November 23, 2011

January 14, 2012

On the 13th of January, I hosted a dance in our barn. It was a delightful and magical night full of new friends, old friends, dancing, singing, and laughing. Must do it again!

Janurary 1, 2012

My thoughts on the first of the year:

January 25, 2012

It's my birthday, I can {*insert} if I want to!

*Cry
*Wear Stilettos
*Eat Cheesecake
*Buy Clothes
*Laugh
*Imagine
*Get a Diamond ring
*Sing at the top of my lungs

November 21, 2011

"Part of how I keep track of time is how many rows of knitting I've done since the last time I counted."

November 11, 2011

First page of a new book.

Hello!

Hello, blog world. I can feel things stirring in me, and I know there is a future presence for me somewhere on the web, maybe here, maybe somewhere new. But in the meantime, I have decided to share my real life blog with you, bit by bit. I DO journal, and I treat my journal as an open book. Thus, I will begin posting scans or photos of my journal pages in lieu of posting traditionally.
Stay tuned!

The girl becomes a woman~

"The doll is one of the most imperious necessities, and at the same time one of the most charming instincts of female childhood.

To care for, to clothe, to adorn, to dress, to undress, to dress over again, to teach, to scold a little, to rock, to cuddle, to put to sleep, to imagine that something is somebody--all the future of woman is there.

via: http://www.kellehampton.com/2011/04/firsts.html

Even while musing and prattling, while making little wardrobes and little baby-clothes, while sewing little dresses, little bodices, and little jackets, the child becomes a little girl, the little girl becomes a big girl, the big girl becomes a woman.
The first baby takes the place of the last doll.
A little girl without a doll is almost as unfortunate and quite as impossible as a woman without children."
-Victor Hugo, Les Miserables

Blueberry Pie

A generous family from our debate club hosted a party on their property this past week. Their business is growing berries, and some friends and I were lucky enough to pick and take home a load of beautiful, crisp blueberries.
I made a blueberry pie today, and since I have not posted in oh so long (having an invalid for a camera is not very inspiring) I decided to post the recipe even before I tried a piece!
The crust is whole wheat. The recipes used are found below.


{Pieces}

Whole Wheat Pie Crust
Adapted from Cheeky Kitchen's poptart crust recipe.
http://www.cheekykitchen.com/2010/07/perfect-whole-wheat-pie-crust-homemade-pop-tarts.html

1 1/2 C whole wheat
2 t sugar
1/2 t salt
½ c. cold, cold butter, sliced
4-5 Tbsp. cold milk

In food processor (or large bowl), stir together flours, sugar, and salt. If using a processor, add butter and pulse to form a course meal; or, cut in slices of butter using a pastry cutter (or fork, if you have to).. It’s important that you don’t touch the crust with your bare hands, no matter how tempting that mixing option might be. You want the butter to stay as cold as possible and your hands will warm it up and make the crust less flaky. Pour the milk over the mixture, one tablespoon at a time, just until moistened enough to hold the dough together. Use a fork to stir the dough after you’ve added each Tablespoon of milk. Quickly form the crust into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use (at least a 1/2 hour or up to a few days).

Note: This recipe makes enough dough for the bottom crust of a 9 in. round pie pan. I made a separate additional batch about 2/3 of this size for my lattice crust.

{Helper}

Blueberry Pie Filling

2 pints blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tb Lemon Juice
3 Tb Cornstarch

Combine and let ingredients meld.

{Pie}

Assembling Pie

Take chilled dough for bottom crust from the fridge and lay on a spacious work surface covered with a large piece of wax paper or plastic wrap. Roll out dough to approximately 1/4 in. thick. The dough should be roughly circular with a 10-12 in. diameter. Remember, it must cover the bottom of the pan and reach up all sides.
When dough is rolled, invert your 9 in. pie pan in the center of your dough. At this point, you may want someone to help flip the crust. One person grab the edges of the wax paper/plastic wrap and begin to lift it up. Another set of hands sandwich the pie pan and crust and quickly flip the pan and set it on the work space. Once flipped, peel off the wax paper/plastic wrap and gently press the dough into the bottom and sides of pan.

NOTE: This can be done with one set of hands. I have done it. The best way to do so is to be sure you have enough margin on your wax paper/plastic wrap to fold it over your inverted pan. This way, you can both lift the pan and slip a hand underneath.

Pour blueberry filling into the crust.

If doing a lattice crust, roll out second ball of dough as the first. Slice into 1/2 in.-1 in. strips. Lay every other strip across pie, and weave the remaining strips through them the opposite direction. (For video instructions, see here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Jv8BGw31Cg)

Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees, then lower the heat to 350 for 35 minutes, or until nicely browned.

Enjoy!

Marinated Artichoke Hearts

I have been quite the absentee of late, but I know the only way I will get back into posting is to
BEGIN!
Therefore, I am sharing with you what little I can at the moment. Yesterday a familyt friend brought over a bag full of steamed artichokes which he had scored at his local farmers market. The seller offered him nearly her whole stock free for his chickens since they were beginning to look too old to sell. Always adventerous and resourceful, our friend decided instead to use the abundance of hearts for a new adventure:
Marinated Artichoke Hearts.
He was generous enough to share his bounty with us, and the following is the beautiful result of our efforts.


(iphone photo)