honeyflake

from the kitchen elves

  

some gifts cooked up from our table to theirs. a few of the foods prepared around here that we brought along with us to family celebrations, passed on to some neighbors and enjoyed quietly here ourselves. edible gifts prepared with intention in the kitchen as the sounds of the season jingled all the way in the background. 

as always there were cookies. the thumbprint and sugar cookies (both martha stewart recipes) i've been baking for several years now as a christmas tradition. last year we added the gingerbread (love! we decided to add it to the mix again this year). some good, simple ingredients mixed up with love and holiday cheer.

now, the whole "i'm going to make my parents, nonnie and siblings (+ their families) each their own batches of homemade ravioli as a christmas surprise!" ?... yeah, that was new this year. days before christmas i started rinsing and chopping organic spinach for the filling... mixing it up... making the dough (again, with the love and holiday cheer) and eventually rolling it out by hand... making the littlest of pillowy spinach/cheese filled bundles row by row.... then wrapping them up with brown bag paper and some salvaged bakery twine. they had just enough time in the freezer to set before it was time to deliver them...  and, um, having to tell your loved ones "oh yes, we have a little something for you here, but lets get these brown paper parcels back into the freezer quickly now shall we?" was a bit... non-traditional — however fun, festive and merry nonetheless. we'd like to think they'll bring a little comfort and joy to their tables this winter.

   

decking the halls with plaid

 

due to a little fabric splurge back at the end of november, december proved to be the month of flannel (and a little wool). looking back at the photos i took over the past month and the projects that we had going on, plaid seems to have worked it's way into everything. and for christmas? i'd say that's seems pretty ok. 

plaid sighting #1. that's right. my family and i all sporting our matching wintery comfy pants. for real. i think back to chuck and i fifteen years ago, and i'm pretty sure if you told us someday we might be posing around our christmas tree in matching pj pants we would have laughed non-stop at the mere thought of it... and now, low an behold, here we are, all suited up for the season. but i have to say, it really just sort of happened. so not as planned out as it looks...

 

once i had that soft fabric, i remembered the pattern in this book for the pajamas for everyone — and well, we all found ourselves wanting a pair. the first two pairs came together pretty quickly at the beginning of the month, but the third pair (mine!) was held up because i had plans to use the reddish fabric as a backdrop a little at-home-christmas portrait of margaret (plaid sighting #2)... once that was done mid-december, i could then go on and sew up the final pair.

 

and that non-plaid wool that came home with me from mood? that was turned into a dress for margaret. for that i used a japanese sewing pattern from girly style wardrobe. i loved that pattern and i hope she's able to wear this dress for a while. it is so simple and the wool is very soft & drapey. but i'm getting off topic of plaid....

 

for a non-sewing project that i started at the beginning of the month, the plaid made a nice custom cover for this year's december daily that i'm working on.

as christmas approached, and everyone had their pjs to wear and dress to wear, journals to work on, etc... i put what was left of the fabric away except for the scraps. surprisingly (really? at this point probably not so surprisingly) they too found their way into some last minute christmas cheer efforts.

when margaret announced that she wanted to make cards for 27 of her closest friends? and i wanted them to be easily and entirely made from materials we had on hand? a little card stock, sharpies and plaid...

 

and finally, on christmas eve, wanting to fancy-up a few simple fabric gift bags that i sewed up for chuck's gifts? frayed edge plaid bows. 

and that's it i think. the same fabrics for many different projects in one month... thanks to you for scrolling through it all... it is nice for me to see it all here grouped together and reflect a bit on these december crafty moments and the moments that passed in between. and just for the record,we do laugh a bit when we look around and realize that we're all decked out in matching family plaid pjs.

solar love

even after all this time
the sun never says to the earth
"you owe me."

look what happens with
a love like that,
it lights the whole sky.

~hafiz (the gift)

blizzard soup

 

sometime on friday i started hearing reports that some real snow was headed our way here on the east coast. it was 'expected' on saturday. with the news of a possible weekend snow-in (one never knows really), margaret and i did a spontaneous trip to the market, with no specific list in hand, and picked up a few things we might need - including random, un-planned-out veggies and beans that i imagined i might be able to cook up into an impromptu soup. just in case the reports turned out to be true.

friday night, still not sure if there'd really be snow or not, chuck helped me choose a direction for this soup on the fly and we put about 1-2 cups of dried pinto beans to soak in our soup pot overnight. saturday morning brought more of the same news —a blizzard is on the way— so we planned on spending the day together inside with a big pot of soup cooking on the stove. We used what we had, what i bought the night before and what was already in our fridge and spice collection. i took notes and wrote everything down (i think). if it turned out ok i planned on duplicating it, if it turned out not-so ok i would make sure to take another direction the next time i made soup (like following a recipe). i was a bit worried about some things like the green pepper or pinto beans (i only ever really use them with chili type spices). happily though the soup turned out pretty great, the blizzard came and went (15" of powder) and i've decided to share the recipe here with you!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 1.5 cup dried pinto beans
rinse beans. soak overnight in a large soup pot, covered in water

2 medium onions chopped
1 leek chopped
4 cloves garlic chopped
1TBS butter
1TBS olive oil

2 boxes organic chicken broth
2 bay leaves
5 small organic carrots chopped
1 parsnip chopped
1 green pepper chopped
1 14.5 can diced fire roasted organic tomatoes
1TBS tomato paste
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp thyme

salt&pepper to taste
a couple squirts of honey from the honey bear
1- 2 tsp soy sauce

cooked rice

ample amounts of grated parmesan cheese!!!

in a large skillet warm butter and oil. gently sauté onion until softened. add leek and garlic and let that saute for a bit on a medium low heat. add a pinch of salt.

meanwhile drain soaked beans (bonus: bean water can be used to water house plants!). in the soup pot add back beans and chicken broth - reserve a little bit, about a cup, to deglaze the saute pan). add carrots, parsnip, pepper, bay leaves, oregano, thyme, salt, pepper, tomatoes, tomato paste, honey and soy sauce to soup pot. bring to boil. 

when onion/garlic/leek is all sauteed add to soup pot. deglaze pan with that last bit of chicken broth and add that all to the soup pot.

we set the rice cooker to cook up about a cup or so of white rice at this point.

let cook for a bit while the snow falls, the winds blow, the beans soften and the flavors steep and mingle. 

 

play a little christmas bingo or something of the sort... then eventually... serve soup with a scoop of rice and top with blizzard amounts of grated parmesan! enjoy the warmth and nourishment as you fuel up for some big-time shoveling and snow-ball-hurling (neighbors beware!!)

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

and then there was pine

 

last weekend we seized the blue-sky-december-day and headed over to our favorite local, family-run tree farm. this day is an essential tradition that the three of us love (2008 and 2007)... we get to surround ourselves with evergreens, breathe in the fresh pine-filled air, work up an appetite, picnic together and bring a little bit of pine back to our home to kick off the season. 

 

for the picnic menu this year i decided to switch it up a little from the annual sandwiches to a few thermoses full of homemade clam chowder (new england, not manhattan). yum! and then there was also coffee, hot chocolate (as always) and a tiffin full of oyster crackers and tiny marshmallows (as always). i'm thinking that from now on the hot soup is the way to go. it definitely hit the spot on this chilly 39º afternoon! mmmmm... dining al fresco amongst the firs. and the special one that caught our eye? here's a little snapshot before it's journey:

its been up in our living room all week, boughs opened up... decorated with warm lights and christmas fanciness. filling our home with scents of the tree farm. comfort and joy.

happy weekend to you and yours!

a hat

 

i mentioned some yarn the other day, that i had wound up into a ready-to-be-knit ball. just one skein of a brown greenspun fibre, maine organic, from the green mountain spinnery. it had been stashed away for quite some time. waiting i suppose for just the right project. and oddly enough, sitting pretty much right next to that yarn in the box was a tear-sheet i had pulled from a magazine back in 2007. it was a page on winter knits and where to buy them... i just clipped it because i really loved the chunky brown ear-flapped hat. looking at the page again i realized that it would be perfect for the keen organic wool, pretty easy to make and margaret was due for a new winter cap... truthfully she's still happily sporting her beach inspired creation from a few seasons ago, but this mama thinks it is time for an update... so deeper into the box i dug for my #9 circular needles and the photocopy of the 'kim's hats' pattern (from here).

and there it is a few mornings later. the hat and inspiration. i'll show this new winter handknit to margaret tomorrow morning and she can try it on... hopefully it will be a good fit and something she can wear right away - i'm hearing that the first flakes of the season might be ready to fall on us soon.

here's to keeping warm and cozy in december! happy friday!

tracing, pinning and cutting

 

into december we go

• unraveled a fresh skein of organic wool, pulled from my
   stash of yarns. thinking about some possible knitted gifts
   to make.
• started counting down with our advent flags.
   simply tradition.
• beginning my december daily album. for the third season
   i've been inspired by ali edwards to document our december
   days. words... photos... moments of the season — big and
   small — brought together on pages in a tangible book form.
   such a good project.
• heading off to tuesday night yoga now. where i'll be
   temporarily checking my shoes and growing december to-do
   list at the door.

peace all!