Island Hearth & Handicrafts

Homebound Projects with my Talented Daughter

2012-01-19T14:53:00.000-08:00

The snow flies and in between sledding and walks in the snow we're inside with busy hands. A pile of felted sweaters call to us and my daughter (13 years old) and I scour the internet for ideas. Look what we made!

I met a lovely lady named Frances Clement Fawcett this fall at the Fiber Farm Tour. She makes fabulous creations from felted wool and teaches a slipper making class! E. stitched these up in no time from Frances' pattern:
This is my pair:

E. made these moccasin type slippers from a Martha Stewart pattern. You can't see but there are felt bees decorating the top (Sorry, I'm a bad photographer...). They're so cute and comfy!

And I made these from this pattern on Craftstylish. I'm not a crocheter but I'm loving the easy crochet trim on these and the red pair above-

So we've been cutting and sewing but we still have to eat! E. is becoming an expert cookie baker/decorator. She made these gluten and dairy-free cookies for her dad. The recipe is from Gluten Free Girl and the decorating ideas come from Cookie Craft.

And the sheep still have to be fed. Here they are in the snow. My oldest girl, Belle, is very friendly these days and loves a scratch. I give her some love every time I do chores. I like to kiss her between her horns. She smells so wonderfully sheepy!

Hoping you're cozy and warm inside while enjoying the winter beauty outside.

Happy Tasha Tudor Day!

2011-08-28T06:59:00.001-07:00

I've been asked to do a post about Tasha Tudor on this Tasha Tudor Day. Much has been said about this independent, creative, wildly talented, eccentric woman. If you have never before heard of Tasha Tudor please Google her. I can't possibly sum her up in a paragraph or two.

What is it I admire about Tasha Tudor? What can I say about her lifestyle, her artwork, her independent spirit, her talent, that hasn't been said before? While I primarily admire her for forging along against the grain and creating her own reality by living the lifestyle she wanted to live; on a more practical level, I admire her perseverance and her patience.

I've been told I lead a Tasha Tudor lifestyle. Yes, I spin, knit, dye, cook from scratch, heat with wood, garden, can, make bread, raise animals, make dolls, dip candles, turn wood, etc. But I know I'm nothing like her. I am a product of a modern society who admires the skills of the past and tries to attain some of them. Tasha Tudor seemed to not even be of this time. She was a modern embodiment of a woman of the 1830's. She said so herself. And in looking at her life and some of the skills she had we get a snapshot of a mindset that is practically nonexistent in this day and age.

Yes, I shear my own sheep, wash, card, spin and knit the wool. This is fun and very satisfying for me. But the fact that Ms. Tudor (for I think it's a bit too familiar to call her Tasha) grew flax, painstakingly processed this plant into a softened fiber worthy of spinning, spun it, warped her loom, wove it into fabric, finished this fabric, cut (!!!) the resulting fabric into pattern pieces and hand sewed these pieces into beautiful shirts for her family... This blows me away. The time, the patience, the skill involved in so many areas to see this through. I can't imagine her level of satisfaction at the finished product. And the perseverance she had to see it through to the very end.

It demonstrates a pace of life and the possession of an attention span practically unseen in this day and age. Ms. Tudor's hands and mind were always engaged. I'm sure she didn't' space out in front of the television or computer, or waste time with video games.

Her level of skill and craftsmanship in all she did, her patience to see her projects through, the creativity involved in fashioning new worlds out of the things she made (I'm thinking of her dolls and all their very real lives and interactions!) These are some of the many fine traits of Ms. Tudor's I wish I could posses.

So this afternoon I'll have a cuppa tea and look over my favorite non fiction Tasha Tudor book, Tasha Tudor's Heirloom Crafts, and plan my next project...

Wool Dolls at the Fiber Farm Tour!

2011-07-02T20:24:00.000-07:00

I'm pleased to announce my participation in the Olympic Penninsula Fiber Farm Tour on September 17-18th! I will be selling wool dolls and figures at Barry and Linda Taylor's beautiful farm/business: Taylored Fibers in Quilcene. For those unacquainted with my work I'm posting photos of the kind of figures I will be offering during the tour. Please note: I can't guarantee these exact dolls will be offered for sale. Some have been sold and others are in process.

My needle felted figures are made from wool roving and dry felted with a single felting needle. All facial features are sculpted from colored wool.

Some will be poseable, like this sassy Autumn chick with red dreds:

Some will be tea cozies.... ...and some haven't told me who they want to be yet....
And Christmas is not far away! I'll be sure to have some Santas ready .... There will be seasonal characters such as shown in my December 2007 post (scroll down)! I love the Brownie and the elves... And because I'm incapable of resisting thrift store woolens so you'll find dolls like Frances (above) and Ed (below) . They're made out of felted cashmere, lambswool and hardy Harris Tweed.. The faces on these dolls are embroidered and they have detachable wings made out of vintage quilts.
There will be so much going on at Taylored Fibers (and all the other farms on the tour). Do stop by and say hello!

New Lambs

2011-04-12T15:47:00.000-07:00

So I haven't posted to my blog in over a year. Now my old Easter photos are relevant again! I'm so behind I'm timely...

But I had to post a couple photos of my lambs, born April 1st and 2nd. Fulfilled a lifelong dream of sharing my life with sheep last summer when I purchased two Icelandic ewes. Borrowed a ram lamb from a friend for the fall and sure enough, he did his job. Got two sets of twins from two ewes who up until this point had only produced single lambs. More babies than I'd ever thought I would have!

I ended up with three rams and one ewe. I can't have that many sheep on my property so having three rams made it easier to decide who to keep. The boys will be butchered this fall and I will keep the ewe lamb. She's the black one shown above. Her name is April. Her mother, Belle, has a wonderful fleece and I was hoping for a colored ewe lamb out of her and I was fortunate enough to get just that. The little white one had a rough start and had to take a bottle once in a while so he runs right up for a scratch..So sweet.

These are Icelandic sheep, a primitive breed that is sheared twice a year. Wonderful wool, wonderful meat. They are cousins to the smaller Shetlands. You can read about them here.

It's a joy to watch all the lambs bounce and run around together. Certainly makes it seem like spring around here.

I'll try to post more often. Certainly more than once a year!

Happy Easter

2010-04-02T18:55:00.000-07:00

You really can't improve upon Mother Nature.Why does plastic Easter grass come in neon yellow and pink? Have you ever seen grass this color? How does the huge aisle of disposable plastic Easter crap at Wal Mart glorify God's promise to the world through Jesus' resurrestion?

These are questions I ask myself as I (reluctantly) shop at this time of year. So I cut a couple of soon-to-be flowering branches of blossoms off the Yellow Transparent tree. Then my daughter walked in with a beautiful bird's nest she found on the ground in our woods. That settled it. I was glad to keep our Easter decorations very natural this year. And I love the results.We adore birds and thier eggs so we have amassed quite a collection of egg shells and nests here and there. It's hard to see from my mediocre pictures but on and around this "tree" are Aracauna, brown and white chicken eggs, small white dove eggs we blew back when we kept those lovely birds, a couple tiny wren eggs from an abandoned nest (we found the dead mama. Very sad.), various halves of robin's eggs, a crow eggshell or two, even a speckled eggshell of a shorebird found at the beach. Oh, and my friend Kristin gave me a Great Blue Heron's shell she found when she took a walk in the rookery!

And check out the golf ball sized wasps nest my little boy found on the ground. I love it:The blossoms about to burst into flower, the eggs about to hatch, the renewal of this holy holiday..It must be Spring!

There's so much natural beauty to enjoy at this time of year. Who needs pink plastic grass?

Happy Easter!

Taking the Etsy Plunge

2010-02-12T19:20:00.001-08:00

WARNING: The following post contains shameless plugs...

Well we've got our boxes ready, written our descriptions, figured out photos, pondered postage and now our Etsy shop is up and running. We have a lot of cool handmade things waiting in the wings to add to our store but will do it day by day and not all at once. (Above is Frances, an Everyday Angel)

Honest Abe is pictured above. (BTW-Happy Birthday today, Mr. President!)

And below is a bowl hand carved by my husband Ralph:

Our store is called The Yellow Farmhouse

So come on over and check us out sometime.

Needle Felted Santas!

2009-12-28T19:18:00.001-08:00

I figured I'd better post these pictures before Easter comes and no one cares anymore. These are four Santas a local lady commissioned me to make for Christmas this year. These guys are all made from 100% wool and dry needle felted. Basically I use a special barbed needle to poke, poke, poke the wool, compressing and shaping as I go until the doll is firm and in the shape I want. I use a wire armature in all my dolls so they can be gently posed.
There are many wonderful tutorials on the internet if you'd like to learn more about needle felting.
Here's all four Santas. I apologize for the lack of scale. The largest is about 14 inches tall:
This is the smallest. A traditional Santa. I liked his bald head too much to cover it up with a hat:Here's a close up of the Old World Santa along with the small traditional guy:

And here's a close up what I called the Jolly Old Elf (left) and Cartoon Santa:

Here's the cartoonish Santa outside. His wrists and ankles are exaggeratedly small. He was fun to make:

You can't see it but Old World Santa has a red tassel hanging from the back of his hood. I think he's my favorite.

Here's the Jolly Old Elf outside among the holiday greens. He has vintage shell buttons down his shirt. His hands gave me trouble:

Well there they are! I have some more one of a kind needle felted figures almost done and I'm hoping to get my Etsy shop up and running to offer them for sale. Will post when they're available.

Thanks for letting me share!

Christmas Songs, 2009

2009-12-21T14:23:00.000-08:00

It occurred to me that every year I seem to glom on to certain Christmas songs. I gravitate toward a new favorite every year and can't seem to get enough of it.

So here are my top picks for the last few years along with my unsolicited opinions. Be warned: I'll be discussing older singers and songs here. Sorry, but I have no desire to hear Jessica Simpson, SheDaisy or 69Boyz's interpretations of any of the following. (And it also can't help but occur to me that at this late date I have about a million other things I should be doing rather than writing down these opinions. Oh well. Christmas procrastination comes but once a year.)

A couple of years ago I was all about Santa Baby sung by Eartha Kitt. Who can't love her sexy delivery and the hilarious, blatant greed the lyrics espouse? Favorite: "Santa Baby I forgot to mention one little thing. A ring. I don't mean on the phone...."While I love everything about this song I would rather stick a pine needle in my eye than listen to Madonna's recent pouty, babydoll interpretation. I can't switch the radio station fast enough when this comes on. Madonna, the material girl? Please. Sorry Madge, you ain't got nothin' on Miss Kitt, the original material girl. Don't let go of that mink! Grrrr!

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But this year it's all about Nancy Wilson's That's What I Want for Christmas. Here we have the absolute antithesis of Santa Baby's gimme greed. "Anyone can wish for all the trinkets in the window. Some can even buy the things they see. But the presents that I want you'll never find in any window. Bring me love and bring it just for me." It's a wildly romantic song, musically perfect. I love how she effortlessly hits those high notes:

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A close runner up this year is Lena Horne's Jingle All the Way. Her joy and enthusiasm is infectious in this recording. She sounds like she's having the time of her life, and who wouldn't be with a band like that backing you up? It's my fantasy karaoke pick:

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Last year I was crazy about Dean Martin's Baby it's Cold Outside. What a great song! Synopsis: A lady friend has dropped in for a short visit with Dean but now she needs to get home. He tries to convince her to stay. For every excuse she voices why she needs to go he has a more compelling reason why she should stay. The interplay weaves back and forth as such:
She: My sister will be suspicious
He: Man your lips look delicious
Until finally she relents:
She: Well maybe just a half a drink more
He: Never such a blizzard before
Dean sells this song with a suave charm that's irresistible. Heck, I'd stay with him, nicotine stains, martini breath and all.
The original version is sometimes credited as a duet with Doris Day but if you listen closely you'll hear a soft chorus of female voices, not just one. While Dean carries this song wonderfully on his own this version lacks the intimacy and interplay of the one-on-one lyrics.

While I'm usually not a fan of modern singers caroling with the deceased I have to say I break from tradition here and endorse the newer version with Martina McBride singing opposite Dean. You can really hear her side of the song. It works:

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But whatever you do please don't picture Miss Mc Bride and Dean Martin together acting out this song in a modern music video. If you do the age difference suddenly turns the cozy banter into a decidedly creepy and inapropriate exchange. And Dean morphs into a lecherous old drunk determined to make this sweet young thing his latest victim:

She: "I ought to say no no no sir" He: "Mind if I move closer"
She: "The answer is no" He: Ooh darlin' it's cold outside

Hey! No means no, you jerk!

Clearly the only sensible course of action is for Martina to throw his drink in his face, knee him in the crotch and make a run for it, blizzard or no blizzard.

But please don't think about that. It kind of ruins the song and I'm sorry I brought it up.

And lastly, I know I won't be making any friends here espousing my dislike of Michael Buble. I'm not sure where my distaste originates but it has something to do with Sinatra. Sorry Michael, you're not Frank and you never will be. Get over it and move on with your life. Sing commercial jingles. Better yet learn how to play the piano, set your tip jar on top and park yourself in the corner of the lounge at the Holiday Inn near the airport. This is a more fitting use of your talents. Because every time I hear you I picture good old Nick Winters (or Summers, depending on the time of year):

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Thank you! Thankyouverymuch! I love you all! I'll be here all week!

Merry Christmas!

PS-Perhaps in a fit of musical rebellion my husband has recently become infatuated with The Ventures Christmas album. Don't miss their rendition of Sleigh Ride. Because if there's a musical style that glorifies the birth of our Lord and Saviour better than surf guitar I just don't know what it is..

Fruitcake? Fruitcake!

2009-11-23T21:50:00.000-08:00

I understand why fruitcake has been given a bad rap. I won't go near the stuff in the store. Too sweet. Too artificial. I do like most homemade fruitcake and I especially like the one I make.

Why do I make fruitcake? There are many reasons. Because I can make it well ahead of time and it just gets better. It's money in the bank. I love the convenience of pulling some out of the fridge and slicing it up when guests pop in. It's perfect with tea or a hot toddy. I travels and ships extremely well.

Because when your friend Clarice also makes fruitcake you can swap and have more than one kind!

But most of all I love fruitcake because within each bite I recall the tastes of the the fruit of summer coupled with the nuts and spices of autumn infused with the heady spirits of the new year. What could be better?

So why this post about fruitcake? Because after making at least a dozen fruitcakes every year for a solid 13 Christmases now I feel like I've got a couple tricks to pass along that might make things easier for the novice:

1) If you dry some of your own fruit like I do cut it up in a large dice before you dry it. (It's much easier to cut up the fruit fresh rather than after it's dried.)

2) Make your cakes as early in the season as you can. Before Halloween is ideal, though around Thanksgiving is fine too. I have a friend who makes her fruitcakes in January for the coming holiday! (The amazing part is her recipe has no booze and yet the cakes keep very well!) It's so nice to have these done before the Christmas rush starts in earnest.

3) My biggest tip: Do not bother with cheesecloth or brushing on the booze. It's so messy and time-consuming! Note my method of dipping the cakes in the brandy. All sides get covered well and it's so easy!

This recipe is nothing more than dried fruit and whole nuts barely held together with a bit of applesauce cake batter and aged in apricot brandy. It's like everything you like to nibble on in one tasty package! Use whatever fruit and nuts you have on hand or are partial to. I like to go heavy on the apricots because they're tart and contrast well with the sweeter fruits and the batter. I dry my own apricots every year especially for Christmas baking because I hate the sulphered, tasteless apricots in the store. If you have a source for apricots that actually taste like apricots, go for it. If not, consider drying your own. I dry cherries, figs, prunes, pears, apples and apricots each year for my fruitcakes. The combination varies each year depending on how our trees produce and what I can pick up by the case from the farm stand. I make up the difference from the bulk section of the store.

You want 10 cups of dried fruit, cut into a large dice:

Here's a suggested combination:

2 c apricots

1 c cranberries

2 c figs or cherries
1 c golden raisins

2 c pears

2 c apples

Pour 1c apricot brandy over this fruit, cover, and let it set for a few hours or overnight until it has softened a bit.

Now get your nuts together in a large bowl. I like to go heavy on the hazelnuts and pecans but again, use what you have or like. One year I happened to have a lot of brazil nuts and they were lovely in the fruitcake.
A total of 7 cups assorted whole nuts:

3 c pecans

1 c almonds

1 c walnuts

2 c hazelnuts, lightly toasted and skins rubbed off with a dishtowel

Sift together the dry ingredients:

3 c all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp cloves

Whisk wet ingredients together in bowl:

4 large eggs, beaten well

1 3/4 c brown sugar, packed

1 1/4 apple or pear sauce

3/4 c melted butter, cooled

1/2 c molasses

Got everything together? Now comes the fun part. First, throw the flour mixture over the nuts and mix well:

Then combine the nut/flour mixture with the fruit (in the biggest darned bowl you've got):

The last thing you do is pour the egg mixture over all this and mix until you don't see any more flour-coated fruit or nuts:

Then divide this chunky mixture into 8 or 9 greased mini loaf pans. Be sure to pack it down so it fills the corners:

Bake at 300 degrees for at least 1 hour. Shift the pans around halfway through baking. When done the cakes should be a deep mahogany color and spring back when touched.

Let cool for 15 minutes then remove from pan. (I like to firmly tap the pans on the counter on each side so they let go. If some fruit sticks to the pan just press it back on the cake. It will meld back together. ) Let cool.

In a regular sized loaf pan (preferably glass) pour at least 1/2 inch of apricot brandy:

Dip each side of every fruitcake into the brandy and set in a waxed paper-lined pan. Wrap the whole pan up well and refrigerate.

Don't have room in your fridge? No worries. Your cakes will probably be even better if stored at cool room temperature. Find a cool spot in your basement or even your garage. Put cakes in an airtight, tamper-proof container out of the way and let them sit for a couple weeks.
After a couple weeks have passed in storage, take them out and repeat the dipping process once more.

You're done! You can wrap them up individually for gift giving. I like to cut a few loaves in half and wrap up these up too. (Dip cut side in brandy). I like to wrap them in plastic wrap or waxed paper and cover this with aluminum foil and finish with a red ribbon. They'll be at their best in a couple more weeks but for now your work is done and the rest is all pleasure!

And just in case you think kids don't like fruitcake? My 6 year old saw the cakes cooling on the rack and he said "Fruitcake! Yum yum diddly dum!"

Sculpting, Salsa, and That Darned Maid

2009-08-17T23:01:00.000-07:00

Certain people (you know who you are) have been nagging me to post something to my blog. I'll admit I am way behind on this. After my dad died I had visions of throwing myself into a creative whirlwind, transforming the ideas in my head into tangible objects and generally getting back into the swing of things.

But alas, it's been a slow process.

My creative space is still the repository of many of my dad's papers and things that I have to go through and organize. AND we adopted a kitty a couple months ago and she terrorized my poor canaries so much that they (and their large cage) have also moved into the studio (so we can shut them safely behind the door). So my favorite creative space is very much occupied right now. BUT-

SCULPTING

I'm so excited because I just signed up for a fun, creative, figurative sculpture workshop with an artist I've wanted to work with for a long time, Debbie Fecher Gramstad. She's technically a wonderful sculptor but more than that her work has expressive emotion, freedom of form and movement that I find so exciting.

I've been communicating with her via email for, geez, a couple years now and either because of timing or my family obligations I've been unable to sign up for her workshop. Well I have time now SO I DID IT! It's a small workshop of 8 students held in Debbie's studio for 3 hours every Tuesday night for 6 weeks! I can hardly wait until it begins in October ( **sigh** so far away) .

So after I registered for her class I e-mailed her to ask if there was anything I could do to prepare for the workshop. I was thinking I could practice something.. like forming hands out of paper mache or sculpting a series of my kid's faces in all their moods out of butter or something. You know, something technical like that. (Coming from a family of musicians I know very well that one prepares for a workshop by practicing arpeggios, scales, or the Bach inventions to get your fingers loose and your mind tuned up. I was thinking along these lines.)

Know how she told me to prepare for her class? This is a direct quote:

"The best preparation you can do is to visualize how much FUN this is going to be! And then …let go and be open!"

Wow. I'm not used to that kind of preparation.

Did I already say I can't wait? Well I can't. I think I'm looking forward to having permission and a specific time each week to let the right side of my brain take the stage for a while.

SALSA! (The condiment. Not the dance)
So hubby and I canned 27 pints of salsa yesterday. The salsa is tasty, it will save us money and is very satisfying to see lined up on the shelves with the other preserved food. (Because, you know, if the economy collapses I simply must have something into which to dip my black market tortilla chips.)

The link to the recipe is here. I figured those many positive reviews couldn't all be bogus. I tripled the recipe (but I did NOT add 3 cups of jalapenos!) and added cilantro and fresh lime juice.

Anyway, I peeled, seeded and diced 20 pounds of tomatoes. I started processing the tomatoes early in the morning before my family woke up in order to get a head start. And I have dried tomato seeds on my jammies to prove it. In fact, the whole business really did make a mess. Which leads me to my next subject:

THAT DARNED MAID
She really does a crappy job. I'll admit, this house can get to be a mess. But honestly, that maid of mine is a total incompetent. It's almost like she doesn't exist at all. I curse her regularly. And for some reason, cursing her lack of work ethic and general incompetence makes me feel better about having to do her job. The kids are used to this and share my opinions. "That darned maid" they say. "Yeah.." I sigh.

Sometimes I halfway believe she's there but this is only when I'm so tired from the day and so totally exhausted at the monotony of cleaning the kitchen *yet again* that I forget (or block out?) that it was me who actually did it. I'll walk by on my way to the back door and think "My, she did a nice job tonight!"

I guess this is why I keep her on. That and I really don't want to have to pay back employment taxes if I fire her and she gets vengeful and turns me in to the IRS. Hey, she said she wanted to work under the table! (She just doesn't want to clean the floor while she's under there.)

Plus she's the closest I've ever had to an imaginary friend. Okay, imaginary incompetent employee.....you know what I mean.

I'll stop now. More to come, I swear.

xxxoxoxo

Millet Polenta

2009-06-09T06:59:00.000-07:00

Okay, this isn't an exciting post full of pictures about my latest project. That's coming, I promise. But I tried a new recipe last night and it was SO GOOD I had to share it with you.

It was a warm day and we hadn't had beans in a while so I cooked up some black beans and made a Southwest-inspired black bean salad/salsa kind of thing. I put in a lot of fresh lime juice and cilantro. It was good.

Then I recalled a particularly good version of this salad that I made out of a Lorna Sass vegetarian cookbook a year ago. Then, as I tend to do , I looked up the recipe online after I had already made the salad. (You know, to see how I *should* have made it.) Anyway, this recipe came up.
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While it's not the exact recipe I was thinking of I thought the Millet Timbale aspect of it was intriguing enough to try. I had all the ingredients on hand anyway. So I made it. Let me say it was awesome. I've made millet polenta before but something about the scallions and the addition of the buttermilk takes this one to another level. It's tangy and rich and wonderful. I had some underneath my black bean salsa and poured the rest in a pan to solidify. I'm trying to think of something else to slap on top of it today.

Lorna Sass' Millet Timbales (Polenta)

3 scallions
1 cup hulled millet, picked over and rinsed
4 cups boiling water
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup well-shaken low-fat buttermilk, plus more if needed
Freshly ground black pepper

Trim off the root ends of the scallions, then cut the white and light-green parts crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces, keeping the white parts separate.

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Place a medium Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the millet; toast it for 4 to 6 minutes, stirring frequently until the grains become fragrant and begin to pop. Gradually add the boiling water, being careful to avoid the initial rush of steam from the pot. Add the white parts of the scallions and the salt, stirring to mix well. Cover and reduce the heat to medium-low; cook, stirring once or twice, for 15 to 18 minutes, until the millet is tender and most or all of the water has been absorbed. Some grains may still have a little crunch.

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When the millet has become tender, whisk in the oil and enough buttermilk to create the consistency of a soft polenta. Add the scallion greens and stir to combine. Season with the pepper, and add salt as needed.

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If you wish, divide the millet mixture among the ramekins; let it sit for 3 minutes. Working with one at a time, place an individual serving plate over each ramekin and invert so the millet is dislodged onto each plate. Or pour into a greased 9x13 pan. Let it cool, solidify then cut into squares.

Enjoy!

I'm Coming Back.....

2009-06-04T18:54:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to let everyone know I'll be back soon. My dad's memorial service was a couple days ago and now I have no more pressing obligations. The garden is coming up, I just picked the first of my roses and the creative juices are starting to flow. I am SO done with knitting socks for a while....

Thanks for all your heartfelt messages. This past 18 months have been very difficult but they've certainly taught me a lot. Not the least of which is that death is inevitable so I should breathe deep of that wonderful late spring fragrance in the air and appreciate my life.

I like something Tasha Tudor once said. I have this quote pinned on the wall in my studio:

"But it's interesting to go back in ones mind, over what you've done in your youth, and then you realize that every day that passes you have one day less in this fantastic world, and you should make the most of it. But I think so few people appreciate what a privilege it is to live in this beautiful world. And it is a beautiful world."

To Those Who Mourn

2009-04-27T07:36:00.000-07:00

My dad left this earth this morning.

I like the following excerpt and would like to share it with you:

To Those Who Mourn

For that is the real truth:
man is a soul and has a body.
The body is not the man; it is only the clothing of a man.
What you call death is the laying aside of a worn-out garment,
and is no more the end of the man than it is the end of you
when you remove your coat.
Therefore you have not lost your friend;
you have only lost sight of the cloak
in which you were accustomed to see him.
The cloak is gone, but the man who wore it is not;
Surely it is the man that you love and not the garment.

C.W. Leadbeater

Thanks to everyone for your kindness and support during this difficult time.

Love, Angie

Cancer and the Washing Machine

2009-04-09T19:48:00.000-07:00

My dad is a musician. He is dying from colon cancer with diabetic complications. He is spending his last weeks at a wonderful Hospice Care Center. I visit him every day. He is bedridden and can't do much of anything for himself anymore. His gradual physical (and now mental) deterioration has been difficult to witness.

Hardest of all for him has been the loss of fine motor control in his hands due to diabetic neuropathy. He can no longer play the piano. More than walking, more so than even going to the bathroom by himself I believe, he regrets this loss. And what a wonderful player he was.

Though classically trained in piano and French Horn he has a great love for jazz and a fabulous ear. Interesting chords, harmonies, progressions and improvisation interest him tremendously. From the time he was barely out of his teens he played jazz piano for extra money while in the Navy and later on in college. After he landed his steady job in the horn section of the Seattle Symphony in 1964 he still played clubs and traveled up and down the West Coast with a jazz combo during the breaks in the symphony season.

Over the past few months while he's been in and out of nursing homes, various physical therapists have looked at his chart, noted his career as a musician and wheeled him up to the nearest piano. The idea was that the exercise of something so familiar and ingrained in his "muscle memory" would help him recover some movement in his hands. When he tried and his hands couldn't act upon his brain's commands it only broke his heart. He refused to continue with the therapy.
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Today I slipped away from my dad's bedside for an hour to run some errands and pop into the local thrift shop. One of the first things I found was a beautiful, traditional Aran cardigan; hand knit in 100% natural cream wool . The label said "Hand Knit By Jane Manheimer". And what a sweater! It was so well done I found myself congratulating this unknown woman out loud as I examined her handiwork.

"Jane, look at your gorgeous cables and bobbles and diamonds! Oh my gosh, you knit back and forth on straight needles and sewed it up, didn't you? You didn't knit in the round? No? Knitting back and forth in these patterns is so difficult! And look how well you finished it! Wow! You really know what you're doing. I see no mistakes at all. I wonder who you knit this for?"

Anyone looking at me certainly thought I was nuts. I fit right in with the homeless guy two rows over in the men's section, babbling drunkenly to himself. But I was so truly so excited I wanted to grab the nearest shopper by the arm (even the drunk guy) and make them appreciate Jane's talent and skill as evidenced by this perfectly knitted sweater.

Then I tried it on.

Yes, it was too small for me but it wasn't too small because it was knit for a child or because I was too big. It was too small because some idiot had thrown this beautiful product of Jane Manheimer's skill, time and talent in the washing machine and ruined it. The washing machine had not only shrunken the sweater, it had misshapen it in such a way that no one of any size could ever properly wear it.

Being a great lover of recycled sweater projects I tried to think of a use for Jane's poor, shrunken sweater. A part of a doll? A throw pillow? ????? Thinking that the use would come to me if I carried it around long enough, I hugged the sweater as I browsed. I reluctantly hung it back up before I left. I don't think I have the heart to cut into Jane's sweater, even in the hope of resurrecting it.

Then it occurred to me that Jane Manheimer and my dad have a lot in common. My dad's diabetes and cancer are the idiot and the washing machine, ruining the results of skill, time, talent and love.

\
I got back in the car and drove the few blocks back to my dad. Later as I drove home I regretted that I had to leave both my dad and Jane's sweater behind.

\
I only hope Jane never knew what became of her lovely sweater.

Granola Bar Love

2009-02-20T19:09:00.000-08:00

Remember what Alvy Singer says to Annie Hall when she asks if he loves her? "Love is too weak a word." he says. "I lerve you. I luff you. There are two f's."

Oddly enough, I think of this very exchange when I eat one of these granola bars. My sentiments surpass love and move on to lerve. And I don't go there often.
These bars are crunchy. They're chewy. They're sweet but not too much. They're a treat that's healthy enough to grab for a quick breakfast.

Now that I've talked them up so much you'll try the recipe and shrug. "Eh? " You'll say. "What's the big deal?" Maybe you won't luff them. But I'm willing to bet you'll like them pretty well. What follows is the recipe that I've tweaked and that I like. The parentheses show variations that you may prefer to the original.

Chewy Crunchy Granola Bars

2 c rolled oats

1 c unsweetened coconut

1 c sliced or whole almonds

1/2 c oat bran (or wheat germ)

1/2-3/4 c dates, diced

1/2-3/4 c dried cranberries (or any other dried fruit)

3 Tb butter or coconut oil (or canola)

2/3 c rice syrup (or part agave, honey or maple syrup-any natural liquid sweetener)

1/4 c Rapadura (or sucanat or brown sugar)

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp vanilla

Mix oats, coconut and sliced almonds (if using) in 9x13 pan. Toast in a 350 oven for 5-10 minutes or until lightly toasted. You may have to stir this once halfway through. (If you're using whole almonds toast separately and chop)

In large bowl combine oat bran (or wheat germ) with dried fruit. Mix well to keep sticky fruit from clumping together. Add oat mixture to this when it's finished toasting. Lower oven temp to 300.

Line your 9x13 pan with aluminum foil and grease it.

Combine oil or butter, liquid sweetener, Rapadura (or brown sugar), and salt in sauce pan. Bring to boil and cook 2 - 3 minutes. No more! Take off heat. Stir in vanilla.

Pour over oat and fruit mixture and stir well to combine. With wet hands, press into pan.

Bake for about 10-15 minutes, until lightly browned on top.

When cool enough to handle use aluminum foil to lift the whole thing onto cooling rack. Cut into bars. Store airtight.

Tips and Variations
If you use a sweeter sweetener (like honey) use dried fruit on the tart side (like cranberries). If you use mostly rice syrup (not so sweet) go for a sweeter fruit.

Chocolate Chewy Granola Bars: Sprinkle with chocolate when bars come out of oven. Spread it out as it melts.

Sweet and Salty: I haven't tried this yet but I think it would be GREAT in this recipe: Simply replace the almonds with 1 1 /2 cups salted mixed nuts. Proceed as usual.

And don't forget to enjoy one of those lerve-ly granola bars with a double short soy latte with a bit of orange peel and lots of foam. Ooooo! Enjoy!

Hey Hey, Let's Knit a Beret!

2009-01-24T18:44:00.000-08:00

Okay, so it all started three days ago when we were loading the kids into the truck for a jaunt up to chilly Port Townsend. Everybody had a warm hat except me. I was reduced to wearing the kitty hat I knit for my 10 year old when she was a toddler. This was ridiculous. I grabbed some yarn I spun and dyed with madder root and whatever needles I thought might work and knit my way up to P.T. and back. I kind of winged this hat at the beginning then when I got home I found a pattern I could loosely follow for the remainder of the hat (namely the decreases).

I must say, I have Elizabeth Zimmermann to thank for this fearless leap into knitting improvisation. I love that woman.

So here's what I did:

I did a gauge swatch (thank you, Mrs. Zimmermann) to figure out how many stitches to the inch I got from my yarn with my needles. 4 stitches to the inch. Okay, I knew I was going for a 21 inch circumference around my head so I just multiplied 4x21=84. That was how many stitches I cast on. I worked a garter stitch brim for about an inch then doubled my stitches all at once by M1 (knit in the front and back of the same stitch) all the way around . Now I had 168 stitches and I just knit in the round like crazy until I determined it was time to decrease. From then on I pretty much followed the instructions at Purl Bee.

When I was done the thing pretty much looked like a shapeless mass:

So I washed it , spun it out and shaped it around a large dinner plate to dry into a beret-like shape. Here's a top view. I like the irregularities in the dyed wool:

Then I put it on a rack over the wood cookstove to dry more quickly. I'm impatient, I know.

I stuck a pin on the thing and viola! A hat! I may have to needle felt a flower or something to decorate it but for now this will do. And now I have something warm to wear that doesn't' have a kitty on it!

To Dye For

2009-01-18T19:26:00.000-08:00

Omigosh. How much fun is it to dye yarn? Lots! How scary is it to risk ruining the wool you spent hours spinning and plying? A bit...

My friend Mary and I have knitting and dyeing aspirations for the new year. Thanks to a couple Christmas gift certificates (thanks Connie and Mom!) I signed up for a beginning Fair Isle class at our wonderful local Churchmouse Yarn and Teas. I needed a few colored yarns for the class so I thought I'd try dyeing my yarn with Wilton Food Colors. They're concentrated, they're safe, they're color fast and they're cheap ($1.49 each at Wal Mart). What's not to like?

I started with Shetland roving I spun and triple-plied. I thought the grey wool would keep the colors a little muted. Yeah, right. Here's the yarn in a burgundy dyebath mixed with a little lemon yellow. I wasn't sure about it and almost threw it out but my 10 year old encouraged me to "be bold!" so I did and plunked my yarn in anyway. It's not the true red I was looking for but I like it. Look at the dye bath color opposed to the yarn color. Weird... The exhausted dyebath was totally green as I poured it down the sink.

This is Wilton's Royal Blue. I'm taking this off the heat now to cool. I think it's about done.

And this is Wilton's Lemon Yellow.

Here they are in the colander along with a ball of the undyed original grey yarn.

Here they are all done, cooled, rinsed and hung up to dry. They're a little bold for my taste and next time I will use less dye so the colors are a little softer but all in all I think they will be fun to work with. I think I'll dye another skein a little lighter shade of this blue and then I'll be done for my class. There are some great articles at Knitty about this process and I highly recommend them.
I encourage you to try this. It's really fun!

Wool S-AAHH-cks (or, Why Knit Your Own?)

2008-10-11T21:44:00.000-07:00

The weather turned cold a couple days ago. We built the first all-day-long fire in the old cookstove and I started hunting for my sweaters. My feet were cold. I found my newly finished wool socks and wore them all day for the first time. AAAHH, how nice they felt! How thankful I was for these socks. And it wasn't the first time. I do believe these humble socks have given me much more than the many hours I put into them. And I think their story illustrates the benefits of making things yourself. It's the process that makes the product special.

I enjoyed spinning this light grey wool from sheep raised right down the road. I had the thrill of trying out a couple different shades of green Kool Aid on my yarn. It worked-I liked the color variations. It was fun to see how the colors came together in different ways as I knit. I marveled yet again at the short rows that magically turn the heel. Heels never cease to amaze me. I'm grateful for all these fun discoveries.

But even more than these I'm thankful for the socks keeping my hands busy during a summer of numerous hospital and nursing home visits and dreadful diagnoses. They were my constant companions as my dad lay dozing in his bed next to my chair. Always I had the comforting monotony of the yarn and the needles. They distracted my eyes when I couldn't look him in the face or when I didn't want him to see my tears. They gave my hands something mindless to fidget with when my mind was racing and there wasn't room in my head for a more creative project. My dad noted their progress each day. They gave the nurses and me something to talk about. They were truly a godsend during this difficult time.
And now they're done. They're pretty, they're practical and there's not a pair in the world like them. And did I mention how yummy they feel?
I wore them today when I visited my dad. I am his nurse now. As he lay on his bed I remembered I had my new socks on. I slipped off my shoe and threw my foot up on the bed. "Hey, you finished them!" he said.
So as I wear my new socks I think about all that went into them and all I got (and am still getting) out of them. I think I came out ahead. "Why knit socks?" a friend asks me. This is why.

So now I'm anxious for another pair. Here's my newest sock project. I wonder what these will give me?

Bread Baking Day

2008-05-06T18:33:00.000-07:00

Below you can see one of the "hearths" in Island Hearth and Handicrafts. I took photos last time we fired up our outdoor brick oven so I thought I'd share them. If you have aspirations of brick oven building and baking I highly recommend you go for it. It's extremely rewarding. My husband build our oven out of plans found in The Bread Builders by Daniel Wing and Alan Scott. He also aquires and splits all wood, builds all fires and rakes out all hot coals. I've done these things so I know how to do them but it's so nice having him do the dirty/hot work! That way I can concentrate on the bread. It's definitely a team effort around here on baking day...

The oven has only one chamber in which the fire is built and the bread baked. Here's the fire getting started. It will burn for about 4-5 hours or until the oven ceiling is so hot that the black, smoky soot burns clean off clear to the back of the interior of the oven. Here are the whole wheat sourdough loaves that I made the day before and kept in the refrigerator overnight. When the fire is about finished burning I pull the formed loaves out of the fridge and let them finish rising in the warming oven of the wood cookstove in our kitchen. (They rise in floured baskets.)
After the fire has burned down the coals are raked out evenly to distribute the heat over the hearth. They are are then shoveled out and put into the fireplace right next to the oven (below left). The oven chamber is then scraped and mopped out to clear all traces of coals and ash. The door is then put on (held in place by bricks) and the oven is left alone for a little while for the heat to even out in the thick masonry.
I know the oven is ready for the bread when I can stick my hand inside and count to about 7. If I can't make it to 5, it's too hot and I need to wait a bit longer. If I can count to 10 I've waited too long. If I can smell the hair burning off my arm I really need to wait a while! We tried using an oven thermometer a few times but it soon melted. I'm telling you, it's hot in there! The unbaked loaves in the baskets are flipped upside down onto a semolina-dusted wooden peel (again, made by hubby). They are slashed with a razor blade then loaded two at a time into the oven. As I flip, slash and load, my husband is opening and closing the oven door. The last thing I do is spray a bit of water on the inside oven dome. I then close the door, mark the time and hope for the best. I can fit 9 2-pound loaves in our oven (more if they're smaller). The heat radiates from every direction, surrounding the loaves, making them rise and brown beautifully. They're ready in about 25 minutes.
Here's the bread about to come out of the oven and the finished product below. This batch got delivered to friends and family. I still have a loaf in the freezer. The bread is simply made from freshly ground whole wheat, wild yeast sourdough starter, water, salt and the most important ingredient, time. It's nicely sour but still rises well. I loosely follow the Poilane-Style Miche recipe in Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice. You can see the nice crumb in the top picture. Yum!

Lemon Curd, Unrefined and Organic

2008-04-06T07:59:00.000-07:00

For various reasons I have decided to let the white sugar run out in my house and don’t have any immediate plans to replace it. This happed Friday afternoon at 4:30 pm Pacific Time as I was making a pound cake. I substituted Rapadura for about 75% of the sugar called for and it turned out fine. So far so good.
Next the plan was to make lemon curd. I wanted to use agave syrup as that has the most neutral taste of any of the unrefined sweeteners. I couldn’t find a recipe online that I liked so I made one up. For an experiment I used extra virgin coconut oil instead of butter. It gave the curd a hint of coconut flavor which blended well with the lemon (it also made the curd dairy-free). The fabulous deep color of this curd is from the amazing local eggs I’ve been lucky enough to get lately. The ingredients are all organic, too! All these positive factors add up to a lemon curd that is nicely tart and rich and makes me feel a little less guilty to indulge in and to feed my family. It turned out so well I thought I’d share it with you.

Lemon Curd

1 c light agave syrup

1/2 c fresh lemon juice
--pinch of salt--
1 TB cornstarch
1 tsp (generous) fresh lemon zest
3 egg yolks
2 eggs
5 TB (3 oz) extra virgin coconut oil

Whisk eggs well in a bowl. Combine agave, juice, cornstarch and lemon zest in saucepan. Bring to a boil then lower heat and add a bit of this to the eggs to temper them then whisk eggs into juice mixture. Cook gently and stir until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and whisk in coconut oil bit by bit. Force through a fine sieve and cool. Makes about 2 cups. Yum!

Spring Appreciation

2008-03-19T18:40:00.000-07:00

Loveliest of Trees
Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.
Now, of my threescore years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy springs a score,
It only leaves me fifty more.
And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.
A.E. Housman

I happened upon this poem the other day and it spoke to me. Spring is certainly here and I feel a need to notice it this year. Maybe it's the artist in me waking up and finally learning how to see, maybe it's because my grey hair seems more prominent this year, I don't know, but I am just loving the blossoming spring outside my door. I never dreamed I'd ever derive such pleasure from watching a simple sparrow flit about under a bush going about her business. I can't wait until the apple trees bloom in the orchard. Does this mean I'm becoming an old lady? Maybe so. So I've decided that television can wait. Celebrity gossip can wait. Even (gasp!) the computer can wait. But spring won't wait. It will march right along and get lost inside summer. And I for one don't want to miss it.

Spring...The Doll

2008-03-02T07:58:00.000-08:00

I signed up for a doll swap through Vivian's wonderful blog Viv on a Whim . This was fitting as my decision to enter this swap was truly on a whim! I have never done a swap before. The theme was "Beat the Winter Blues". The doll had to be joyful and springlike. This turned out to be good for me as it forced me to think about making something joyful and happy to represent the change of seasons when my heart really wasn't into it. Just a few days after I signed up for the swap my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer and a couple days after that my dear friend Janice died of the same disease (see post below). My mind was swimming with all sorts of dark, one-breasted art dolls representing the helplessness and uncertainty of this awful disease. But I put the cancer dolls on hold for now and started needle felting this gal. I knew I wanted to do a female figure but what I didn't know was how I wanted to pose her. Originally I planned on a nude figure, perhaps representing Mother Nature, lovingly holding baby Spring (a needle felted baby wrapped up in flowered silk) but it just didn't seem right. So though I went through pains to make sure she was anatomically correct, I had to abandon that idea and cover up her lovely body with a dress. I think that was the correct decision though and I'm happy with how she turned out. I only hope my swap partner likes her. So here, holding the first pussy willow of the year, is Spring. I hope you can see plenty of signs of her wherever you are..

Remembering Janice

2008-02-10T18:18:00.000-08:00

Janice Gray, the mother of my old friend Dona, recently passed away. She was as glorious a human being and as full of life and love and laughter as anyone I have ever met. I could write pages and pages about her and that still wouldn't do her justice. More importantly nothing I could say could ever properly explain how it felt to be loved by her. When Janice loved you- man, you knew it. I knew it. Even though I won't see her incredibly blue, beautiful, smiling eyes again or watch her throw back her head with a hearty laugh or almost believe her amazingly serious, deadpan face when she was delivering an incredibly witty zinger, I know she lives on. She's in the hearts of all those who were lucky enough to know her.

She and Dona were extremely close. When thinking of an image that would mirror thier relationship this is the one I came up with. It's called "One Heart" and seems appropriate for a Valentine's Day post.

There has been a tribute page set up in Janice's honor. I hope the family posts on the website the picture that was on the flyer at her memorial. There she was, dipping her bare feet in the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. She had her jeans rolled up, head back, arms triumphantly extended and a huge smile on her face. She had written in the sand "I WAS HERE!"

Oh yes, Janice, you most certainly were.

Spice Tree

2007-12-18T21:19:00.000-08:00

We went up in the mountains to get our Christmas tree this year. Okay, we got three trees -(hey, they were only 5 bucks each!) We have one in the living room, one outside with lights on it and I couldn't resist a little one for the kitchen. My friend Clarice at Storybook W oods always has a wonderful tree in her kitchen and I always love it so thought I would give it a try this year. I fell in love with the wispy, droopy hemlocks I saw up in the mountains and really wanted one. On the long drive home I decided I'd do a tree with just spices on it and I went through the bulk spice section of our grocery store in my head, trying to decide what to make out of whole spices. So this is what happened...

I loved the color and idea of a pink peppercorn garland but found it tedious and near impossible to string those things so I resorted to smearing raffia with hot glue and pressing the mixed peppercorns on as best I could. I drilled holes in whole nutmegs and strung them up with cardamom pods and juniper berries. I couldn't resist painting star anise gold and hanging them here and there along with whole chiles (Hint: When stringing whole chiles with needle and thread, please don't absentmindedly stick the needle in your mouth. Let's just say it's a bad idea.)

Did a small garland of cinnamon sticks, juniper berries and cardamom pods too. Then decided I was spending too much time on this and had to get back to other projects -like baking! (Note the Christmas braids cooling under the spice tree..) I didn't even get into the whole cloves and allspice I purchased. I also had dreams of an angel with bay leaf wings that never materialized. Maybe next year. This was fun and I love my little sweet smelling tree. I'm sure there are a million variations of this sort one could come up with. It was fun to work with natural materials and within the confines of a theme....I highly recommend this project. (ps-the tree is resting in an old enameled pot that's filled with gravel and water)

Holiday Needle Felting

2007-12-16T22:57:00.000-08:00

Here are the latest needle felted dolls I recently created for a Christmas sale. These are sculpted with a barbed needle from 100% wool. The eyes and lips are also entirely made with small bits of colored wool felted into place with the needle. To the right is a tree full of holiday characters. You'll see a couple Jack Frosts, a brownie at the bottom, a playful little pixie or two and a jolly old elf in red. (Sorry pics are so small. Please click on photo to enlarge.)

Old Man Winter (below) is blowing up a storm of ice and snow. He's wired onto a wooden base. This is one of my first experiments with wrinkles and baggy eyes and I'm pleased with how he turned out.

And on the bottom left is a little dark haired angel peeking out of a felted sweater stocking. She was created for an annual gift exchange and I'm glad my good friend Mary ended up with her. I like her (the angel and especially Mary) a lot!

Cozy Fall Recipes

2007-11-14T19:02:00.000-08:00

Let the fall leaves fall
And the cold snow snow
And the rain rain rain ‘til April:
Our coats are warm
And the pantry’s full
And there’s cake upon the table.

-Clyde Watson

I often recite this poem to myself this time of year. This is how fall feels to me. These days we have a fire every day in the old wood cookstove in our kitchen and painted dolls dry in the warming oven. The freezer is full of fresh local meat and berries, the winter squash are picked and stored away and the winter vegetables wait to be picked at our convenience. Fruitcakes are made and aging to their best. I like to be stocked up. I like to cook hearty dishes and soups this time of year. The house is cozy, the orchard is bare and the air is brisk. Lovely! Let the cold wind blow!

When Autumn rolls around I often make the following recipes. They are favorites of ours and I hope you enjoy them too.

Winter Squash Custard (aka-”Pumpkin Pudding”)
This is like the inside of a pumpkin pie yet not quite so rich and sweet. Yet it’s certainly rich and sweet enough for my family to think it a great treat. The fall we harvested too many butternut squash from our garden I developed this recipe to help use them up. I modified my favorite pumpkin pie recipe to made a dessert that wasn’t quite so rich and sweet. I really prefer winter squash in this recipe as it’s much richer and sweeter than pumpkin . A butternut squash a little on the large side should give you plenty for this recipe. Hubbard squash would also be great.

To cook a butternut squash: Cut squash down the middle and scrape out the seeds. Place cut side down in a 9x13 pan. Add about 1 inch of water and bake in a 350 degree oven until the thickest part of the squash is soft when pierced with a knife. Let cool and scoop out the orange flesh.

3 c cooked winter squash
1/2 c pure maple syrup
1 c heavy cream
4 eggs
1 1/2 TB flour
3/4 tsp each cinnamon and vanilla
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
-pinch of salt
1 TB fresh ginger juice (optional-but I always add some fresh ginger of some kind!)

Combine all ingredients except heavy cream in a large bowl and puree with a hand blender until well blended. Add cream. Alternatively, mash the winter squash with a potato masher then add rest of ingredients. Pour into buttered over proof dish (I like a 9in round casserole) and bake in a 325 oven until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean-a little over an hour...

Triple Ginger Gingerbread
This is my favorite gingerbread. It’s dense and spicy. Best to bake it in a bundt pan or some other type of pan which you will turn over and serve bottom side up as the gingerbread tends to fall in the middle. This has never bothered me, however, or anyone else who has tried it. I think it improves by sitting for a day (even two!) tightly wrapped on the kitchen counter so it’s a good dessert to make ahead of time. It also freezes well. The day you want to serve it just whip the cream and serve!
I’ll give you the original recipe (from an old Bon Appitite magazine) then my healthier variation below. The variation really is wonderful and you won’t feel deprived at all. The variation would almost work well for muffins.

First:
Pour 1/2 c boiling water over 1/2 c finely chopped crystallized ginger. Let sit while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Sift:
3c all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda’
1TB cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp salt

Whisk together in large bowl:
1 1/2 c sugar
1 c oil
1 c molasses
2 eggs
1 TB grated fresh ginger

Add the warm water/crystallized ginger to the wet ingredients and whisk to combine. Now add the dry ingredients to the wets and mix until just combined. Pour into a greased and floured bundt pan and bake about 1 hr at 350.

Healthier variation:
Substitute whole wheat pastry flour for the all-purpose, increase eggs to 3, warm water to 3/4 c, reduce oil to 1/2 c and use unrefined cane sugar (such as Rapadura) instead of white sugar. Healthier yet still delicious!

Enjoy!
(Wow-two posts in two days?)

Folk Dolls, Mr. and Mrs. Apple

2007-11-13T16:30:00.000-08:00

When I tell people I like dolls many of them proudly haul out a Madame Alexander or a fashion doll still in the box. While these dolls can be lovely they really don't excite me. What I want to see is the doll your grandmother made for your mother during the depression when money was tight. I want to see a doll that was made with more love and ingenuity than money and materials. I want to see a doll that was made to be loved by a specific child. I want to see a folk doll.
If you too like these kind of dolls then you will love Wendy Lavitt's book American Folk Dolls. I was fortunate to snag this book at a rummage sale this summer and I read it cover to cover, not missing a word. For the most part the chapters are arranged according to the material the doll (more specifically, the head) is made from (i.e.-Cloth Dolls, Wooden Dolls, Apple Nut and Bean Dolls, etc.) but there also are chapters on native American dolls and black dolls. Real life stories and historical accounts abound in this text making it very interesting and at times heart rending. Plus there are lots of great color photos!
I thought I'd share my very own folk dolls with you. Every year when I get Mr. and Mrs. Apple out of the box marked "Autumn" I appreciate them more. I think they're wonderful. This is an apple-headed doll couple busy in the act of pressing cider. These were made by a friend of my grandmothers and given to her probably 40 years ago. (I need to find out her name and give her credit.) My grandparents had a farm and pressed cider every year so I think the friend thought this a very appropriate gift. These dolls and their accessories were displayed in my grandmother's china cabinet for years and I remember as a child looking at their wrinkled faces, amazed these heads were actually apples. When I was young the faces were golden brown. Now (I'm almost 40) they're quite black and it's hard to see their little black eyes shining out.

My grandmother gave these to me a few years ago because she knew I liked dolls. Since then I've had plenty of time to study the lovely couple and their accessories and I never cease to be amazed at the ingenuity shown by their maker. This is not a dollmaker who ran down to WalMart's craft section to get what she needed. Let me tell you what she used. The details are amazing:

First of all the couple has wire bodies wrapped in old nylon panty hose, covered with homemade clothes. Hair is sheep's wool. Hands are wool stuffed felt, boots are hand stitched naugahyde. Mrs. Apple has lace-trimmed bloomers.

The basket holding the apples is a painted styrofoam cup with wire handles. The apples inside include painted salt-dough apples with toothpick stems.The cider jug is a painted medicine jar one would stick a needle into. Its handle is a piece of elbow macaroni! (I didn't realize this until I dropped it last year and broke off the handle. I was heartbroken until I took a closer look at it. Then I laughed and went to my pantry for another
"handle" to glue on. I still need to paint it.)

The apple press is made from entirely scavenged materials-
styrofoam, a plastic plant pot, etc:

The "apples" in the press are torn foam cushion.

The fancy looking black brackets holding up the bar are plastic, department store sock hangers!

The only things I can see that are specifically store bought are Mr. Apple's hat and the cat. I try to store them in very dry conditions but I'm sure even with the best of care these apple heads won't last forever. Maybe someday I'll have to carve new heads for them. I hope I can pass these along to my grandkids as I really think they're wonderful and true folk dolls. I hope you like them too. Thanks for letting me share about them!

Wooden Dolls..in progress

2007-10-28T18:36:00.000-07:00

To Everything Turn, Turn, Turn
There is a Season Turn, Turn, Turn....

This has been my theme song ever since my wonderful husband bought me a lathe. Have I mentioned he's the dearest man who ever lived? Well he is. He not only bought us a lathe but he patiently showed me how to use it in such a way that I would not harm myself or others. Very helpful! I hardly had to nag at all.

There's something very satisfying in making something out of nothing. This is wood that would have been burned in our stove. Who knew there were dolls hidden inside our firewood?

To the right you can see two dolls that I've finished turning still on the lathe and "blanks" scattered all around. This is how all the dolls start out.
When the dolls come off the lathe I cut them apart with the band saw then shape them using the belt sander. I sand off the back and stomach and leave the shoulder/chest and the hips/bottom alone so the curves look somewhat womanly. (Looking at the photo from left to right you can see the progression from unshaped to finished.-click on photo for close-up) Then I cut the bottom of the hips and leave a piece in the center that I can secure the legs to. The body is drilled and limbs are attached using a 3mm elastic cord. When made correctly the arms will hold in any position and the legs will lock standing up and sitting down. She sits very securely. She can't stand alone but hey, even that bottle-blonde Barbie has to be propped up!
I enjoyed the look of the woodgrain of the first doll I turned and regretted covering her up with paint (she's the green one). I decided I wouldn't do that again. I want to celebrate the wood, not conceal it. The facial features and hair are drawn using my daughter's PrimaColor pencils. Everything is sealed with good old shellac. Old fashoined and non-toxic. It's a bit shiny, though. Must dull that. I don't want to antique these dolls but I also don't want them looking shiny and new, either.

The color variations you see are a result of the different woods used. The light colored dolls with faces are vine maple. The doll with hair is hemlock. The unfinished ones are alder and hemlock. These are darker and have a prettier grain but they tear out on the lathe. The maple turns "like buttah".

I don't have anything in the photo for scale but I measured the standing doll. She stands 9 1/2 inches (50 cm) tall.

I always stitch a little heart onto the dolls I make for my kids. If the doll is for a birthday I'll stitch the age of the child in the heart. I'm ripping off Raggedy Anne I know, but as a child I loved peeking under her dress to see the red heart on her chest. So I thought I might as well color a little heart on the chest of my wooden dolls. I hope the child who ends up with one of these dolls discovers the heart and likes it.

Clothes? This is not my strong suit. I've figured out what dress and pantaloons I'm making but haven't made them all yet. Will show them when they're all done and ready for sale. Trying to do a production-line type of affair.

The backdrop for these photos is a shelf in progress made by my husband. He hand carved the gold star and we all collected the redwood cones that make up the textured inlay. He's carving some great stuff lately. I'll post photos of his creations when I can.

Embroidered Dolls

2007-08-29T08:29:00.000-07:00

I've been communicating with Ana, my wonderful new dollmaking friend in London. If you love doll blogs you must check hers out. Her list of dollmaking links is exactly what mine would be if I had a list! Click here to visit her blog. Anyway, we've been talking about embroidered doll faces so I thought I'd share some of the dolls I've done this way. (For a closer view click on photos)

Here's Anne Elliot (I have an Austen thing going with some of my dolls) and little Bettina in brown. (Thank you, Judi Ward for the small doll pattern!) They're both made basically the same way. I sewed the skin fabric to the dress fabric before I cut out thier bodies. Then I just took some more dress fabric and gathered it round and sewed it on to make a skirt. I'm not a good seamstress and hate following patterns so this is how I get around it.

Here's a close up of their faces. Anne was the first doll face I ever embroidered and I like her wistful look very much. I love Bettina too. The blush on their cheeks is from Rembrandt chalk pastels. I've stained enough clothes with those things, I figured it would last on their faces.

To the left is a little doll in pink I made for a little friend's birthday yesterday. I think I tried too hard with her face and I'm not too crazy about it. She looks too sophisticated or something. It seems the harder I try the less I like the results. If I just wing it without caring too much about the results things seem to work out better! I'm sure this will all improve with experience. Anyway, she has painted ballet shoes. She's made from the same pattern as Bettina.

Below her is a gaggle of cuddly wool-stuffed velour gnomes I made for a Christmas sale last year. They are made in the Waldorf doll tradition with little noses, simple faces and pointed hats. They're very sweet. Sorry the photo is so dark.

Seaside Creativity

2007-07-29T07:39:00.000-07:00

I wiped away the weeds and foam,
I fetched my sea-born treasures home;
But the poor, unsightly, noisome things
Had left their beauty on the shore,
With the sun and the sand and the wild uproar.
-Emerson

We took our annual vacation on the Washington coast. The ocean is wonderfully restorative and sets the creative wheels churning. I'm always inspired to pick up sand dollars, seaweed, clever driftwood and razor clam shells and to try to fashion a wonderful work of art out of them. Won't this perfect razor clam shell make great angel wings? Hey-I could paint a face on this sand dollar! How about seaweed hair? These ideas always work in my imagination but not in my hands. Also, I hate the seashell creations seen in the ubiquitous coastal gift shops-the tacky clam man with glued on googlie eyes holding a driftwood banjo, the seashell mosaics, you know what I mean. I truly believe that normally sensible creative people fall under a kind of artistic mind fog when they get their first whiff of salt air. They either believe they are capable of creating genuine works of art out of flotsam and jetsam or they think such finished pieces are irresistible and lay down good money for them. Five miles inland on their way home they look at what they made or bought and shake their heads with regret. "What the heck was I thinking?" they wonder. I'm telling you, this is a genuine undiagnosed psychiatric condition. I know because I suffer from it. At least I come to my senses when I get home. People who live in seaside towns are never cured.

I was better this year. Yes, I collected a whole bag full of small pieces of driftwood that looked like body parts so I could fashion an art doll out of them. I couldn't complete this thought, though as I had no way to hold the parts together. I had wire but no holes through which to secure it. After a few minutes trying to chip holes in the wood with a pocket knife then a metal skewer from the kitchen drawer I decided I was wasting my time.
So this year I redirected my attention to the camera . I loved how the water trails through the wet grey sand looked like bare winter trees so I snapped a couple photos.

Also, here is Sandy the mermaid when completed then the next day after the wind had drifted dry sand over her. I love the contrast.

I guess we just can't improve upon Mother Nature, right? But next year I'm thinking maybe a pressed seaweed collage would really be cool if I did it right...

Coming soon: Dolls! Finally!

Early Apples Make Easy Apple Crisp

2007-07-24T14:01:00.000-07:00

My uncle knows apples. He's raised hundreds of trees, knows how to prune and graft like a pro (skills he learned from my grandfather), and is quite a connoisseur of apple varieties. He especially loves eating a good apple and has been knows to drive hundreds of miles to get his hands on a case of a particular variety he's had a hankering for.
Knowing all this, I thought he would know better than to stroll into the orchard one summer afternoon and head straight for the Yellow Transparent tree. Before I could stop him he bit into one of the greeny yellow fruits and began munching with apparent pleasure. "Oh," I said catching up with him, "Those really aren't very good".
"No, Yellow Transparents aren't the best." he agreed between bites. "But they're ripe!"

That about sums up the Yellow Transparent apple. It's the first ripe fruit in the orchard, ripening in Western Washington in July. They're so early I'm always a bit surprised to notice they're ready. This tree is a common site in orchards where the owner is trying to extend the apple season as long as possible by staggering the harvest. Now through October some variety will be getting ripe about every month. The problem is I'm just not in much of an apple mood in July-I'm still picking raspberries for heaven's sake! The Yellow Transparents are okay for baking if you catch them while they're a bit green and still on the tree but turn mealy pretty quickly. At that point they're only good for sauce. One thing I do love unabashedly about the Yellow Transparent tree is this: I suffer no guilt in cutting the gnarly, lichen-covered blossoming branches in the spring to enjoy indoors. If I sacrifice a few apples? Eh, no biggie.
All that being said I am grateful to have at my disposal many pounds of fresh, free organic apples. The following recipe is how I most often prepare them for my family. I never follow a recipe when I make a crisp and once you make this a couple times you won't either. As long as you remember what the major topping ingredients are and the fact that they're combined in equal proportions, you'll be home free. Use the crisp topping for any kind of fruit or berries. It's yummy. It turns any apple into a dessert well worth eating:

Easy Apple Crisp
3-4 pounds fresh apples, peeled and sliced, tossed with-

1/2-1 cup sugar (depending on tartness of apples) and

1-2 tsp cinnamon (to taste)
Combine the following in food processor:

1 c rolled oats

1 c flour (I use whole wheat pastry)

1 c brown sugar

1 tsp kosher salt (1/2 tsp table salt)

Pulse above ingredients until combined. Then add-

1 c butter(or coconut oil) chilled and cut into small pieces
Pulse until butter is cut into flour mixture.

Grease a 9x12 (or larger) baking dish. Spread apples into dish then sprinkle topping over them, distributing as evenly as you can. Bake in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes-1 hour or until topping is golden brown and the apples are soft in the middle and bubbling at the edges.

Serve with ice or whipped cream. Enjoy!

In Praise of the Humble, Homegrown Potato

2007-07-20T07:52:00.000-07:00

Here's one of the first pickings of veggies from our garden. It's finally staring to produce enough to make a dent in our food bill, which is nice. It's fun to "go shopping" in the garden. Yes, some of those carrots are purple! They're wonderful and the summer squash is delicious but it's the potatoes that have me exited this year. If you've been around me for any amount of time in the last 6 months you've heard me complain about the amazingly awful potatoes that are available at the stores. Organic, non-organic, yellow, red, whatever-They've been terrible. I've planned the potato patch this year with great anticipation. Finally here are the first of the Red Pontiacs. From one potato planted we harvested 30 in its place. They are lovely, thin skinned, sized from a cherry up to a tangerine. The kids love digging them-it's like a treasure hunt every time. They just needed a quick dip in the sink, a steam bath on top of the stove and a rubdown with a little butter and salt and they were ready for the table. Worth the wait? Oooh yeah....They were creamy and delicious and the thin red skins were almost crisp. The next day we dug more and I tossed them with a little olive oil and coarse salt and roasted them in the oven.

Maybe I'm appreciating my garden more this year because this spring I had the good fortune to read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. It helped me appreciate once again the wonders of growing my own and, if that's not possible, the benefits of buying locally. I've been taking our large garden for granted the past few years and seeing it as a source of work only. Lately though, I've been appreciating the garden, labor and all, for the beautiful place it is and the many gifts it gives. Could I save time and money and effort by buying potatoes at the store? Maybe. But this year the savings aren't worth the cost.

Cynthia's Rebirth

2007-07-18T20:32:00.000-07:00

This needle felted doll was a gift for my sister Cynthia for her 50th birthday. Cynthia's life has recently opened up in so many wonderful ways and she's enjoying it as never before. I really wanted to create a doll for her to mark this joyous transition. I had the image in mind for a long time of her being reborn out of a flower but I couldn't figure out how to pull this off in cloth. Wool proved to be the medium and the felting needle the tool that would finally do the trick. It slightly resembles her but the charm around her neck is supposed to confirm her identity-it's a moon (and also looks like the letter C!) and the name Cynthia finds its origins in Artemis, the goddess of the moon.

There's a wire armature in the doll and the flower. The flower's stem is glued into a wooden base.

Midsummer Elf

2007-07-18T16:13:00.001-07:00

Here's a little fellow I made around Midsummer's Eve-June 21st. He's stands about 5 inches tall and he's needle felted with a pipe cleaner armature. He sits in a nest among some found eggshells, a butterfly and some blown eggs collected from my doves.

My kids and I love to read stories all about how the fairies stay up all through that short Midsummer's night and dance and play. The kids build the fairies little houses and leave out a little something for them to eat. This year we baked tiny little cinnamon rolls which they presented to the fairies on little leaf plates. The fairies usually leave a little something for the kids in return-a pretty polished stone or a poem or a small gift. This year the fairies found a couple very old pennies somewhere out in the yard and they left them for the kids among half eaten tiny rolls. How nice of them!

Mother Nature in Wool

2007-07-18T16:13:00.000-07:00

This is a needle felted, 100% wool doll. I think she looks wise and kind-maybe a little mischievous, too. I like her face and the way her hair trails down her neck. It's hard to see but she has the words "Sun", "Earth", "Wind" and "Rain" felted in various scenes on her body as well as flowering vines.

She was created as a travelling companion for my friend (also named Rain!) as she and her family pulled up stakes and travelled around the country, looking for a more centered and simple life.

Welcome

2007-07-14T12:24:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog, Island Hearth & Handicrafts. I hope to use this space to document the various things I create and to share a bit of our life as we live it on our 2 acres on a beautiful island in Puget Sound.

Please bear with me as I muddle through Blogging 101.