New Valentine's Scarves

 Here are 8 new scarves freshly added to the shop!

Ithaca 2012

The sound of geese at night was like a cocktail party. This inspired a viewing of an awesome movie- Sneakers. Please add this to you netflix queue now.

 Last week, Albert and I went on a spontaneous trip to Ithaca to visit our friends, Dan and Erin. We have loved Ithaca from afar for years but have had limited exposure to the awesome city.

After a snowy night, we awoke to find giant patches of ice in the lake. 

 Dan and Erin gave us a whirlwind tour, complete with beautiful landscapes and delicious food. We ate at College Town Bagels three times during our stay, the Moosewood, and had the tastiest butternut squash risotto at the beautiful lake house we stayed. We had cozy visits with Dan's family (mmm.. warm banana bread and tea with Tom and Debbie) and yet another delicious dinner (thank you Heather and Bruce!) We also got lazy by the fire and obsessed over of season one of Downton Abbey.

Hundreds of geese and ducks float by as far as the eye can see at the tip of Cayuga Lake.

We took a nature walk around the Cornell Lab of Ornithology that inspired this happy (maybe a little cheesy but fun) photo shoot. It was brisk and beautiful!

Albert and I all bundled up for our walk around the pond.

Dan and Erin pose in Sapsucker Woods.

stay tuned..

 I had 9 new scarves to add to the shop. This little beauty I realized I can't part with.. So I have 8 new scarves to add to the shop later today. 

Fog

The juice cleanse has come to an end.. Above a fruit and veggie blend with beets making that beautiful magenta. Below a tropical mix of pineapple and mango with carrot, apple and ginger.

 The eery view of the flood plain in "our backyard" the other night while I tried my hand at avocado and carrot sushi. (Thank you Paisley for the kit!)  There is no photo. There is a learning curve to rolling sushi and our meals, though delicious, were a bit misshapen and messy.

No knead bread..

My first no-knead bread made in my first cast iron dutch oven.  I've been making no-knead pizza dough and no-knead challah for a while now and love both recipes.

Baking this bread was a pretty easy, hands-off experience- I used the original recipe from the NY Times way back when that I'd been wanting to make for several years. Just had to acquire the dutch oven (thanks Mom!).

I think with warmer weather the bread will rise more.. I had to let the initial dough sit almost 2 days (as compared to the recommended 12-18 hours at 70 degrees/room temp) because our room temp is closer to 50 and double all the other waiting times as well. 

Albert and I spent the most of the day on a juice fast to boost our 2012 resolutions of good health and exercise. Without really following any strict "cleanse" rules, we started our morning with hot water, lemon, honey and a pinch of cayenne. Then twice this morning and twice this afternoon we had pints of freshly juiced veggies and fruits. (A.M.- carrot, apple, ginger, parsley P.M.- carrot, celery, apple, parsley, beet greens plus a shot of an odwalla green smoothie packed full of spirulina, wheatgrass, etc.) 

Around 5pm, I was experiencing crankiness and absolutely needed to try the bread. Really good with a little olive oil and rosemary to dip! Prior to juice cleanse day 1, we had decided to just drink a lot all day and eat a healthy light dinner like kale salad or sushi. Upon tasting the bread we decided to have beans with homemade canned tomato sauce and kale for dinner. With the rest of the bread. 

show and tell

Here are more handmade gifts I made this Christmas..

Art for my sister inspired by this site

Taken from my cache of preserved goodies I made this fall.. Cinnamon applesauce, tomato sauce, pickled garlic, earthy spiced tomato jam, hot pepper jelly and pickled hot peppers!

 A bird bath for the garden made from an impression of a banana leaf. This was really fun- a different medium for me and I felt a little like a sculptor patting down the hand mixed cement :)

check out that detail!

Braided scarves with a tutorial here

happy new year!

Happy New Year! We've been hard at work on a new stop motion music video and they has simply been no time for weaving.. I do want to share some of the gifts I'd crafted for family and friends this Christmas. Here are cotton produce bags I made with a stamp carved out of an eraser for the pattern. I am looking forward to using them at the veggie stand this summer and quit plastic altogether at the local grocery store. For years we have been on the reusable bag bandwagon, and happy to place our broccoli  or lemons on the conveyor belt when checking out. And I use small paper bags (often available by the pears to encourage ripening) to hold loose mushrooms (they keep in the fridge better than plastic) and later the compost. But how do you corral brussel sprouts? And lentils from the bulk department? I made an extra set for myself and am excited to use them!