beauty that moves

An Easter Trip to Maine

Good morning! I'm still catching up after Typepad's outage last week. Sharing just a few pics from our recent trip up north to visit my parents on Easter. 

This last photo was taken from my parents' deck.

To get to my folks' house, you drive forever north on the highway, get off and drive two more hours, then you are there. Two hours from the highway. That is unheard of around here (and most places).  Aroostook County feels like the most set-apart place I've ever set foot on. A different culture altogether.  If you ever get the chance, and you are someone that loves a quiet, slow pace (and an early bedtime), you should go. Bring a book, some knitting, a canoe, your fishing pole, and a camera... there isn't much use for anything else. 

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“The spruce and cedar on its shores, hung with gray lichens, looked at a distance like the ghosts of trees. Ducks were sailing here and there on its surface, and a solitary loon, like a more living wave, — a vital spot on the lake's surface, — laughed and frolicked, and showed its straight leg, for our amusement.” 

- Henry David Thoreau, The Maine Woods

This Week In My Kitchen :: Blog Hop

Capturing my love of whole foods, combined with the activity of a bustling kitchen.

A weekly collection of photos from the center of my home. 

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Hello! Due to the DDoS attack on Typead (my blog host), it's been quite a slow week here on the blog. It looks like things are mostly fixed and back to normal now for all of us Typepad bloggers... so let's just jump into this week's blog hop! 

I took a couple of liberties this week as we travelled to see my parents in northern Maine and I'm sharing a photo taken in my great-grandmother's kitchen. Memere passed away many years ago and her home is now owned by my dad and his brothers, but so much of  her home remains untouched (intentionally) and it is truly, the kitchen most especially, a family treasure. 

I also had to snap a quick photo when I was outside the kitchen door gathering chives for dinner last night. So happy to be eating from the garden, if only a few herbs. 

Each day I find myself snapping a picture or two in the kitchen - a pile of ingredients, a table waiting for us to gather around, a sink full of soapy dishes, a cup of tea, dinner as it comes out of the oven - simple, everyday moments in the kitchen. These photos serve as a reminder of days gone by and as encouragement to carry on in this busy kitchen of ours when inspiration is lacking.

Every Thursday morning I'll post my photos from the week, no words or recipes needed, just glimpses into my kitchen and you're invited to do the same! 

 

It's simple to join in:

• On your blog, post photos taken in your kitchen throughout the week.
• No words are necessary, your photos will tell the the story. (Although feel free to grab the brief description at the top of this post, or add a few words of your own to explain the project.)
• Link back to this post so your readers can visit This Week In My Kitchen and join in. 
• Come back here and link up your current post (not your main blog) so we can all visit your kitchen!
• Join me every Thursday or the occasional Thursday if that works better for you.
• Please be sure to only link up if you are participating in this series. Thank you!

 

I look forward to visiting your kitchens! 

 

It seems that comments are not working just yet (part of Typepad's recovery). My apologies! 

 

This Week In My Kitchen :: Blog Hop

Capturing my love of whole foods, combined with the activity of a bustling kitchen.

A weekly collection of photos from the center of my home. 

*     *     *     *     *

Each day I find myself snapping a picture or two in the kitchen - a pile of ingredients, a table waiting for us to gather around, a sink full of soapy dishes, a cup of tea, dinner as it comes out of the oven - simple, everyday moments in the kitchen. These photos serve as a reminder of days gone by and as encouragement to carry on in this busy kitchen of ours when inspiration is lacking.

Every Thursday morning I'll post my photos from the week, no words or recipes needed, just glimpses into my kitchen and you're invited to do the same! 

 

It's simple to join in:

• On your blog, post photos taken in your kitchen throughout the week.
• No words are necessary, your photos will tell the the story. (Although feel free to grab the brief description at the top of this post, or add a few words of your own to explain the project.)
• Link back to this post so your readers can visit This Week In My Kitchen and join in. 
• Come back here and link up your current post (not your main blog) so we can all visit your kitchen!
• Join me every Thursday or the occasional Thursday if that works better for you.
• Please be sure to only link up if you are participating in this series. Thank you!

 

I look forward to visiting your kitchens! 

 

Waking Up

Guess what!? Sunday was spent entirely in the garden! 

We overturned another 400 square feet to expand our back garden and will retire the front garden this year. Keeping all the veggies in one place will make life easier on the weeks we don't receive an inch of rainfall and a little hand watering is in order (especially in the early seed stage). Lugging 200 feet of hose to multiple points on the property is a task I'm happy to let go of. Now the hose can stay put in one spot, close to this garden.

In the fall we transplanted 80% of our raspberries from behind the house to the back field so they could take up residence with the vegetables, blueberries and strawberries. I left a small patch near the house "just in case" the transfer was an epic failure. These raspberries are quite special to us as they are an old variety that were brought down from Adam's grandmother's homestead in Vermont - canes from a patch she has been tending for decades. I gave my neighbor a pint from our harvest last year and she declared they were the best raspberries she'd ever tasted. I agree! I'm sure this will be a transition year for our raspberry patch but I do hope it takes hold in the new location, there's something kind of sweet about having a berry patch within the vegetable garden. Literally. 

Not much is happening in the way of things greening up out there just yet (except for the garlic!), but the soil is soft and welcoming to early spring plantings. On Sunday I planted radish, onion, shallots, kale, collard greens, swiss chard, peas, carrots, three kinds of lettuce and spinach. I forgot to get beet seeds! I'm hoping there are still some left at the co-op when I go grocery shopping later today. Adam temporarily fenced in the area I planted and the rest remains open as we need to amend the soil over the next few weeks to prepare for late spring plantings. 

I'm trying to be better about keeping a garden journal. Recording a few photos and thoughts on the blog is wonderful, but I need to keep a few extra notes that may seem a little tedious to share here. Last year I finally mapped out our blueberry patch in this notebook (we have about four varieties and the identification tags they came with will fade over time), and now I am adding a map of this year's spring garden. New sketches will replace this come summer and fall as succession crops are planted, but this record should be quite helpful through the season and years to come. 

Last autumn, Adam stumbled upon a roadside find of several free screen doors. Wisely knowing I would dream up something to do with them, he threw them in the back of his truck and made his way home. 

Kale cages! I believe were the very words that sprang from my mouth the moment he pulled up the driveway. (He knows me well, of course I'd have a use for them!) Last year we tried floating row covers in order to keep the dreaded cabbage moths away from the kale and collards, which served the purpose nicely, but were a little cumbersome to get in and out of... I knew there had to be a better idea. 

Well, if all goes well that better idea is now sitting in my garden (one of them at least, there is one more cage to build still). Adam designed it so one of the sides swings up for easy harvesting, weeding, and direct watering if needed. The height and width are perfect for a bed of kale and collards (probably will try bok choy and arugula under cover as well as they suffer the same cabbage moth fate).

It was a perfect, much needed day in the garden. Here are a few more moments from the day...

{All hands on decks for coop cleaning!}

Turning dirt, planting seeds, happy foraging chickens... we're all waking up, and it feels amazing.

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Gift it From Scratch (and a giveaway!)

Don't you just love the sound of that? Gift it From Scratch.

My friend Kathie, of the blog Homespun Seasonal Living has written a wonderful ebook, and you guessed it, it's titled Gift it From Scratch! If you follow Kathie's blog, you know this a most fitting book for her to write. Kathie places great emphasis on living a simple, thoughtful, seasonal lifestyle and her new book is a wonderful reflection of that. 

Inside this book you will find dozens of recipes to inspire your kitchen-centered gift-giving ideas. Aside from the holidays, I find spring to be quite a busy time when it comes to taking a little "something" along - it seems every weekend sees a graduation, a picnic, an anniversary party, a wedding, mother's day, father's day, end of the year teacher gifts... there are so many opportunities in spring to give a little hostess gift  or simply brighten a friend's day. 

Below is just one of the dozens of recipes in Kathie's book . One of the things I especially love is that with each recipe Kathie includes a special "Gift Giving Idea." This is so helpful!

Apple Spice Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

One morning several years ago, I had a hankering for some apple juice. I did not have any apple juice but I did have apples and a much neglected juicer. I used the “waste” pulp to make these cupcakes the first time with great success. Now, whenever the urge to make these cupcakes hit, I just shred an apple without pulling the juicer from its nap in the back of the cupboard.

• 1 Cup Apple, peeled, cored, and shredded
• 2 Cups Unbleached Flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1 ½ teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon Salt
• ½ teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
• 2/3 Cup Butter, softened
• 1 Cup Brown Sugar, packed
• 2 Eggs
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• ¾ Cup Apple Juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin tin with cupcake papers.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and spices. Set aside.

Cream together the butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla, beating well. Alternate adding the flour with the apple juice until everything is well combined. Fold in the shredded apples.

Divide the batter among 12 muffin papers. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan for 5 minutes before removing to cool completely on wire racks. When the cupcakes are completely cool, frost with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• ¼ Cup Butter, softened
• 6 ounces Cream Cheese, softened
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 3 Cups Powdered Sugar

Cream together the butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar a bit at a time. Stir in the vanilla extract and beat until creamy. Spread onto cooled cake.

Gift Giving Idea: These make great alternative to the normal chocolate or vanilla birthday cake. They are sweet enough for children to enjoy yet complex enough to please the adults, too. Give them to the birthday boy or girl along with the sweet & spicy nuts.

In addition to sharing this wonderful recipe with you, Kathie would like to offer a copy of her book to a lucky winner as well! If you'd like to be entered for a chance to win Gift it From Scratch, simply leave a comment below and your name will be tossed in the hat! I'll announce a winner on Friday.

Enjoy, and good luck! 

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COMMENTS ARE CLOSED!

And the winner is...

Susan:

"This sounds like some great inspiration for someone who is trying really hard to give small, homemade, meaningful gifts from the heart. I will cross my fingers and toes and thank you for the chance :)"

Congratulations Susan! Kathie will be in touch over the next few days. :)