Happenings...

Nothing incredibly exciting has been happening... Annabelle has spent a lot of time resting on the couch pinned down by Punker Man because of some flare ups with health stuff.. But some things did happen this week. Elly May got a new dress.

Elly May made apple pie out of reject apples. She is going to get mad that this pic is posted because she isn't proud of the crust... She does fabulously beautiful crusts , but she took this one off to stick butter under it and then it wouldn't crimp right after being handled that much. ANYway, it tasted wonderful , and if you just look at the center, it is gorgeous.

Why do they do this to me???

Sauerkraut in the making..

It is a really good upper body workout if you are interested in one. We follow a recipe from either Sandor Katz "Wild Fermentation" or Sally Fallon's "Nourishing Traditions" , sort of anyway. We have since added a lot of things but the steps are the same.

This pounder thing is from Lehman's. It looked a lot smaller in the picture you know... And when it came everyone was all, "What on earth are you going to do with THAT??? .... Uh.. hang it from the ceiling as decoration?? Actually, it works great for what it was intended... pounding kraut. So there.

Such paws..

The weekend's gatherings from Farmer's Market.

Results.

Cobbler to be... 'tis in the oven now. The rest pureed and frozen in bags for smoothies later.

Why so sad J.B.?

Things that have no rhyme or reason

These made fantastic French Dips . And that there is a really really good bread book if you are looking for one.

We want some meat...

Cinderella does her own birthday dishes.. She said she likes scrubbing pots... whatever .. More power to you sister. ;-)

She makes her own cake too..

She could too. (It was on the cake in the fridge by the way.. she doesn't care if you touch the counter..)

When we were racking plum wine.

Doggie treats... with liver. It smelled... like liver.

Just because. Freeze frame!!! More like Raid frame I guess...

Fennel Salad

This is a really really good fresh salad. We used to just saute fennel and onions and it was very very good that way. But now we prefer it fresh. The fresh (and mild) anise flavor really grows on you. Anyway, start with fresh fennel. We usually use about 4 bulbs.. you don't use the tops, you can put them in a vase as they look pretty. If you have a mandolin slicer you can use that, if not just slice them thin.. thinner than this...

More like it..

Slice a read onion really thin too, then rinse it under cold running water and that will take a lot of the heat out. Otherwise it will be too overpowering for the fennel.

Dump everything together.

Like so.

Cut up some Valencia oranges. About 2 or 3 . Depending on size and juiciness

Squeeze over fennel stuff.

Also, you are going to put salt and pepper on it, then drizzle generously (but not too generously) olive oil over it all. Then toss. Taste and check seasoning. Add more salt or pepper if need be.

Voila. It is even better a few hours later after it has marinated .

Observations on Cinderella

Elly May is kind of like our maid of all work around here. Not that we are cracking the whip over her or anything. She does it all of her own accord (for which we are all INCREDIBLY grateful for... the house would probably fall down around our ears if it weren't for her..) .. I mean, she gets bored and scrubs the kitchen floor... or begs to flip a compost pile.. that is just the kind of treasure she is. Anyway, she had some observations the other day, about the real Cinderella. That fair maid is always portrayed as a delicate, petite, tiny , willowy maiden. If she really was a maid of the cinders... doing all the grunt work, all the floor scrubbing and schlepping stuff around (wood for fires, buckets of dirty water, kettles, pots etc. etc.) , that girl would have had some very good arms and been quite strong. I mean, have you seen pictures of those maids-of-all-work? They were ripped. None of these delicate wispy arms for them. No, they looked like they could bench press 200lbs. I really think Cinderella would have had some trouble with the sleeve bands on her dress. Of course, since she had a custom seamstress of a fairy godmother, I guess she could have remedied that problem.. or maybe it was sleeveless.. who knows.

Anyway, REAL Cinderellas , should have big arms ... if they are real anyway. I'm not sure about the tiny feet either.

Lots of Doggies

We are tired, yes we are..

I want to pinch!!

Whooo, look under here!!

The couch is his playground..

Living is sooo exhausting..

Perfect length for a tongue...Can you lick your nose??

What a big mouth you have..

Dis is de life...

Don't let me disturb you.

Is that really comfortable?

Guess so.

Booze hound.

De end.

In the Sewing Room

First on the agenda, was some pj's. My former nightgowns were getting rather thin and holey as I haven't sewn in .... ages. Anyway, got those out of the way...


Here Mary Alice is kind enough to model for me.

Then I was moving things around in the sewing room and found a pattern that looked simple and quick (I'm tired of complicated and long... the dogs slobber on everything anyway...) and I had some fabric in my stash to use. First I cut out a toile (tester bodice , toil is pronounced "twal" by the way) to test the fit. Always , always do that first. It saves you a lot of grief later .

Voila, bodice done. The skirt on the pattern wasn't full enough for my tastes so I dug through my huge pattern mess and located the circular skirt pattern I'd drafted ages ago . I keep telling myself I'm not going to do anymore circular skirts because I hate ironing and you have miles of ironing to do with one of those.. But they are so much fun to wear...

Dad's slippers... the latest in pattern weight technology.

Pinning the lining down for handstitching. I put pockets in this thing too. It is an extra step that I always hate but later, it is nice to have pockets...

Then dress has hung on Mary Alice all night so the bias in the skirt can hang out. See how wonky it is? That and I think Mary Alice is listing to the left.. well, her right I guess..

Marking the hem.. I did sort of straighten her out first..

Sewing the hem... it takes years... Well, not really, it just seems that way.

This is without the hem but a full shot.. since I didn't get a front shot later. Ignore all that mess in the background..

Back shot.

And here is the whole reason for the full skirt. Tis fun to twirl. ;-)