beauty that moves

could this be our new home?

 

 

 

 

 

 

My goodness, how could it not be? We went up to Vermont over the weekend to look at a possible property for us to move to. We have since returned feeling inspired and excited, yet remarkably patient and content, an interesting combination that is difficult to explain.

This quintessential Vermont homestead sits privately on it's very own dirt road (town maintained - yay!). Hop in the car and you are a short ten minute drive to the library, an amazing food co-op, museums, a bustling Main St. with great restaurants, thrifting, galleries and shops, hospital (should there be a need), etc.

And to top it all off? This property is made up of 240 pristine and vibrant acres. Where open space, forest, wildlife, flowing water and clean air are all abundant and just outside the front door... or the back door, or any window you gaze out of. 240 acres!

My goodness, how could it not be our new home?

summer pasta - a recipe of sorts

It's no wonder you all asked for a recipe, it does take a pretty picture doesn't it? It goes without saying of course that I have a fair level of anxiety around writing this recipe. I'm a maker of things... not a stop and take notes-er of things. I'll do my best, this dish deserves to be on dining tables across the world. ;)

Summer Pasta

• 1 pound penne pasta

• 3-4 small/medium zucchini squash, washed and sliced in half moons about 1/4 inch thick

• bouillon cube or heaping teaspoon vegetable bouillon (i buy Frontier in bulk)

• 8-10 oz. ricotta cheese

• 1/2 cup loosely packed, freshly and finely grated parmesan cheese, more for sprinkling on top if you'd like

• seasoning salt or montreal steak seasoning (my choice, it's a guilty summer kitchen pleasure)

• olive oil

• butter

• salt and pepper (the good stuff on both of these)

Before we get started - you should know that I subscribe to the Lynne Rossetto Kasper school of cooking pasta. Your water should taste like the ocean... salt it generously!!

Cook pasta according to package directions (with addedabove suggestion!). Towards the end of pasta cooking take out about 1 1/2 cups of pasta water and put in a glass bowl. Add bouillon and stir to dissolve.

While the pasta cooks, heat up a large cast iron frying pan on med/high heat. Add a couple tablespoons of olive oil and a bit of butter. Sprinkle a little seasoning (montreal or seasoning salt) in the pan, add zucchini (try your best to get a single layer), sprinkle with a little more seasoning and black pepper. Cook hot and quick - two minutes per side at the most. Remove squash once both sides are lightly browned. Add reserved pasta water to the pan to de-glaze, then add ricotta cheese, turn heat way down to low and let it melt in, stir in parmesan cheese. Adjust flavor by adding a little salt and pepper and a few more glugs of extra virgin olive oil, add the zucchini back in. By now the pasta should be somewhere in the kitchen cooked and drained but still hot - put the pasta into a large shallow serving bowl (I love the one in the photo for pasta saute type dishes), maybe add a little more olive oil. Now carefully and evenly cover the pasta with the sauce, gently coat pasta. Top with more parmesan if desired.

I hope this works for you and makes sense! If you have a minute stop on over to the Simple Green Frugal Co-op, I'm there today too.

yesterday... it felt like summer!

 

 

 

 

Who am I to miss an opportunity?

it's good to be home

{{ Thanks for all the summer reading suggestions! I'm going to try and put them all in a list in one handy reference spot on the blog. Please feel free to keep adding to it! }}

Oh, June. What can I say, you've had better years. Remember just last year, how my shoulders had a little sunburn before school even let out? How when I chaperoned the end of the year field trip to the beach I had already been there twice on my own? I miss that sort of warm and sunny June, please come back soon, okay? 

Truthfully, I've appreciated this extra time indoors, settling back into my home after many months of regularly working outside of it. The past several days have been filled with cleaning corners, putting away all of the laundry, cleaning out the freezer, washing the outside (and all those little buttons and knobs) of the washer and dryer... I've cleaned and sorted everything around here, I even dusted my headboard! It's felt so good coming home. I am truly at my best here, no doubt.

I even set aside a little crafting time for myself, now I have a pretty (and big!) new bag for summer. Big enough to hold my everyday gear plus Emily's when needed. I'm hoping this bag will join us on many sunny outings once these clouds roll out of here. Next up, I think a few new tops are in order.

This bag is the same design as the Summer Totes, with the addition of fusible fleece as interfacing to beef it up a little. I've always resisted this (and regular interfacing), feeling like their synthetic make-up wasn't worthy of hanging out with my linens and cottons. Well, I may be a convert. At least with the fusible fleece, I don't see myself ever really loving interfacing. But the fusible fleece has certainly proved it's value to me. This bag and the others are quite large which is fabulous. With the addition of the fleece, this bag's 20 inches wide, 11 inches tall and 7 inches deep self sits firmly and proudly on the floor like a big ol' basket - without looking like cardboard (a common trait of interfaced projects). I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of this and this as we speak... a girl can't possibly stop at just one you know. ;)

So, rainy cool gray June, I've made the best of you staying inside, puttering around my little nest, settling back in. But maybe I'm just making the best of me. I'm so happy to be home again, doing what I love. For me, nothing (as good as many other things are), nothing compares to keeping the home fires burning and the bellies of my family and friends well fed. I think it's going to be a good summer, rainy and cool or blazing hot... I'll take all of it, right here at home.

Steady, happy, and thriving home... steady, happy, and thriving world.

summer reading and market news

We are expecting some heavy rain today and perhaps more rain tomorrow. It sure has been a pretty nerve-racking growing season so far here, how about where you are? Goodness, can we get a little sunshine please!

The Farmers' Market committee has asked a few of it's vendors to take the day off tomorrow if they would like... they are expecting the field we are in to be a little messy and might need to do some re-arranging/condensing of booths to stay in the drier areas. So this is to let those that might be looking for me tomorrow know that I will be taking the day off. I will likely be floating around collecting my veggies for the week, but my booth will not be there. I am however trying to take photos of some of the things that were meant to be there and fill up the shop a little bit. It is quickly getting darker and darker out there with the rain on it's way so we'll see, I hope I can make it happen, maybe tomorrow if not this afternoon. I have some very cute summery things to brighten things up over there.

Now, let's talk about summer reading. What's on your list? Better yet, what have you already read and checked off your list (maybe from years past) that I should read too? These are my first three of the summer; The Mighty Queens of Freeville will be finished up just as soon as I sign off here. ;) Brooklyn intrigued me, perhaps because my mom was a little girl in Brooklyn during the 1950's, which is when this book takes place. Prayers For Sale had me at the mention of quilting, the depression period, and a mountain home. I think I might actually get these three finished before their due date which is of course totally unheard of but very good news. So what should be my next read, or added to the list at least? Please, do tell!

I bet we'll all get some great ideas from each other!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend...