New Slöjd knife from HSS steel

I have come to like that steel.  Made a blade from an old machining hacksaw from HSS.  The steel might not be a great choice for longer blades, but for carving, it really does work a cinch.  Made a simple handle from Yew, just roughed with my trusty Svante Djärv Slöjd.  

I cleaned up the carving with a glass shard.  

 Did a first oil coating. The handle shape is really great for a really distinct feedback for the hand.  Now it is in for some sharpening.  The handle I made a bit beefier than the last one, which aids in hard roughing out work, but is not as precise as the last one.  But that is whining on a very high level.  These little knives can really do a lot.  

Not quite there yet, and quite certainly not the last you have seen about it here.  

Making Linden Cocoa with Black Walnut cordial

Yesterday,  on a ride from a really shitty appointment, I came across some linden trees full of seeds.  

Took them to the kitchen,  cleaned,  and put them into the oven at 180° C for 40 minutes.

After that,  they were chocolate brown.  

Ground them to a fine grain.  

Stirred a tablespoon of black walnut cordial into some condensed milk. 
Some boiling water later...

I did get a lovely coffee substitute (not like cocoa really,  but really tasty). 

Enjoy!
 

A Slöjd knife from HSS steel and some thoughts

I had some HSS steel (DMo5) lying around,  pre-hardened to 64HRC and gave it a go to make some carving knives from it.  Now you often hear that this is a recommendeable project for beginners,  but it is pretty hard to achieve without overheating or ruining tools.  I used an angle grinder and constantly cooled the piece,  fixing it on a 4x4 with Carpenter clamps.  

Made a "pencil"-style handle for it and gave it a high convex bevel to zero.  Pretty hard to do,  but eventually succeeded,  even though it is not exactly beautiful.  The handle is from lilac from the old man's garden.  

Tested it,  and man, is that a slicer.  

Then I started a sheath from hazel.  

Fixed the halves with twine originally,  which has been replaced with silver-plated wire in the meantime.  

Thing is,  that little slicer is pretty versatile.  The blade being just 2 mm thick,  it just sails through the wood.  The blade is about 60mm long.  I also tend to use it in the kitchen or for foraging.  

 Thing is,  it does a lot of things really great.  So much in fact,  that I sometimes ask myself if we got it back to front with bushcraft knives.  I mean,  well,  it can not do batoning.  Or prying.  But you can carve everything you need with it,  including gluts.  It is so light you don't notice it is there at all.  I would not dismiss my Garberg or Casström knives for it or my Puukot,  but it certainly is a reality check.  

Weird licce carving knife

Dunno if you know that feeling... you got that idea nagging at the back of your brain, but it is just too weird, so you don't get started for ages.  

Well, until you don't don't get started anymore...😜. 

That one above.  

Forged a skull  bottle opener.

But with a little marking blade on the other end. 
Little bit of ball peening, too.  

 The knife is pretty handy for woodcarving, even though it is not well suited for roughing.  Steel is 80CrV2. It would also make a nice bartender knife. I am currently thinking about adding a corkscrew.  

But for woodcarving detail work, it really shines. Not the last one I made, for sure.  

Carving a mushroom cup

I was feeling inspired by some Chinese guy making cups from Reishi mushrooms 

 

and thought I would give it a go.  I used tinder conk/horsehoof mushroom/ fomes formentarius, though.  

Actually, carving the cup is dead easy and can be made with a pocket knife.  Just pry out the  porous part.  

The simplicity of the project makes it awesome for a survival situation, too.  If you pour hot water into a fresh cup, you can get an antibacterial, antiviral and antiinflammatory tea, too. ( Source: ScienceDirect.com https://share.google/ilYoE0csUNHiAA2FM ) 

 The cup holds liquid as is, but you can enhance its water holding capabilities with a bit of spruce resin.  The cup itself is also antibacterial and antiviral.  With a fresh cup, you got yourself a cuppa tea by Just pouring boiling water into it.  The tea is antibacterial, antiviral and anti-inflammatory.  

Autumn goodness: Making mushroom pâté that is plain friggin delicious

Now these days the woods are full of the abundance of autumn.  It is the time to harvest and enjoy and be grateful.  To haul ass in for winter, but also to feast.  And these days I am almost obsessed with mushroom pâté and researched a lot of indigenous recipes.  Not easy being forced to live off the land-in these cold and evil times in the country that invented the bureaucracy of mass murder, 'nuff said.  But also not impossible.  In fact, it is delicious.  And I have the feeling at least that I do understand food a bit better.  Food is a weapon, but it can also be medicine, and a joy and pleasure.  

Got myself some 'shrooms, walnuts and sweet chestnuts, aaaaand the secret ingredient: honey locust.  Cracked the nuts, roasted them, boiled it down with honey locust, pulp and seeds and all. Minced it all to a fine purèe.  

At the parking lot, there are those crabapple trees with really sweet and delicious fruit, and I stole some. 😉

Cleaned the shrooms and cut them up. 

Cut two medium onions, two cloves of garlic, and one crabapple. 

Browned it in the pan and seasoned with salt and pepper, 

Herb mixture de Provence,

And a liberal dash und of thyme. 

I had set the nut and honey locust mass aside.  It gets really thick.  I had seasoned with salt, pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg.  

Add the mushroom stir-fry. Be careful not to put too much oil into the mass. 

Mince everything together.  Fill into vacuum jars and enjoy much the same way as you would with liver pâté.  I also want to try smoking it or make sausages from it.  Personally, I really love that stuff.  Also, it really keeps you going in a really tasty way.  Certainly not the last you have read about that on this blog, promise!😉

The original recipe was also common with the awesome Ojibwe people. Miigwech aapij for teaching me, it is one of the things that contribute a lot to my resilience! 

Hope that you enjoy my little experiment, and take good care! 
 

Forest resources: Making Iwan Chai

The other day I came across some beautiful rosebay Willowherb/fireweed , Chamaenerion Angustifolium, in German: Weidenröschen, and decided to make some Iwan-Chai from it.  

Legend has it that Tsar Iwan the terrible was really fond of black tea, but supplies being scarce, was looking for an alternative, and decided to use a known folk remedy.  Or rather, have such a resource used.  Hence the name.  

Fireweed does have several beneficial medicinal properties, being anti-inflammatory and antibiotic. It was traditionally used for intestinal problems and gum infections. In Experimental  clinical studies it has been proven to be beneficial against beningn prostata enlargement and several other maladies (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5045895/). 

Iwan-Chai is reputed to strengthen the immune system. 

Side effect is a higher risk of blood clotting. If you have a predisposition for thrombocytosis you might want to obstain from using it excessively or in high concentration. Please consult your doctor beforehand if you have. 

I harvested the young shoots. They were left to wilt a bit overnight.  

Then I thoroughly kneaded them: 

After that, they were left to ferment two days and first dried for several hours at 50°C, then lightly roasted at 80°C for another hour.  

I put the dried tea into a clean jar.  

The Iwan-Chai has a lovely black-teaish aroma, really mild, with flowery notes and a hint of caramel.  I can enjoy it pure.  But it is also great with a bit of cream and honey. 

A really great alternative to black tea, and healthy as they come. 

Have a cuppa, and take good care!