SpiderWomanKnits

we're ok

{Jorn's embroidery August 28, 2011}

Just checking in really quick to let you all know that we are all fine. All of our critters and our home weathered the storm very well. Our poor town and surrounding towns did not do as well. This video covers a good portion of the state and is just a snippet of the flooding that was endured, our town is represented in the video, there are many that are not which experienced almost total destruction. It seems like our sleepy New England had quite a wake up call from Irene. My heart goes out to any of you who were affected or know someone who was. Please feel free to include links here if you are aware of any outreach or relief efforts.

We lost our power for a good portion of the day yesterday so we all took to handcrafts, music making and story telling. Jorn asked to do some embroidery, he was channeling the weather I guess. Now, we are focusing our energy on helping friends and neighbors who were effected by the flash floods. It's astonishing how quickly things can change, isn't it? A reminder to savor the present. I hope you all are well. Please let me know how you are.

xoxo

Abi

preserving cherry tomatoes

I am getting about 1 gallon of cherry tomatoes every day. That's a conservative estimate. This year I planted Sun Gold Cherry Toms. We are really loving them. I always freeze a bunch whole to be used for fresh pasta sauces in the winter but this year I am also slow roasting them with cloves of garlic. Oh.My.Wow. These are truly amazing and will be a warm, rich and comforting companion in winter stews, soups or just smothered on a piece of toast.You will have to use all of your will power not to just eat these on the spot while you are filling your jars.

To slow roast cherry tomatoes (or any small tomato) preheat your oven to 250 degrees. I have a convection roast option on my oven which works wonderfully. Wash your tomatoes, sliced them in half and place in a roasting pan (or pans if you have a bazillion like me). Separate whole cloves of garlic from the bulb but leave the skin on and scatter them in your pan. I like to use one clove per jar and I always roast extra. Drizzle olive oil over your pan and sprinkle kosher salt to taste. Place in the oven and roast for approx. 1 1/2-2 hours. I like to set my timer at 30 minute intervals and just keep checking or rotating pans so they roast evenly. You want them to be slightly browned and almost dehydrated though there will be some thickened juices. Fill 4oz Ball jars, leaving 1/2", and add one clove of garlic squeezed from it's skin to each jar. Let cool, cover and freeze!

If you want to just freeze your cherry or grape tomatoes, just wash and dry them. Place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment in a single layer and set in freezer until they are solid. Transfer to zippered freezer bags.

Enjoy!

 

100!

So, we went to a friend's house for dinner a few nights ago and wouldn't you know it, we came home with a hamster! His name is Pancake and he is the sweetest little thing. He's rolling around at my feet right now in one of those little hamster balls. He was "rescued" from a local college by our friends. I guess some students had managed to keep him without getting caught all through the school year last year but couldn't bring him home for the summer.They were about to set him free in the woods (!) when our friends intervened. We were admiring him while we were visiting and were asked if we'd like to take him home. Sure! What's another little critter at our place? This puts the "total number of mouths to feed" in my house at exactly 100! Good thing he really likes all the green beans and yummy things growing in my garden ;) We are so happy to have him as part of our brood. 

i just can't stop

This is Willa. She's in the shop too. I am just having so much fun making these so bear with me and all the shameless self promotion just a little while longer, will you?  ;)

Fergus is looking for his forever home

Fergus is in the shop and in search of his forever home. He's a touch nervous about the whole thing and so I am but I am sure when he finds the right place he'll settle in just fine. He's a real sweetheart. Go have a looksy.

today's haul

It's not the biggest haul we've had but it certainly is special. Those are the first potatoes we've ever grown! What a fun crop. Still lots more in the ground. We'll certainly make room for more next year. Jorn, Simonne and I spent Vaughn's nap time in the garden together today picking all these veggies. It just fills my heart watching the two of them cooperate and work together to help pick whatever it is we are picking. They are just as excited as I am to see what's available for us on a particular day.

A few nights ago I used the 2 pounds of beans we had picked that day (kentucky wonder, gold rush and purple) to make Indian style green beans. The whole family made me swear that I would not pickle the beans we picked today but would prepare the Indian Style beans again. Here's the recipe. I hope your family loves it as much as mine. It's taken from one of my favorite cook books Whole Foods for the Whole Family.This is the recipe as it is written in the book, we doubled it.

Indian Style Green Beans

1lb green beans

2-4T oil (salted butter)

1t black mustard seeds

1/2 cup chopped onion

3/4 cup thinly sliced carrots

1 t. ground coriander

1/8 t. ground ginger

1/2 t. salt (or to taste)

1-2T lemon juice

Cut beans into 1 inch pieces (I just snap mine while I am washing them) Heat oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Saute mustard seeds until they "pop". Add beans, onion, carrots. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. Stir in seasonings, reduce heat to simmer. Cover, simmer until desired tenderness. Stir in lemon juice and serve. We serve this as the side along with the most simple and delicious Chickpea Curry. If you look through the reviews you'll see my mods for that recipe on the site. Oh, and one more picture, just because, I love my Garden Sweetie so much.This was how she was dressed all day today while we were working.

snippets of my saturday

Between all the pickling and preserving I've been doing lately I am surprised I haven't worn a rut right through the floor in the kitchen between the sink and the stove. I looked up from the load of dishes I was washing at 9 o'clock on Friday night and it dawned on me that I had spent the past three days in my kitchen. So, I fired up the oven, baked a batch of dark chocolate butterscotch brownies, did another load of dishes and vowed before I went to bed that I would not spend the next day in the kitchen.

Upon waking, Greg declared he was going to take the kids out for the day, the whole day. So, I quickly tidied up my "studio" (which is a very fancy word I use for my dining room) and spent the entire day in there instead with brief ventures into the kitchen for milk and brownies. It was a very productive and very relaxing day for which I feel immensely grateful for.  And, I have A Wee Bunny to show for it! She's not entirely ready for her grand debut yet but she will be very soon.

some vintage and some handmade

I've been carving out some time to add some goodies to the shop the past few days. The buttons have been selling like hot cakes! I just adore antique buttons and these are truly lovely. Remember my Wee Babies? I couldn't fit it into my mosaic but, I just added a listing so that now you can create a custom Wee Baby just the way you want for the little one you love!

You can find the buttons along with all the other vintage and handmade lovelies in the shop.

jorn's pictures

{I like his perspective}

{i love him}

For the record, I am not headless. Although sometimes I feel like I am losing my mind. Maybe he hears me say that too often and this is his artistic interpretation of that?  ;)

in our garden: bush beans

This year we planted Royal Burgundy and Gold Rush Bush Beans. I have to say that it's really nice not having to hunt for camouflaged beans and so far the yield and quality has been just wonderful. These are just as delicious to look at as they are to eat. If you are not familiar with High Mowing Organic Seeds make sure to put them on your seed catalog list this coming year.

So far we've just been cooking and eating our beans, my favorite way to prepare them is roasting them with our garlic and some of our sungold cherry tomatoes. I also plan on putting up a bunch of dilly beans too. What's your favorite way to use beans? I'm always looking for new ways to prepare or preserve our harvest.