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How to Make Felt Balls with Wool Roving

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AdobeStock

Instructions from the Kitchen Counter Chronicles

Felted balls can be used to make a variety of craft projects like festive garlands, jewelry, mobiles, wreaths, and much more. The combination of heat, water, soap, and friction allows the fibers to mend together to create the ball. The entire process takes about 3 minutes.

Supplies
*Items currently available at the farmers’ market
● a selection of wool roving*
● dish soap
● warm water

Instructions
1. Rip the wool roving into small pieces (never cut the wool roving as the raw edges mend together easier).
2. Next, roll the small pieces of wool roving into a ball, overlapping each piece. This won’t be a perfect ball, just a rough ball or spherical shape. Be sure to make the ball of roving larger than you want the final ball to be because the ball will shrink as it comes together.
3. Now it is time to drop the ball of wool roving into a bowl of hot, soapy water. You only need to use a small drop of dish soap.
4. Let the ball soak for 5-10 seconds and then remove the ball from the bowl and begin rolling it between the palms of hands. Roll gently at first, just like you would roll a ball of play dough.
5. After rolling the ball around a few times, place your hand, with the ball, under hot running water…as hot as you can handle. Continue rolling the ball in your palms and placing it under hot water until it reaches the size and density that you want. The wool will bind together and shrink down.
6. When the ball has reached the size that you like, set the felt balls aside to dry out thoroughly. Once the felt balls are dry and firm you can use them as you like.

From Farm To Picnic: Filling your basket at the market

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By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

Summer hits its peak in August. Glorious sunshine in the daytime and star-studded skies at night make outdoor dining alluring. In addition, opportunities to take in a concert at the park or an afternoon at the track beckon.

            How to prepare meals in such a situation? The answer, of course, is to pack a picnic.

The word “picnic” refers to a packed meal. The meal typically is al fresco style, meaning it is best enjoyed outdoors.

What makes a picnic in August particularly lovely is bringing your basket to the Saratoga Farmers’ Market and preparing your picnic on the spot. Visit the market on a Wednesday afternoon and pack a romantic meal for two. Or start your Saturday with breakfast at the market, then shop for lunch. Plan a family outing or an afternoon at the track while you shop.

Need ideas? Try these menus:

Packing for the track: For Friends of the Market organizer Alexandra Morgan, summer is all about afternoons at the track. Morgan, who lives within walking distance of the market, creates a colorful blend of savory and sweet snacks with the following:

  • A bunch of Owl Wood Farm radishes.
  • Artisanal cheeses from Moxie Ridge
  • Saratoga Cracker Co. crackers
  • Scotch Ridge Farm blueberries.
  • And finally a pint of sweet cider from Saratoga Apple.

What makes this menu truly picnic-like is its flavor and its ease. No need to cut or cook anything. Just pack a bag and head straight from the market to the track.

Snackable produce at Scotch Ridge Farm by Pattie Garrett
Snackable produce at Scotch Ridge Farm by Pattie Garrett

The family picnic: Market director Julia Howard calls picnics “the theme of summer” for her toddler Taiga, partner Sean, and herself. Lunches at area beaches are a ritual, and Howard has the planning and the packing down to a science:

An easily prepared salad of cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and feta cheese tossed with olive oil and seasoned with fresh parsley.

  • Freddy’s Rocking hummus and an heirloom tomato on a slice of Rockhill Bakehouse bread.
  • Puckers Gourmet full sour pickles.
  • Water or chocolate milk for her daughter, and a cold brew coffee from Wednesday vendor Electric City Roasters for herself.
  • Any fruit that’s in season, with a particular emphasis this year on local peaches from Kokinda Farms.
  • Pleasant Valley carrots.

“I aim for light foods that have sustenance,” she says, “and I am conscientious about minimizing the mess.”

Slate Valley Farm by Pattie Garrett
Slate Valley Farm by Pattie Garrett

Date night: Market photographer Pattie Garrett creates her favorite evenings out with her husband Tommy by starting with the basics: picnic table, tablecloth, citronella candles. Then, she fills the basket at the farmers’ market, varying her purchases with what’s in season and pleasing to her eye. Here’s what she came up with on a recent trip:

  • Slate Valley Farm’s lavender lemonade.
  • Cured sausages from Dancing Ewe Farm
  • A Murray Hollow loaf of whole wheat bread.
  • Easy-to-cut vegetables with Argyle Cheese Farm’s tzatziki dip.
  • Chocolate Spoon cookies, fresh berries, and Northern Star Vineyards wine.

Pack a picnic at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market every Wednesday, 3-6 p.m., and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at High Rock Park. Also follow us on Instagram, Facebook and

“Do It Yourself” Lip Balm

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Shared by Megan Canell of Creations & Spells

Ingredients

*Ingredients currently available at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market

• ½ teaspoon coconut oil
• ¼ teaspoon almond oil or black seed oil
• 1 Tablespoon beeswax*
• Optional: For a colorful lip balm, use 1 whole crayon chopped into small pieces in place of beeswax. Use the color crayon of your choice

Instructions

1. In a mason jar, slowly heat coconut oil, almond oil, and beeswax
2. Pour the liquid into small container(s). Try using your empty lip balm containers and make this a recycling project as well.

Note: Have paper towels or rags readily available because the process can get messy.

Alternatives to Canning | Did You Know…

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Did you know … that there are alternatives to canning?

At this time of year, a visit to the Saratoga Farmers’ Market is a particularly amazing experience. Produce stalls are overflowing with fresh tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, summer squash and more. And now the harder shelled, sweeter tasting winter squashes are beginning to make an appearance.

It’s so tempting to try and buy it all, and then preserve it all so that the sweet and savory tastes of late summer can remain with us all winter.

Canning, however, can often be too much work for those with busy lives. The recipe below for a freezer jam offers one alternative. It was part of the weekly Power of Produce Club offerings that the market provided to parents and children in the summer, and offers a relatively quick way of making jam without a canner. In addition, the blog Kitchn offers several tips for freezing, dehydrating, and preserving via such substances as oil and vinegar. Check out the link here.

 

Blueberry Freezer Jam Recipe

Adapted from author Amy Johnson
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 10 mins
Total time: 15 mins
Serves: about 3 cups

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons (.875 ounces) no-sugar-needed fruit pectin (like Sure.Jell in the pink box)

Instructions

1. Place blueberries, lemon juice and cinnamon in a medium saucepan. Use a potato masher or flat bottom glass to mash the berries. Don’t worry if you don’t have them all mashed. Mash them as well as you can.
2. Bring berries, juice and cinnamon to a boil.
3 . Add granulated sugar; return to a boil. Continue to boil for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Stir in pectin, bring to a full boil and boil hard for 1 minute. Only 1 minute. Remove from heat.
5. Transfer to canning jars or freezer containers leaving ½-inch space at top. Seal jars/containers. Let stand at room temperature until cool.
6. Refrigerate up to 3 weeks or freeze up to 6 months.

Notes
This recipe is for a small batch. Easily double the recipe if needed.