Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Saturday, March 05, 2011
driving south
We are driving south for a week in Edisto, South Carolina. The internet is not coming with us. We are staying right on the ocean, and there will be much sea shell collecting, drawing, walking, digging, and castle building.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Sunday, February 06, 2011
valentine capelet
I finished this today to sell at the BNS chocolate party. There is another one in a big girl size on the way. I've got some crafting to do before next saturday.
I saw daffadils today. And baby lambs.
Friday, February 04, 2011
no knead:: artisan bread
3 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 T yeast
1/2 T kosher salt
6 1/2 cups all purpose flour
Warm water to 100 degrees. Add yeast and salt to water in a 5 qt bowl. Mix in flour. No need to knead. the dough will be wet ad loose. Cover and let rise 2 hours or until the dough collapses. Refridge overnight and up to 14 days.
Baking:: Dust a peel with cornmeal. Dust the top of the dough with flour and pull up a grapefruit sized portion. Cut off with a serrated knife. Shape into a round. Rest on the peel for forty minutes and bake in a 450 degree preheated oven. Pour a cup of hot water into a hot broiler pan beneath the baking stone and bake for 30 minutes.
1 1/2 T yeast
1/2 T kosher salt
6 1/2 cups all purpose flour
Warm water to 100 degrees. Add yeast and salt to water in a 5 qt bowl. Mix in flour. No need to knead. the dough will be wet ad loose. Cover and let rise 2 hours or until the dough collapses. Refridge overnight and up to 14 days.
Baking:: Dust a peel with cornmeal. Dust the top of the dough with flour and pull up a grapefruit sized portion. Cut off with a serrated knife. Shape into a round. Rest on the peel for forty minutes and bake in a 450 degree preheated oven. Pour a cup of hot water into a hot broiler pan beneath the baking stone and bake for 30 minutes.
jicama kiwi ginger salsa
1 T chopped ginger
4 kiwi diced
2 cups jicama diced
1 cup red onion
1/4 cup cilantro
1 jalapeno with seeds minced
juice of 4 limes
refrigerate
4 kiwi diced
2 cups jicama diced
1 cup red onion
1/4 cup cilantro
1 jalapeno with seeds minced
juice of 4 limes
refrigerate
Thursday, February 03, 2011
carolina
Ella's science fair project is making us all happy. She is going to put four different kinds of bird seed in trays on our deck and count who comes to eat.
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
grateful
I was searching behind my tired eyes for something uplifting, and I've come up with a few things.
1. pomegranate popcicles
2. potage
3. yarn
We are mending, albeit slowly.
1. pomegranate popcicles
2. potage
3. yarn
We are mending, albeit slowly.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
sick house
For the past two weeks I've been stumbling around glassy eyed, making food and changing diapers, driving to school and knitting my socks, making lists and running the dishwasher. Ella, John, and I have all had strep, and now I've got it again. Tiny people have thrown up in my hands and pooped in their beds. I've boiled our toothbrushes and purchased disinfectant bathroom cleaner. I've washed my hands until they are raw. I'm just so tired that I can't believe that it is sunday night.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
saying something
Well, we are here, all recovered from the scarlet fever. Really. How quaint are we? It was painful, and I actually spent some time lying in my bed moaning. Medieval. Ruby has a bit of a fever and runny nose, but it is mild and unrelated.
I'm ready for spring.
I'm ready for something new. But I think I better learn the technical aspects of my new camera first.
I'm ready for spring.
I'm ready for something new. But I think I better learn the technical aspects of my new camera first.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
snowflakes
The snow kept us home from school today, but the kids were up doing homework before eight this morning.
I'm turning my thoughts to the New Year, new inspirations, new ways to think about things, perhaps a new address and a new rhythm to our days, one that will get us out of the car and into the forests and meadows of our small mountain town.
Thursday, January 06, 2011
play
On Christmas morning there was a castle in our living room. I wanted to get them a present that all three would want to play with, and I think I was successful. It was made in Maine by a family owned company called Elves and Angels. The figures are made in Germany, and we have knights, a horse, a royal family, a dragon and a wizard. Ruby has rounded up some other wooden animals as well, so there is quite a menagerie in the courtyard.
Between Santa and the tall stack of presents that poured out of Granny's station wagon, the kids were showered with gifts, geodes to crack, real tools, and a life sized waldorf friend for Miss Ruby. John has been playing Legos and racing little cars around a track. This week they are back in school and trying to figure out how to incorporate some of their new gifts into their science fair projects.
I'm almost sad to see the season pass. I had such a nice time staying at home, and I'm ordering a white christmas again next year, that and bigger stockings. I'm still working on a few handmade gifts, but today I cleared the christmas greens out of the house, and the tree will come down this weekend. We'll settle a little deeper into winter.
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
the first light of advent is the light of stones
The first light of Advent is the light of stones.
Stones that live in crystals, seashells, and bones.
The second light of Advent is the light of plants.
Roots, stem, leaf, flower, and fruit by whom we live and grow.
The third light of Advent is the light of beasts.
Animals of farm, field, forest, air, and seas.
All await the birth in greatest and in least.
The fourth light of Advent is the light of humankind.
The light of love, the light of thought, to give and to understand.
Steiner
We set up a Waldorf inspired advent table this year, and Ella really seemed to enjoy it. We used our birthday ring and put some of the elements from the verse in the four corners. She loved the crystals, seashells, and bones , and she received some amethyst, quartz, and zeolite crystals to place there.She put the little wool faeries our friend made in the corner to represent the light of humankind. She has been writing poetry lately, and she liked reading the verses aloud when we lit the candles, and by Christmas Day she had it memorized.
We put up our twenty five red felt stockings in the kitchen to count our December days, but we didn't even do every day. I was determined that I wasn't going to purchase "things" to put in the stockings, so I made little scrolls that said things like "bake cookies" or "drink hot chocolate together".
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Monday, January 03, 2011
Can you tell?
Mama got a new camera just before the holidays, but she hasn't really had time to learn how to use it. After a year of saving birthday money, change, and making waldorf dolls for other people, I got the Nikon D3100. I've always had a Canon camera, but I'm going to give this one a spin.
winter elf
elfing, originally uploaded by ellajohn.
About two days before Christmas John gave his sisters a knowing look and wondered out loud what Mama was making him for Christmas. I'd been wanting to make him a Meathead hat from Larissa Brown's book, Knitalong, Celebrating the Tradition of Knitting Together, and I slipped out to the yarn shop for a little celebration of the last minute. It wasn't finished by Christmas morning, but I don't think he noticed.
Friday, December 31, 2010
lemon butter
Lemon Butter
2 lemons
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter
2 eggs
Grate the lemon rind and juice the lemons. Put zest, juice, butter, and sugar in a saucepan over LOW heat. Dissolve very slowly. Beat the eggs and stir some of the hot lemon mixture into them. Add egg mixture to saucepan and stir over low heat until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Pour into a glass jar, let cool, and refrigerate.
Take time with the cooking, stirring constantly, for a smooth sauce. This can be made in a double boiler.
Grandmum used to say that if one had this sauce in the refrigerator and a pound cake in the pantry one was prepared for almost any situation.
Washing dishes. Making gingerbread.
2 lemons
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter
2 eggs
Grate the lemon rind and juice the lemons. Put zest, juice, butter, and sugar in a saucepan over LOW heat. Dissolve very slowly. Beat the eggs and stir some of the hot lemon mixture into them. Add egg mixture to saucepan and stir over low heat until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Pour into a glass jar, let cool, and refrigerate.
Take time with the cooking, stirring constantly, for a smooth sauce. This can be made in a double boiler.
Grandmum used to say that if one had this sauce in the refrigerator and a pound cake in the pantry one was prepared for almost any situation.
Washing dishes. Making gingerbread.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
merry making
Here is little John in 2006. I had this notion that I'd post a little something every day in December, and that just didn't happen. Apparently, without a camera I've got nothing to say.
We celebrated the solstice last night with a few friends, a fire, a big pot of beans, cornbread, lots of homemade goodies, homebrew, and even some live music. Today I am staying home all day for the first time. Daddy and Ella are out seeing Prince Caspian, and I made latkes for breakfast.
When my children are grown they'll be saying that when they were little it always snowed on Christmas. A storm is headed our way, and I'm thinking about yet another trip to the store just in case we are in for a few days. Today I want to make gingerbread and lemon butter with the children.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
Ruby Claus
Thank goodness for friends with cameras because it certainly is hard to run around without a one. Can you believe that this was just a spur of the moment in my friend Donna's kitchen? Her son left his little Santa suit perfectly arranged on the floor in front of the christmas tree.
Donna has been hosting a crafting day each monday, and the waldorf dolls I'm making have, for the most part, been made at her kitchen table or living room floor.She also showed me how to make an Enchanted Broccoli Forest.
John and I are sitting in the midst of a major home renovation. We are sitting on the sofa in the middle of the living room. The fridge is plugged in right behind us, as well as the stove and the toilet. We have a new kitchen floor, and by tomorrow night we'll have new floors in the living room and dining room.
Sunday, December 05, 2010
santa letters
John and Ella wrote their letters today. Ella requests only a electronic violin tuner. How cool is that? John wants a cheetah, a lion, legos, a pretend store for his sister Ruby and an American girl house for his sister Ella.
We enjoyed a snowy weekend with boots and snowpants piled around the door. We made wreaths at the tree farm in Clover Hollow, and I could hear the snow falling on dried leaves. Today we stayed close to home with books from St Nicholas, ornament painting, and Mythbusters.
We enjoyed a snowy weekend with boots and snowpants piled around the door. We made wreaths at the tree farm in Clover Hollow, and I could hear the snow falling on dried leaves. Today we stayed close to home with books from St Nicholas, ornament painting, and Mythbusters.
Friday, December 03, 2010
loving
::I love this humbling post on Obaitori Spiritual Mothering today.
::Reading The Night Before Christmas to 3 tonight.
::My current obsession with robin's egg blue.
::Sitting between the sewing machine and the laptop.
:: I found a recipe for the orange dressing they serve at Japanese restaurants. Fresh ginger root, white miso, sesame oil, 1 carrot, rice wine vinegar, and a pinch of sugar. Puree in the food processor. I can't wait to make a salad with fresh tatsoi, romaine, english cucumber, asparagus, blanched broccoli, and some homemade tamari almonds.
::Reading The Night Before Christmas to 3 tonight.
::My current obsession with robin's egg blue.
::Sitting between the sewing machine and the laptop.
:: I found a recipe for the orange dressing they serve at Japanese restaurants. Fresh ginger root, white miso, sesame oil, 1 carrot, rice wine vinegar, and a pinch of sugar. Puree in the food processor. I can't wait to make a salad with fresh tatsoi, romaine, english cucumber, asparagus, blanched broccoli, and some homemade tamari almonds.
Thursday, December 02, 2010
thanksgiving 2010
Thanksgiving seems distant as I take a pen to my December calendar. Felting dries on my curtain rods, dolls have bodies, the children have a five foot blue lit christmas tree in their bedroom for a nightlight, and tonight we read Elf on a Shelf for our advent treat.
The ballet was a treat last night. Ella had a wonderful time was was so happy to be out after ten on a school night. We saw the Moscow Ballet's Great Russian Nutcracker, and the show was an elegant and evocative fantasy.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
time to put up the advent stockings
I just finished my christmas shopping. Now I just need to keep going with my handmade gifts. There is a christmas tree up in the children's room, and Ella and I are going to the Nutcracker tomorrow night.
Monday, November 29, 2010
32 pound bird
How can I post about Thanksgiving without a picture? I still haven't found my camera. I took some at my brother's house with their camera, but I haven't gotten them yet. All in all, we had a nice time. My brother completely stressed out about the gigantic bird and did some last minute indoor/ outdoor cooking. It was perfect and delicious. Ruby put her face down in her plate several times to lick up some glazed tomatoes and then the caramel apple pie.
We spent the night with Grandmarie and then headed north for a weekend with Granny and Grampy and the big Keller Williams show. We drank good coffee and ate pho. The traffic was treacherous and I am very thankful to be home.
We spent the night with Grandmarie and then headed north for a weekend with Granny and Grampy and the big Keller Williams show. We drank good coffee and ate pho. The traffic was treacherous and I am very thankful to be home.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
thanksgiving 2007
I can't find my camera at the moment so I'll just post this one. The mushroom gravy is made, the tofu is marinating and will go on the grill tomorrow, and the dressing just came out of the oven. We are going over the river and through the woods in the morning.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
'Tis a gift to be simple
John's class sang and signed the Shaker hymn "Tis the Gift to be Simple" at the school's Thanksgiving celebration. Ella's class wrote a poem called Happiness. She wrote, "happiness is the love of my family".
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
poem
Old Smoothing Iron
Often I watched her lift it
from where its compact wedge
rode the back of the stove
like a tug at anchor
To test its heat she'd stare
and spit in its iron face
or hold it up next her cheek
to divine the stored danger.
Soft thumps on the ironing board
Her dimpled angled elbow
and intent stoop
as she aimed the smoothing iron
like a plane into linen,
like the resentment of women.
To work, her dumb lunge says,
is to move a certain mass
through a certain distance,
is to pull your weight and feel
exact and equal to it.
Feel dragged upon. And buoyant.
Seamus Heaney
Often I watched her lift it
from where its compact wedge
rode the back of the stove
like a tug at anchor
To test its heat she'd stare
and spit in its iron face
or hold it up next her cheek
to divine the stored danger.
Soft thumps on the ironing board
Her dimpled angled elbow
and intent stoop
as she aimed the smoothing iron
like a plane into linen,
like the resentment of women.
To work, her dumb lunge says,
is to move a certain mass
through a certain distance,
is to pull your weight and feel
exact and equal to it.
Feel dragged upon. And buoyant.
Seamus Heaney
Saturday, November 13, 2010
yarn
I love yarn much more than I know what to do with it, so I finally took a class at a local yarnshop. I've always wanted to take a knitting class. I saw this scarf and took a one hour class in how to make it. It is very simple, but I learned a lot, and I think it is very pretty. It takes one hank of Malbrigo merino worsted wool or Malbrigo Aquarella.
I can knit. I can purl. I just need to learn to follow directions. Ah, life.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
ella and our lanterns
St. Martin's Day, also known as Martinmas, the Feast of St Martin of Tours or Martin le Misércordieux, is a time for feasting celebrations, and traditionally food is served that can be cut in half. The feast day, is November 11, the feast day of St. Martin of Tours, who started out as a Roman soldier. He was baptized as an adult and became a monk. It is understood that he was a kind man who led a quiet and simple life. The most famous legend of his life is that he once cut his cloak in half to share with a beggar during a snowstorm, to save the beggar from dying of the cold. That night he dreamed that Jesus was wearing the half-cloak Martin had given away. Martin heard Jesus say to the angels: "Here is Martin, the Roman soldier who is not baptised; he has clothed me."
John and Ruby fell asleep in the car tonight, so after they were tucked in their beds, Ella and I made paper lanterns with paper that we had painted. We walked around in our front yard with our candlelit lanterns. Martinmas is often a day for giving, so she took a child's coat in to the donation box at our school.
Sunday, November 07, 2010
wizard
I did my holiday shopping tonight. I have many little projects to make, but I made my lists and checked them twice. A rock tumbler is headed our way as well as a magical kingdom with knights and dragons and princesses.
Ruby is getting the little red wooden banjo that I forgot last year, and I'm making her a Princess and the Pea playset with a waldorf style doll and a stack of colorful patterned mattresses and a twig ladder. John wants loop de loop cars, and I've just learned that those are called Hot Wheels; I'm going to go get my sweet baby some Hot Wheels.A dear friend got us tickets for the Moscow ballet on December first, the day that we put up our advent stockings. After Christmas last year I got the kids all of the Jan Brett Holiday books, and I'm going to give them one a day for the first week of December. I'm looking forward to the Advent Garden Celebration with the Unitarian Congregation on December 4th. We'll spend some time at the Christmas tree farm making wreaths for our school and pick out our tree. What do I really want for the season? Peace. Quiet. Candles. Bonfires. The smell of evergreens. I want to watch Fanny and Alexander and make Italian seafood stew. I want to knit. Bake. Be.
The wizard is for Ella's stocking.
Thursday, November 04, 2010
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