Inside and Outside

There is so much work calling me inside when I really just want to be out enjoying this amazing autumn weather.

This morning I did get some bread and apple crisp baked.

Isaac is taking over in the kitchen making three apple pies.

I am thinking the tomatoes will be processed this evening while making dinner.

In the in between time, I have compost to pile up on the gardens, a barn to reconfigure for a milking stand and baby goats (hopefully in the spring!), firewood to stack, oh and I thought I would just throw in painting the house as well.  

Thankful to have so much to do really because that must mean my life is full.

What are your plans this week?

Warmly,

Tonya

I Love That...

... when a friend came to visit, our children decided to bake apple pies with him, all on their own.

They went out and picked the apples off our trees, showed him how to use a peeler, made pie crust and mixed up the filling.

I would have to guess, though, that their primary motivation was to enjoy the eating.  

We generally only make apple pies during apple picking season so they are a real treat and also happen to be my favorite dessert.

Garden Blessings

Upon returning home and finding an overgrown, but plentiful garden, I got right to work using the abundance.

Green Bean Salad

I added feta, red onions from the garden and Annie's Organic Sesame Ginger Dressing.

Zucchini Bread/Cake

Zucchini with garlic, tomato sauce and mozzarella for dinner.

What are you cooking or baking from this bountiful time of the year?

On Our Work Surfaces

I thought it would be fun to snap a picture of what each of our most commonly used worked surfaces looked like the other morning.

An order that needs to be packaged up, walking blocks waiting for their rope, one of our sons' favorite catalogs - Musicians Friend, and out of the oven - jam bars and granola.

On my secretary - birch signs waiting to be wood burned and various yarn to inspire.

On the dining room table - an in process needle felted ball, daffodils given to me by a friend, and Sarah stamps and pads from making thank you cards for her birthday gifts.


What is on your work surfaces?

Warm wishes,
Tonya

This and That

Looking out back from a kitchen window inside, I noticed how the chicken coop was nearly invisible due to the deep snow.  There is a shoveled path in front of it to get to them that you can't see.

As I was noticing the chicken coop, a child flew down and then another, landing softly in the snow. 

They were jumping down from the porch roof.

After the two loaves of freshly baked bread were gone by 1:00 in the afternoon yesterday, I have come to accept that three loaves each day is necessary for our growing family.

I crocheted this little elephant using Peace Fleece Wool/Mohair yarn from a pattern I found here.
It will be for Abraham's Easter basket.


Warm wishes,
Tonya

A New Year

Happy New Year!

Last night we all stayed at home and played games, snacked, enjoyed the new branch rope swing Mike made for the little ones, and watched a movie from the BBC that wasn't really all that good.

It is just a branch slice with a rope.  We have high ceilings in our living area with a beam across the middle - perfect for a swing.  We can take it off and on easily with a "S" hook.

and a bar too!

a  late night treat of sherbert

Today we are still enjoying one another's company -

the tree came down

more organizing and cleaning

home learning planning

goals and lists are being made (goats, chicks, herbs, berries to start)

and

cinnamon rolls for lunch

Warm wishes for a beautiful day and a year filled with beautiful moments,

Tonya

Blessings on this First Day of Winter and Warm Christmas Wishes

We are ~

enjoying the antics of having a puppy and a a kitten

keeping busy while mom and dad finish the last of the orders

bringing some of the outside in

making gifts

 and baking ~



I will be mostly off the computer the next few days, enjoying the baking and making with our family.  We had a last minute order rush which resulted in two trips to the post office yesterday.  But, now all is officially done, and my heart and mind are eager to turn toward this week of joyful celebration.

Wishing all of you a warm and wonderful week,
Tonya

Baking with Pumpkin

Each morning I bake two loaves of bread along with either quick bread, cookie, or pastry.

This morning I had the pleasure of using a fresh pumpkin.

I start by washing the outside and then cutting it in half and then in quarters and I scoop out the goopy insides which go into a container to be fed to the chickens.

Then I cut each quarter again and steam the pumpkin until soft.  It is then nice and easy to scoop out the good stuff to use in baking.

Sarah and I scooped through the slime to save the seeds to roast.

The counter in the morning with the yeast in the background poofing and one pumpkin bread in the pan with raisins added to the rest of the batter for another.

This recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks I was blessed to find at a yard sale years ago - Uprising, The Whole Grain Bakers' Book - the recipes are a compilation of handwritten recipes and illustrations from small independent bakeries across the United States, Copyright is 1983.

Baking with seasonal food is so very satisfying.

(Words cannot express my appreciation for the kind and supportive comments from the last post.  As we have chosen this path rather deliberately, the guilt of not providing enough can sometimes creep in despite my heart knowing we are doing ok.)

Warm wishes, Tonya

Picking, Gathering, Baking, Preserving

I just love preparing food this time of year - both cooking and baking. The delicious flavors and varieties.

The children have been having fun collecting raspberries from our woods and Abby found a recipe in the King Arthur Catalog (which she loves to look through but we don't generally buy from) for scones and she added raspberries instead and most of the children loved it so she baked some more just two days later.

We have been collecting the chamomile blossoms each day to dry and use for our tea this winter

~chamomile growing in our garden~

~collected and left to dry~

Our neighbor has generously offered to allow our family to pick from their amazing blackberry patch. Many are probably about 10 feet tall. After our first picking, we will be sure to dress better, in long pants and long sleeves with gloves. The thorns are a bit tough. But the work is all worthwhile. We will be going back at least two more times. So far one pie and one blackberry crumb have been made. After buying some organic lemons at the natural foods store today, I will make blackberry jam.

~my favorite pie crust, from one my favorite cookbooks ~ The Amish Cook, by Coblentz & Williams~

~waiting for the bread to rise to put both in the oven~

What are you picking?

Warm wishes,

Tonya

Work Tables

I snapped photos of our different work in progress "work tables" yesterday.

The above picture is of our stainless steel counter in our kitchen. Yesterday I baked bread, "healthy" chocolate chip cookies, and cinnamon cranberry muffins. I made egg salad for lunch (we have lots of eggs right now, although a fox killed one of our chickens yesterday...). Mike is working on a large wholesale order for our branch block walking blocks. You can see the branch pieces in the picture.

By 2:00 or so, the counter was completely clear to begin preparing for an early supper before Isaac's baseball game.

This is a concrete base that we figured out was built to hold a very large diving board (we found in the woods upon moving here). The holes in the concrete match up to those in the diving board and the pond is at its deepest point there.

For us it was being used yesterday to hold peeled logs that are to become our railing for our front steps; sun tea; and more cut branches drying to become branch walking blocks.

Blessings and warm wishes for a full and joyful day,

Tonya

Thankful Today for....

....lots of baking done....

...the thoughtfulness and kindness from my sixteen year old son...

...Abraham's sweet blond unruly hair.....

...the beautiful apple blossoms in bloom....

Warm wishes, Tonya

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(Don't forget to leave a comment below to be entered in the drawing on Sunday evening for two ribbon runners.)