(glimpses) - these things are

while warmer spring time days are oh so slowly returning, we had a really nice weekend with a simple, tasty easter meal (a little different from what's become our traditional fare).

dessert was a strawberry icebox cake made with a very simple homemade vanilla custard... it was very good :)  We made this first as it needed time coming together in our "ice box"

for dinner itself, we made a simple but delicious pairing of roast asparagus and pan-seared portobello mushrooms with rolled chicken cutlets filled with caramelized onions and artichoke hearts. a recipe i put together hoping to make our simple meal a little more special. 

for the rest of our meal, i was reminded of all the good things that are yet to come when spring thaws the rest of the snow banks.  hope this easter weekend was wonderfully delicious for you and your family too! 

(glimpses) - daylight savings baking

i thought with daylight savings time taking an extra hour from our sleep, that i might sleep in just a bit longer, but as it turns out … with the window shades up instead of down… that faintest of dawn light, had me up at baker's hours … 

maybe this week's morning transition will go be better than i was thinking…

these are friendly homemade cinnamon rolls I made for our early warming…still holding out for winter to end, a warming morning treat feels just right while we wait (still) longer …

and this is a beautiful bit of sunlight i found as i was clearing up after breakfast!

(around the table) - impressions

 

these are the impressions we have taken from passing things ...small, frail, but living things that share their delicate nature in our life....

(around the table) - little worlds

it's funny. ... all the little things we have kept in jars, bowls and teacups ....


while one gallon size mason jar houses a very well loved bouncy ball collection, another very humbly keeps a colorful mix of beans for a big pot of our favorite chile or oats for a morning porridge ...and still others...random quart jars have seen many fanciful creatures and  lovely little people while we paint ....


It is often while I am busy with my projects and notice the quiet that has settle into our home .... that I take a break to see why ....  most often I come to find yet another project my girl has been found and is busy at work with herself ....

in little glasses found while recycling and other cast-off containers that still with no purpose of their own ...

she has made little lands from from the slowly greening world around the edges of our house


from bits of moss and early bird shoots and plants, she has made her own worlds to keep....

(around the table) - kale crisps

with all the sunshine and intervening rain of these long summer months perhaps  rampant stands of vegetation  have grown thick in your garden...

 

an abundance of hearty growing kale is magically turned into a healthy snack ...

the leaves are torn into manageable mouth-sized pieces while the thick stalks can be saved for another meal. Wash and dry the kale and drizzle with a tablespoon or two of olive oil . Sprinkle with sea salt  and toss until evenly dressed .

Place on an baking sheet.  Bake In a  preheated oven of 200 F for 30 to 40 minutes and gently turn leaves over if needed once  ...

They are ready to eat ....I lost track of time (now was I busy in the workshop?) ... so the batch above were crisp, crisp kale, but definitely tasty..... well so that is all.hope you enjoy making and eating them  ....let me know! :)

Happy Weekend!!

(around the table) - life as a giant

Besides the snake that has found a cool space to rest between the raised garden beds and the fence that acts as a shield against the garden marauders, all the growing things take small breaths between the changing weather lifting themselves up a little at a time ....

We are out with the return of the sun to see what has changed since the stormy weather has gone by.....and this is how we discover our life as giants ....

down below our feet, in the freshly shorn grass, the sun flashes tiny, bright and red ... catching our eyes...

below our feet, as we must sit down and lean our heads low to see,  we discover the smallest berries that ever grew...


we we make ourselves a  tiny feast ... stay very still and look carefully beyond the leaves that shelter the wild berry patch ...

we find something indescribably happy about these hidden treasures....

we gather berries mixed from the garden and the field: the ever bearers, the little alpines and the ever so little wild ones... inside we make a tiny feast of little pancakes topped with mixed strawberries that have been so quickly eaten ... no pictures were taken soon enough ...
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This is how our life as giants has gone on the first day. How would you feast on little hoard of found ruby-like treasures?

(around the table) - red hot chilies in winter

A little project we began just at the start of the new year ... my daughter had plans of throwing a fiesta for my birthday ... but with the return to regular life after the holidays, we are still working up to our fiesta ....

We started with strips of newspaper ... and made a batch of homemade wheat paste.

There are many recipes available. Wheat paste is basically a mixture of flour and water (in many cases heated over a low heat and whisked for a smooth consistency).  Other strarchy, non-gluten flours will also work well.








we shaped our chili peppers ... by dipping the newsprint strips in bowl of the wheat paste ... and with our fingers squeegeed off the excess wheat paste.

twisting the newspaper around itself in a cones-like way ... adding a layer or two more and then placing them on  a cooling rack to dry... this may take one to three days depending on the size of your peppers

Yes, traditional paper mache can be a bit messy depending on who's cooking ...but  I love this traditional folk craft method as it is always likely to have the materials on hand.

as the first layers of newspaper dry .... more layers can be used to build on the initial form... just make sure to leave time for layers to dry in between ....

we have painted ours with matte acyclic paint and let the writing of the newspaper show through in places.

I like the feel of having some of the process still revealed...  and the hot redness of those toasty paper chili peppers as winter lingers on...

... we will be making twisted stems, but that is still for another day!

(around the table) - deliciousness …part 2

the weekly blizzard have now turned into every other day blizzards and weather .... and in the meantime ... good things are happening indoors ...

Homemade Ri-Cot -Ta (or ricotta) ... the recipe is too simple


 2 quarts whole milk
1 cup cream (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 table spoon fresh squeezed lemon juice

Bring milk (and cream) and salt to gentle rolling boil in a 6 quart heavy pot over moderate heat. Stir occasionally to prevent scorching. Add lemon juice and reduce heat to low  and simmer for about two minutes until the mixture currdles.

Pour into cheese-cloth lined sieve and let drain about one hour. (it's all ready for a warm winter meal or two... maybe lasagna ... we made manicotti, homemade ravioli and white pizza)


while pretty stitches practiced keep sewing needles comfortable and cozy.....

even for a little teapot enjoys handmade coziness as the snow falls

I  wonder if King Winter has know our wearied selves too  well ... and laid down blanket after blanket of winter white snow ....  that we might inside our warm homes a bit longer stay so that might rest and enjoy more deliciousness....

(glimpses) - warmest winter

How delicious it has been ....  to have some time out of time ...

for the little things .. .


a sleepless Christmas eve (for a mama that is filled with excitement) ...  for the simple joy a young girl feels  at early morning surprises of a Christmas morning

 .... and even a restless kitty has the the need to wake her sleeping family well before the first light  in anticipation of the deliciousness to come ....

winter stars ....  folded of paper colored bright and paper white...

and summer's songs are warmed in a pot of hot tea .... smelling sweet of honey and golden beeswax all at once....





























as we sip from tea cups full of tasty chai ...















around the table with projects old and new ....




















 
we send you the warmest wishes for the new year!

around the table - Randomly Christmas

as she sat ... taking up knitting needles that had been set aside ...



 

a passion took hold ... her knitting quickly growing and flowing over her in the cozy corner she has made for herself

 

so determined to finish ... it is not certain that she saw the magic taking hold...  as her knitting came to mimic the very same corner of our home she had made for herself ...

those self-made wooden knitting needles had been set to work in the same way  ... tirelessly ... two year's past as the great storm passed our way

... while in the quiet night came pouring down a torrent of liquid ice that froze all of our world crystalline all through.

a new knitter then ...  she had taken up the making of brightly colored red and yellow scarf  for me.... when all else had stopped ... the clocks, the lights, the furnace, the stove,  the water,  the roads, the shops, the pumps, our town and the towns beyond us too... all frozen as if in the Snow Queen's realm ... she went on ...






keeping ourselves warm as best we could for nearly two weeks as Christmas approached.... by a little wood stove that we left only to sleep in a bed mounded with all our quilts and blankets ...

cooking pioneer meals we have come to miss... while the lilac trail hedge bent in compliance to the storm and Christmas lights were silenced in the same deep darkness that had come with the powerful storm ....

and she sat in the big green chair knitting ... even as the daylight faded quickly into the darkest night ... and the candle's light saw little in the deepening approach of  winter.


there is much gratitude even in drastic times ... to come to know Night so intimately .... in a way that can only really be learned in the absence of light  ... when no switch can turn night to day ...

this was how we had met the darkest days of the year then... 

today though ...have I mentioned the cookies...
yes, they have finally been made... and there still may be time for a few more....

the house smells good with baking and beeswax and a pretty balsam pine that is our honored guest....

Wishing that you are warm and cozy and that your Christmas is wonderful! ... Happy Holidays!!