How to Make a Pancake Mix Container from a Ketchup Bottle

 

Kitchen DIY: Ketchup Bottle for Pancake Batter
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The idea for this post on using a ketchup bottle to make a pancake mix container is a pinterest tip.  It works great for special heart shaped valentine pancakes, or even more special W.T. pancakes for the good little boy in your life…

If you clean out an old ketchup bottle and fill it with a thin (but not watery) pancake batter, you can squeeze out precise amounts or add artistic flair without making a mess.

At my house, I typically make a mess as I use a measuring cup to scoop the batter out of the bowl and drip globs of batter throughout the kitchen. (Which reduces the hubby points for making weekend breakfast to less that zero).

This works pretty good, it works best with thinner batter that is pretty well mixed.  It may take some practice to see what recipe works the best with the bottle you have.  I have also, on occasion opened up the hole in the lid.

It is pretty cool that some people have taken this technique to a whole higher level.  I have seen videos of people making art out of squirted pancake batter.  They let the pancakes cook to different levels of doneness, which causes shading on the portraits they made.

How to Make Blackberry Dumplings

How to Make Blackberry Dumplings

 

Recipe: Blackberry Dumplings
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Since I have blackberries growing along my fence, I am always looking for new blackberry recipes.

This recipe for Blackberry Dumplings is a clear winner.

Besides being simple and tasty – its also can be made in a dutch oven for a camping treat.

Try it an tell me what you think.

 

Blackberry Dumplings Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 qt Fresh or frozen (loose-pack) blackberries
  • 1 c Plus 1 tablespoon sugar, divided
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
  • 1/2 ts Lemon extract
  • 1 1/2 c All-purpose flour
  • 2 ts Baking powder
  • 1/4 ts Ground nutmeg
  • 2/3 c Milk
  • Cream or whipped cream, optional

Procedure

  • In a Dutch oven, combine the blackberries, 1 cup sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt and lemon extract.
  • Bring to a boil
  • Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, nutmeg and remaining sugar and salt.
  • Add milk
  • Stir just until mixed. (Dough will be very thick.)
  • Drop by tablespoonfuls into six mounds onto hot blackberry mixture
  • Cover tightly and simmer for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in a dumpling comes out clean.
  • Spoon into serving dishes.

If cooking in an oven I used 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes, but the recipe really is designed for a campfire.

How to Make a Mason Jar Lid Cut from a Orange Juice Container

Better DIY Mason Jar Lid
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I am always in search of ways to make food storage easier, recently I shared a tip for making a mason jar lid from things in the kitchen.  It was a good tip, but this one is a little better.

Today we show a DIY mason jar lid cut from a orange juice container.  It makes poring simpler, and is an all around better tip.  As Genny says in the video, we saw this on survival blog and wanted to share.

I tend to visit Survival Blog very often, and Rawles even wrote the introduction to one of my books.

This is not the first mason jar tip we have shown.

We also used the top of a salt container as a lid.  Something else that works well is the top off of a Parmesan lid.  It is interesting and useful to note that many grocery tops are interchangeable is you are paying attention.  Mayonnaise jar lids are also pretty close to the threads on a mason jar.

We have also bought different types of lids from jars that had fruit infusers, to sprouting holes, places to hold straws.  The mason jar is an ingenious invention, and that product has been improved by all the different lids created for it.

How to Use Acid to Identify Limestone

 

How to Use Acid to Identify Limestone
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I needed some limestone to work some cement experiments trying to replicate both the Portland cement patent, and to make slaked lime for mortar mix.

This meant I had to be able to go about identifying Limestone. Luckily since limestone is calcium carbonate, (a base). Simple chemistry ensures that when it makes contact with acid it will fizz (which is CO2 being released) as the acid and the base attempt to counteract each other.

If you have a large weathered rock, you may get better results if you smash it into little pieces – limestone is brittle and crushes well. Then simply drop some strong vinegar or weak muriatic (hydrochloric) acid on the rock. If it fizzles, then it is a good bet its limestone.

This is a pretty easy thing to do.  I have done it successfully several times.  Limestone is a vital construction material as it is a key ingredient of cement.

At some point I want to try my hand at making my own cement from limestone, but for now the farthest I have done it to make my own slaked lime in the foundry I made some years back.

I hope that as I dig into the hillside at my land I will find more limestone.  Especially since I have a lot of moving water.  A cave would make my day.