Something

I met with a friend yesterday and she said the best thing.

We were talking about making changes

to our diet, our schedules, our intentions...

and she said, "you know, I've always been an

ALL or NOTHING kind of person.

  All in or not doing it at all.

For my new year's resolution last year I decided to

make a commitment instead to just do SOMETHING.

It doesn't matter how big or how small, just something, everyday,

to make the changes I want in my life."

She said it has been working so well that she 

decided to keep it her resolution this year as well

and realizes that life is a moment by moment process.

Well, I'm adopting this Something rule.

And I feel lighter already.

Enjoy your Monday

Kyra

Ful- "filling"

Thursday night was Soft Taco Night at Lily's

My first; Open to the public, Come warm your soul

with food, wine and laughter event in almost a year.

And it felt SO good to have the house filled with folks and

 wonderful wintertime community spirit

The Chicken, Apple and Goat Cheese filling went fast,

but the most requested recipe was for a vegetarian walnut filling 

I made to satisfy my vegan crowd

WALNUT TACO FILLING

4 cups raw or lightly toasted walnuts

 (your choice, mine were lightly toasted)

1 tsp ancho chili powder

1 T cumin

3 T organic tamari

4 T olive oil

Put all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor

and pulse until well mixed and nuts resemble

ground beef. 

 Don't over process or you will quickly have seasoned nut butter.

Serve with your other favorite taco fillings

Have a good weekend

Enjoy!

Kyra

Quilting and Flat Bread Pizza

While waiting for everyone to arrive on Saturday for the quilt

project day I roasted some butternut squash for

the flat brad pizzas I planned to make for lunch

I had made the flat bread (July blog post)

and bean soup the day before so it was easy going at service time

I topped the pizza with brown butter with rosemary, roasted squash,

toasted walnuts and Yellow Birch Farm goat cheese, yum!

Just put your butter in a skillet to melt and leave until it

 starts to look golden, throw a pinch of dried or fresh rosemary

in at the end and let it sit for a few minutes to release its oils

Then I spooned the butter on each bread, distributed the

roasted squash, walnuts and cheese and baked them in

a 375 degree oven until warm all the way through.

                                 Here's a few of the different projects people were working on;

Michelle finished up a natural tie dye project she had

done with the kids at Kamp Kooky

Debbie started hand quilting on her project from Tonye Belinda's class

Anne learned how to machine quilt on her

sky and sunshine piece

Holly revisited her broken dishes

Even I had a chance to sew!

and worked on putting blocks together for a baby quilt

that we all contributed to.

So much fun, a wonderful day

and I am very grateful to have shared such

creative space with a group of lovely people

Happy Monday

Kyra

Winter Skin

We are hard in it here, a week of single digits and below zero

at night.

I pulled out this soap I bought at Brambles in Belfast this fall,

Pain D'Alep 35%, it boasts Turkish olive oil and

35% Laurel oil to keep your skin soft in the harshest conditions.

Hey, its working! 

This cocoon of cold has eluded us for two years.

It is sobering to have it here and I'm grateful for it.

Making me pay attention somehow and

reminding me how grateful I am for my inner surroundings.

Have a good weekend.

Stay warm, and cozy.

I'll be sewing tomorrow with 10 others at

Lily's for the Quilt Project Day Workshop

Enjoy!

Kyra

Roasted Cauliflower ala Bon Appetite!

I roast cauliflower all the time, in fact I think I've probably

given you a recipe for it already

But this idea out of Bon Appetite! sounded scrumptious

Melted parmesan cheese, roasted sweet red onions

a bit of thyme, and then I made a dipping sauce

by stirring basil pesto into my homemade cashew cream

We ate the entire thing, fireside, right off the pan

with salad on the side

A perfect winter midweek meal

ROASTED CAULIFLOWER WITH

RED ONION AND PARMESAN CHEESE

1 large head of cauliflower, core removed and sliced 

into 1/2 inch slices

1 red onion, peel and leave root end in tact to hold layers together

cut into small wedges

( I used the last of my red cippolini onions from Carding Brook Farm)

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/2 - 3/4 tsp dried thyme

(recipe called for 4 sprigs of fresh thyme, great if you have it)

Kosher salt

Dash or two of red pepper flakes, more if you like

Grapeseed oil to coat

Spread cauliflower slices and onions onto baking tray

into single layer

Sprinkle with thyme, salt and pepper

Drizzle with enough grapeseed oil to lightly coat

Toss to combine 

Roast in a preheated 450 degree oven,

tossing veggies occasionally for even browning

until golden, tender and almost perfect

approx. 20 minutes

At this point sprinkle the cheese all over everything

and continue to roast until deep golden brown and cheese is melted

about 5-8 minutes longer

CASHEW CREAM SAUCE WITH PESTO

1 cup raw cashews soaked in water to cover for at least 4 hours or overnight

1/4-1/2 cup water

A few good spoonfuls of basil pesto

Sea salt and pepper to taste

Drain and rinse the cashews

puree with fresh water until smooth and creamy

stir in pesto, salt and pepper by hand

adjust to taste

Dip the roasted cauliflower in the cream sauce with abandon and

eat the onions like candy.

Enjoy!

Kyra

Time Well Spent

It was early June of last year that I hung the beginnings of this

quilt on my design wall as inspiration for a class I was teaching in November.

  The class successfully came and went as I reported

here, but I never had time to actually put the quilt together.

Well, I spent 5 solid days in my sewing room last week and had SO MUCH FUN

finally doing it.  I just literally PLAYED with texture, color and images

and let things happen.  

As time went on I realized that what was inspiring me was a

memory of a bag of old vintage stamps my friend had bought

at an antique store years ago

I used linen, flannel, voile, dresses, shirts, antique cotton, new cotton,

old embroidered napkins, corduroy, eyelet, solids, prints, scraps, favorite pieces

I played with piecing techniques and broke all the rules

I had so much fun that I started a baby quilt with the

starting squares I had left over

I built it around this fun owl fabric that I stole from something else

and willed myself to stay in a very soft neutral pallet

Aww, Isn't it sweet?

My first piece of work for the Blue Hill Fine Craft Fair this summer.

So,

 since I had so much fun with this and I love company

I am planning a Spring Quilting Weekend

April 19th -21st at Lily's House

We'll start with a big pile of scraps that everyone

contributes to, and spend the weekend

playing,

 and creating

 a one of a kind quilt,

 built on simple techniques and lots of joyful inspiration.

If this sounds fun to you, and the dates work

let me know.

I'll sort out the details and let you know more soon.

Enjoy your day!

Kyra

Friends

Look at this cool sweater Kathleen knit!

Actually, Kathleen knit the front and back and her BFF Kathy

knit the sleeves on for her, retro fitting them as she went.

Now THAT is a team .

In our world of wants and needs

I think at the top of the list should be a friend

who makes you laugh.

Even better if she/he makes you laugh at yourself.

If you have one,

 call them and say thank you.

Enjoy your Weekend
GO PATS!

Kyra