I decided some warm treats were in order with the kids coming in and out from sledding on our snow days at home this week. My son has been on a gluten-free diet since he was 7, and this recipe from The Joy of Cooking has been a long-time favorite because it requires no adaptation. It was meant to be a gluten-free recipe and comes out perfect every time.You can also make it with rye flour rather ...
Counting Down the Days
I just had to show off my fun thrift store find of the month. I remember having a lot of fun with our Advent calendar when I was growing up, and always looked forward to every morning when my brother and I would take turns putting up one of the little Velcro packages, candy canes, elves, etc. on the calendar day getting us closer to Christmas. I did Advent wreaths and the little chocolate filled ...
The Big Snow of 2013!
Simply by the fact that this is noteworthy, you can tell we don't get a lot of snow around here. If we do, it doesn't stick around for very long, so it's a big deal! Yesterday morning we woke up to snow coming down, and before we knew it, there were over 7 inches with no sign of going anywhere. The town shut down, school was cancelled, and folks holed up in their homes and enjoyed the snow day. We ...
The Stockings Were Hung by the Chimney With Care
It's only taken me years, but I finally have everyone's stocking in the house finished BEFORE the holidays! I gave myself a hearty pat on the back for this. I started my handmade stocking project with recycled wool sweaters and needlefelting almost 5 years ago, and always seemed to find time to work on it in January after the winter festivities had passed. Corey's stocking is the newest addition; ...
The Work of Jack Frost
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Welcoming Winter
Even though it happens every year, waking up on the morning of the first hard frost is always an amazing event. Seeing everything transformed from the bright hues of fall into a scene of glittering white makes the inevitable onset of winter more welcome somehow. We trade off those long days of working out in the garden for cozy evenings by the woodstove and shift all the outward energy inward. ...
Hedgehogs, and Cauliflowers and Matsutakes, Oh My!
This fall has been a mushroom hunter's dream so far, and I realized this morning that I have managed to find every single favorite and long sought-after mushroom (aside from Morels) over the last couple months. Every time I go out in the woods mushroom hunting, I hope that there will be a big, beautiful Cauliflower mushroom with my name on it, a bright yellow patch of Chicken of the Woods ...
Jack-O-Lantern Fun
We like to have a lot of fun around here on Halloween, and there are few things so fun as turning a pile of pumpkins into fanciful luminaries. It seems like every year we come up with more and more creative jack-o-lantern ideas, and inspiration from other people's pumpkins. As I am often thinking about wild mushrooms this time of year, there usually ends up being at least one fungus-themed lantern ...
Happy Haunting!
A little Halloween fun from the late, great John Hartford: "Now, first thing is to say this: Much further out than inevitable, Halloween's thy game. Sky King has come and Wilma's done, Uncertain as it is uneven. Give us today hors d'oeuvres in bed, As we forgive those who have dressed up against us. And need us not enter inflation, butter, liver, onions, and potatoes. For wine is a shingle, ...
Homebrewing Pumpkin Spice Ale
What is there not to love about pumpkins? They are round and orange, they taste sweet and delicious, and they can be made into pumpkin pie. What, then, is there not to love about pumpkin beers? It's like having pumpkin pie in a bottle. With a kick. Some of you may remember my post on my first all grain homebrewing project, Brewing Perseverance. I had tried an anniversary beer from Alaskan ...