Recipes for a woodstacking party.

How to host a wood stacking party.

First, invite friends who will actually show up and actually stack wood. yay!

hehehe

Second - you find some children to help. Stacking wood is so much fun! What a great game!

ok, maybe you pay them a few dollars at the end. Only so they'll want to help you next year!

Beer helps.

Oh, it also helps to stay inside and cook food and drink wine - popping out only once in a while to take pictures. It makes wood stacking day much easier on you.

Forget to take pictures of all the food you made, so you have no proof that you actually did anything. Oops.

Menu

Pulled Pork

4 lb pork shoulder roast

BBQ Spice Rub

Jar of homemade BBQ sauce

The night before, rub pork shoulder with BBQ spice rub cover and put in fridge.

The next morning, put pork shoulder in crock pot with just enough water to cover the bottom. 

Cook on low 8 hours. Shred pork apart using two forks

Add pint jar of homemade bbq sauce. Cook on low for another hour (or longer if need be, just watch to make sure it doesn't dry out).

BBQ Spice Rub

(store remaining rub in container for later use)

from  Grassfed Gourmet

1/2 cup chili powder

3 tbs freshly ground black pepper 

4 tbs sugar

3 tbs coarse salt

2 tbs paprika

Chili

1lb ground beef

1lb ground hot italian sausage

1 jar homemade salsa (recipe fresh salsa from Ball Blue Book)

28oz can crushed tomatoes

2 Tbs chili seasoning

1 tsp cumin

diced onion

diced garlic

oil

Saute onion and garlic in oil. Add sausage and beef and cook till browned. Put in crockpot, add remaining ingredients. Stir, cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours. I pulled the lid off for the last hour of cooking. 

Cornbread

Recipe to follow - by tonight!

Coleslaw (courtesy of Barefoot Goddess)

Roasted Fall Veggies

use any in season veggies. We used:

acorn squash

butternut squash

onions

carrots

peppers

coat with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast at 425 for about 30 minutes, or until caramelized.

Hot Buttered Rum

This was very, very good - but very sweet! Next time I'd halve the sugar. And oh yes, there will be a next time! 

It was the perfect sipping drink for the bonfire at the end of the day!

Recipe source

2 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 pinch salt

2 quarts water

3 cinnamon sticks (I think 2 would be fine)

6 whole cloves

2 cups rum

whipped cream and nutmeg if desired 

Combine the brown sugar, butter, salt and hot water in 5 quart slow cooker. Add cinnamon sticks and cloves. Cover and cook on Low for 5 hours. Stir in rum. 

Ladle from the slow cooker into mugs, and top with whipped cream and a dusting of nutmeg. 

** The butter sort of oils on top a little bit - I found that if the cooker was on high, it helped to lessen that. I'm sure whipped cream would cover it too!

Thank you so very much to everyone who came out and helped!

the story of the apples.

The last 6 weeks have been so, so busy. It's always busy for us this time of year - with birthday season and back to school and my overtime. This year we added in Evans 5 day hospital stay and the wedding of some dear friends.

I tried to slow down once it was over. I really felt like I was doing nothing. I mean, I kind of was. You know, somewhere over the last 7 years - I've become a different person. I used to have no problems with being lazy. With letting the dishes wait, or with stopping everything to read a book. Somehow, sometime over the last several years that all changed and I'm always on the go. I'm often uneasy just sitting, or only doing one thing at a time.

So after doing nothing for a few days, I decided it was time to get stuff done, after all there was a lot to be done! Isn't there always so much to be done?!

We had to go apple picking. It had to happen that day, because I needed the next two days to process them (since it was our first weekend with nothing planned!) We went to our favorite orchard from last year, less than a mile from our house

their U-pick was closed this year! The mothers day snow had reduced their crop. Sure, I could buy a bag in the store, but we needed to pick them. That's how this was supposed to go.


Luckily, we live within 5 miles of at least 4 orchards. That's pretty much what our town has going for it. Apples. So we head on up to the big, fancy commerical one up the road. The Husband and I had actually been to that one earlier in the day taste testing at their distillery and winery.

We pull in, see the apples are 20 cents more per pound than our favorite place. Oh well, their trees are loaded with apples. This orchard is so large that the late snow didn't hurt them too badly.

Except, we have an hour and there is a line of about 30 kids that just got off a bus. We'll spend way too much time in line.

So, forget it, I say. We'll just go another day. Hmph. Only as we're driving back down the hill I get angry. And all anxious-y. But! But! We have to go today! I neeeeeed those apples today, because that's what I have planned for this weekend! I'm supposed to be canning apples! .

Apparently whenever it was over the last few years that I stopped being able to be lazy, I also became a little bit of a control freak.

So we stop at one of the orchards on the way back. It's a tiny orchard, on the side of the hill. They have two kinds of apples and most of those apples are not on the trees, I'm slipping on them on the ground. Still. We truck on. And manage to pick two bags of beautiful apples.

And then the next day it was 90 degrees. Ok, it makes no sense to can, since the day after will be in the 60's. But then, I didn't can the next day either. And then I was back at work.

And those apples sat, and sat, and sat for a week. The truth is, after all that, I couldn't stand the thought of canning those darn apples. I was still feeling lazy. Which of course worried me at first too. I can't be lazy forever. How long will I be unmotivated - just doing the minimum - dinner, laundry, work?! My house will fall apart! My apples will rot! My children will be traumatized if they buy lunch one more day!

And still, those apples sat. And they didn't rot. They sat waiting very patiently, for one whole week. They waited until I woke up on a very rainy, cold day. The kind of day that would have been perfect to go back to bed after the kids got on the bus. The kind of  day that would have been perfect to snuggle in bed all day and nap and catch up on last season of Dexter. Which is what I had planned to do, since I was convincing myself to just embrace the lazy.

But then I woke up wide awake, and all I wanted to do was can those apples! It was still a lazy, wonderful day. I canned all morning in my pajamas. Then I showered and got back into my pajamas. We pulled out leftovers for dinner, played board games for most of the evening. It was perfection.

I spent the weekend in a different sort of lazy. Not the unproductive lazy of the previous week, but the sort of slow, easy, enjoyable sort of lazy.

I canned. I cleaned. We hosted a wood-stacking party, and I cooked my butt off. But I didn't feel overwhelmed. I wasn't going crazy with everything that had to be done, or should be done or what wasn't done. I did what I could, and moved on with the day.

Those apples showed me that sometimes it's ok to wait. Clearly, my body and my mind were not done resting. Because those apples could wait - I could too. I could take the time to let go, and recharge. My days can not consist of just cooking and cleaning and family chores - especially if those things are dragging me down. Most of the time I really, honestly do enjoy doing those things- but if I've stopped enjoying them, then maybe it's time to stop for just a little while. Because my house didn't fall apart. My children are doing just fine.

And those apples didn't rot.

:this moment:

Inspired by SouleMama:


A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

pumpkin pie spice coffee

Dunkin Donuts pumpkin pie spice coffee is one of my guilty pleasures. It's been cool and windy and very fall here lately, so I indulged in one the other day.

The carb and sugar counts are pretty high though, and I wanted to be able to make a version at home. After I was unable to find a copycat recipe online, I gave it a shot making one up this morning.

I mixed 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1/2 cup local whole milk and whisked over med-high heat till hot and frothy. Frothy is a fun word, isn't it? Then I added 2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice and 2 teaspoons xylitol. added coffee and two cinnamon sticks.

 there are cinnamon sticks, they just sunk down to the bottom and weren't cooperating for the picture!

I fully expected pumpkin pie deliciousness.

What I got was coffee and cream with a bit of a spicy bite. No pumpkin. No autumn delicious goodness.

Wah!


So I added another tsp of xylitol and another teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice. Nothing.

Shoot. Soooooo, as I sit here sipping my pretty unsatisfying drink I'm wondering what went wrong? Maybe because my pie spice is a year old?


Doing some quick searches on good ol' google, I found this recipe:

pumpkin spice latte

it calls for adding actually pumpkin, genius!

I'm going to make it tomorrow, I think. I'll make a few changes -and yes, I'll use canned pumpkin, even though I could use actual pumpkin because this week is too busy as is. But if it's a success, I'll definitely try real pumpkin next time. I already can't wait!

 is 3 pictures of one mediocre cup of coffee excessive? Nah, not when there's a kitty about!

Do you have a favorite fall drink?

All Hallows Eve - Weekend Scenes

What a busy, exhausting, fabulous weekend!

 

 

 

 

Hope your weekend was a good one!

Outdoor Dining

I've been on the lookout for an old real wood table for the backyard since we moved in August - I wasn't having much luck though. Originally I wanted a patio set - but the prices are pretty outrageous, and there wasn't really anything I loved.

Not long ago I began keeping an inspiration file.

One afternoon, a few weeks ago, the husband and I were wandering through the restore looking for odds and ends for projects for the house. We were hoping for some beams or boards to start  building the back deck. We didn't find much for that, but we they did have a huge collection of wonderful old doors - and among those doors I found this:

I actually hugged it. In the store, put my arms around it and hugged it. I love it. AND it was only 10 bucks! So, we brought it home, I varnished the top - Kev built legs and now we have an outdoor table - yay!

And this morning - yes - that's snow. Hmph.

The plan is for next summer to have a deck where the pebbles are. I'm still working on the seating, eventually we'll have a nice mix of unmatched chairs too.


Because we found the wood for the legs at the restore too and the paint I already had, the total table cost less than 15 dollars - and each chair so far was less than 3 dollars. So way less and way more personal than a patio set.

We still have a lot of work we want to do in the backyard but this was one thing I was anxious to get done and I'm beyond pleased with the way it came out.

Now, if we actually had a day without rain (or snow!!) maybe I could use the table . . .

Bright as yellow, warm as yellow

Grey. Grey, grey, grey.

That's all I've seen the past few weeks.

I love autumn. Adore it. It's by far my favorite season. And we have wonderful, beautiful vibrant autumns - for about two weeks every year.

I live in an area where we have winter for about 9 months -  spring for 2 weeks, summer for 2.5 months and fall for 2 weeks. I'm only slightly kidding.

The rain is stealing my little slice of autumn. It has been grey and dreary and rainy for almost 3 weeks. We've had little splashes of sunshine here and there, but not nearly enough to satisfy my longing for a crisp, bright, colorful fall day.

So, last week, needing desperately to bring some sunshine into my life - I pulled everything out of our pantry and painted the shelves yellow. It's not quite as deep or bright of a yellow as I pictured - but it helps. It's brighter. It makes me smile. It gives me a little sunshine on grey days.

I'm no photographer, so the pictures don't really capture it well. I think eventually I'll paint the walls a creamy white instead of the beige. But, one thing at a time :D

 

Sometimes you just need to find - or create - joy in the little every day things.




On a side note - how do you spell grey? I guess grey is a colour, while gray is a color (!) but grey just looks right to me.

Autumn Curtains

I've been trying to get back into doing little craft projects here and there - I've been seriously slacking.


I told you about tumblr - where I can save and track all the little inspirations I come across. And Soulemama continues to be a source of inspiration for creating a handmade home.

Last week I took about an hour to myself and whipped up these curtains quick. The embroidery around the leaves I've been working on in stolen moments here and there, so that's not quite completed and I would like a second panel for the 2 windows. But it didn't take much time at all to add a little personality and warmth. I'm already thinking of Christmas valances :)

A couple of years ago a piece of red something ended up in a batch of linen I was washing. It stained the fabric and I tried to get it out - but there were still some swirls of pink. I put the fabric away and figured I could use it for a cutter project down the road. It's been probably 3 years since then and that's what I pulled out for these curtains. The coloring is barely noticeable on the window, like it would be up close. It took about 45 minutes to cut and sew the fabric into curtains. Easy enough!

Then I just cut out a couple of leaves out of felt - creating an embroidery swirly trail - fused the leaves on and now am embroidering around that. In all, I've spent maybe 2.5 hours on them - not bad! It's been great with the embroidery because I can "steal" a couple minutes here and there to work on it.

I'm still working on knitting, and now crocheting, but without a ton of luck so far (still!) I think I'm going to have to sit down with my mother in law for a couple hours one of these days.


How are you incorporating the season into your home?

We could never have loved the earth so well if we had had no childhood in it. ~George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss, 1860

Weekend Review - Times 2!

My weekends are ending short again, since I'm back on the academic schedule and working 12 hour Sundays. So we squeeze as much as we can into Friday afternoons and Saturdays.

Friday we went apple picking at a sweet little orchard (Deer Run, if you're local) about a mile from our new house.



We picked 2 bushels of apples, and I'm guessing next week I'll go get one more. It was SO different from the orchards near our old home - you really had to scavenge the trees for the good ones there - here the branches were just loaded with perfect apples.





As usual, I hit the market Saturday morning. I think I need to start bringing my cart with me - I seem to be filling up with more heavy things now!

Colin's soccer season is winding down - he has three games left. He's still on the team from our old district - next year we'll move him to this district.



The kids left with my father after the game to go to a fall festival near his house and spend some time with grandma and grandpa. I love that they're so close to all their grandparents.

The afternoon was spent at our house - Kevins parents came over. I am so, so blessed to have such amazing in laws.

My mother in law and I spent the afternoon inside, drinking wine, chatting, canning applesauce and making chicken and dumplings for dinner.




The guys spent the afternoon outside with tools and wood building our new compost area.


It was a lovely afternoon - each of the older parents passing down their knowledge to us, I wish I could have captured the feel of the afternoon in a single hallmark snapshot! :)

After they left I decided I had time for a little more canning - so filled up 6 quart jars with apple pie filling. I apparently filled them too high because 4 of the bottoms broke off in the canner. Another one was bursting at the seal when it came out - so that was poured out and became apple crisp. I was slightly upset - but this is my learning and experimenting year with canning. I have more jars. I have lots more apples. And now I know better.

It was in the 80's last week - but the last couple of days have brought the autumn winds in with them. I'm loving it. Cider. Using the woodstove. Sweaters. Yay!

I'm trying my hand at knitting yet again. I think maybe next week I'll get some crochet tools and see if I have any luck with that. One of these days I'll get it!



And if you're interested:

I just love the vintage/war era canning ads!

Applesauce

32 apples, peeled, cored and sliced
4 cups water
2 cups sugar
4 teaspoons cinnamon or nutmeg (I use cinnamon)

Place apples and water in pot and bring to a boil - simmer about 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. The apples will mush together as you stir - I mash them just a little bit with the spoon leaving a slightly chunky sauce. Stir in sugar and cinnamon until it dissolves.

Process in a water-bath canner for 20 minutes. I got 4 quart jars and 2 pint jars.



Apple Pie Filling

6-7 quarts apples - peeled and sliced (place in water and lemon juice to prevent browning while sauce cooks)
10 cups water
1 cup corn starch

3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon salt

*In place of the above seasonings I used an apple pie spice I got from our farmers market*

Blend all dry ingredients and mix well.

Add water and bring to a boil (you can add a couple teaspoons of lemon juice at this point too - I didn't) The sauce will thicken nicely in a couple of minutes.

Pack apples into quart jars and cover with the hot sauce. LEAVE ONE INCH HEADSPACE! This is where I went -oh-so-wrong. I left about a half inch.

Process in hot-water bath for 20 minutes.

To make pie: Bake in double 9'' pie crust - 25 minutes covered with foil and then about 20 more with no foil to brown.

You can also make apple crisp from the filling:


Apple Crisp using Apple Pie Filling

Use prepared apple pie filling

Pour into 9 inch square pan

In a bowl mix:

3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup rolled oat
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
*again, I just used apple pie spice in place of cinnamon and nutmeg*
1/3 cup softened butter

When mixed and crumbly - spread over pie filling - bake at 375 for 35 minutes.



Bonus! a couple of scenes from 2 weekends ago:

Sunset from our porch

The fire pit

We spent 2 weekends ago clearing an area of the woods with some dead trees and a falling down tree fort - the boys cut and sawed and pulled stuff out of the woods and I drank wine and cooked ribs :)





The recipe was wonderful and I hope to post it later this week. That area of woods is going to be an ongoing project - but eventually we'll get the kids a play set and fort. There's tons of old farm equipment, an old stone foundation and some other neat treasures - like this stove that I'm going to pull up and out and fill with flowers




Coming later this week:

Details on what this becomes




And - what's inside this box?!



Happy Autumn!