Another Busy, Sunny Day

The sun is streaming in through the windows.  Hubby is industriously chopping tomatoes and jalapeno peppers, doing his bit to keep the mound of tomatoes on the counter in check.  This is the mound.  I can't help showing it off a bit:  45 pounds of backyard garden goodness with more to come.

I've been taking advantage of the bright afternoon to take a bite out of my own mound -- all the handmade Christmas goodies that I've been making for the Dapple Design Shop.  Here's your very first sneak peak.

Yes, my Cloth Gift Bags are back for another season.  They're reusable, easy on the planet, and oh-so-pretty.  I'll be listing these very soon, so keep your eyes open.

Today I'm linking up with Angela at Pretty Little Inspirations.  Please drop by and visit a few of the online shops joining her link party.

Finding Joy

It's all the little things that are bringing me joy these days.  All the seasonal treats, the pleasures of early summer. 

A bowl of itty bitty, sunny sweet strawberries -- still among the first from our patch.

Leisurely strolls with my favorite people.

Arugula pesto and goat cheese for breakfast, lunch and snack.

Watching some things fade so something else can take their place.

Something like a new colour of Columbine from the farmer's market.

Quiet evenings with pretty yarn and new ideas.

Puttering in my Etsy shop and adding these pretty crochet baskets to the line up.

What's bringing you joy these days?

This Moment

Summer arrived this week.  It's just a short visit.  She dropped by unexpectedly so we fired up the grill and treated ourselves to the first patio supper of the year.  Warm breeze.  Juicy steak.  A long lingering meal in the fresh air.  She'll come and go a few times yet before settling down to stay.


Joining SouleMama and others in a Friday ritual. A single photo capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your moment in the comments for all to find and see.

This Week in My Kitchen

Cooking inspiration runs a little slim this time of year when I see the garden begin to grow, but there's nothing to pick save for kale, chives and tulips.  But being forced to dig a little deeper isn't a terrible thing.  This week, inspiration came . . .

. . . from a a conversation with my mother.  She served fish cakes this week and that sounded good.  These are salmon and potato cakes, waiting to be dredged in flour and pan fried.

. . . from a library cook book.  This kale panini with feta cheese and zippy banana peppers is sure to appear on our table again.

. . . from the pantry.  There's nothing like cracking open a jar of last summer's tomato-y goodness to enjoy over pasta.

And finally, inspiration came from a string of sunny days and a few spring showers -- reminders that the abundance of summer will come soon enough.

What's cooking at your house?

I'm joining, for the first time, This Week in my Kitchen at Beauty That Moves.  This blog hop is all about capturing a love of whole foods, combined with the activity of a bustling kitchen.  A weekly collection of photos from the centre of my home.

My One and Only Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

My recipe repertoire evolves constantly.  The standby suppers of three years ago have vanished from the menu.  New foods have taken their places.  Tastes change.  Health ideals change.  The rhythms of life change.  Only a handful of recipes survive for the long haul.

My Chocolate Chip Cookies belong to this select group of foods.  The recipe is hand copied on a student-basic ruled index card.  It's not even a full recipe, just a list of ingredients and an oven temperature followed by the exclamation pointed exhortation "Don't Overbake!"  It's been in my recipe box for as long as I've had a recipe box.

Of course I've tweaked the formula over the years, but they still come out of my oven on a regular basis, hot and gooey and smelling like home.  Soft and chewy but not too sweet, these cookies are everything that cookies should be.  Whole wheat flour gives rich flavour and fends off guilt, while chocolate chips aplenty made them decadent as can be.

My One and Only
Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe 

1 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups whole wheat flour
21/2 cups rolled oats
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1-2 cups chocolate chips*

Cream butter and sugars together with mixer.  Add eggs and vanilla; beat until fluffy.  Combine dry ingredients in separate bowl; add to sugar mixture.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Drop by rustic spoonfulls onto baking sheets.  Bake at 350 for 8 minutes.  Don't over bake!  Makes about 4 dozen.

*Try a combination of chocolate chips and walnuts, or raisins, or dried cranberries and almonds (then use almond extract in place of vanilla).  These cookies are marvelously adaptable.

Do you have a recipe that has stood the test of time?  I'd love to hear about it.

For the Love of Food and Sanity

This was a fun moment.  Before settling into some serious beater licking, Little Miss had been right up on the counter, spooning dry ingredients into the mixer.  This is our standard arrangement for baking.  It's fun.  It's laid back.  We laugh lots and make a big mess.  But having a kitchen helper is not always desirable, especially in the hour before supper time when everyone's daily allotment of patience is used up.

I've been thinking a lot about food lately, tweaking how and when I prepare it, trying to avoid the kitchen after four o'clock and still serve up healthy, tasty suppers.  Of course I'm not the only one trying to reach this holy grail of homemaking.  Pinterest is chocked with recipes for freezer meals and slow cooker meals, even meals that you can put in your freezer and then in your slow cooker. Yikes!  I thought I was so clever to chop my vegetables and make my sauces in the morning.

Last week Little Miss was sick and I suddenly saw the appeal of pre-made food.  As I tentatively wade into these waters, I'm wondering what your experiences have been with making meals ahead of time.  Do you sacrifice health or flavour or texture for convenience or is there a way to have it all?

On tonight's menu:  Kale and potato soup from the freezer, cucumber slices and wild rice and onion bread, which I did manage to bake today.

Happy Saturday to You

An extra hour in bed.  Pancakes with cinnamon yogurt, home canned peaches and -- of course -- maple syrup.  Family tumble time on the living room floor.  Happy Saturday morning to you.

At Lorrie's suggestion, I'm linking, for the first time, to Sunlit Sunday.

Bringing Pins to Life: Caramel Apple Spice Drink

Do you pin more ideas than you'll ever try?  I do.  But every once in a while I dig through a Pinterest board and surface with something to actually execute.  Enter Caramel Apple Spice.

Photo Credit to Laura at Make Life Lovely:  http://www.makelifelovely.com/2013/09/starbucks-caramel-apple-spice-recipe.html

Doesn't it look yummy?  If you read about it at Make Life Lovely, it sounds yummy too.  In need of some cozy fall spice, I gave it a whirl this week.

The caramel flavoring is little more than a simple syrup -- just use brown sugar instead of white and spike the works with a few cinnamon sticks and cloves.  This concoction lives in the fridge until called for, at which time a meager splash (and a little microwave time) infuses plain old apple juice with all the warmth and spice of an apple pie.  It really doesn't take much.

We've been making these drinks all weekend.  In fact, I'm sipping as I type.  Thanks Pinterest.

And a big thanks to Laura at Make Life Lovely for cracking the Starbucks secret and sharing.

On This Rainy Sunday

It's been raining for two days and nights, a strong, steady rain.  The Great Wet has begun.  I try not to think of the dark days that will come, focusing instead on cozy, inside things.  Fall.  Thanksgiving.  Christmas.  Quiet evenings by the fire.

I spent the morning tidying my life and my kitchen.  Produce is still trickling in from the garden, a reminder that summer hasn't quite left us.  This morning I sliced two trays worth of tomatoes for drying.  Miss S watched from her high chair, munched a handful of diced tomato, and asked for "mo".  

I haven't dried tomatoes before this year, but I don't know why not.  It's easy and the results are yum yum yummy.  I core and slice the tomatoes, sprinkle them with kosher salt, thyme and a little brown sugar.  Then it's low and slow in the oven -- about 5 or 6 hours at 225.

Last night was Craft Night.  That consisted of three girls, a bottle of wine, some snacks and a DIY wreath project.  This is mine.

Don't you love the texture?  All those paper circles are punched from a thrift store version of Wuthering Heights.  That little detail really thrills me.  All that bluster up on the moors makes Wuthering Heights the perfect novel to punch to pieces on a blustery fall night.  Of course the wreath isn't quite done.  I want to add a bit more fullness around the outside edge and some sort of banner or bow.

By the way, the DIY instructions for this project came from Make Life Lovely.  Thanks to my friend, Amanda, for making Craft Night happen.  Let's do it again.

Wishing you a warm and cozy remains for the weekend.

Recent Happenings and an Announcement

The official start of fall is just a few days away, and I'm already getting into the spirit.  I savor the satisfying crunch of those first fallen leaves and the comforting weight of an extra quilt on the bed.  The days are still bright and warm.  The long rain has not yet begun.

And I'm busy.  Busy turning this . . .

 

into this . . .

At last count, my humble backyard had produced over 100 lbs of tomatoes alone.  Keeping up has been something of a challenge, but I think I am, at last, on the home stretch.

All that gardening and preserving -- and, to be honest, laying on the grass with Miss S -- has taken time away from other pursuits.  Like sewing.  This is what my sewing desk looked like early in the week . . .

 

It has since been excavated and recovered with different clutter -- the clutter of new and revived projects.   That brings us to my big announcement. 

I am very pleased to announce the opening of the Dapple Design Shop on Etsy.  I've launched a line of hand-crafted, reusable, fabric gift bags.  Please stop by to admire my first offerings and stock up on gift wrap.  There's much, much more to come.