warming my heart and hands

Ever since reading about how to make chai on the Small Measure blog (delicious recipe here) I have been making it almost daily. Well, I make a big pot and then sip off of it for a couple of days. I added turmeric to the mix (about 1-2 teaspoons, fresh) because we have a lot of it growing around here right now. I add extra ginger because we have lots of that too! Plus, it's warming, helps with stomach troubles and headaches, and is delicious of course!

I've also been putting grated turmeric in things like stir fry and chili. I've read that it has anti-inflamatory properties, and speeds healing. How do you use turmeric?

a few favorite things (and one really dirty window)

Terrarium from here.
My dad gave me this anvil that he fixed up for me, and even stamped my name in the side. Love that. The cow came out of my grandma's attic. I remember it used to be in her kitchen when I was a kid, and the tail moves up and down.

Happy New Year!

I rang in the new year cuddled in bed with my favorite dog, listening to the fireworks around town, after a fun family potluck/bonfire celebration. January 1st brought lots of hand-quilting and movie-watching, a little bit of cooking, reading the latest issue of Acres, and taking a nice hot soak in the tub. Here's to more of all of those things in 2010!

Today I plan to take down the holiday decorations, including those sweet angels that were on my grandmother's tree when she was little. Taking everything down is not nearly as fun as putting it up, but I'm ready for a clean house and clean slate.

scenes from a florida winter at the farm

scallions

kaleards and pac choi

ginger (which we dig and replant at the same time)

arugula, red lettuce, a lone japanese turnip

So far our winter has been quite mild and very wet. A lot of things have been loving the moderate temps (ahem, bugs, I'm looking at you).

christmasy

My favorite time of the year.

found.

My dad is the best trash-picker you'll ever meet. I'm such a lucky girl! I love coming home to find a bag of treasures he's left for me to go through. My favorite is the "old lady trash." I have really good dreams about this kind of thing...

found tile

Pretty little tiles I dug out of our dusty storage room

i spent my holiday...

...drinking dubonnet in honor of my great grandpa
...loving this painting
...sitting on this lovely sofa
...sticking my feet in the very cold pool
...taking self portraits in the bathroom
...setting the table with the good glasses
...admiring all my uncles' nice things

full.

I am thankful for so very many things. I'll just make a quick list to remind myself, while I wait for my family to pick me up and whisk me away to central florida this morning:

my health. Jackie & Ruben. the beautiful and delicious food i'm surrounded by, and being able to afford to buy it from local farmers. our chickens. the love and support of my family, especially my parents. my nephew. my brother. deep roots. the wisdom and generosity of my granny. my eyesight (as poor as it is, I'm so happy to be able to see). great music. my jobs. getting to spend time with my dad. silver linings. knowing how to make great pie crust. having a whole room for my sewing and art supplies. freedom. my home.

This list is not complete, but i'll leave it at that because my family is here to get me. I've gotta grab my pear pie and get myself in the car...Adorable nephew, here I come!

canoe and camp

We just got back from a music-filled camping trip to Bear Creek, where R's band played on Saturday. I cooked up a big batch of stir-fried greens, radishes and turnips, and roasted a bunch of sweet potatoes ahead of time, and we ate off those (plus a whole lot of eggs and english muffins) all weekend. My favorite part was getting up early (when, frankly, a lot of folks were just hitting the sack) and taking a walk to get a cup of coffee from one of the food vendors and then sitting in the sun knitting or reading for a while. I sure do need my quiet time.

our conestoga wagon

Transitioning back to work on Monday was a bit rough. Ever since the time change it is dark when I leave for work, and dark when I get home-- and I've always been a dark-means-sleep type of girl, so it's a real struggle for me to be productive. To counteract the frustration this brings, I've definitely been taking lots of mini breaks during my work day to do fun things like plan the dishes I'm going to make at our family's meal next week: Flageolet gratin (from the Sunday Suppers at Lucques cookbook--amazing!), these biscuits, and Aunt Harriet's sweet potatoes (involving lots of cream and chipotle peppers). And I've already been making (and eating) cranberry sauce for weeks now. I love fall!