It's that time of year again when I start thinking about Christmas gifts. I live in a tourist region and I was taught this lesson early - if I don't think about my gifts well before the school summer holidays start, forget all about going to the shops because it will be bedlam. Now I don't give nearly as much as I used to at Christmas time. I gave up on cards years ago and send an email full of family news instead. I gave up giving gifts to everyone except my immediate family and a couple of very close friends but this year, our family has expanded with the addition of two beautiful girls so I am thinking about gifts again - girls gifts!

All through December when I'm at my voluntary job we deal with people trying to cope with the added pressures Christmas brings. I try to teach that going into debt to buy gifts isn't a good thing and usually results in stress and anxiety. Even though we're coming out of a bad financial period, I hope the lessons of frugality are not forgotten. Christmas is more about showing love and extending the hand of hospitality than it is about buying gifts you can't afford.

Our Christmas morning will be spent, as usual, cooking a free breakfast, cutting up fruit and serving muesli and yoghurt to several hundred people in my town. It's a way of bringing our community together for a special meal, talking with each other and connecting on that special day. This year our breakfast will be in our new building so it will be extra special. Last year over 600 people came, who knows what will happen this year.

I have been looking in my wonderful Zakka sewing book for gift inspiration. Hilde sent me this book all the way from Germany, I use it frequently and often lend it to friends. I think I will make a couple of the Zakka linen tea towels this year. I also find inspiration online and these are fine places to set your mind working: The Long Thread, Soulemama's Advent Calendar, Kris Knits pin cushion, and Get Rich Slowly's list of frugal gifts you can make yourself.

I haven't made up my entire list for this Christmas, I don't know if there will be purchased gifts, but I do know that dishcloths, bags, tea cosies, mittens, gift packs of green cleaning materials and maybe some Christmas fruit cakes full of dried fruits, nuts and brandy will feature in the mix. If you're out shopping, keep your eyes open in craft and knitting stores for free patterns. I picked up some great patterns for little Christmas gifts at Lincraft a few weeks ago. I found free instructions for knitted headbands, slippers, iPod bag, man's hat and fingerless gloves. All of them are easy, suitable for a new knitter and all are fast projects that you would probably already have enough wool to make up. Babs just sent a comment about the Lincraft site. There are lots of these How to sheets online with instructions for knitting, crochet, sewing, beading, scrapbooking and Christmas craft. Thanks Babs!

I'm always adding to my stack of dishcloths and they make a perfect small Christmas gift. I usually give mine with some of my soap but a pack of three, neatly tied with matching ribbon or raffia, make a perfect gift. My favourite pattern is the waffle weave which I originally found on Deb's Homespun Living blog.


Over at the Down to Earth forum, Tammy has a great tutorial for new sewers where she shows how to make reversible napkins. And if you stay awhile browsing at the forum, check out the thread on What are you giving for the holidays? It holds a lot of good ideas, including ecoMILE's recipe for Vegan Gingerbread Cookies. That thread is already five pages long and not only will it give you some wonderful gift ideas, it's full of encouragement and support.

If you haven't already started, it's not too late, now is the perfect time to write up a list and start working on your home made Christmas. Try to use materials you already have and look around now for the odds and ends you know you'll need. One thing is for sure, when it comes closer to Christmas, the prices will rise and you'll end up spending more.

Have you made a list yet, if so, what gifts are you making this year?

Hanno and I had the first drink from the latest batch of ginger beer last night. It was so good! I sent a bottle of it down to Kerry and Sunny too so I'm spreading the love around. Ginger beer is a fermented drink that is easily made at home and as it's fermented, it contains many nutritious enzymes. In days gone by fermented food and drinks were part of our normal diet but we've lost the taste for them because commerce and convenience require that food and drinks are produced fast. My ginger beer takes about two weeks fermenting before it's ready to drink - this is traditional food, it's slow.

Fermenting is a chemical process that, in this drink, uses beneficial bacteria to create lactic acid and converts the sugar in the drink into carbon dioxide. We've all been taught that bacteria and food don't mix but this beneficial bacteria is the same as that in yoghurt, kimchee, sauerkraut, kefir and sour dough. It's good stuff!

To make ginger beer you need only a few ingredients - ginger, sugar and water. All your utensils must be thoroughly clean as any bad bacteria or yeasts will ruin it and you'll have to throw the whole lot out. You'll need a wide mouthed jar or canning jar; a loose weave cover - such as this milk jug cover in my photo (we'll be making another one of these next week) a piece of muslin or cheesecloth to use as a strainer; a large mixing bowl capable of holding 4½ litres/quarts; several large plastic bottles; a large jug and a funnel.

MAKING THE CULTURE
Add one dessert spoon of ginger powder OR a tablespoon full of diced fresh ginger to the jar
Add one dessert spoon of sugar
To that add 1½ cups of rain water, filtered water or tap water that has been allowed to stand for 24 hours, and mix together.


During the day let this mixture sit on the kitchen bench with the cover off. Cover it at night. Every day for seven days add one dessert spoon of ginger powder OR a tablespoon full of diced fresh ginger to the jar, and one dessert spoon of sugar, and mix it in.


After a couple of days, depending on the temperature in your home (it's faster when it's warm) you'll notice little bubbles start to form. That is good, the fermentation has begun. Smell the mix, it should smell of ginger and towards the end of the process, it might smell slightly of alcohol. That's fine too, the amount of alcohol that might form is tiny and it will be diluted. It will develop a little alcohol if their are those wild yeasts in the air in your home. It's nothing to worry about, even if children will drink this.

On the seventh day, feed the culture, mix it, then strain through some muslin or cheesecloth into your large container. Then add 20 cups of water, 3 cups of white or raw sugar and the juice of two lemons. Mix well and then bottle using the funnel and jug. Don't fill the bottles completely because they need space for the gasses that will develop, so leave about two or three inches at the top.



After the ginger beer has been bottled it needs to ferment some more in the bottle. Let the bottles sit on your kitchen bench or in the pantry for a few days. If you notice some of the bottles puffing up, put them in the fridge straight away. When they're cool, they're ready to drink. In this last batch I made, one bottle matured faster than the others and I noticed it because the carbon dioxide in the bottle puffed out the bottom of the bottle and it fell over. The bottles should be fine the first two days but after that check them twice a day, you'll be able to see little bubbles forming when they're ready to go in the fridge. Don't use glass bottles because they can't expand and might explode.


It sound s bit scary but if you're careful and watch the bottles, you'll be fine. This is live food! It's dynamic, it changes all the time. But using plastic bottles and keeping an eye on the process will give you some fine healthy fizzy drinks that even the kids will like.

ADDITIONAL READING - An interesting article about fermented drinks from the Weston Price Foundation, and right at the end, the recipe for ginger beer.

The latest waffle weave dishcloth.

I was home alone yesterday. Hanno drove down to the Gold Coast to help Kerry and Sunny buy a car. It's actually Sunny's car, she's saved enough to pay cash for a good second hand car and as she's coming home from work in the middle of the night in a very busy tourist town, I think it's an excellent idea that she's not waiting for the bus to get herself home safely. Like Kerry, Sunny is a chef. Hanno and Kerry had done some online research during the week so armed with his notes and a bag of goodies - homemade ginger beer, soap and some zucchinis, Hanno set off early Sunday morning for the two hour drive.

A gift - time alone at home.

I had no plans, I wanted to see the day slowly unfold of its own accord, so I loaded up the washing machine, fed the animals, let the chickens out to free range and settled down to read an old copy of British Country Living while I had breakfast. I love that magazine, I haven't bought a new copy for a few years now but I have several years worth of them to browse through and when I do, I always find something interesting.

There was no need to make bread but the floor needed sweeping so I ignored that need and went outside with Alice to watch the chooks and walk around the garden. I was hanging the washing on the line when the phone rang. It was my friend Bernadette asking if she could drop in. "I'll be there in ten minutes." I looked at the floor and decided against sweeping, instead, I filled the kettle and checked the forum. Bernadette arrived right on time and instead of coffee she wanted only water so we sat with our drinks on the front veranda. Bernadette is ill and although she's a keen crafter - particularly knitting and crocheting, she's been unable to concentrate enough to do anything. It did my heart good to see her with her craft sack, from which she removed her crochet. I asked her about milk jug covers, I had an email recently about them and after doing an online search realised there aren't many patterns available. Bernadette told me she has a book full of patterns so when I'm at work this week, I'll call in to her place and pick up the book.

I'm not a crocheter at all, but I like to try my hand at everything that will produce what I use. I need more milk jug covers, I only have two but I often have two potions fermenting, and I would like a few more covers so I can wash them frequently and still have some in use. When I have the book of patterns, I'll choose a simple one and share it here. Maybe you'd like to crochet along with me. I know there is at least one lady who will.


When Bernadette left, I checked the forum again then made a sandwich for lunch and sat down to watch a recorded episode of Time Team. When the TV came on it was on the ABC which was featuring the Iowa State Fair. What a great fair that looks like. Much like our Royal Easter Show in Sydney that I used to visit almost every year with my sister when we were little girls. I love agricultural shows. We don't have a butter cow like they have in Iowa but we have a hall filled with home cooking like cakes, jams, bread and scones. It's quite something to win a prize at the Royal, I'm sure the same applies at the Iowa fair.

I watched TV for a short while, then went to sleep in my chair and woke again when the phone rang. It's a delicious pleasure relaxing on a Sunday afternoon and with the TV droning on in the background, drifting off to sleep. I took my knitting outside then and sat with Alice, knitting, for 30 minutes. Then off to collect the eggs - which I didn't do because we have two broody hens at the moment and they're vicious. They were both sitting on the nest, staring out with their beady eyes, I knew I'd be in trouble if I picked them up. So I left them for Hanno with his gardening gloves. We have some girls who, when broody, don't mind us picking them up, but not these two. (I just let the chooks out this morning and there are three brooding now.)

Late in the afternoon, I made a stir fry, looked at the unswept floor again and decided to give myself the day off from the floor and any guilt associated with not sweeping it and I spent some time on the forum. Hanno came home just before 7pm.

What did you do yesterday?

I am not always the sensible and relaxed person I appear to be on my blog. Sometimes I am stressed by the pressures I face during the course of my normal week. I see families at times who break my heart; I meet people I want to help, but can’t. When Hanno is sick I do his work and mine and hope that tomorrow will return to our normal. When I am sick I wonder if I'll ever return to how I used to be and that maybe this is our turning point; the time when we go from being capable and hard working to letting go a bit and relaxing more. I always think I can do more than I can. My mother used to call that biting off more than I can chew. I've always done it, I doubt there is a cure for that kind of self belief and optimism but doing it all through my life has rewarded me with interesting and exciting times, full of challenges along a road less travelled.

Overall, the life we have built for ourselves here runs along smoothly. I surround myself with like-minded souls and I reap the benefits of that. I shield myself as much as I can from advertising – even now it can create an unhealthy yearning for material possessions. I remember the kindness and generosity of my mother and try to walk the path she did. As often as I can I read blogs and books that enliven me and urge me on, I collect photos to use as virtual wallpaper to remind myself of my goals. I try not to meet too many new people and I stick to what and who I know. I do everything I can to stay on my chosen path. Sometimes that's easy, sometimes it's not.


There is a simple kind of wisdom in being with your own kind. You are given the support you need and in turn, give it back, you have people to bounce ideas off and sometimes you see someone do something you want to do but believe you can't. That kind of example is as close to inspiration as I get and when I see difficult or complex tasks being done, it gives me reason to believe that I can do it too.

I have been really heartened to see the Down to Earth forum build as it has. I hoped for a place where we could all find the support and affirmation we need, it's there. I wanted members to contribute their ideas and stories - that is happening. For my own sanity, I needed it to be a peaceful place where respect and generosity featured in abundance, and where members could be anchored, feeling secure, in a safe haven. Tick.

It was a risky business leaping forward into the unknown believing that people who are living simply, even though they are unknown to me, would combine into this wonderful and interesting community of friends. It's paid off though. With the help of Sharon, devonia, TammyJ, LashyLashla, Hibiscus34, BarbInGA, guenhwyvar, katheek77, KimberMama, Darroch, Whacky, LeanneNZ, happy2bme and all the members there now, we have built a meeting place that affirms the values of simple, green and frugal living and supports those living true to those values.

One of the aspects of the forum that I love is that those new to this way of life are fostered and encouraged by those who have been living it for some time. We may not be able to raise a barn but we can endorse the ideas that support such a great enterprise and we can gain the strength and confidence to live as we wish and to go into our own real communities and help them towards a sustainable future.

Thank you for another week full of interest and sharing. I hope you spend the weekend doing what you love.

Years ago, when I sat alone on my front veranda, thinking about how I could change my life to become the person I wanted to be, the thing that I knew above everything else was that I would have to develop a frugal mindset. Nothing could be achieved without that vital change. It was difficult at first because I too had that attitude that I worked hard and I deserved everything that was available to me. If I saw it in a shop, I believe there was no reason why I shouldn't have it. Hanno and I earned a lot of money but we still had credit card debt because the more we had, the more we wanted.

Now when I look back on it, I barely recognise that other "me". Now the way we live makes so much sense. We have everything we need. We understand now that joy and happiness aren't found in the vast shopping centres we all know, those precious qualities are found within. I don't shop now in the way I did then. I use to go shopping whenever I felt like it, and now I see shopping as a waste of time. I get more satisfaction creating what I need at home instead of buying it already made and inferior to my own home produce.

That frugal mindset is well and truly alive within me. When I see products now, I check them over for quality, often they lack it and I know that I can make it better myself. There is a group of foods that I will never buy again although we enjoy them and eat them frequently. Making them at home is easy, cheaper, greener and we get a better product.


One of those foods is fresh cheese. Fresh cheese are those cheeses that are cultured and are allowed to stand to drain off the whey. Quark, ricotta, Gruth, cream cheese and panir are all fresh cheese and can be made at home with no special equipment and just a little time. Most of the world's older societies developed their own fresh cheeses, they're all called something different, many are very similar and most are made with yoghurt, buttermilk or whey.

I often make a yoghurt cheese similar to the German Quark. Hanno loves it and it costs only a fraction of the store bought product, which satisfied my frugal mindset. Often fresh cheese is a tad on the bland side and slightly tart but they are also excellent carriers of other flavours - like herbs, honey or fruit. To make this cheese, just make or buy some yoghurt. Yoghurt is yet another product easily made at home for much less that what you will pay in the shop but if you buy it a 500 gram (1lb) tub will make up two cups of cheese.


You'll need a large jug with a strainer that is lined with muslin, cheese cloth or cotton. Pour the yoghurt in and cover it over with the sides of the cloth. Place a plate on top with a heavy weigh, like a tin of fruit, on top and put it in the fridge. Leave for about three days and during that time the whey will drain from the yoghurt, leaving a firmish cheese behind. You can add salt, pepper and herbs to half, and something sweet to the other half - here I've added raw honey. It's very tasty, and a healthy topping for bread or toast. Don't throw the whey out, use it in your baking, instead of milk, for fine cakes, pikelets, scones and biscuits. You could also make ricotta from the whey and get two types of cheese from the one lot of yoghurt or milk.


And it satisfies my frugal mindset and my need for good wholesome food that I can make at home. If you haven't tried this yet, I encourage you towards it.

Even if I covered my eyes and wandered around my backyard I would know it was Spring. The warm air on my skin and the unmistakable aroma of native frangipani flowers give it away every time. Spring has arrived here and it's brought with it new life, flowers, tiny new shoots, bright green leaves and the promise of healthy food over the coming months.

Lately, Hanno has been working most days in the garden. There is always something to do out there. So with the weeding, watering, planting, plucking, tying up, and organising, the garden has sprung into life, trellises are going up, tomatoes are being staked and, already, we are harvesting.

Take a walk through the garden with me now. You'll have to imagine the sweet scent of the frangipanis, the call of the whip birds and the warm air on bare arms, but the rest you can see in these photos.

We garden all year now and we've been doing this for a long time, but every year it gets me. Spring is such a wonderful time to rediscover the joys of gardening and the feeling of quiet satisfaction we get knowing we can produce organic food on the land we live on.

"Personally, I have been very impressed by the slow food movement. It is about celebrating the culture of food, of sharing the extraordinary knowledge, developed over millennia, of the traditions involved with quality food production, of the sheer joy and pleasure of consuming food together. Especially within the context of family life, this has to be one of the highest forms of cultural activity." Prince Charles

I love risotto. It's one of those easy to modify recipes that almost everyone likes - including vegetarians, and I'm sure you could modify this recipe to suit vegans as well. My two favourite risottos are pumpkin and mushroom. There is something about those two vegetables that make this dish something really special. Here is my version of pumpkin risotto, the ingredients are enough for two people.

INGREDIENTS
2 cups of uncooked pumpkin - I used a Japanese pumpkin but you could also use butternut squash, Queensland Blue pumpkin, the little Kent or Golden Nugget pumpkins. Choose a rich dark orange pumpkin that can be baked in the oven and hold its shape.
1 cup uncooked Arborio rice - or some other rice suitable for risotto. Ordinary rice will not work in this dish. Risotto rice swells up and absorbs the liquid added in this recipe. It also releases its starch into the dish and you end up with a very creamy rice.
Homemade vegetable stock - more on this below
Olive oil
Parmesan cheese

HOW TO MAKE VEGETABLE STOCK
Into a large sauce pan pour two litres/quarts of water.
Add whatever vegetables you have on hand - chopped. I used celery, carrot, corn, onion, garlic and parsley. Add the parsley in one piece so you can remove it at the end of the cooking period. Don't add strong flavours like cabbage or parsnips because they'll take over the flavour of the dish.

Add salt and pepper to your taste. Remember, adding salt to food, especially to vegetables, brings out their flavour. It's very important to season food as you cook. Put the lid on the pan and bring to the boil, then simmer for about 30 minutes. Strain the vegetables out of the stock before you use it. The stock must be boiling when you add it to the rice.

PREPARING THE PUMPKIN


Chop of the pumpkin into bit sized pieces, toss over a little extra virgin olive oil (or whatever oil you use), add salt and pepper to taste and bake in the oven until golden and soft. You can see we are adding salt and pepper again. Each layer of this dish should be seasoned as it cooks. Combining properly seasoned and cooked layers will give you a well rounded final dish that shouldn't need further seasoning at the table.