The Domestic Wildflower

Handmade Food & Craft Tutorials for Beginners

Jenny Gomes

How to Enjoy the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

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I have a confession, Wildflowers. I hate the holidays. I do. They stress me out big time. I feel compelled to please everyone, which is impossible. I feel like my house is too small and shabby, which it might be, but normally I’m okay with it. No one makes me feel this way; this is an entirely internal struggle. I feel pressed for time and money and those things are always in demand and by the time January rolls around I am so relieved it is over that I look back and think, ‘that wasn’t so bad’ and vow to step up my game for the following year and bake another pie and decorate more cookies.

It is supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year. I love thinking of great gift ideas that my family will love and I love the noncommercial aspects of the season. I remember a homily from years ago very, very clearly that rang true to my heart: Christmas is the way it should be, and Easter is the way life really is.

So I try to make the holidays they way they should be. I should decorate, so I do, I should bake, so I do, and I should be excited, so I try to be. I end up shouldering all over myself inside and start feeling increasingly tense, rushed, and inadequate. My resulting emotional reality is much worse than the metaphorical Easter of real life.

I can’t be the only one out there who secretly (or not so secretly) hates the pressure of the holiday season. It truly is so much more to do and really, I don’t want to do more. I want to do less. I want to do less, better and it seems that the winter ends up being about doing more, badly, in bad weather, dressed up in nice clothing and impractical footwear. When I describe it like that, of course, it seems all bad. I just hate the feeling that I am supposed to feel and act a certain way when surely it should be okay to feel the opposite, given the above reasons.

The way I truly need to step up my game is to bring this widely swinging pendulum to a more moderate trajectory. I don’t have to do more; I can just do a few things, but better, with less stress. It is easier said than done but there’s no one else inside my head but me. It is up to me to change my perspective, the chatter in between my ears, and my to-do list. I ambitiously and foolishly thought that I should clean out all the closets before Christmas (thanks a lot, Marie Kondo). This great idea is probably not going to happen and that should be perfectly acceptable. Christmas doesn’t have to be decorated with mom-created magic (when did Mom become the sole creator of all holiday magic anyway?!). It can be magical all by itself, which is really the whole point of the holiday season, regardless of your religious, secular or otherwise influenced beliefs. I wrote this post for any of you out there who really needed to hear that they weren’t alone hating the holidays. I’m right there with you. Let’s just try to remember that this is, and can be, the most wonderful time of the year.

For my Dear Readers who may or may not feel the same as I do, I teamed up with an Etsy creator to share with you this gorgeous reminder that the holidays are indeed the most wonderful time of the year. Please enter the giveaway below and share this post with anyone who would love these beautiful words.

Enter to Win!

The above sign is a 5×7 white chalk painted piece of salvaged wood with a gold vinyl decal affixed and it is ready to hang and inspire you to quit hating on the holidays 😉

This sign is crafted from by another ambitious blonde of Swiss ancestry who is beautifying the world one rad creation at a time. Be sure to follow her Instagram shop here, and if you have a creative idea of your own, shoot her a message. She does custom orders too!

Thank you, Dear Readers, for reading. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below! Happy Holidays!

Handmade, Homemade, and Self-Made: A Manifesto

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This post will share with you the manifesto of anyone seeking to add more handmade and homemade into their lives.

Handmade, Homemade, and Self-Made: A Manifesto | A Domestic Wildflower This article shares why learning to do more for ourselves in our homes and daily lives is much more than just good cooking and mending.

I care deeply about sharing with others the how and why behind learning more old fashioned, domestic pursuits like sewing, canning, and mending. Sure, I love those activities in a hobby sense, but far more importantly, those skills allow a person to become less dependent on others. I can’t tell you the number of women who have told me that they couldn’t  hem their pants, had no idea how to fix a tear, or that they were afraid of canning. The idea that they feel they could not do those very simple things and had so much fear that they dare not even attempt a cooking task like canning is very troubling to me. Of course a person can do those things! Our grandmothers were no more able or bright than we are today. Yet many of us have erroneously developed this idea that we can’t, and what a shame that is.

There are two problems with this whole mindset- that a perfectly capable gal can’t make jam or sew a button- one being that the makes said gal dependent on someone else to do it for her. By learning how to take in a dress, fix a rug binding, or cook a large and vaguely frightening squash, we take control of those tasks, those objects, and the time, money, and benefit associated. Cooking is the most obvious of these examples where the control of the food we and our families consume is often in someone else’s hands. I’m not saying all those other hands are bad, necessarily, but they aren’t our own. By embracing the idea that if we learn a few new things we take a bit more authority in the design and quality of our lives. Furthermore, developing increased sovereignty is certain to grow one’s confidence in other, related areas. It feels really, truly good to be able to solve a problem-even a simple thing like pants that are too long-for yourself.

The second problem is the idea that a person cannot learn these things. It is fine if you don’t like sewing or you don’t care to learn to put up salsa. It is not fine that all kinds of people are going about believing that those skills are vastly beyond their capability. I’m here to tell you that you indeed can learn these skills-any skills you want to- and that they are not “hard” but are a matter of deciding to learn. I worked in a fabric store while attending all five years of college and daily customers indicated that they felt like they could not ever sew/knit/tat/insert any craft here. That is bananas.

Now, people compliment me often, gushing that they could never sew as I do, as if I’m a Navaho Code Talker. This is also bananas. I very rarely attempt projects, for fun or necessity, that are very difficult. Yes, anything new can be hard at first, but of course with a little practice and either mentorship or self education, it becomes much easier. Many who are working, ruling boardrooms, managing teams of subordinates, single-momming and killin’ it, caretaking and problem solving, believe falsely that they could not learn to sew a bag or crochet a scarf. This makes no sense at all, of course.

The final element of this manifesto is to encourage you to find a domestic pursuit that you enjoy and do it for the sake of the pleasure in it. The satisfaction from picking, cooking, smelling, tasting, and finally canning your own jam can be tremendous. Choosing beautiful fabric or deliciously colored yarn can be therapeutic, and sitting before a spinning wheel that you finally get spinning the right way can be downright triumphant. If crocheting a hat makes you want to put the hook in your eye, then find a different medium that gives you pleasure, takes control over one tiny part of your life, and shows yourself and the world that you can absolutely learn a challenging new skill.

Here’s to handmade, Wildflowers.

If you love goodness like this, be sure to subscribe. I would never spam my Dear Readers and I only email you to let you know that the latest sewing, canning, creating, DIY inspiration and encouragement is posted.

Here’s the ways I can help you grow like a Wildflower.

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Learn the basics of canning for FREE including process, equipment, and safety in the Canning Basics Course

Get the Canning 101 ebook to really get a handle on how to can your own jam, pickles, and more.

Enroll in the Start Canning course: this premium course SHOWS you in a way a cookbook cannot everything you need to master canning.

Learn how to make the easiest, most festive countertop preserve, perfect for cocktails in the free Shrubs Email Course!

Get the ebook that explores in depth and shares a wide variety of recipes in Shrubology.

Enroll in the course that will transform you into the hostess with the most-ess: Wildflower Mixology. Learn how to make farmers market fresh cocktails with ease. 

Ready to learn how to crochet? I can teach you in 15 minutes.

See you on the blog, Wildflowers!

5M Hot Sidecar Recipe: A Hot Toddy for Cold Days

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5M Hot Sidecar Recipe: A Hot Toddy for Cold Days

This recipe for a sidecar is one that uses freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice and was shared with me on the front porch of a friend and fellow Wildflower, Mary of www.fivemarysfarms.com  She and her family raise and sell “pastured everything” and if you haven’t the pleasure of raising your own animals, head to her site. Five Marys Farms ships to your door and you’d be supporting the Real McCoy. As she told me, the animals on their ranch (and many, many ranches in America like it) have only one bad day.

In addition to being an outstanding businesswoman turned rancher and friend, she makes a great cocktail. She was kind enough to share her recipe with me after I enjoyed a mason jar full on her porch this summer.

A note about lemons: In your standard grocery store, you will likely be familiar with one or two varieties of lemons: Eureka lemons and potentially you will see (seasonally, probably) Meyer lemons. Eureka lemons are the standard lemon shape that most of us think of (the way a Lab shape is the standard dog shape we think of) and are tart and not as juicy as a Meyer lemon. I like Eureka lemons sliced in my water because they taste and smell more lemony and their strong taste makes tap water far more palatable. Meyer lemons have smoother skin, can be closer to an orange hint in color, and have more juice. They are the lemons you want for this beverage. I live a long, long way from any citrus groves but the wintertime is when I see the Meyers in my grocery store. Seek out Meyers and if there are none to be found, try it with some Eurekas.

To squeeze the lemon juice, I stumbled upon a gem of a company that makes kitchen tools that are compatible with mason jars which I obviously love and am overrun with. They are available for purchase through the rural living friendly Amazon link below!

Honey Strawberry Shrub: A Perfect Pair with Sparkling Water

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Honey Strawberry Shrub: A Perfect Pair with Sparkling WaterHoneyed Strawberry Shrub

A shrub is one of the simplest types of preserve. I have fallen in love with them and I want you to come along with me. There’s no hot water bath, no fermentation bubbles (though those would be exciting!) and the only real virtue required is patience. It takes about a week on the countertop for this beginner-friendly preserve but the results are so worth it. Shrubs are an excellent addition to water (and really, who is drinking enough? Not me…) and are sublime when added to a cocktail.

You will need:

2 cups chopped strawberries (I tossed in a slice of pineapple because I had it on hand but that is not necessary)

1 ½ cups honey

2 cups apple cider vinegar, good quality

Combine chopped strawberries with honey in a large jar. I used a half gallon like these below.

This post may contain affiliate links. All opinions are my own. 

You can purchase half gallon jars from Amazon by clicking the photo or you can rustle some up in a store near you. They aren’t as common as the smaller sizes, I have found, but hopefully, you can get your hands on some. I use them often and find them very useful indeed.

Let sit overnight. Stir with a long wooden spoon thoroughly, being mindful of the heavy honey hanging out at the bottom of the jar. You want the fruit and honey well incorporated. Add the vinegar. Let sit, with the lid on, on the countertop for about a week.

This particular shrub needs to be stirred more often than the others I have tried because it takes a bit more to dissolve and incorporate the honey. Stir daily if you can.

Strain and decant into a clean jar.  Store in the refrigerator.

Serve over ice with:

1 part shrub and 3+ parts sparkling water

OR

1 part shrub, 1 part tequila, 3+ parts sparkling water

If you want to learn even more about shrubs, sign up for my free email course on how to make shrubs! You’ll learn how to turn nearly any fruit into a sweet-tart syrup!

I Want to Make Shrubs!

Honey Strawberry Shrub: A Perfect Pair with Sparkling Water
I hope you are loving the sweet-tart goodness of these shrubs as much as I am. I’m hooked. Share in the comment section below, Wildflowers, any shrub successes or failures you’ve had! Is there a shrub I need to make next? Let me know!
If you love strawberries, you’ll love my Canning Strawberries Recipe Book!

Tips for Sewing Sheers: A Craftsy Class for Sewing Success

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Filed Under: Sew