by Krista | Apr 6, 2015 | Autumn
“rest, nature, books, music, love for one’s neighbor
— such is my idea of happiness.”
Leo Tolstoy
Our weekend was a whirl of work and commitments, a 24-hour flu and visits with dear friends, but today was a delicious blend of rest and creativity.
We gave ourselves the entire morning – a long time when you wake at 4:30 a.m. – to do whatever we wished. No jobs, no chores, no demands, just simple pleasures and quiet moments.
Bear made us cuppas and then we disappeared to our corners. I hunkered down in my office, curled up on the couch with a blanket, gorgeous magazines, a new book from my friend Sue, and a scented candle flickering cheerily on my desk.
I can’t remember the last time I spent an entire morning reading. It was like reuniting with a beloved friend. I lingered over gorgeous images, closed my eyes and mulled over thought-provoking words, smiled to myself at the sheer luxury of these hours of alone time to restore my mind, spirit, body, and creativity.
When the afternoon finally rolled around, I was peaceful and excited, ready to tackle my chores.
I headed out to my gardens, luxuriating in hot sunshine on my skin after days of dark skies. I gathered tomatoes and asparagus, checked on my late crop of green bell peppers and chillies, chatted with the dogs then headed back to the house.
The afternoon was spent working my way through boxes of tomatoes and capsicum, bags of chillies, bowls of pears and grapes. My dehydrators are humming again, filled with fruit and veg that will be dried by morning. A big pot of roasted tomato garlic sauce is cooling on the counter, almost ready to be packaged and put in the freezer. Chillies were turned into a luscious and spicy Tomato Chilli Jam. Now I can rest easy knowing all the fresh produce has been taken care of.
With all those gorgeous roast veggies, dinner was a no-brainer: pasta tossed with roughly chopped tomatoes, silky nuggets of roasted garlic, and freshly grated Parmesan-Romano. Simple but scrumptious.
Now it’s time to bid goodnight to the world, and crawl in bed for a bit more reading before sleep.
What is the best book you’ve read this year? xo
Slow-roasted Garlic Tomato Sauce
Ingredients:
ripe tomatoes
olive oil
sea salt
freshly ground pepper
fresh herbs (thyme, rosemary, basil, oregano, etc)
heads of garlic
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 F (250 C)
2. Line baking sheets with baking paper.
3. Quarter tomatoes and spread in one layer, skin side down, on baking sheet. Scatter with fresh herbs. Drizzle with olive oil and add sea salt and ground pepper.
4. Roast for 90 minutes in center of oven. If tomatoes are in large chunks, you may need to roast an additional 30 minutes.
5. 20 minutes before tomatoes are done, place tray of garlic heads in the oven.
6. Remove from oven and let tomatoes cool 5-10 minutes.
7. While tomatoes are cooling, use rolling pin to crush roasted garlic and press out the soft, cooked cloves. Pick out any extra bits of paper.
8. In large blender or food processor, puree tomatoes and garlic in batches. Pouring into a large pot when each batch is done.
9. Whisk sauce together and let sit 30 minutes for flavors to meld and sauce to cool.
10. Pour into freezer containers and freeze until ready to use.
by Krista | Apr 2, 2015 | Autumn
One of the things I love best about living on our farm is that I’m always learning new things. I may get tired and dirty here, but I never, ever get bored.
This week I learned more about my favorite trees on our property: Golden Rain Trees. Although they are lovely and green all year round, Autumn is when they come into their true glory. First they’re covered with tiny yellow flowers that give a siren call to any bee within sniffing distance. These then fall off, carpeting the ground in a sea of yellow. They’re replaced by these gorgeous fuchsia pods filled with small green seeds that later turn black.
I love the Golden Rain Trees for their shade, their colors, their beauty, and this week I learned, much to my amazement, that the seeds are edible if roasted. I cannot wait to try them in a few weeks when they are ready for gathering.
This weekend we trimmed one of our Golden Rain Trees to ensure our new cider orchard will have plenty of sunlight. I made numerous cuttings from the fallen branches and planted them to see if they will take. I’d love to have a whole new bunch of rain trees to plant around our farm.
I like how the branches provide cuttings, seeds, firewood, and even beautiful displays of gorgeous, amber sap. When I was a little girl I used to love roaming the woods and finding nuggets of jeweled sap on various trees. I would taste the different types, most rather pitchy and resinous, always hoping that they would taste as wondrous as they looked. I still think they’re beautiful, like droplets of spun glass against the rough wood.
With the big winds we’ve had this week, the Golden Rain continues to fall, covering the dirt, grass, potted plants, and even my rain-filled wheelbarrow. It makes me smile every day.
Do you have a favorite tree where you live? xo
by Krista | Mar 30, 2015 | Autumn
With great delight we welcomed the cooler temperatures of Autumn this weekend. I can’t tell you how lovely it is to not need a fan blowing on me all day just to keep going. I’m a happy camper.
With the decrease in temperature came an increase of energy, and I’ve been working hard putting up all sorts of fruits and veggies for the cold winter months.
Our markets are currently full to bursting with inexpensive boxes of ripe tomatoes, fat apples, and oh-so-juicy pears, and Bear and I happily load them into our car each week to be turned into delicious things.
This weekend I made trays of roasted tomatoes and pureed them into scrumptious tomato sauce that is now frozen and ready for winter pasta dishes and hearty soups.
I hauled out all three dehydrators and have kept them humming as they dry stacks of tomatoes, apples, and pears. The dried tomatoes will be packed in jars with capers and garlic then covered with olive oil. The apples and pears are for snacking now and to be used in dried fruit pies and puddings down the road.
I also did a lot of baking, two dozen whole grain sunflower seed flat bread rolls and a loaf of sunflower seed bread.
Mmm, it smells so good in here.
I ended the baking, cooking, preserving frenzy by making a quick and easy Maple Fig Cobbler using up the last of the figs I picked with my friend Katy a couple of months ago. They’ve been waiting in the freezer for a just right recipe, and this was it. The hearty whole grain cobbled crust was a wonderful accompaniment to the melt in your mouth fig filling. It was a delicious way to end a busy day.
What is your favorite part about the season you are in? xo
Maple Fig Cobbler
Ingredients:
10-12 fresh figs, washed and quartered
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp real maple syrup
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp maple extract
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 F (200 C).
2. In large saucepan over medium-high heat, melt 2 Tbsp butter and add fresh figs. Drizzle with maple syrup and simmer until sauce forms from the butter, syrup, and fig juices. Pour into pie plate.
3. In medium bowl stir together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Using fingers, work in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
4. Add milk and maple extract, stir with fork until soft dough forms. Will be quite wet.
5. Using a tsp or your fingers, cover fig mixture with dollops of dough to create cobbled surface.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes until crust is golden and fig mixture bubbling.
7. Serve warm or chilled.
by Krista | Mar 26, 2015 | Autumn
“Fall has always been my favorite season.
The time when everything bursts with its last beauty,
as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale.”
Lauren DeStefano
It doesn’t feel like Autumn yet, but I can see glimpses of it in colored leaves and where the sun shines through my kitchen windows.
This week is filled with all sorts of interesting things: a seminar specifically to help immigrants like me navigate Australian business, a bakery date with Bear, and a bustling artisan market in our village of Allora.
I’ve been wood-burning for weeks, nay, months, in preparation, filling storage bins with all sorts of wooden beauties.
Like this picture frame – I love the waves in the wood grain.
And this lovely glossy bowl that shimmers in the light.
This cute little spice bottle is my latest addition to my collection, just added last night.
And I’m smitten by the variations in coloring in these acacia wood salad servers.
It’s been sheer pleasure making all these things, the scent of wood smoke wafting through the house as if we have a wood-stove crackling away.
If you are anywhere near Allora this weekend, or fancy a drive in the country to see the last of the sunflower fields, come on down to the Allora RSL Hall between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. to say hello to yours truly, and see all sorts of beautiful handmade objects from an array of skilled artisans.
If you can’t make it to Allora but would still like to see more wood-burned items, pop over to my Etsy shoppe for a visual wander.
Wishing you a beautiful week. XO What creative outlet makes your heart happy?
by Krista | Mar 24, 2015 | Autumn
“Finish every day and be done with it.
You have done what you could.
Some blunders and absurdities, no doubt crept in.
Forget them as soon as you can, tomorrow is a new day;
begin it well and serenely, with too high a spirit
to be cumbered with your old nonsense.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
It’s been a rough couple of months as I’ve weathered another bout of glandular fever. Every project has been preceded and followed by naps, each day a fog of pain and exhaustion. But the past few days I’ve felt the fog lifting, the pain receding, my energy returning. And it is marvelous.
This morning I woke early enough to go for a wander in my gardens just as the sun rose over the fields. It felt so good to be outside, breathing in deeply of cool, rain-washed air, finding all sorts of beauties glimmering in the morning sunshine. I love this time of day with its exquisite light, so clear and clean and fresh. The world feels like a welcoming, magical place.
We’ve had glorious rains the last couple of days, and the gardens have surged back to life. Brittle leaves are lush and unfurled, blossoms bursting from their casings, tiny veggies emerging from soil that has been dry and barren for so long.
After feeling parched and withered for months on end, it is wonderful to see damp earth and dew-drenched flowers and know that the seeds and seedlings now have a fighting chance to produce delectable things for my winter kitchen.
With the return of rain and my energy, I’m excited to start dreaming and planning again. When you’re sick, days consist of The Essentials and little else. But now I get to make plans knowing that soon I will have the strength to follow through. That’s a lovely thing.
So today I’m moving gently through my day quietly working on things that have had to wait: cleaning closets, organizing my kitchen, getting seedlings out of their punnets and into my gardens.
It feels good to start this day “well and serenely, with too high a spirit to be cumbered with [my] old nonsense.”
Old nonsense. I like that. Illness isn’t nonsense, it’s just something that happens, but the accompanying frustration and discouragement are unwelcome companions on any journey. It feels good to thank them for dropping by, then wave farewell and breathe a sigh of relief that they are no longer hanging about.
What is lifting your spirits today? xo
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