Fog

Amazing scenery on my rush to the UPS drop box tonight.

Thanks!

Thanks so much to everyone who came to this past Saturday's open studio!  It was such a fun event, and It was so nice to see all of you!  And I wanted to be sure to let you all know how much I appreciate you making the trek down the long dirt road to do your Christmas shopping!  

And for those of you who couldn't make it on Saturday, I'll be leaving everything set up for the next few weeks, so feel free to drop me a line or send me a note to set up a time to come browse!  I'll be in there working away filling Christmas orders anyway, and I'd welcome the break!

Thanksgiving Wrap Up

 I hope you all had a lovely and delicious Thanksgiving!  I know it will probably be 364 days before anyone wants to think about cooking any Thanksgiving recipes again, but these two came out so well I had to mention them, and hope you will bookmark them for next year!  We were invited to Thanksgiving at our friends Garet and Carolyn's house, and our dishes to make were stuffing and potatoes.  Since they were doing a ham instead of a turkey, the stuffing was going to have to be made in a pan as more of a dressing.  I found a variation on my mom's chestnut stuffing here, with photos below.  The only thing I changed about this recipe was I added one beaten egg to the mixture before it went in the oven.

and a recipe for scalloped potatoes with fennel here, with photos below.  The only thing I changed on this one was to add just a teeny bit of gruyere cheese to the mixture (about 1 cup) and I only used 1 fennel bulb instead of two.

Both of these recipes cam out extremely well, and I for sure plan to make them again next year, if not before!

Making Paper Garland

My friend Carolyn and I have both really been wanting to try our hands at making paper garland and ornaments for our Christmas trees.  So this past Sunday we both dusted off our rarely used sewing machines (I mean really rarely, like once every 2 years or so), threw them up on the work table, and gave it a shot.  There was lots of trial and error, and a fair amount of grumbling, both from us, and the sewing machines, but over all it was really fun!  And not quite as hard as I expected it to be, but I think it would be really hard to get them to come out looking professional.  But it was my first time sewing on paper, and I have to say I really liked it!  I am looking forward to the post holiday crazy time so that I might be able to experiment a little more.  And perhaps I should by a book or something.  No need to reinvent the wheel, and I'm sure there are lots of cool projects to try out.  But the winging it was a really great way to start, and I ended up with two fairly long strands of garland, about 10-12 feet or so each, one with triangle pennants, and one with the snowflakey starry rectangles you see above.  You never know, this could possibly be another good use for all of those pages I remove when I make my secret compartment books!  And Carolyn made a super clever garland that was a paper version of the traditional popcorn and cranberry garland.  I'm only sorry I didn't get a picture of it before she left!  

Country Girl Diner

I've been meaning to post about the new incarnation of our local diner for ages!  For so long, in fact, that it is barely new anymore!  They opened in July, and serve a great mix of traditional diner fare and delicious and sometimes eclectic daily specials.  Sometimes they have great Mexican food specials, which is a rare treat for us gringos, and they also host guest chefs from a local inn who have a passion for asian barbecue.   The new owners and staff are super friendly and hospitable, and best of all for us, Emmett loves to go there!  It is located right on the main drag in our town (not saying much, really) and he can stand on the banquet, look out the window and watch trucks roll past.  He's two, he looks for different qualities in a dining establishment than I do, but hey, in this case, we all win!  

They don't have a web site, but for more info you can check out their facebook page here.  Or if you are in Chester, just go eat!

Sunday Breakfast

This morning I was feeling a little tired of our regular breakfast options, so I thought I'd try a pasta scramble recipe out of Everyday Pasta, by Giada de Laurentis.  I made a few changes, including shallot instead of onion, and peas instead of asparagus.   In the end you just saute some bacon, then add some chopped shallot, then add some peas or any other veggie that appeals to you (roasted red pepper would probably be delicious).  Then add whatever small cooked pasta you have on hand, we used stelline, and toss to coat.  Then add your eggs that have already been beaten with cubes of mozzarella cheese, and cook until they are softly set.  It was quite yummy, and you could make it in lots of different ways to keep it tasting fresh!

Mark Your Calendars!

If you are in the area it would be lovely to see you all!  I hope you can make it!

Local Texture

Photos from October

Festive

above photo by Sasha of What, No Mints?

It's official.  The holiday season has already begun up here on the hill.  I just received my first new holiday decor item of the year, and TH is currently out buying twinkle lights!!  Something about having a kid makes Christmas so exciting again!  And Emmett is still too little to be excited himself, so it's not that. But we are both just so excited to see all the wonderment in him as we decorate the tree and wrap all the presents and do all the cooking and baking!  I just want to put cinnamon and cloves in the little bubbly pot on our wood stove right now, and have the house smell like cookies for the next 6 weeks.  In fact, I think I'll go do that.

Ok, I'm back.  Spices are bubbling away.  To get a charmingly geeky ornament from What, No Mints? for yourself, or to browse her other adorable felted and embroidered items, click here.  I am so excited to finally have one, after much coveting from afar!

New Work, With a Twist!

I'm headed to Northampton this afternoon to participate in the fabulous Twist Indie Craft Fair.  I had a great time at the one this past May, so I am really looking forward to it.  And so of course I've been working away like a little enslaved elf in both studios to make some fun new things to sell there.  Here is a little preview of some of my favs! 

If you are in the area I totally recommend checking out this show and getting a head start on your Christmas shopping.  There are so many amazing vendors, and there are snacks!  I'm hoping to be able to scratch quite a few people off my shopping list this weekend!  Luckily my super friend Carolyn is coming to help me man (person?) my tables so I can sneak out and do my shopping!  For show hours and additional info, please click here!

And if you can't get to Twist, but are desperately in need of any of the pieces above please get in touch and we'll figure something out!

Have a great weekend everyone!!