Weekly Roundup 11/8/19
Hey guys! Do I have a roundup for you! It was a slower week but I'm slightly behind on some blog posts so I'm going to do a combo weekly roundup-yarn along-recipes-friday favorites today! It's going to be a long one so I hope you stick with me (longer than normal I should say!).
First, let's round up the week. Like I said above, it wasn't an especially busy one but I did get some things done, have some classes, etc. etc. I worked two days this week and we had dinner with friends. That was nice. I totally crashed on Tuesday though and basically didn't get out of my pajamas all day (other than to go vote. I didn't wear my pajamas to do that). Speaking of voting, my friend did not win the seat he was campaigning for. It was close and according to him and his research, it was a bigger voting turnout that in recent memory. So all that knocking on doors helped get people thinking about the election. Or so I would presume.
I haven't really been taking a lot of pictures these past few weeks. I'm not sure why. I almost feel stuck again. Like I can't move to the next level. I really need to send the photography instructor an email and set up some time to get together with him. I'll put it on my to-do list! I've also been giving the blog and social media some thought. I don't feel like I'm teaching as much I used to. Or sharing homesteading stuff as much as I used to. Am I just overthinking things? Do I need more homesteading related material here? I would appreciate any thoughts you have on this.
I'd also like to revive the coffee and pie chat that Daenel and I were hosting. We took some much needed time off but I'm ready to get back to it. Keep your fingers crossed that I can get it done for Monday! We're talking Apple-Cranberry pie. I'm so addicted to cranberries right now.
Speaking of. I posted the recipe for the cranberry bread over on Insta so I thought I would share it here too. It's a recipe from Martha Stewart and I pretty much follow it exactly.
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan
2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pan
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup whole milk
1 bag (12 ounces) cranberries
1 tablespoon turbinado sugar, for topping (optional)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees; butter and flour a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan (8-cup capacity), and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a medium bowl, combine butter, egg, and milk. Add wet mixture to dry mixture, and whisk to combine; fold in cranberries.
2. Pour batter into prepared pan; sprinkle top with turbinado sugar, if desired. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack; let bread cool 30 minutes. Invert onto rack, then immediately turn right side up to cool completely.
That's it! Easy peasy yes?!? While we're at it, let's do another recipe. I've been mentioning Butternut Squash soup that is a Whole 30 recipe. I've had some people ask me about it so I thought I would share it here, to live on into infinity! I, unfortunately, don't have a picture of it. I think I eat it too fast and then think about taking a picture. You can use your imagination though. It looks like squash soup with bacon crumbles and kale mixed in.
Butternut Squash Soup with Kale and Bacon
(from the Whole 30 book)
Ingredients:
3 tbsp. clarified butter, ghee, or coconut oil (I use clarified butter or olive oil)
1/2 cup diced onion
3 cups diced seeded peeled butternut squash (or 1 butternut squash)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
4 cups chicken broth
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
Directions:
1. In a large pot, melt the cooking fat over medium heat, swirling to coat the bottom of the pot. When the fat is hot, add the onion and cook, stirring until translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the squash, garlic, and ginger and stir until the garlic becomes aromatic, about 1 minute.
2. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil until the butternut squash is soft, about 10 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat.
3. In one or two batches, transfer the soup to a food processor or blender and blend on high speed until smooth in texture. Return the pureed soup to the pot.
4. Heat the soup of medium-high heat until it thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, 7 to 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Make it a meal: add two generous handfuls of chopped kale in the last 3 minutes of cooking. Sprinkled crumbled cooked bacon after spooning soup into bowl. You can also add fall flavors to the soup by adding nutmeg and/or cinnamon.
While we're talking about creating-cooking, baking-let's join in on Ginny's Yarn Along. Normally I would make this a separate post but since I have such a back log of posts that I need to get out over the next couple of weeks, I don't want to put out so many posts that you guys stop reading! So...we'll just talk about knitting and reading here. As you might be aware, I'm starting a homesteaders online book group so I've started reading The Beekeeper's Handbook. I took a beekeeping class recently and am in love! I want bees. I use a lot of beeswax in my products and I use a lot of honey so I think it's a natural next step for the homestead (right after we get the garden and chicken space fixed up). So I thought we would kick off the book group reading about bees. I'm also doing a giveaway over on Instagram if you're interested. I'm giving away a copy of the book along with some other goodies (seen below).
Even though I have multiple projects on the knitting needles right now, I felt the need to start a new one. I saw the sample Soul Warmer cowl below at Rhinebeck and instantly thought of all the mini skeins of yarn I have and how it would be fun to try to use them all to make this cowl. I don't think I have enough but I certainly have enough yarn to fill in when I run short. The beauty in this pattern is you just make each section as long or short as you'd like. I can't wait to see how it works out. And I've been thinking about whether I'm making Christmas gifts again this year, and if so perhaps I should get moving on it!
A quick run down of the yarn I'm using:
Madeline Tosh mini skeins (all except the light one at the very top of the picture next to the book and the pink ball of yarn)
The light mini skein next to the book and the pink ball of yarn is from my dear friend River at A Knitters Homestead. I'm very excited to use it!
The pink ball of yarn is from Toad Hollow
The gray yarn is from Sublime Yarns
I'm linking up with the other Yarn Alongers over on Ginny's blog. I try to visit all the other bloggers and find out what they are reading and working on. I've met some really great people that way (I'm looking at you Bekah and you Martha). I'm still amazed at how we make connections in this great big world--either online or in person! Anyway, check out all the fun posts by clicking the icon below.
A couple more things and then we'll change gears and hop into our Friday Favorites! I finished up the To Market class last Friday. I'm very inspired to make some changes to my business. Nothing major, but just some minor tweaks. I'll share the details with you once I have everything in place. But do be on the lookout for the class and events page to be updated on the regular, as well as the shop. I spent all day yesterday driving around Delaware County meeting local shop owners and talking to them about either purchasing some of my goods or how we can work together. I think I made a couple of good connections. I'll continue to do this over the next few weeks. It's fun getting out there, pushing myself out of my comfort zone, seeing some beautiful country, and meeting local shop owners. And I have an after school program today that I'm really excited about. We had our first snow over night but thankfully it wasn't much since I have to travel today to get to the library where I'm running the program. I love teaching and working with kids and we get to bake apple crisp. What's not to love? Okay. Now for Friday Favorites!
I haven't had a chance to dig on much this week but here are a few things that popped up.
1. How fun is this? It would take my pasta making to a whole new level!
2. In an effort to be more environmentally conscious, I just ordered these for my classes. I feel good about them and they're the perfect size!
3. If you're local and looking for a good place to visit, I highly recommend the Roxbury General Store. It's so beautifully curated and it is full of local products.
4. Okay. I have a weird love of good grocery stores. And I detest bad grocery stores. So I found this grocery store in the middle of the Catskills. It was so nice! I wish it were just a little closer to me but it will be on my radar from now on.
5. I joined Pure Catskills! I'm really excited about the opportunities it can provide. I might need to tweak my profile a little though. I don't see it on there yet but I'll let you know when I do!
I’m linking up with the co-hostesses of Friday Favorites. Click the links below to see what they’ve been up to this past week!
A Little Bit of Everything / Momfessionals / Grace and Love
Thanks for hanging in there guys! I'm hoping that once I get through all my backlog of posts, my posts won't be nearly as long. Maybe they will. I always feel like I have SO much to tell you all. How was your week? Tell me all about it and tell me what you've been digging this week. I want to know!