Mary's Birthday Carrot Cake

I made this for my co-worker Mary for her Birthday. I had planned to put carrots on the top in a starburst but when I took them out of the package . . . they were to big to do that so I put them on the sides and then just decorated the top for fun.   Cream cheese frosting and I dyed the coconut in a baggie with food safe food dye.  Happy Spring to one and all.

Summer Storm 7-8-14

Hard to see the pick up stix of trees here. The biggest one is resting on a Maple Tree and the butt end is about 1-2 feet from the house.

Before Backyard

After Backyard

Before

After

Clean up

Twisted right off

top Twisted right off

Pile by road of clean up

We need to hire a bucket truck to come take top off

          The morning after . . . is much calmer, the hour after was as well. The yard still smells like Christmas.  We are safe and the house is safe and we have power- life is good!  The Norway spruce out back are about 60 feet tall - not really sure but amazingly tall trees that have been here a very long time. We lost the tops in three of them.  a Tulip and Maple tree  both took a beating but saved the trees from crashing into our home. 
                A strong storm front was crossing the area yesterday about 4:30 and our town took a beating with downed trees and Power outages. Many roads were quickly closed and impassable. This morning our power is restored and yes there is more clean up to do but nothing like what we faced last evening. We were blessed to have neighbors come help us with the clean up as well as our 2 older kids.  ( younger one is at camp)  working together and steadily we had it all cleaned up in 2-3 hours. The Power of nature continues to leave us in awe.  The winds and rain that came in sheets yesterday was totally amazing.
                We humans in our capacity to help, care and provide assistance are equally amazing. We have been here for 26 years and have had many power outages . . .each one has its own unique story to go with it. Sourdough bread and Pepperoni bread will be part of this story as I had just baked both and was able to feed our helpful neighbors and hungry family. We were blessed yesterday and we are thankful for limited damage and helpful friends and family.

Just Thinking . . . .

When walking, you see things that you miss in a motor car or on the train. You give your mind space to ponder.
 

Tom Hodgkinson

This is some of the summer fun already . . .taking apart motors, making dirt bikes go fast, making something out of nothing, questioning- "Can we do it?"  Trying out hypothesis, sitting and tinkering, eating Taco Bell, drinking Mountain Dew, contemplating life.

Wedding Song...... Throwback Thursday

What was your wedding song?
 26 years ago - this was our wedding song.
The Best Man and Maid of Honor - our best friends,  met for the first time at our Rehearsal,  then several years later, were married. It has been such a good 26 years.

Canada Trip 2014

Winding lane to Lake House

Sunset on Sand Lake

A view to behold every day!

Island

Boat Load of Snow and Good Bye it has been fun!

We have had the pleasure for 5 years to retreat to this lovely Lake House in late March. Usually 5-6 of us, to sew, watch movies, hike, cook, enjoy immensely the pleasure of each others company and relax from the everyday mundane and at times burdens.  This was our last year at this location and we will need to find another. Several of our group are also at crossroads in life that means we may not gather in this way for a long while. Lots of good food and fun, we shall miss this time but hold our memories close.

Tea any body?

         So this was a gift from a co-worker.  She is an incredibly creative and kind person.  I love tea and I love Hands.  There is a thin cardboard base like a record album - but narrow and then the clothes pins are hot glued onto the cardboard.  She added all the tea and it could be replaced with photos.  The Hands are just fun foam.  My other co-worker got one like it but it had bright red lips as she cannot work with out her Channel Red lipstick . . . I thought this was really creative.  Marsha my co-worker is such a hard worker,  kind and gentle, a hug when you need it and always a smile and positive words.   She has a lot on her plate but finds time to do such nice things as this.   The world could definitely use more Marsha's in it.   Thank you for being such a great co-worker!   The post it hangs on is right in the middle of my kitchen - so it is front and center for a while.

December Daily- GingerBread Houses 2013

We Baked 7 small houses and 6 Large houses

These are the foil covered cardboard to serve as bases for the homes.

Partial assortment of candy for houses.

Snipped red twizzlers for bricks and small triscuits for roof- Dorr and entry are on another side.

designing with the Royal Icing

Lots of pattern and Symmetry

Bright colors!

All reds and greens very storybook like - love it!

Gingerbread house in the Tropics with a Yellow Licorice Snowman

Creative cutting of candies

Book Chatter . . .at Chestnut Hill. . . .

           So I am clearly having issues with formatting this post, but bear with me. I am currently reading this book and could have finished it long ago ( just a few pages left) but am trying to savor it a little longer. It is the current read on my nightstand and I like it for that, because each chapter per Se' is short enough to read before I fall asleep although the past few nights, my eyes have shut with the book unopened in my hands to be removed by Erik when he comes in.
             This is an easy to read rich and lovingly written memoir about cooking, friends, love and time spent around the table. It is a gift to provide food and nourish our friends and family with soul filling comfort food. This book traverses the seasons of the year and the seasons of life. Each chapter is short, that it is easy to start and finish. Many include a helpful yummy recipe at the end! Read, savor, enjoy and spend time with those you love around the table!



 Bread and Wine, a Love Letter to Life around the Table by Shauna Niequest




 

Works in Progress . . .

In the quilting stage

Pumpkin Blanket- goes with book of same name by Deborah Turney Zagwyn

25th Anniversary sampler quilt needs stashing and binding

Christmas gift for daughter

Now the irony . . . while away on my sewing weekend . . . the sewing machine died and I had made so much progress on several things and was so close to getting to the next stage and then in a moment it was making a horrible noise that just kept getting worse, so we had to abort sewing and start knitting . ..  Life just never goes as planned does it?  But it is what we do when the plans go awry that counts I guess.

The November Moments No.32

"We are weighed down, every moment, by the conception and sensation of Time. And there are but two means of escaping  and forgetting this nightmare: pleasure and work. Pleasure consumes us. Work strengthens us.  Let us Choose. "           Charles Baudelaire

We are weighed down, every moment, by the conception and the sensation of Time. And there are but two means of escaping and forgetting this nightmare: pleasure and work. Pleasure consumes us. Work strengthens us. Let us choose.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/c/charlesbau139264.html#Myst9xKZrJSExk8H.99

We are weighed down, every moment, by the conception and the sensation of Time. And there are but two means of escaping and forgetting this nightmare: pleasure and work. Pleasure consumes us. Work strengthens us. Let us choose.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/c/charlesbau139264.html#Myst9xKZrJSExk8H.99

Off for a few days to my favorite retreat space with favorite friends to sew, create, be with nature and be nourished by good food, fun and friends. May be quiet for a few days unless I have time before I leave to "set up a few posts"This location is beautiful in the Hills of the Southern Tier of WNY.  It will likely snow while we are there. I will hike every day and hope to make it to the Waterfall this year.  Lots of creative goodness will be happening.

The Moments No:19

" There is so much, after all these years, that holds us together --honesty and inside jokes and hours logged and memories made and probably a thousand meals shared around the table."

Shauna Niequist author of Bread and Wine

Morning spent with old pals we have been through it all, and my how the time has flown . . .onto our next challenge of caring for older parents.

Whats baking in the Kitchen?

I bake all year around.  My Kitchen Aid mixer sits right on the counter, it is not hidden away in a closet or cupboard that I do not have . . . . it is right there and gets used sometimes daily.   I think baking is slightly meditative for me, it is certainly yummy  and I love to share with friends, family and neighbors . . . but there is something calming about measurig nout the flour, the sugar, the leavening agent.   About knowing that if I do all these singular things that I will then have something beautiful. I love the smells that it creates, sweet or spicy, it says good for your soul.  Weekends tend to be bigger times of baking, more people are around or we are entertaining.
 This weekend at Chestnut Hill we enjoyed form the Top: 

Pumpkin Muffins- my youngest' most requested, we love the crisp tops of the muffins and the kids enjoy them in their lunches all week - if there are enough left!

Next is Cinnamon Oatmeal , Raisin cookies, created from my Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, these went to an Eagle project this afternoon. 

 Next up is Cinnamon Pizza- Cinnamon sticky bun meets Fried dough meets Pizza dough.  Extra Pizza Dough, Cinnamon Filling and Cinnamon sugar, mixed and folded in and then baked,  Crispy, cinnamon sugar yumminess.  *** a Chestnut Hill Original

Lastly but not least, Apple Pie, as we had the grandparents out for a little campfire and grilled some hamburgers etc...  I like to use 20 ounce apples mixed with some other Apple that i have on hand.  I used the Pie Crust recpie from this new cookbook that I  am growing to love:  The Model Bakery     
Any online or walk in book store should have it! This crust has both Butter and Vegetable shortening it it.  This contributes to taste and flakiness. Usually Lard gives you the flakiest crust . . . but most people shy away from using this.  As the cookbook notes, the butter gives taste and the Shortening reduces the amount of water interacting with the flour so you do not form as much gluten protein. Ie: a tough crust.   side notes: When I take a pie out of the oven I will put a pizza pan on the top followed by the Tea kettle for weight.  This collapses the crust to meet the Apples and allows for serving a cleaner slice of pie.  I always bake the pie on parchment paper or a Silapat  non stick mat this aids in the clean up of the overflowing juices. 
Well that is what is baking here this weekend.  What's baking in your kitchen?

Sand Lake 2013

Blood Orange Margarita

 

  About 2 weeks ago I snuck away amidst the March Madness that fully engulfs our house- Birthdays, Robotics, scouting, Maple sap to syrup season, March is a crazy month for us.  Another wonderful  weekend away with the Girlfriends, to relax, reflect and restore.  A Weekend to sew, read, be creative in any way one wants, fabulous food and beverages, late nights, movies, laughing, eating way to many goodies, sleeping in , walking in the woods, always leaving at home the one thing that you need. Marvelous views of the still frozen lake. Sunday AM we saw a big bushy Red Tail Fox traveling across the frozen Ice.  Also saw Hooded Mergansers in the open water near the dock.  Lots of dreaming of what it might be like in the summer.  We have always only seen the lake Frozen.

 Time well spent.