Townhouse Homestead Tuesday

We are enjoying the herbs from the garden and making them ready for the upcoming winter months when we won't have fresh. Getting herbs to grow inside is hard here because we have little to no light or room for it. This week has been a busy one. 

We harvested the lavender and dried it. We have a good solid cup of buds to use for cooking and adding to whatever we want. Two of the plants were new and one is older and we think for the size of the plants we did well. Double last years harvest. Not bad for the room we are allowed for plants. We have a pint of lavender simple syrup brewing for iced tea and lemonade this summer. A little goes a long way. 

I harvested the spearmint for a batch of mint jelly. I liked the jelly, but can't wait to work with my peppermint.

My green onions have been so abundant that I cut some of them to freeze in oil for those wonderful winter vegetables. I also have a cup chopped in a jar in the refrigerator to use now. I also made herb butters. I made basil butter; basil, lemon and garlic butter along with parsley butter. These have been frozen for winter use.

This morning I harvested Rosemary and Sage. From this I will make more butters and oils for winter storage. I can't wait to have sage and pepper butter on my sweet potatoes. I have a lot left to the plants, so having fresh for a while is wonderful.

Bread making this week included one loaf and six rolls. More than enough for two for the week. 

This past Sunday we spent some time with a dear friend who had come home from California for a visit. It was a dish to pass event at an outdoor park and I made this bread pudding to take. I made it from this pinterest recipe http://www.pinterest.com/pin/461970874250028516/. The only change I made to this recipe was to include the cinnamon with the sugar and flour so it mixed through the pudding instead of being sprinkled on top. I also used a homemade sweet bread, that was a pinterest fail as far as a sandwich bread, and it was delicious in the pudding. Needless to say not one raisin came home in the dirty dish.

There's been plenty to do for our simple townhouse homestead lifestyle including making a new supply of laundry detergent. Starting next Monday the landlords are doing inspections of selected units and I so hope it's not ours. We will spend this weekend hiding a few things and making sure we are within the rules. I am keeping things neat and organized so they cannot find issues. I'm also trying hard to understand why we pay so much money to rent and live under these conditions but this too shall change. We are determined, but need to change at a pace that doesn't end up being a big mistake. That's what's new at the townhouse homestead this week and thank you for stopping by. Have a wonderful week.