you can be feeding people

plants change people.

this takes people back home.

amanda's wild rice soup-

sautee chopped carrots, onions, and celery in butter add flour to make a roux, 

cook for a few minutes and then mix in chicken stock, cooked wild rice and cream. 

garnish with toasted walnuts and chopped scallions.

that's what i made today!

all available in the shop

HERE

...

i've also been working on some things in the kitchen:

 lots of tomatoes, some peppers and eggplant were picked from the garden yesterday and i'm about to start chopping and freezing.  i also need to process a big roasted pumpkin and turn the apples we picked awhile ago into applesauce.  

have a good weekend, everybody.  kisses all around.

liane

here

"Why it is that an industrialized system, deeply dependent on fossil fuels and chemical treatments, is promoted as viable, while a much less damaging one is rubbished and condemned as unfit for purpose? The reasons lie in the anomalies that exist behind the scenes."

*note that in the foreward to the excerpt is a link to the speech in it's entirely

choose your food

 

went to a talk by ben hewitt last night with my oldest boy ethan and farmer bob.  i just cracked open this book last night for a minute before bed but as i get into it i will share impressions.  i'm not proud of it but i tend to space out when i read anything with science and with statistics.   but i'm challenging myself to read this book through and to really absorb the information.   will report back. 

here's a short excerpt:

"In Making Supper Safe, Ben explores past, present, and likely future of our nation’s response to pathogenic bacteria in our food, and how it impacts both our health and our right to consume the foods of our choosing. He argues that the greatest danger in our food is not the acute illness caused by bacterial contamination, but rather the systemic arrangements that have consolidated our food supply and hidden its inner workings from view. And he considers the crucial interplay between bacteria and the human body, a field that is exploding with new research and insight."  (emphasis mine)

i came away from the presentation knowing that i can get lulled into making ill-informed food choices and i give up personal responsibility for what i eat especially when i am busy and stressed.  and it's real important for me to keep in touch with these ideas and with people who make them a priority so that i keep my priorities and my ideals in the front of my mind.  does that make sense?  it's not important unless i make it important.  and i want to take responsibility.

i don't think the problem is that people make a conscious decision to support factory farming.  it's that we accept the status quo without much probing. 

here are some related links you may want to check out:

farm forward

factory-farming

eating animals

alternatives to factory farming petition

this weekend i want to try to get to the movie theatre to see midnight in paris.  and it's raining here again but i also want to get my tea garden and tomatoes and basil into the ground finally.

fondly,

liane

no knead bread

i want to strongly suggest you try making this no knead bread.  soon.  we demolished half this loaf before i could even grab my camera to take a picture.  i added some flax seeds to the dough. and we ate it with butter and homemade peach jam.  fah-bu-lous.  a couple notes...my mum gave me one of those large ridiculously expensive le creuset pots and that's what i used for the baking.  mine has a plastic knob on the cover though and i had to take it off the pot (it's just screwed on) before putting it in this hot an oven.  i think it would melt otherwise.  also, i only baked it a total of 35-40 minutes.  only 5-10 minutes with the top off at the end.

yum.

xo

me

merry christmas

i wrapped my presents in black tissue paper and vintage wallpaper this year. stuff i already had in the house.  shopping, making and wrapping are all done except for a few stocking stuffers.  i've made 5 billion cookies.  the house is relatively clean (unless you count the kids' rooms which i do not.)  i'm making a big pot of spagetti for christmas dinner because i have excess ground beef from my local 1/4 cow beef purchase.  i also have the tomato sauce which i canned this summer and fall. 

i've had a couple questions in my blog comments which i want to answer.  one was regarding the granola recipe i use.  basically, i do have a recipe in front of me when i make this but i follow it loosely.  i add or subtract whatever i don't have in the house or whatever i have which i want to use up.   one tip i do have is if you use a glass baking dish the longer baking time is right here.  if you have a dark metal cooking sheet you should check the granola often as it bakes and go with the shorter baking time. 

homemade granola

3 cups old-fashioned oats

1/4 cup olive oil

1/3 cup sliced almonds (or other nuts)

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

1/3 cup green pumpkin seeds

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup honey

pinch sea salt

2-3 cups dried fruit (any kind you like and a variety is good)

1 cup chocolate chips (if desired)

mix all ingredients except the fruit and chocolate together and spread onto a baking sheet or any large baking dish.  i use two baking sheets for this quantity.  bake 15-30 minutes  ant 375 degrees checking and stirring every 5 minutes.  when cool add the fruit and nuts.

another recipe i want to share is for baked oatmeal.  this stuff is good and makes a perfect christmas morning breakfast.

baked oatmeal

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2 to 1 cup brown sugar depending on your sweet tooth

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 beaten eggs

1 cup olive oil

1 cup milk

mix together and put in a baking dish.  bake approximately 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

and last i had a question about how to do the jade plant cuttings.  i'm no expert but i'm getting really into houseplants lately and here's what i do: i just cut off any unruly branches from my giant jade.  i think most of them were about 6 inches or so long.  i trimmed any bottom leaves off so that i could fit the stems in a bunch into a large mason jar of water.  i let them soak there on a windowsill, replenishing the water as needed, for a few weeks.  you can do it for longer.  i ran out of time and potted them up at this point.  they had a bit of short hairy roots growing from the stems.  i used regular potting soil for houseplants from the garden store and made sure the soil was nice and wet to begin with.  just fill up the pot(s) with wet soil and place a stem or two per pot in the soil packing the dirt gently around the stem.  place the pots in a sunny spot indoors and water as needed making sure the soil doesn't dry out too much when the plant is just starting out. jades seem hardy though so they should be just fine unless you totally forget about them.

...

ok, well that's that!  i'm signing off till after christmas but i want to say thank you so much for reading my blog!  thank you all who take the time to comment.  reading your comments is truly one of my favorite things.  they mean a lot to me.

most sincerely,

liane

lately

so around here lately... i'm knitting up a rug made with strips from antique rag balls.  i made homemade yogurt AND homemade granola AND carrot soup from a saipua recipe.  oh...all in one day.  plus in that very same day i also potted up a bunch of jade cuttings from my giant jade plant to give as holiday gifts.  i hate to sound braggy but high fives to me. 

by the way, the le creuset soup pot up there is the one i got for $11 (it has the top, too).  also by the way, the crocheted table cloth pictured is from the office manager at my dentist's office.  she knows what kind of work i do and when she cleaned out her MIL's house recently she passed along to me a 50 pound garbage bag full of old linens.  thanks martha!

and on my way to NYC last weekend i stayed in boston overnight and got to have dinner with my boy ethan at a tibetan restaurant in brookline.  i love that boy.  which you already know b/c i say it everytime i mention him.  i just lucked out this lifetime and got really good kids. 

and although i failed at photographing the NYC trip i did get this one good picture of miss alice.  she's a gem.  the rest of the pictures i erased without remorse b/c they consisted of crowds of new yorkers on the streets dressed as santa clauses doing a giant bar crawl.  it was the only time i got my camera out.  and i'd say really the only interesting photo from the batch was of one dude in a skin tight orange colored suit and nothing about it said santa claus but it did make him look naked from a distance.  mildly entertaining.   especially if you are immature.  in fact i'm snickering to myself right now recalling it.

that's it.
xo a million times.
liane

homemade life giveaway

morning all!  i was cleaning up my kitchen yesterday...like crazy clean where you scrub all the shelves (including UNDER the sink, holy cow).  AND since i have two copies of the above book i figured i would do a little giveaway on my blog and let a reader have one of them.

so, babies, if you want to join in leave a comment.  let's seeeee, what sort of comment should it be...hows about you tell me what kind of food you've been craving lately.  it can be real general like, i want SALT and i want it NOW.  or it can be more specific along the lines of GIVE ME fresh apples, HEIRLOOM ESOPUS SPITZENBERGS only, with HOMEMADE HOT CARAMEL SAUCE.  that would be my current crave.

i will choose a winner in a week from today.

ok?

love,
me

life stuff

just working working working lately.  you?  i think one of these days i might turn into a pillow.  the crazy quilt patches i hand sewed onto the last couple pillows in my shop are real fun to look at.  so there you go.

and today i think i will get out and go for a walk.  i've missed it the past couple days.  you know if you read my blog regularly (you DO don't you??) that i'm a walker.  i would run but my left knee is kind of bum and starts hurting after the first mile or so.  so i walk.  my favorite route is about 5 miles long.  this habit allows me to eat cake when i want and it keeps me sane.  relatively.

i'm also heading out shortly to go to breakfast with 2 favorite friends.  good times.

in other news, i went through my flickr stream and created a couple new sets.  one, oh the vanity, is a set of ME.  you know, self-portraits.  and the other is friends and family.

and i want to say that stephanie is really an inspiring individual.  look what she's doing.

and also that i just finished this seriously surreal and weird and controversial book.  and now i'm reading this book.

cu,
liane

penny rugs and roasted tomatoes

antique penny rugs were made by using recycled woolen clothing. circles of different fabrics in graduated sizes were stacked on top of each other and sewn to a base fabric using blanket stitches.   somtimes these rugs are too cutesy for me but i like the color combinations and diamond pattern of the one above.  crafters making these nowadays seem to sometimes use brighter colors where muted is more my style and seems in keeping with the original fabrics and look of an antique rug.

i'm roasting tomatoes this morning.  i'm hoping to finish before the heat outdoors really sets in.  here's the recipe i'm using from ina garten.  she scoops the seeds out but i don't.  partly because i'm using a real small variety of plum tomatoes and partly because i'm allergic to food waste.  these are really delish:

12 plum tomatoes

4 tablespoons good olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 large garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

set oven to 450 degrees.  cut tomatoes in half lengthwise and arrange in single layer in glass baking dish.  mix o.o. and balsamic and drizzle over tomatoes.  sprinkle garlic, sugar, and s+p on tomatoes.  roast for 35 minutes or so.  if you are scooping tomato insides out first then cook for 25 minutes.  eat warm or cool.  i'm making bigger batches then indicated here and freezing for wintertime use. 

weekend

good morning dears. 

i must say, i had a pretty good weekend.  aside from the fact that the chickens decimated my kale and i need to get some wattle fence up this week before i let them free-range again.  who wants to come over and help?!?

we went to the fleamarket on sunday and i found some things pictured above:

materials for a couple bags for the shop, a large picture of a large woman, that leather hat which i am so in love with i had to stop myself from making out with it (peter says all i need is a few less teeth and a banjo in order to wear it.  we have the banjo but i'm not willing to give up any teeth),  plus a small primitive coat-rack (child-sized) for craft fair display.

i also went over to my mum's and picked some berries.  then i made some crock pot steel cut oats to put the berries in.  this is good stuff.  i recommend you try it.  i first found a recipe on amy's blog here.  i don't add any sweetener or anything to cook it in though.  i do, however, add copious amounts of maple syrup to it once it's done.

here's the recipe i use:

1 cup steel cut oats (find these in the bulk bin aisle of your natural foods store)

4 1/2 cups water

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons butter

cook in crockpot for 8 hours-ish on low setting

....

and later today i will scan in some of my favorite images from the 70s classic book "woodstock handmade homes."  i found a copy this weekend at my local used book store.

love luv lurve,

me

news from these parts

in that top picture you can sort of see that i put an old rag rug on my dining room table. hey. it's my house.  i washed it first.   i don't know if i like it yet.  which brings me to my first burning topic.  when you do stuff around your house like hang a picture of move furniture or even the smallest thing like put a candle on one table rather than the other do you go through a transition period where you aren't sure if it's the right spot or change and each time you walk by it you assess whether it's right or not and sometimes you know it's wrong because you have a gut feeling about it but then you still have to walk by it for a week or two before realizing it's driving you crazy and moving it somewhere else?

phew.

that was a long sentence.

and now you know that i am a complete lunatic and perhaps in need of OCD drugs.

and please please please let me clarify. there is nothing perfect about my house or my wall decor or my furniture arrangement.  this is no decorator's museum.  BE-LIEVE ME.  and yet, i am guilty of the behavior outlined above.  the other thought occuring to me just now is that maybe i need to find something more meaningful to do with my life like focus on homelessness and hunger and such.  quickly moving on.

second picture: making pillows for renegade (those are buckwheat hulls on the pillows).  although yesterday i felt like total doodoo and had a headache like a dagger through my right eyeball and got next to nothing done.  i think it's because i ate such a load of crap the day prior like too much pizza and grocery store birthday cake.  so yesterday i tried to eat better.  this involved that veg/pasta thing above plus homemade bread and hummus and fruit. 

and just in case you missed it here's a picture of one of our baby chicks.  we moved them out of their box in the laundry room and into their coop yesterday.  they love their new place.

xo,

me

thievery and news from these parts

i'm dying over a couple things i stole out of alison's etsy favorites just now. perhaps i shouldn't be thieving her faves and posting about them.  maybe i should be a better friend than that..maybe i just can't control myself...

the farm house is from lucy and ellen and

the folk art wood cross is from great findz.

and then i just remembered that this vintage rag rug below from harriets daughter which i bought (!) came from alison's favorites, too. omg, i am bad.  (luv ya teenangster:)

i guess i'm in a country-heavy farmhouse phase. 

ok, but really, here's the news in these parts: 

 i planted part of my garden yesterday and built the kee-utest trellises for my peas. i also cut up some sprouting potatoes and i'm letting the cuts heal then i'll plant those.  i started some french fava beans indoors awhile back from dried beans riana sent me from france.  i'm worried they won't grow properly  because i got them going a bit late and they don't like to produce their pods in warm weather.  fingers crossed.

also, we got our baby chicks last week.  they've been living in a box upstairs and i love them.  all 12 of them.   but they are stinking up my bedroom.  i will try to get some pictures taken today to post.  they are truly growing like weeds.  their feathers came in overnight, it seems.  momma's so proud.

and last, as i may have already mentioned, i have been reading eating animals by jonathan safran foer.  i've educated myself a lot about factory farming over the last couple years but still i've sometimes succumbed to buying grocery store meat.  NO MORE.  i've finally, once and for all realized i can't do it.  i've reached that critical point of knowledge with the subject where i know in my heart that the system is too cruel, unethical and unsustainable to accept.  so we have been altering our diet around here and making changes which will be permanent.  We are eating lots more meat-free meals and occasional local meat meals. 

what's your food lifestyle and philosophy?  if you've got some thoughts on the subject i'd love to hear them.

happy monday mes amis,

liane

black and white pysanky and food philosophy

So, my pysanky eggs would NOT win any contests but I had a really good time making them.  I decided to just use one color and really simple designs.  In retrospect I'd have left them in the dye a much shorter time to see if I could get more of a dusky grey color.  I considered putting them back in the black dye for just a minute after cleaning the wax lines off so that the white would be grey but it was time to wrap it up.  Next time I'll also put more effort into planning the designs.  In any event, the weather was so wonderful.  And after that I went for a walk. 

In other news, I recently heard a radio interview with Jonathan Safran Foer who wrote the book Eating Animals. I'm putting this book on my reading list.

I've been a vegetarian off and on in my life and have been pretty involved in the local clean food movement in my community.  I started and ran the first farmers' market in my town 7 years ago and where my food comes from is something I've been concerned about since my early 20s. 

I'm excited to plan a great vegetable garden this year and I'm renewing my focus on eating a limited amount of meat and dairy and then only eating those I find locally. 

What's your food philosophy?