First Ever Antique Festival on Deer Isle

I'd like to announce plans for an

Antique and Fine Craft Festival

at Edgewood Farm on Deer Isle

Sunday, July 22, 2012 from 10am-4pm with

early bird tickets available at 8am

I have some awesome dealers and vendors signed up already

space is $50.00 and the venue has huge potential for 

a truly wonderful show.

Besides antiques and handmaids, we have

 live music scheduled, foodies, wine tasting, farmers and

are looking for more to join us.

If you or anyone else you may know would like some 

more info or to register,  you can contact me at

207-367-5936 or here, or my email kyra64@juno.com

Thanks everyone!  Enjoy your day

Kyra

blackberry puree

Have you noticed that you haven't been eating all those luscious wild

blackberries that you picked in the end of summer? 

 I've noticed.

Bags of the delicious things that I fought brambles and aggressive cats

 for are just sitting in my freezer. 

 It's all those seeds! 

 My morning smoothies with them

had at least a thousand seeds in the last swallow - not good.

So, I decided to make a wonderful blackberry puree.

Now I am using them in everything!  In my smoothies, added to sparkling water for a 

"soda", as a syrup on greek yogurt, as the base for sauce for sautéed chicken breasts 

the list goes on.

I do this with raspberries too and it freezes well.

Place the berries in a heavy bottom sauté pan with

a bit of a sweetener if very tart ( used 1/4 cup coconut crystals to 8 cups blackberries)

a few T of water ( I added 4) and the juice of 1/2 a lemon

Heat this on medium high heat just until it begins to boil.

Immediately remove from heat and place in a food processor

Process until pureed

Pour puree into a tight mesh strainer over a bowl and push the

puree through the strainer, leaving the seeds behind

Deep dark deliciousness with no seeds!!

Let it cool and store in fridge or freeze in small batches for

easy access.

Enjoy!

Kyra

Today, I believe

I've woken up this morning ready to let go of the

"what ifs?" and the doubts.  

At the beginning of each year my oldest and dearest friend

asks me to pick a word, one word, to embrace throughout the

year and to give me focus.  My word this year is

BELIEVE.  So, what am I waiting for?

It is just that simple.  Time to let go of all the old beliefs that

no longer suit me and embrace the here and now.

I'm forgiving myself for the fears and moving on

"Following your dreams adds a great peaceful quality to life"
This quote came in my morning affirmation, it also said, "take the
risk - live your dreams."

Today, I believe.

Have a wonderful weekend

Kyra

I'm dreaming of an herb garden

Awakening energy can be felt everywhere here.  

The movement of light and shadow, big puddles of bubbling mud,

chubby robins, even the smell of skunk, has me in

serious anticipation of what is to come.

It is so unbelievable to me that this:

Will soon look like this :

Last year my front lawn was such a success in early summer.

 White peonies, intertwined with pink roses and

a bed of plump strawberries beneath.  Unfortunately this success was
soon followed by a serious herb garden failure.
This year will be different! You have to believe or why would any of us
put so much work into the gardens we tend every year?

I have my seeds sorted from last year, and have ordered what else I need.

Renee is going to try to grow sweet potatoes behind her new shop.

That will be an interesting process I'm sure, from beginning to end.

My supply of storable foods gathered thru the Fall

from my favorite farms is really beginning to dwindle. 

Last night I used up my last box of potatoes from Carding Brook Farm.

I sliced them thinly and sautéed them in olive oil until tender and starting to brown.

Then I threw in a crushed clove of Annabel's garlic and some dried rosemary and

continued cooking them until they were deep golden brown and crisp.

The rosemary and garlic imparted this wonderful earthy, almost vanilla essence

to the potatoes that I had never experienced. 

All I had were frozen peas for a green vegetable, so I sautéed some

garden shallots in butter and sea salt and allowed the peas to warm slowly

in this delicate cloak of flavor.

Adding seared pork chops from a pig raised by Old

Ackley Farm, we sat down to a wonderful simple dinner.

I am so grateful and inspired by the local foods available to us here. 

And not a GMO in site.

Enjoy your day...dreaming

Kyra

Blueberry Scones and other tidbits

Time whipped me around yesterday like I was hanging onto its tail.

I made a soup from the new issue of Martha Stewart Living.  It has red lentils and 

dried cherries in it.  Pretty good.  But, more importantly I think 

I have finally (after 14 years of trying) perfected a gluten free

scone recipe that I am anxious to share with you.  I made them 

with blueberries,

 but I think it will adapt to any additions,

 or none and you can use it as a biscuit or

the base for strawberry shortcake.  Yum!

This kitchen job is progressing nicely.  Freshwater Stone

comes with the granite on Friday, I'll keep you in the loop.

It is so exciting to see it coming together, but it seems to take 

so long!  It is way faster to make and eat a sandwich :-)

I'll have a different one to show you next week.

I am loving my new speaker system from harmon/kardon.

A base woofer sits under the table and these cool speakers fit in with

everything on top.  I can plug my iPod or computer or whatnot in and the sound is

terrific.  I must admit I am a bit smitten with some of our modern technology now that

I have the time to explore it a bit.

And I found this decent chef's knife at TJ Maxx.

My favorite brand, Wusthof, light weight, sharp edge and

it was only $16.99.  I bought two.

 Here is the recipe:

Enjoy!

Kyra

 GLUTEN FREE BLUEBERRY SCONES

2 cups brown rice flour

1/3 cup potato starch

1/4 cup coconut sugar crystals

 (or the sweetener of your choice)

1 T baking powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

4 T unsalted butter, cut into pieces

 ( you can use coconut oil instead)

1 1/3 cups coconut milk

1 T pure vanilla extract

1 cup Maine blueberries, fresh or frozen

( Feel free to substitute anything in these. 

 I think next time I will try ginger and shaved unsweetened chocolate)

 Whisk your dry ingredients together in a bowl and

cut in butter with a pastry blender or your fingers until

peas size crumbs form

Toss in your blueberries.  Measure your coconut milk (I use Native Forest brand and it is super creamy, I pour it from the can and whisk it until it's smooth before I measure it) and add your vanilla to it.

 Pour your "cream"mixture into your dry ingredients and gently toss with a rubber spatula

until it is moist and starts to hold together

 Turn dough onto your counter and gently knead it together to form a disk about 1 1/2 inches thick

 Using a biscuit cutter, cut out rounds and place on a baking sheet

Bake in a 400 degree oven until puffed, cracked on top and a tooth pick

comes out with just a few crumbs on it when poked in the center, about

15 minutes.  I turn them once in the oven while baking.

Remove from tray, cool and eat!  

These freeze well too, but you will have better results if you warm them before eating

them after they have been frozen.

Cut up sweaters

I have a secret to tell you.  

I often cut open my pull over sweaters.

Maybe it's the gift of my full figure, but I just feel better in cardigans.

Shopping at Marden's and TJ Maxx often affords me the luxury of

a cashmere or fine wool sweater, but beggars can't be choosers, more often than not

they are crew necks.  So I started to cut them up the front to make them cardigans.

Sometimes I put ribbon on them, but often I just let them roll into an edge of their own.

Except this morning while doing this, I went right thru the back with the scissors!

Fear not, now I can patch it and make it even more uniquely my own.

Here is the mistake slit, and some vintage fabrics for audition

I picked a bold floral graphic, which seemed to really blend 

with the burnt orange of the sweater.  Once I cut the patch to the size

I wanted, I pressed a quarter inch fold all the way around.

 Placed, I stitch it all the way around, using a walking foot,  

within the pressed fold

Once patched, I flipped the sweater over and whip stitched the actual

slit so it wouldn't spread.

Pretty good,

but just so it seemed a bit balanced I decided to put another

patch on the front.

I don't know, maybe I'm crazy, but it is so fun to not follow

all the rules.

Have a great Monday!

Kyra

Simple inspiration

I have been feeling a bit out of sorts of late. 

 Trying to understand my worth without the long hour days of producing. 

 Food, salaries, conversation, atmosphere, stress.  My purpose every day was very clear cut. 

Now I find myself out to sea with just me and my heart as a compass. 

 So easy to get scared and revert to what is familiar. 

 But two things have come into my path this morning that I found so inspiring

 that I'm thru for now with that dreadful melancholy self absorption 

and into seed catalogs and my sewing room! 

I was checking out the blog the-grackle.blogspot.com and it lead me to this wonderful video of Ruth Stout.  Oh my gosh, she changed my hold attitude with her wonderful philosophies on life and gardening!

And then an email came with pictures of these beautiful

 quilt blocks made by Debby Chappell after our La La Log Cabin quilt workshop.  

Thank you.  May I always be open to receiving simple inspirations.

And thanks for listening.

Enjoy your Sunday

Kyra

A Rainy Friday

About a week before the quilt workshop in January

 I cut some forsythia branches to force into bloom.  

Naively I thought they would only take a week to open.  

Four weeks later, I stopped looking at them, thinking it was never going to happen.

 Walking into the dining room at Lily's on this rainy February morning, 

I found the whole room filled with bright yellow sunshine! 

 It's like harvesting springtime. 

 Just last week I went to my first "Seamarket" which happens every

Friday at 11:00 am in the Seamark building in Deer Isle.  While there today

Melissa  mentioned that she had read in my blog that February was my favorite month.

Being a business woman herself she appreciated my sentiment as we all seem to

dream of February in the midst of August madness.

The warmth of community, the beauty of handmade 

and the nourishment of kindness radiated within those rooms today.

I am so grateful for the chance to share in it.

Tinder Hearth Bread

Yellow Birch Farm

Fortenberry Farm

a satisfied customer

Turner Farm goat cheese

44 North Coffee

Enjoy  your weekend everyone!
Kyra

Pondering

I am starting to understand why our society doesn't support our having a lot of time 

to ourselves.   So far, I have discovered that on most days I would really rather

stay in my pajamas and I am loving not wearing shoes.  

I find myself pondering how to incorporate this knowledge into

my societal re-entry 

Today was an interior design day.  In fact I even met a client at Lily's for the first

time to go over a myriad of details about a major renovation that Renee and her team

are working on.

Two other big projects are starting to really come together.  It is SO exciting to see

things falling into place.  Here is the kitchen cabinetry going in one space

It's weird, the stress of the cafe is immediate and ever present while I am working.  But at the end of the day you either presented well or you didn't and usually you get the chance

to do it all over tomorrow.

With design work the planning stages are somewhat relaxed, but once it is 

done, there is no doing over ( at least not without huge expense) and someone is going to live with my

decisions for a long time.  

As in anything we create together, you are only as good as

 those working with you and I am so grateful for the 

gift of such great spirits in both arenas. 

  

By the end of today this cabinetry will be in place and they come to template for

granite counters tomorrow. 

I'll keep you posted.

Enjoy your day!

Kyra

An impromptu gathering

Friends appeared with this beautiful bottle of bubbly Rose, selected especially

 for us by Max at the Blue Hill Wine Shop.

I had some plain goat cheese in the fridge from my neighbor Donna's sweet goats.

Put in the food processor with some preserved lemon, scallions, parsley pesto, sea salt

and cracked black pepper and...

Voila! creamy spread for some crackers and carrots.

A trick for delicious olives, heat a few tablespoons of olive oil

in a small skillet, add olives and sprinkle with Z'atar, a wonderful spice blend

 made with sorghum and sesame seeds (I get mine from Zamouri Spices), toss over medium heat until olives are warmed and serve 

I am so grateful for my friends.

Enjoy!

Kyra