A Year and Some Change

And they tell him, "Take your time. It won't be long now.
'Til your drag your feet to slow the circles down."

And the seasons they go 'round and 'round

❧  Joni Mitchell

It has been over a year since my last post and oh my! there have been some changes.  I've moved, obtained a small flock of hens, married and last but not least, I will have a kiddo this spring!  Nothing like taking a head-first plunge into adulthood and all those other things that I secretly thought I would not have to even think about for years to come.  These new changes are simultaneously exciting and frightening.  A husband and a new, tiny human on the way; not to mention fresh eggs (nearly) every day... how crazy is that?    For now I still feel like a kid playing house, but I'm sure I will grow into my new surroundings.

Get Happy, Eat Cake

Forget your troubles, c'mon, get happy

You better chase all your cares away.

❧ Judy Garland as Jane Falbury in Summer Stock

It has snowed here.  A lot.  I love snow and today was absolutely gorgeous, but sometimes winter starts to feel long and when I need to get happy quick the only thing to do is bake something tasty.

Today I made a small adaptation to a recipe called "Granny Cake," and I think I came up with something quite yummy so, dearest folks, I am sharing the recipe with you.

Sarah's Granny Cake a.k.a  Savanna Banana Cake

Ingredients:
¾ C. butter
3 Large Eggs
6 Ripe Bananas (I mean ripe like, left-in-your-freezer-for-3-months-because-you-had-no-idea-what-else-to-use-them-for-and-now-you-have-22-bananas-in-your-freezer ripe)
½ can (about 8 oz.) Peaches, drained
1 tsp. Vanilla
3 C. Flour
2 C. Sugar
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Nutmeg (fresh ground, if possible)
½ tsp. Salt
½ tsp. Ground Cloves
1 C. Chopped Walnuts 
Powdered Sugar for dusting

Special Tools:
1 Bundt Pan
Electric mixer

• Bring eggs and butter to room temperature (leave out on the counter for about half an hour)
• Preheat oven to 325°
• Grease and flour your bundt pan and set aside 
•  Beat butter in your electric mixer until it is light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, to butter and continue to beat with mixer. 
• Add peaches, bananas, and vanilla to egg and butter mix.  
• In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients (excluding nuts and powdered sugar)
• Slowly incorporate dry ingredients into butter mix until you batter is mostly smooth (it should look like a quick-bread batter)
• Fold in chopped walnuts
• Pour batter into prepared bundt pan and bake for 70-80 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean. 
• Let cake cool for at least 10 minutes before inverting it onto a fancy plate
• Dust cake with powdered sugar and enjoy!

Smother Mother: Learning to Let a Garden do It's Thing

I am confident that, in the end, common sense and justice will prevail. I'm an optimist, brought up on the belief that if you wait to the end of the story, you get to see the good people live happily ever after. - Yusuf Islam (aka Cat Stevens)

This is my first season as a real gardener.  Not the back-porch-bulk-peanut-butter-container gardener, but an actual yard-garden gardener.   What have I learned thus far?

  

1.  You can't re-use nasty soil from the cactus you managed to kill in order to sprout your seedlings.  There is such a think as damping off and it kills your plants.  Why risk it?

2.  Pumpkins grow wherever they darn well please

3.  There is a reason that certain plants should be planted out in April and others should be planted out in June.  In short, read the back of your seed packets.  

4.  Being a "smother mother" doesn't always yield the best results.  Ignoring your plants isn't a great idea either.

5.  Talking to your plants really works.  They like the attention. 

6.  Weeding is important and if you are out there talking to your plants anyway, you may as well make them more comfortable.

7. Watering is important too.  Generally your plants will tell you when they need water.  If the ground is dry it's a good hint.  Also if your plants are droopy and rather thirsty looking they probably want to be watered.  It's a good idea to schedule a water check into your day.  Unless it's raining, in which case you probably can forgo the watering and watch a movie instead.  

8.  Stay on top of harvesting.  Cucumbers and beans will go crazy if you don't snatch them as soon as they are ready to be eaten.  I've heard tomatoes are similar, though in my experience, I haven't had that problem yet.

9.  Learn the art of freezing, pickling or sharing.  Chances are, you will have too much food so why not save some for later or give some to a garden-less friend?

10.  Have fun! That's what gardening is all about, Charlie Brown.

Change of Pace

I have moved to lovely Upstate New York and things are beginning to settle into place.  Do I have an actual room to call my own? Not yet.  Is there a grocery store in town?  Not exactly... but there will be soonish.  Oh, how I've missed the little pleasures of the north country.

I've been here since the end of March and since moving I have made eight dozen newspaper pots for seedlings, planted tons of seeds in the aforementioned pots, eaten three delicious cheese rolls, pruned two lilac bushes, pruned many, many raspberry canes, picked up a truckload of cherry flooring, mudded and spackled and mudded and spackled and sanded and mudded the third floor of the B&B, baked some tasty bran muffins, baked some tasty orange poppy-seed scones, baked some tasty banana walnut muffins knit a seed-stitch scarf that took a long time but that I am exceptionally pleased with and ironed and cleaned and dusted and vacuumed more than I ever thought I could in the span of two weeks.  It has been heaven.

Despite the fact that I no longer have easy access to the wondrous goodies from the co-op and the great company of the folks in B-town, the work and lifestyle here has been excellent - I love setting my own hours - even if I am working for  twelve hours a day instead of eight.  

The biggest drawback from this new way of life is that it is incredibly easy to get sucked into the work that needs to be done around the house and my small business has taken a backseat for the time being.  If only there were a few more hours in each day.

Mud and Drywall

I'm currently in Canton, New York, helping a good friend finish the top floor of his bed and breakfast, 24 East Main.  It has been so invigorating to put down the knitting needles and pick up a broad knife and a spackle tray.  There is also something to be said for a full day of physical labor; I've been sleeping and eating like a champion.  More on the progress of the B&B later, but for now, I think it's supper time.