Farm Lunch

We began prepping at Lily's on Friday

Amber scooped and roasted pumpkins for pudding

Chickens were braised

Buns were made for the sandwiches

Not bad for a celiac, huh?

20 lbs of veggies were prepped for 

a wonderful hearty autumn soup

 

The compost was filled

And to the farm we went on Sunday morning

A chilly rainy day made a cozy time in the green house

Handmade Chai and locally brewed Beer

warmed our spirits

Renee made the whipped cream with much enthusiasm

and everyone ate to their hearts content

well, almost everyone...

Colleen made two infusions,

cranberry maple and lemon balm with rose petals

Everett sang

Ashley decorated

And Farmer Bob and Charlie approved

Happy Monday!

Kyra

Parsley Pesto

It feels really good to be back in the kitchen again

And in my garden,

 look at this hall of parsley!

and the little snail that came with it

~

Time to make some parsley pesto to put into the freezer

A real gem for the darker months ahead

 I keep a bowl of it in the fridge and add it to everything

for an instant brightness of flavor

I keep it pretty simple, garlic, pine nuts if you have them -

no big deal if you don't, leave them out-

salt, pepper and olive oil

no cheese

I fill the food processor with cleaned and stemmed parsley

Mine will fit 4 packed cups at a time

 Add 2 tsp kosher salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper, a sprinkle of nuts if using

Process until chopped fine, then with the machine running

I add extra virgin olive oil in a steady stream until I have

a nice paste consistency

Take a final taste for salt and pepper,

divide it into small bowls to freeze, leaving some out

to use immediately in anything - like scrambled eggs - yummy

Enjoy!

By the way, this Sunday I will be at Old Ackley Farm in Blue Hill, ME

serving an organic lunch that I will prepare using all the goodies from the farm

 The menu will look something like this:

Farmer's Hearty Vegetable Soup

Cider Braised Pulled Chicken Sandwich

on a homemade bun with caramelized onions, winter squash puree and spicy relish

Cabbage and Carrot Slaw with fresh dill

Sliced end of the season Heirloom Tomatoes

with olive oil and sea salt

Pumpkin Pudding with Cinnamon Whipped Cream

An Herbal Tea of Colleen's choice

Maybe we'll see you there  

Call the farm to reserve tickets 374-5919

More soon,

Kyra

Creative Time

The theme at Gwen Marston's quilt retreat this year

was the Medallion quilt

as Gwen shared her work, wisdom and guidance with us 

covering everything from traditional

to contemporary, her words made a serious impression on me.

Quite simply she said, "you are all able to do your own work"

meaning no patterns, no templates, able to create our own designs

color inside or outside the lines

reminding us that precision does not mean art

So we set to it for 4 solid days

some hand sewing, 

some machine piecing

lots of invaluable lessons from Gwen

 and ended up with individual work that really ran the whole track

from whimsy

to rich

to incredible

and fun

experimental

and unique

With friendships forged, spirits high

and the renewed belief that our own creative work

is just as important as vacuuming the house and doing the laundry

or whatever else we let get in the way

 I find myself home

 and determined

 to carve out time each week

to continue my love affair with quilting and textiles

It is up to me to give myself this space,

with no expectations, 

just the gift of being able to do my own work

and continue seeing what appears

Kyra

Who knew?

For three years now, Kathleen and I travel to Elk Rapids Michigan

for a week long quilt retreat with Gwen Marston 

This year, we left a few days early to explore a little more of the 

Upper Peninsula, or UP as the locals refer to it

With no reservations, little expectation and a tip from fellow quilter and native Kathy Jones

we headed for Leelanau County. We stumbled upon a sort of autumn heaven

We ate a truly spectacular dinner at the inn

House made charcuterie, braised short ribs,

sparkling wine from a local winery

Yes, I said winery - who knew?

Over 30 of them 

With trellised hillsides overlooking the lake

and some pretty decent wine!  It seems that this area is on the

45th parallel, shared with France, and wine grapes love

soil that grows cherries

Well, this is the cherry capital of the world - so it goes

Unbeknownst to us, the last winery we visited ~Ciccone~

is owned by Madonna's father - whom we met -

and he makes some killer Italian wines

Gourds for flowers in window boxes

great shops, local artisanal food, farms, fisherman

a huge body of water

old houses, quiet lanes

What a wonderful wonderful surprise

Now we are in Elk Rapids, which is fabulous on its own

with one last day of goofing around before

being blessed with Gwen's energy and settling down to sew

Lunch at Lulu's in Bellaire

A salad with local honey crisp apples and haricot vert

a view from our room -

Let the games continue

Enjoy!