Hello and I'm sorry for the long (month-long!) delay in posting. I must admit that nearly all of my free time (what is free time, exactly?) has been spent procuring, processing, and storing food for winter and early spring. I basically choose one food item each day/night and work on it until A: it's done or B: I'm exhausted and have to go to sleep.
Of course, with two young children, much of what I do must be done after bedtimes (I'm just not willing to work with a large pot of boiling water with my little one crawling around my feet). So, the late-night hours I previously devoted to blogging (and cleaning, and knitting, and reading, etc.) have been taken up by canning, dehydrating, and freezing.
I will have to continue this haitus from posting for a few more weeks as I'm trying to get all I can put away and prepared before the frosts come (which may be soon?). I will leave you with one, brief update...
Kai turned one in September and we had a family birthday celebration. We had a completely local lunch (creamy potato soup with bacon and vegetables, fresh bread [made with flour we ground], green bean salad, and local wine. My sister did bring a mostly non-local but healthy and homemade appetizer (with my blessing) because she knows my meals never start when I say they will and we'll all be too hungry without a snack! It was a yummy cheat on an otherwise local day.
We also celebrated with a local birthday cake. I made a whole-wheat apple cake in the shape of a number one and frosted it with a French buttercream frosting made with maple syrup, eggs, and butter (no refined sugar). The frosting was rich but fantastic and a nice compliment to the apple cake. You can find the recipe in
The Naturally Sweet Baker by Carrie Davis. It's out of print but used copies are available on Amazon.
Here are a few photos of the cake (I don't claim to be a good cake froster or decorator... I can make the stuff but don't put it together well). Kai had obviously been playing with the unlit candle before this shot -
So, Happy Birthday little Kai and we'll get back to you with some catch-up updates in a few weeks! Thanks for sticking with us!
