Robin's Eccentricities

Ginger root is the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale, consumed as a delicacy, medicine, or spice. Tincture is typically an alcoholic extract of plant that should have an ethanol percentage of at least 40-60% or 80-120 proof. Vodka is usually the alcohol of choice because it doesn't have flavor. (I would have to disagree with that! I'm not an alcohol drinker so when I do get a taste of it I find it very unappealing.) *People with biliary disease or women that are pregnant are advised against using ginger tincture.* So why ginger tincture? First I want to tell you some of the medicinal uses of ginger. nausea cramping sore throat arthritis pain common cold aphrodisiac cholesterol digestion fibromyalgia gout irritable bowel syndrome motion sickness loosen and expel phlegm reduce fevers by increasing perspiration anti-inflammatory That's quite a list of medical benefits!  Interested? Guess what? It is super easy to make and easy to use. Wha

I love apple pie. It is one of my favorites. The one thing I don't like are uncooked pieces of apple in my pie. Some might prefer that crispness but neither of us do. That problem is solved by making my own filling and cutting the apples into small dices so they cook during processing and if any are still tough the pie baking will finish cooking them. Not to mention filling made this way is so versatile and can be used for turnovers, coffee cakes or whatever else you might like apple in. Dicing the apples also solved the problem of some of my apples already turning brown in spots. I could just cut away the worst and still have plenty of pieces. I had bought the apples almost three weeks ago and was really worried but I still managed to get 7 pints out of them. Other than coring, peeling and dicing the apples the process is quite easy. What you'll need: (for 1 quart) Hot water bath canning supplies 3 1/2 cups Apples-Any variety but increase sugar by 1/2 cup for Gran

It's 2PM and you are still trying to figure out what to have for dinner. That's me at least. Unless I have a plan. A weekly menu plan serves several purposes for me. 1. I don't have to think each day what we'll have. 2. It saves trips to the store because I have already purchased what I need. 3. It saves time. 4. It saves money. Less trips to the store = less impulse purchases. I had been using just a blank monthly calendar that was on a tear off pad. I ran out of those and have just been winging it with the "2PM OMG what's for dinner?" Printspiration was looking for someone to do reviews and I volunteered. She has so many things to choose from but the one that popped out was the menu planning! Pretty design (customizable too) and easy to use. It is a one time purchase and you can print as often as you like. Even better, save your ink and paper and place the sheet into a glass frame and use dry erase markers to make your menu. I chose a frame tha

Several of you know I've been in the hospital for a few days. I convinced the hospitalist (Dr.) to send me home today. I don't do hospital confinement very well. With several days of mail piled up I was dreading sorting through it all. Then there was this one handwritten envelope. Of course I grabbed it first! It was from my Aunt and Uncle that had sent me Grandma's recipes. There were some more recipes in the envelope. Talk about making my day brighter! Posts might be slow for a while. Be patient with me. Robin

I love quilts! Not because of the intricate designs but because they are cuddly. Before today the only quilt I successfully made by myself was a simple patchwork. To my credit it has been 12+ years since I made it and it is still going strong. Might not be pretty but it sure is cuddly. Mom has helped me make quilts since. She is a pro! I watch her in awe as she puts together masterpieces. She has instructed me over and over how it's done. I just don't get it. Sigh. I find pretty patterns and I pin them hoping to someday figure it all out. Then I saw a video where the lady claims you can make a quilt top in an hour. Yeah right! This is me she's talking to. But I REALLY want to make a quilt. I bookmarked this video: My next mission was to find jelly rolls that I liked. I grabbed my 40% off coupon for Hobby Lobby and headed there. The rolls didn't seem very big so I bought two of them. The next step was to sew them all together. Yikes! I did, then I tore

The idea behind my chore box is to keep me focused. With very little attention span and short term memory loss it's hard to stay in one area. Without my box I find myself wandering from room to room. That is a waste of my time and energy. (I never have enough of either!) It is always best to focus on one room before moving to the next. If I find something in the room I'm working on that belongs in another it goes into a box to be taken there when I'm done. The box is divided into sections. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday Each section has three colored cards in it. Yellow cards are daily chores. Orange cards are weekly chores. Green cards are monthly/quarterly chores. Each card has one chore on it. I give it an estimated time to complete, some take no where near the time I've assigned. I might put details on the card in case there is someone helping me and not sure how I do a certain thing. Weekly cards have the day of the

Buttercream frosting, royal icing flowers and frozen buttercream transfer. 2 layer 10x15 cake with 2 layer 6" tier. The transfer was fun and can be done in almost any design.

I'm not the type of person to cook from prepackaged foods. I believe food just plain tastes better when made from scratch. There are exceptions though. Saffron Yellow Rice is one of them. My husband calls it yellow rice, I call it saffron rice. A few years ago my husband said he wanted chicken and yellow rice. This required a usual phone call to Mom Pat to find out just what the heck he was talking about. With the instructions from my MIL, I take that little bag with all the precious saffron and rice in it and turn it into something amazing.  This is now one of my very favorite meals. I am sure you could make what is in the bag at home, but since this is the only food I know of that I eat with saffron I'm not willing to pay a small fortune for saffron. These little bags are inexpensive (under $1.00 at most stores), full of flavor and go a long way. You will find this rice usually on the top shelf where boxed foods are and right next to other rice products. What is s