Today I’m taking you along with me over a couple days of homemaking tasks from the beginning of this month. I preserved pickles, infused vanilla, baked an artisan sourdough loaf, and organized my walk-in pantry. (If you’d like to watch the video of these two days, click here.)
Canning Pickles
This was my very first experience canning anything. I love pickles! So when a church member gave us ten pounds of pickling cucumbers, I just had to try my hand at canning them.
We’ve been incredibly blessed from the abundance of our neighbors. Since moving this summer, we weren’t able to plant our own summer garden, but that hasn’t stopped us from enjoying the surplus of fresh garden veggies from our friends, so much abundance that I’ve canned and frozen their produce! How lovely that the gardens of our friends will serve us into the winter. The Lord provides!
For this dill pickle recipe, I followed Homesteading Family’s guide to crunchy canned pickles. She explained everything in a way that made me feel confident to can as a beginner. The only difference on my end was not using an electric canner, and it all worked out just fine for me — at least we’ll see in two weeks if they’re any good!
The only sad part of the experience was one broken pint during the water bath, which sometimes just happens while canning.
Infusing Vanilla
For this recipe I sliced ten vanilla beans lengthwise, dropped them into a sealable bottle, and poured a 25 oz bottle of 80 proof vodka over the beans. Now I’ll just need to wait at least six months for potent vanilla extract.
Baking Bread
Since moving, my sourdough starter hasn’t been performing at its peak. I’ve ended up with dense discs of bread many, many times. I tested out a new to me recipe from Simple Living Alaska, and I could not be happier with the result. A fluffy, chewy inside with a crunchy, but not jaw breaking crust. Absolutely delicious flavor as well.
If you're looking for an easy bread recipe, that isn't sourdough, then check out my Honey Wheat Sandwich Bread recipe.
Pantry Organization
When viewing our house before buying, I immediately fell in love with this walk-in pantry. Unfortunately, with all the unpacking and work being done throughout the house, the pantry became a dump zone that had been left alone for far too long. Now that it’s finished, I can’t stop myself from walking in it just to enjoy the organized environment — even when I don’t need anything from it!
When organizing this space, I tried pairing like things together. There’s a canned goods shelf (separate from my canning supplies shelf) that also holds my crockpot since most of the time I’ll reach for these canned goods when throwing together a crockpot meal. Our coffee, teas, and drink accessories were placed on the same shelf.
For our standing mixer attachments and extra food processor blades, I picked up a cute basket that could fit all of those random sized odds and ends. I used this same technique for housing extra bulk spices that don’t fit in my spice rack on the counter or aren’t used on a daily basis.
All baking items rest on the same shelf and the appliances that are usually used only for a season (i.e. the apple peeler and corer, juicer, and soda stream) live on the top shelf.
If you're looking for more organizational tips, check out my post sharing how I organized my kitchen.
Thanks for your time!
