affected by hurricane Harvey, and of course most of our family is in Florida, including Key West and on the east coast.

Some of my dearest friends, like Mary, are near or in Orlando and they are going to be raked right up the center of the state. Hang in there everyone!

My heart and prayers are with you all.


Thursday, September 07, 2017

The Garden in September

September is usually a busy month for us, as it has us aerating, fertilizing, liming, and overseeding the lawn. In addition, I have quite a bit of plants to relocate and we need to rebuild our fire pit too.

We've finally gotten a reprieve from this summer's brutal heat and lack of rain. August started out rough, but turned out to be actually "normal-ish" as far as what to expect weather-wise. So far for this month, it's been a dream and almost "fall-ish" with rainy days and temps even into the 40's at nighttime.

It's a big difference from last September, which was still very hot at this time.


The veggie garden is dwindling down. Most of the tomatoes were taken down and the bush beans are still putting out an impressive harvest. I'm not a fall veggie gardener, with the exception of planting garlic when we want it the following year. It's tempting though, especially when the weather is as nice as it's been these past few weeks.

In fact, I might not grow a veggie garden at all next year, as I would like to focus on developing the perennial gardens on the property.


The back perennial bed has gone rogue with milkweed, which I love. I planted some years ago and it reseeds each spring.


I was tickled to death to see about 10 of these cuties munching away on the milkweed. They are Monarch caterpillars, and by the looks of it, they will be pupating in the next few days. As much as it is important to grow nectar plants for the butterflies, it's even more important to grow host plants for the caterpillars. Without them, the butterflies won't survive. Sadly, Monarch butterflies are now endangered.

I consider my little milkweed patch to be an oasis in a desert. It takes a while for Monarch butterflies to find your "patch" and remember to come back to it each year. Hopefully, this means we will have even more next year!


The hummingbirds have been fierce this year! There must have been 7-10 "squeakers" buzzing around the property this summer. I had to put up 2 extra feeders to lesson the fighting and tension. Let no one tell you these little birds are sweet and timid; they are not! They will fiercely guard food sources and the "hummer wars" can be intense to watch.

They are boldly curious too. Whenever I go out in the yard, it's not uncommon for one of them to come over and check me out by hovering about 2 feet away from me for a few minutes. They are smart and can recognize familiar faces, just like crows and ravens. I think they know I'm the one that brings the good stuff!


Every August/September I look forward to my big patch of perennial begonia blooming. The bees simply adore the flowers and I think they look almost like cherry blossoms.


One thing I am THRILLED to have found recently - not on my property, but down the road from where I live - is Jewelweed. Jewelweed is a plant that is very well known for it's natural ability to lesson the effects of poison ivy, psoriasis, and eczema itching. In fact, it's called "nature's poison ivy remedy".


I've been reading about it recently and how people use it to make soap and salves. It is known to grow all along the east coast and I've desperately wanted to get my hands on some seeds. Imagine how ecstatic I was to have spotted this growing along side a country road on my way to the grocery store last weekend!

I definitely plan to come back with my tick repellent clothes on and harvest some of this for soap and salves.


Elsewhere on our property, we had our tree guys out last weekend to grind-up about 8 tree stumps in the yard. These areas will either be turned into perennial beds or overseeded with grass. It's nice not having to mow around them now.



Summer is over and I am glad. Every fall I look forward to the last mow and tucking everything away for the season. I look forward to having the break and turning my energy elsewhere, which will now be making itch remedy soap!


Friday, September 01, 2017

Soapy Friday - Soap Behaving Badly

Happy Friday everyone! I'm sooooo glad this is a holiday weekend; it's been a long week and my heart goes out to the people affected my hurricane Harvey in Texas. My brother-in-law lives in northeast Houston, but fortunately lives on a higher bluff and has only had very little damage and is currently without power. He is one of the lucky ones.

This week, I am going to be talking about naughty soap, but really, this should post should be titled, "SOAP: WHY DID IT DO THAT?"

I've had more inconsistencies on my soap journey than not and it's frustrating. To be fair, half of my frustration comes from my own inexperience and errors, and in those cases I know what I did wrong. However, the other times I'm like, "WTH ?!!!"

Example #1 - Colors aren't always what they seem. 

I made a gorgeous lavender essential oil soap this week and I wanted purple in the design. You would think I would use a purple colored natural pigment (mica) right? Well my friends, this is an example of how colors can morph during saponification and using it to your advantage.

In this case, I knew this BLUE color would turn PURPLE, as it happened to me by accident in another batch. This is why it is so important to take good notes!

When blue = purple

Example #2 - What are those white splotches/streaks?

This one has been wracking my brain for a while. What is it? Aesthetically annoying soda ash? Stearic streaks? Lye pockets? Every once in a while I get a batch of soap that has these in them and it forces me to do a "what did I do differently" run-down of my process and ingredients in my head.

Mystery streaks

What is it?
Finally I bought some pH testing strips to at least eliminate the possibility of my soap being lye-heavy. It is not.

Cold process soap is naturally alkaline with a pH of around 9-10. This pH helps to gently clean the skin. All of my soaps average around 9.5 to 10.5, which is awesome!

Perfect pH
So, what are those streaks/splotches? This particular batch of soap was a larger, 5 lb. batch and I believe that when I poured the hot oils into the cold oils there was a sort of "thermodynamic shock" that happened. Both soda ash and stearic spots are both caused by inconsistencies in temperature, so that could very well be the case. There are a few things that I can do that can ensure consistent temps, such as heating all my oils in larger batches. Another theory is that I need to mix my batter a bit more and bring it to a good solid, medium trace.

Example #3 - What are those bumps?

These are some 100% olive oil soaps that I made in my cube mold. After a while, these bumps appeared on only one side of the bars; what are they? Again, I pH tested the cubes to be sure they were not lye-heavy. They were a perfect 10 for pH.

Weird bumps on soap
So, after some thought, I realized that when I umolded these cubes, the soap was still very soft. When they came out of the mold, the bottoms of the soap sort of stuck to the mold and then released. Those bumps are the equivalent of sticking your finger in a perfectly frosted cake and then lifting it up!

I can simply use a planer to plane off the bumps or give them a wash to make them pretty.

These cubes were super soft


 

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