a perfect fall day

Our fall welcome home party went off without a hitch, (despite the fact we were probably over capacity  in every room of the house!) and we were blessed with joyful fellowship and laughter. Some of the images from the event follow. The menu turned out to be perfect for an oversized crowd... We didn't get an official head count but are thinking at lease seventy people came and went over the course of the day's festivities. Thank you all for coming, bringing cards, gifts, smiles and hugs. We were overwhelmed with your love! It was a day for the record books.

fall+friends & family+ food= freakin awesome. 

menu & recipes:
pumpkin maple soup (i believe 6 pumpkins donated their lives for this hearty dish)
proscuitto wrapped pears & blue cheese bites
dark chocolate sea salted caramel krispies (these were addicting!)

eucharisteo in Molasses

Slow like molasses...

Time moves slow like molasses.  Or should I say I feel like I am moving in molasses amidst a spinning whirlwind. I am not sure exactly why this is happening. All right, maybe I can give one reason time seems like a fickle mistress. My husband of ten years will return to our home and our little lives after being gone for almost 2 ½  long years. 

I have measured time in all sorts of fonts and formats. How many more cups of coffee will I have until that fateful day in October arrives? Too many. Each cup seems to pass through my mouth like sludge. My belly is sated but I drink voraciously as if my present life couldn’t keep ticking if I took my lips from the mug. As I gulp breaths of air in vain, I see the vessel is empty and another day is done. Another cup of coffee finished in a rapid slow motion.

In this midst of this limbo I have longed and yearned vocally to the Lord. Please, take me away from this house- just for the remaining weeks, days and hours I have left to abide in this no-man’s –land dwelling. Anywhere but here, Lord. Didn’t I cry out this same plea at the beginning of our sentence two years ago? Am I such an irreverent soul that I learn not my lesson of ungratefulness the first time?

As I vocalized my growth and valleys to numerous sisters and friends, I would transparently share in a slightly arrogant and reproachful way: “I found myself wanting to move from the pain, escape it. As humans we want to slip from under the pressing weight of discomfort and agony. Sometimes we are meant to just abide in the “Dark Night of the Soul” and find God’s redeeming love amidst the storm.” I would say. Like the Psalmist trying to have a self “pep talk” with my soul, I am reminding myself of truths I once learned, but like a child have forgotten my way. I want out. Out of pain, waiting, enduring and longing.

What can relieve this palpable state of gray? A splash of color from a vacation? Distraction in a project? Mindless wandering elsewhere? A shot (or two) of whiskey?

My heart knows the truest place I feel content is when I am giving thanks. Ann Voskamp’s voice has been a beacon in my ears. As I bustle throughout my days and chores- I learn how to give thanks. You’d think something so simple would be easy. If it were so, she wouldn’t have written a compelling book on one thing: eucharisteo: Giving Thanks. Self-diagnosing can be a dangerous sport when using a tool such as WebMD. However, self-diagnosing CAN be done when the Holy Spirit is the one actually doing the recommending. What have I been prescribed for this restless discontent heart is THANKS.

“ Suffering nourishes grace.” “Labors of grief birth into greater grace. Isn’t this the crux of the Gospel?”- Ann Voskamp

In the  coming 27 days, I will  take the Joy Dare and “Give thanks in all things”- finding the beauty, glory, joy, peace, rest and gifts that my precious Saviour has lavished on me since the day of His death. How can I demand anymore than that? I can’t. Yet, like a proud lover, he lavishes my days with trinkets, tokens, gifts, words, blessings far beyond my comprehension to create- if only I can have the eyes and ears to behold them.

27 days

of  looking and listening to my Saviour’s voice to keep me in a state of homeostasis

27 days

of  learning to consciously give thanks

27 days

and then 27x1,000,000 thereafter to be content.

Here is September’s Joy Dare, will you join me?

Autumne Vert

 i imagine this in the hand of Zelda Fitzgerald in a Parisian bar...

• 1 part Pear Brandy muddled with herb(rosemary or chocolate mint)
• 1 part Sparkling Wine

garnish with rosemary sprig or mint leaf

when in doubt, roast!

this fall, wow 'em with the simple and extraordinary tastes of the unadulturated process of roasting roots. it brings out the sweetness and texture that even little mouths with adore.

what i did:

pressure cooked beets, parsnips, and carrots until fork tender (follow cooking time according to pressure directions) you will have to take out carrots & parsnips before beets.

then toss in olive oil, rosemary, salt & pepper, place in single layer on cookie sheet in 475degree oven until edges brown slightly. make sure to use your nose to wait for that aromatic smell!

veggie tales

what to do with those excessively large zucchinis and bulbous carrots from your garden? sure you could make bread or cakes, but you could also make.... PUPPETS!

Pirate Captian and his creator

bounty

ok, i know your kitchen counters probably looked like this too, but i couldn't resist capturing their beauty. with the late dry sun, for once, our normally wet climate allowed the tomatoes to ripen. favorite tomato varieties? Black Krim (a gift from my dad), Cherokee Purple and Sweet 100. Yours?

belated: Fall Soup Recipe

 Autumn Curry pumpkin soup



 

3 lbs or 2 med. Sugar pumpkins, halved, seeded and cut into quarters
1 cup water
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cups thinly sliced carrots
2 small onions, thinly sliced
3 tsp ea. yellow curry powder and salt
2 tsp ea. cinnamon & ginger
2 tsp . white pepper,  ground
32 oz. chicken stock
1 can coconut milk
1 tbsp real maple syrup



1. Preheat oven to 450. Place cut pumpkin skin side up on rimmed baking sheet- add water and roast for 30-40mins or until able to pierce with a fork.

2. Sauté onion and carrots in olive oil until onions are transparent and tender. Add pumpkin when finished roasting. Cook until all ingredients are soft. Combine seasonings in separate bowl, whisk with a fork. Stir seasonings to sauté mixture and let sweat for seasonings to permeate squash for 10 mins. Add chicken stock and simmer for 20 mins.


3. Puree soup in two batches in blender or food processer.

4. Place pot back on stove and add coconut milk. Simmer. Salt & pepper to taste.


5. Garnish with spoonful of crème fraiche or greek yogurt and toasted sage leaf.

Added to the menu:

Serve with a luscious glass of Chinon from the Loire region in France

• Wilted Rainbow Swiss Chard with toasted pecans & Balsamic glaze
•  Grilled White Cheddar on Onion Poppyseed Bread

Oysters



photo courtesy of Brad Lovejoy

as one of the best heminway quotes goes

“As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and as I drank their cold liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy and to make plans.”


― Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

a festival dedicated to those precious pearly little shellfish. i'll take 'em cooked, baked, or raw on the half shell. (no frying, please!) the festival in Shelton, on October 1st & 2nd will have tastings, pairings, schuckings, and... fresh oysters.
so, who's coming with me?

i am a bunny and i live in a hollow tree...

 there is a season for everything and that especially means all things in the art and creative realm. my wonderful husband helped me realize this inclination that i had, and now it removes the "creative guilt" that sometimes overtakes me when i have left one endeavor for another. it also reminds me of my favorite book growing up as a kid, where the bunny basks in each picturesque setting of the seasons and describes each activity. i mirrored that style in regards to my creating seasons...

• in the summer i spend time sketching plans for the garden, getting my fingers in the soil and letting them be stained by the green of the grass and letting them dance over the grill or skillet as i saute fresh green beans or swiss chard. this season i let my inside passions go and walk barefoot.

• in the fall my mood changes to an energetic melancholy- what this looks like i can't explain. only that suddenly i want to read milan kundera, wear a skirt with a tweed blazer and walk the 'quad'. my canvas starts to look more like a real canvas with acrylic paint and charcoal on it. there is also a bounty of harvest and that leads me to milk all i can with the season's highlights. (i also learned to crochet and began to write more.)                        

• in the winter, for some odd reason becomes my deepest longing and need to experience a serious rendering of art. less in this time to i reach out for inspiration, but instead i dig deep and pour out. if i chronicle the past 5 years i see a history of this. standing out in my garage/studio with fingerless gloves huddling over the heat lamp, watching my breath as i sing at the top of my lungs a Bon Iver song (aptly named, too as it means 'Good Winter') and step back and sigh. it is in this season i received my first easel, showed my first pieces at a gallery and a festival, i sought out an amazingly talented encaustic mentor, and framed one of my biggest pieces to date. in this season, i come alive, i am ready- the cold brings out something in me. it affirms my hunch that cold cities produce true art and artists. (think Russia and Dostoevsky, Pushkin, Nabokov, think Seattle and all the amazing musicians, think Paris and A Movable Feast, painters and musicians alike, etc, etc, etc) this also becomes a cozy and perfect time to sew and create functional pieces for myself and loved ones.

• i like to lump spring in with winter somewhat in that we have a very non-distinct break from the storms and wet gray. but this is okay as the symbol of spring matters more to me and my art in that the birth and renewal of foliage reminds me of this life and how i am most alive when i have put to death the things of this world. ("for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live." romans 8:13)

as always, here's some music that is inspiring me at the moment: the National

have you ever heard of these things?

hermit bars- supposedly very versatile and good keepers for long voyages way back when. around here, they'll get eaten in a few seconds if my 3 year old has anything to do with it, but its still nice to know that you can tuck some away.

i made some modifications to the recipe below by omitting rasins and ginger and adding 2tsp instant espresso coffee (in ode to my Betty Crocker's recipe using 1/4c. cold coffee), 1/2c.semi sweet choc chips, 1/3c. chopped pecans and 1/3 c. crasins. oh, and decorate with turbinado sugar after molding logs. happy baking!

i call these "fall in a bar"

Hermit Bars

Ingredients

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda


2 teaspoons ground ginger


1 3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon


1 3/4 teaspoons ground cloves


1/4 teaspoon salt


1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature


1 cup loosely packed light-brown sugar


1 large egg, room temperature


1/4 cup unsulfured molasses


3/4 cup raisins


Directions


1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt; set aside.


2.In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg; beat until combined, scraping down sides of bowl once. Add molasses; beat until combined, and scrape down sides of bowl. Add the flour mixture and raisins; beat on low until dough just comes together, about 1 minute. Cover with plastic wrap; place in refrigerator to chill 30 minutes.


3.Remove dough from refrigerator, and turn out onto a clean work surface. Divide into 2 equal pieces, and shape each piece into a 12-inch log about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Place on prepared baking sheet, at least 3 inches apart.


4.Place in oven, and bake until logs are golden but still very soft to the touch, 20 to 22 minutes. The logs will flatten out and lengthen as they bake and get slightly puffy in the center. Transfer baking sheet to a wire rack to cool completely. Slice logs into 1-inch-wide bars. Hermit bars can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.

hmmm. i could get used to this.

welcome beautiful fall days that i have maybe never seen in washington! we never get those indian summer days where the sun is allowed to warm the maple leaves to the perfect shade of auburn, tangerine and gold. i am cheating a bit when i add a picture not from this week's glorious autumn weather, but i like this one anyway from an excursion that my husband and i took to mt. hood last month. we had to walk down a dirt trail, over a golf course and through a stream to get here. well worth the trip. i would love to paint this picture someday.

pumpkin seeds

Inspired by a recipe in this month's issue of Sunset using Quatre épices (four spices),I decided to try it for seasoning our yearly pumpkin seed batch. However, I made it sweet, salty AND spicy. Alter amounts of seasonings as preferred... all measurements are complete estimates, as I just added and spiced by sight alone.

1. spread out raw pumpkin seeds fresh from pumpkin (or saved in the fridge up to a week) evenly in single layer on greased cookie sheet. preheat oven to 375.  

 2. mix the following together in a cup:

1/4c. brown sugar

1/4tsp each of. cinnamon & salt

1/8tsp or a generous "shake shake" each of nutmeg, white pepper, cloves & ginger

3. toss all of the seeds with spice mixture and for an extra little "glaze" or crackle, sprinkle white sugar over the top of all the seeds spread out on the sheet

4. bake for 10 mins or until golden. voila! snack away!

i must say, this is my favorite fall pumpkin seed recipie so far!

and, for festive background music, here is one of my favorite artist's Devendra Banhart singing "Pumpkin Seeds"