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Soap Nuts We have found a 100% natural cleaner which grows wild in the Himalayas and has been used for centuries in India, China, and Nepal ... Soap Nuts. We have road tested them on a truckies clothes, and delicate lingerie ... and they are great !!

In this newsletter we cover:

• Making Pear Chutney;
• Pear & Raspberry Jam;
• Lactose free yoghurt
• What’s new?

This chutney goes great with cheese and crackers, and can also be served with meats such as salami and cabana.

• 1.5kgs pears;
• 2 cups apple cider vinegar;
• 1 ¼ cups brown sugar;
• 1 medium to large onion, finely chopped;
• 1 cup sultanas;
• 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon;
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves;
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper:

Place your vinegar and brown sugar into a pot and bring to the boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally to ensure that the sugar dissolves.

Add all the remaining ingredients to the pot and return the mixture to the boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer until the chutney thickens and reduces by about 1/3. This will take about 2 hours.

Remove your pot from the heat and fill your hot, sterilised jars with your chutney, being sure to leave a head space of about 2cm.

Cap your jars with new lids and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes

Remove your jars from the boiling water bath with your jar lifter and place them on a tea towel on your kitchen counter and allow to cool.

Once cool, label and store in your pantry.

• 650 grams of pears, peeled, cored and chopped;
• 350 grams raspberries;
• 1 kg sugar;
• Juice of one large lemon (1/4 cup);
• 3 teaspoons commercial strength pectin

In a saucepan combine the pears, raspberries, sugar , and lemon juice.

Bring to a simmer. Skim, if necessary.

Add pectin and continue cooking on high heat for about ten minutes, stirring gently. Skim of any foam carefully, if necessary.

Check the set. I do this by putting a plate in the fridge. I place a little of the mixture on the cold plate and return it to the fridge. When it has cooled to room temperature, I check to see if it has gelled.

Put jam into hot jars immediately and seal with new lids. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

I use a jar lifter to remove the hot jars from the boiling water and let them cool slowly on the kitchen counter. Be sure to label your jars with details of the contents and the date you made it so you can rotate your stock in the pantry.

One solution we have been able to offer is our soy yoghurt recipe and this is quite popular, but until recently we were not able to provide a culture that would work with lactose free milk. We are now able offer a new culture, SYAB1, which is a dairy free culture specially made to work with Soy Milk, to make Soy Yoghurt.

We have recently found that SAYB1 also works with lactose free milk, with the addition of Glucodin, similar to our soy yoghurt recipe. A special thank you goes out to our customer, who gave this new culture a try with lactose free milk and let us know of her success.

• 1 litre lactose free milk;
• 25 grams Glucodin powder;
• 1 dose of 100% Dairy Free Yoghurt starter culture (SYAB1);

Once your milk is 40° C, mix in you Glucodin and then add your starter culture and mix well to ensure the culture is evenly distributed. The amount of culture used for one litre is VERY SMALL.

Pour your milk into the yoghurt maker, or jar you have selected. Maintain the milk mixture at 40° C for 8-12 hours.

A yoghurt maker will have directions on maintaining the heat. The only change required here is that in an EasiYo system for example, do not fill the external container so high with boiling water, as to have it come in direct contact with the yoghurt container as this may scald, and kill some culture. Just fill it to the level of the hole in the baffle, and this will give you the benefit of a heat reservoir, without risking scalding or killing the culture.

If you do not have a yoghurt maker, then place your jar in an esky and add warm water, but do not have very hot, or boiling water, in direct contact with the jar. You can also wrap your jar in a blanket, and place it in a warm place; on top of the hot water heater works well in my laundry.

To check if your yogurt is ready, press a spoon into the surface of the yoghurt and see if the impression of the spoon is left. If so, it is done.

Chill for a few hours and serve plain, with a bit of jam or some fruit, as per your preference.

I must admit, at first we were a bit sceptical about "Soap Nuts" ... they looked like macadamia shells, and were sold to us as a natural replacement for laundry powder or liquid, that was far kinder to the environment, and to our skin ...

Anyway, we decided to give these a really good road test ... trying them on everything from truckie's workclothes to business shirts & pants, a twelve year old boy's school, and play clothes - to my own lingerie .. and they worked !!