Good Intentions Gone Awry

Back a couple of months ago, I wrote about my efforts of making my own "orange cleanser".  I had found a recipe that said to poke a bunch of orange rinds in a jar, cover with water and add a few tablespoons of activated yeast.  The stuff had to stay in the jar for about a month and needed to be stirred every day.  Sounded simple enough, so I tried it.  I followed the instructions exactly (how hard could that be!) and was extra vigilant about my stirring!  To give the yeast an extra chance of survival in the coldness of the Little Bayou House, I kept the jar on the back of the woodburning stove.  It sat up on a trivet so it was just lukewarm not scalding.  It sat for days..weeks..and on to the required month.  While the brew smelled strong, it never smelled "rotten" which encourage me!  Perhaps this would work and I could have a supply of cleanser for free!  The peels started to slough off and form sediment in the bottom of the jug.  I assumed this was supposed to happen as the last thing I remembered reading was how it would need filtering through a cloth to be pure.  I just let it be..stirred it daily and kept it warm.

Then came the date that I had printed on the lid!  It was time to test my cleanser!  The jug was toted into the kitchen where I could first strain out the remaining wads of peels and then filter the liquid through a cloth.  Once I got rid of the sludge, the stuff did not smell half bad!  It was definitely orangey!  The bit that sloshed on my hands left them feeling a bit oily, though...hmmm?  Perhaps this was normal.  I guess...maybe?  I went back to read the article once again.  Nowhere did it say the stuff should be oily but I refused to give up hope!  To use my newly-made cleanser, I was to simply apply it to a surface, let stand for about ten minutes and then wipe dry.  Hmmm...ok...lets try this!

A nice helping was poured out on my glass-topped stove.  That seemed like a good place to try the cleanser as my stove gets used nonstop.  It never stays clean for long!  After smearing the oily stuff about on the stovetop, I set the timer and waited. (This seemed like the perfect time for another cup of coffee!  After all, I did have to wait ten minutes!)  Waiting that allotted time proved to be a waste!  When the buzzer sounded, I grabbed a paper towel and proceeded to wipe.  Ugh!  This stuff had turned to glue!  No, it had not loosened the grime on the stove..it had turned to orange glue!  The paper towel stuck to the glass top.  I tried to squish it around a bit but that was not happening!  The towel refused to go anywhere!  Hmmm....WATER!  I poured a tad of water on top of the cleanser.  Sure, it mixed with the cleanser quite rapidly but did nothing to help clean my stove! The oiliness smeared around on the glass and was nigh on impossible to ever clear.  Sopping up the mess, I came to realize that the stove looked no different than before the application of orange glue..err...cleanser!    I do believe that I was duped into wasting a month!  Granted..it does smell orangey and I probably could say I used it as a cleanser if I did not have to testify about its reliability and super cleansing powers!  So I suppose it is back to the drawing board if I want to create my own environmentally-friendly and free cleanser because this sure did NOT work!

(Hmmm?  I wonder if I could market this as a "Safe, Earth-friendly, Orange-scented Glue!  Or maybe I can convince Mark that I made if especially for him to clean the boat!  Nah..I think he is far too smart for that.  Oh, well!)

Earth-friendly Cleanser!

Since it has been a wild day (and is now even a wilder night) on the Bayou, I pondered how to fill my day.  All of the chores were finished before noon so I had plenty of time to do whatever I wished.  With rain pouring down outside, my plans to rake the leaves was delayed a bit.  I puttered around in the kitchen thinking that I really would like to bake but there were still several trays of leftover Christmas goodies sitting on the dining room table...baking was out of the question!  Then I almost stumbled over a basket of citrus fruit from the last picking.  Hmmm...these looked a mite overripe to be used for marmalade.  It was then that an idea hit me!  I would make use of the overripe fruit all the while creating something a bit different!  I would make orange (citrus) cleanser!  Surely, this would not be too difficult!

The fruit consisted of both Satsumas and grapefruit.  I carefully peeled a whole slew of the fruit.  The fruit itself would be used to make fresh juice as it was the peels that I needed for the cleanser. The oils in the peels can be a powerful degreaser!  Three quarts of peels were placed in a gallon jug and covered with a mixture of three tablespoons of activated yeast and hot (not boiling) water!  This conglomeration was then stirred and covered with a cloth.  The cloth would allow for the mixture to "breathe".  If a tight lid was placed on the jug, the pressure built up during the fermentation could cause it to break.  The jug of goop will sit in a warm spot for the next month to allow it to ferment. The stuff will have to be stirred every day to keep it busy doing its thing. At the end of the month, it will be strained and bottled. This should act as a cleanser with the added benefit of being a great fire ant killer!  We shall see!  By all accounts, the fermentation process will release the oils from the peels.  I hope so.  This experiment could prove quite useful as I can then make my own "earth-friendly" cleanser..something that I really like!

For now, the goop is bubbling away on the back of the old woodstove.  The directions say to keep it warm so I figure that is the best place for it.  The jug is far enough away from the burner that it will not be "hot" just lukewarm.  Here the yeast can activate and the peels can ferment to their heart's content!  (Lets just hope it does not "activate" too much and bubble all over the back of the stove!)  I will keep you posted on the end results of the experiment in a month's time!  Then...Happy Cleansing! (I hope!)

Muscadines!

It is August and that means it is Muscadine season here on the Bayou! Muscadines are a beautiful dark purple (almost black) grape that grows wild just about anywhere it can grab hold. It grows huge vines that will travel all the way to the tops of the pine trees if necessary to have a clinging spot. These grapes are usually used in making wine, jam and jelly as the skins are relatively tough and hard to chew. I have been eying the Muscadine vine growing along side of the lane for the past month, hoping that the birds, squirrels and 'possums would not beat me to the ripe fruit. Yesterday evening, I toted a batch of fresh-baked biscuits and a jar of peach jam to my brother who lives at the end of the lane. When I reached the vine, I noticed the ground beneath was littered with mushy grapes. Ahh..time to pick! This is easier said than done. This Muscadine vine was gigantic! It had just about covered an entire oak tree and many smaller pines that were about thirty feet from the oak. I pondered the problem..how could I get my grapes?..those beautiful, black jewels that were way out of reach. No easy solution came to mind..there had to be a way, but I was blind to the answer. Late into the evening, the problem stayed on my mind..I had to get some of those grapes! I would "sleep on it" and perhaps an idea would pop into the brain overnight. This morning early, I tended to chores about the house trying not to think about those luscious lovelies that evaded me. The laundry was washed and hung on the line to dry, the sourdough starters were fed and breakfast dishes were washed. Then about midmorning, I received a phone call. My dear sweet brother had once again come to my rescue. "Look on your front steps..I left a bucket of grapes for you."..the sweetest words rang through the telephone! Before I had even ended the conversation, I opened the door and snatched my prize! Grapes! Muscadines! Future jelly! My brother will be rewarded for his trouble. He will find a dozen jars of glorious grape jelly on his front porch tomorrow!

This afternoon (after the jelly-making) I took the time to pulverize some more of the dehydrated orange slices from this past winter. I had plenty of the lemon peel and the grapefruit peel on hand but my stash of orange peel was beginning to run a bit low. This is something that I tend to use quite often in everything from my morning oatmeal to chicken or fish dishes at supper..and yes..it is supper here, not dinner. I normally just use the peel but this time I used the whole orange slice. I threw them in the blender to make this process a bit easier and now have a nice, fat jar full again! Since last winter's hard freeze, my orange trees have not produced which seems strange since my lemons, limes, kumquats and grapefruits are loaded with fruit. The orange

trees are actually Satsuma trees or Tangerine trees as they are the easy-peel type of fruit. Every year, I can a lot of the slices of both the grapefruit and oranges, make marmalades and dehydrate slices and the peels. I have never run out before..I guess I am just eating too much!