Another week has passed, and I hope you’re all doing well. And for those of you where the sentiment applies, I hope you’re staying warm. We’ve been experiencing exceptionally chilly weather here in Pennsylvania, waking up to single-digit temperatures. 

 

 

My cast iron dutch oven has taken up permanent residency on my stove, providing me with a bottomless supply of soups and stews. And last night, I got some corned beef going in it right before bed so that I could wake up to a breakfast of homemade corned beef hash, a fried egg and some of my home-canned ratatouille. (With plenty of hot sauce, of course.)

 

Every year I tell myself I’ve canned enough ratatouille, and every year I find myself watching my supply grow thinner and thinner long before summer gets here. You’ll have to trust me when I say this easy-to-make summertime dish is best enjoyed in the middle of winter. 
 

 

I use this time each year to do a little sprucing up and letting go. As I pack up the Christmas stuff and unpack my usual decor, I find it to be the perfect time to clean, rearrange furniture and set aside donations for the local Goodwill. Giving your home a mid-winter refresh is the best way to fight the post-holiday blues.

I thought I would invite you to join me in a little dusting and shuffling of furniture and general sprucing things up a bit. 

 

 

You may have noticed it was a rather quiet week at Rural Sprout. So, I thought, why not share a few older articles that you might find useful during a cabin-fever-induced cleaning spree. (I reread a couple of these myself this week.) 

 

 

Since citrus is in season, I decided that now would be the perfect time to whip up another bottle of Cheryl’s All-Purpose Natural Citrus Peel Cleaner. Oh, my goodness, folks, I made my first bottle back when this piece was first published. I can’t even begin to tell you how good this stuff smells.

 

I love how inexpensive it is to make, and I’ll be honest, I was a little surprised at how well this works on things like my gross, greasy stove and the bathtub. My second batch is hanging out in the pantry now, and I even decided to get crazy and make a batch with pine boughs instead of oranges. 

 

 

And I made up another batch of fire cider as I’m down to my last bottle. I made a large batch back in August and ended up handing out quite a few bottles to family and friends this fall. My daughter even asked for a bottle to use leading up to her wedding back in October. If you’re unfamiliar with this traditional health tonic, you can read the piece I wrote about it a couple of years ago. And don’t forget to make a batch for yourself; it definitely helps!

 

 

Another project I always tackle after Christmas is repotting my houseplants. I may have left my sofa hanging out at an odd angle in the middle of the living room when I got distracted by how much my hoya had grown this year.

 

I got so involved freshening up all the plants that needed it that I completely forgot about my sofa until bedtime. Oops!

 

If you’re still getting the hang of taking care of houseplants, you may want to reference Madison’s guide on how and when to repot your houseplants. 

 

And the final step in a mid-winter cleaning is to open the windows. Yup, just for a few minutes. I do it every couple of weeks and set a timer for ten minutes. It’s amazing how we get used to stale, stuffy air. I always sleep so much better in the evening after I’ve aired the place out. Give it a try!

 

Well, my chores are done, so now you get to decide whether you want to join me in your own wintertime cleaning frenzy. I hope I can at least tempt you to join me in my post-chore plans. 

 

I got a cool new jigsaw puzzle (Mushrooms!) from my daughter and son-in-law for Christmas, and I plan on tackling that this afternoon with a pot of tea and a stack of toast.

 

But first, I’m going to make a batch of one of the most decadent foods on earth – maple cream! I used to think there was some magic process to making this treat. Nope. Now that I know there’s no special trick or fancy equipment involved, I just make it myself.