Friday, November 21, 2014

tis the seaon for making gifts

chilis, popcorn, herb salts IMG_0918 Last year I knitted hats for everyone on my Christmas list. And I had some garlic to share. This year, no knitted goods and no extra garlic, but I have lots of popcorn, dried red and green chilis, herb salt, canned pears and cucumber relish. I love having so many things to share!

I was hoping to make ristras or wreaths from the chilis and looked into that this morning. I found a fantastic how-to video: Sichler Farms chili ristra video. But I leaned that the ristra needs to be made from fresh chilis, not dried. (So that's why the ones I've made in the past have looked funny and have fallen apart.) I will put chili ristras on my wish list of things to make next year!

I found some really nice ideas for packaging herbs. One site I found shows how to make little printed muslin bags for dried chilis and another uses printed muslin bags for tea.

I think these bags will be perfect for my popcorn, herb salts and chilis. Maybe even for my canned pears and relish. Sounds like I will have a craft project for the chilly weekend coming up. I am looking forward to this!
dried red chilis IMG_0925dried green chilis IMG_0926 rosemary herb salt IMG_0927popcorn IMG_0924

2 comments:

Lady of LaMancha said...

Congratulations on such a large production. It's really inspiring - I'll have to get my butt in gear next year.

As for ristras, here in Spain they are typically made out of garlic, onions and chilis right after they are harvested so that they are flexible enough to braid. There are lots of videos in Spanish on YouTube (ristra de ajos/ristra de cebollas). Happy braiding!

kathy said...

Super! I will look for these videos! I hope you grow a great garden next year. My brother in law lives in Seville and grows all sorts of things.