bean&noodle

Last Weekend

Last weekend looked like this...

hands down, my favorite place to knit

and my favorite little buddy to knit with

i made this

and this

and finished these

Here's hoping for more of the same this weekend. My husband is sick today, and I'm feeling a bit iffy too, so perhaps just the knitting part would do.

I'm almost done with this great beret pattern from Churchmouse Yarns & Teas and though I've cast on for Topiary in a lovely blue green wool, I think I mayswing by Hill Country Weavers right now to pick up an oatmealy Berroco Vintage so that the stitches will be more pronounced. Yep, that' sexactly what I'm gonna do. I'm not normally a big fan of a wool/acrylic blend, but this yarn is really great.

off to the yarn store! 

We bought a Thanksgiving CSA from our friends Tim & Charlotte, they have a small farm in town. I swung by Tuesday night (butchering day) to pick up my basket which, in addition to the heritage breed turkey, contained fresh eggs, pecans, tatsoi, bok choi, lettuce, pumpkin butter, grape jelly, onion prickly pear sauce, rosemary, thyme and sage for roasting the bird...and also this feather.

Steve and I don't live near either of our families so we have a long established tradition of hosting Thanksgiving (and Christmas too). We usually have anywhere from 12-25 people. And there is usually at least one person I've never met before at our table. This year the gathering was smaller but still an eclectic bunch... a punk rocker, a lawyer (the punck rocker's wife), an acupuncturist, a massage therapist, a plumber, an insurance agent (the lawyer's aunt visiting from Connecticut), two farmers, and a 7th grader. And us. Everyone brought lovely food and beautiful pies. apple. sweet potato, pear, pecan.

Heritage turkeys have really long legs which present a challenge when roasting, but I just extended the roasting pan with some foil to catch the drippings from the drumsticks. I usually like to free up my oven by using a countertop roasting oven, but there was no way this bird was going to fit in it nicely.

I am not a fan of stuffing the turkey so I simply fill the cavity with aromatics such as celery, onions, rosemary, sage, thyme and fruit, this year it was an apple. 

My go to recipe for dressing Cornbread-Sausage Stuffing with Apples from The Silver Palate Cookbook. I realize as I stroke this is that I am totally dating myself with this cookbook reference. I was learning to love to cook when this cookbook was published in 1982. This book was key in my learning to cook with new to me ingredients and i loved the charming Moosewoodesque illustrations... which also dates me.

I had a constant parade of dogs following me yesterday. Notice how they act all non-chalant when I turn around... "what, we're not following you."

I felt the feather deserved a place at the table. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

peachy goodness

My neighbor offered these up this morning as a trade for some of our plums. Deal! So now I will be making both plummy and peachy things during my staycation. Speaking of which, I have now compiled a list of things I'd like to do next week, but may just opt for numbers 8 & 12.

plum rich

These may be small, but each little gem packs a lot of plummy goodness. This plum tree only fruits when it wants to, but when it does it's crazy how much fruit there is. Steve thought it was funny when I said the tree was heavy with fruit... I guess that did sound a bit goofy. I seriously need to lay down tarps and just shake the branches...the plopping is a funny sound. I don't feel the need to harvest all the fruit so will leave some for the birds. I think a plum galette would be great to try, though I may try using almond flour since it should be rustic.

Next week I am on a staycation which I plan to do a little printing, cooking, gardening, knitting, and a whole lotta nothing if I can manage. 

Sharp Goat Ranch

Yesterday a couple friends and I visited a local goat ranch that is days away from opening their dairy facilities to the public...

but first we needed to maneuver our way past the front line of terriers. Initially, they will be selling milk and possibly feta, kefir and yogurt in the future. Apparently they cannot sell chevre because of the pasteurization required, so they will be selling chevre making kits to interested customers. Yay. They plan to teach cheese making classes in their commercial kitchen.

Red, White & Blueberry

Well, the counters are finished and most everything is back in place. I love them even more than I thought I would. Here are some before & after shots

... one of my favorite new things is the ginormous cast iron sink that was freecycled from the dumpster of one of Steve's jobsites. She cleaned up beautifully and is adorned with a swanky new faucet.

aah, the bluberries? This morning we called a couple friends to join us at Chickamaw Farm, a pick your own organic bluberry farm about 13 miles down the road in McDade. Today was the first day of bluberry picking season at Chickimaw Farm.The McCranie family grows blueberries, blackberries and strawberries, raises grassfed beef and also catfish. If you're in the Austin area load up and drive out the Chickamaw Farm to pick some berries and enjoy some early summer sunshine. Bring cash.

The following is from an email received from the fine folks at Chickamaw Farm.

Howdy,  Well it's that time o' the year again:  BERRY PICKING SEASON.  Surprisingly we have a fine crop in spite of the weather.  Season will open this coming Monday (Labor Day) and will proceed until the berries are picked out.  Of course we are open on the weekends especially but if you need a special "other time" please telephone.  The gate usually open on Saturday mornings when the first "pickers" arrive.  Please bring a hat and closed toe shoes are better.  We provide good well water and shade if you need or want it.  Remember it is dreadful out there mid day so choose your time of arrival to suit your comfort.  If you do not mind please bring something to put the berries in to take home.  We provide paper sacks but stable sided containers are safer for travel.  Anyhow, if you like blueberries be assured there's excellent ones out this way.  Guaranteed!  Should there be any problem or difficulty on the way out or should there be any question please telephone 512.567.3456.

This just may become a Memorial Day tradition. I'm pretty sure blueberry cobbler is for dessert tonight.

Finally...ready to play (ahem, learn)

It took more than a couple trips to the hardware store for me to realize I needed to mix my own stain color.

 The inside of the resonator is glossy cherry red. I'm sure noone will ever notice it, but I know...and it makes me happy.

After staining I stamped these blossoms with silver ink on the back. I had to do this twice, because I rushed the first coat of poly finish and smeared the ink. Smile to frown in 2 seconds... what am I, five?  Imaptience rarely pays off.

ready to play learn

This is a boring photo of my boring bumpy grey laminate kitchen countertops. Yawn.

Here is the new laminate color to be installed soon. I know, it's hard to believe I want laminate countertops when my husband makes concrete countertops, but this is much more in harmony with the warm, cozy retro vibe of my kitchen. He's done so much of the heavy lifting on our home remodeling projects, that it's nice to actually pay a professional when you can. The wisdom of choosing battles wiesly comes with age.

 

Praise the Lard!

I am testing biscuit recipes for work... and I have been schooled in biscuit making. Yesterdays sad biscuits pale in comparison to todays much taller and flakier results. The difference, in my humble opinion, was the lard. Sugar too.

Callie liked them too.

but wanted more than one.

I always knew one was looming in my future...

Last week, I finally got this 20" loom and had my first lesson at Yarnorama.

Behold... my first warp. My left hand selvage took a bit of work to get right, but it will get better. Lord knows my first knitted items were not my finest. Just ask my husband about the first pair of socks I knit for him. They had that perfect 80's slouchiness that I used to wear with my pink Reeboks to aerobics class. He did not fancy them.

This yarn has such an amazing sheen to it. It's amazing to me that the same yarn I used for these socks creates such a remarkably different fabric when woven. For the time being it's leaning against a bench in the studio, think I'll pick up the stand this week.

Burying the lead....

Sunday we drove with friends a few miles down the highway to Carmine for a little treasure hunting. Treasures were indeed found, some tin types, counter cards and a green McCoy planter. DH really wanted to go in a shop that was closed, so he called the owner to come open up. Sure, it was a great shop but I was happy enough with my finds, and quite frankly ready to head home. I was headed for the front porch and about tripped over this...

A Kelsey Excelsior Mercury model 3 x 5 Table Top Letterpress. I am sure I stammered a bit as I walked with the shop owner as he hauled it up to the counter so I could take a better look. It was pretty hard to contain myself... and yep, I know how incredibly geeky that sounds. After a bit of WD-40, she was fully operational. Her rollers need to be redone, but the chase, quoins and ink plate are still intact and seem in good condition. Anyone who knows me well, knows I have wanted one of these forlikeever. Ever since I first walked through the doors of Hatch Show Print about 13 years ago, on a cross country road trip with my sister Jessica, I knew I wanted to print.

and then there's the Baby Elton...

My friend Susanne and I took this workshop this past Saturday, with Stephanie Rubiano. So many ideas have been rolling through my mind since. I will show you the finished house when it's all stitched up.

Seriously, I had vacation time to use up and I manged to spend my time doing just what I wanted. I took a weaving lesson, finally painted the front posts and under the fur-downs in the kitchen, took an amazing workshop with my BFF, planted strawberries, blackberries, and more. I also managed to squeeze in some freelance work. I've been busy indeed, but busy is great when it's doing what you love.

stumped by peas

I've lived in Texas for a long time now, and wanted to live here even longer. Sometimes I am reminded that I am not from here, and one of those moments came this weekend with the arrival of purple hull peas in my CSA. Today I will search for recipes... bet these would be nice with chow chow. One more checked off item on my southern cooking initiation list... wish there were badges for these kinds of things.

DH is out of town and had to stop myself from finding things to do around the house yesterday, I drove out to Yarnorama  to sit and knit with the Paige Purls. It was the most relaxing 3 hours in a while. I realized how much I enjoy this and need to do this more.