Not enough time to write out a recipe today, but I've been meaning to share this idea for a while now. We are actually not doing dairy at the moment, this photo is from several weeks ago.
Ages ago Adam asked me to come up with something that was "like a taco, but a dip." I know there are taco dips, seven layer dips and the like out there... inspired by those and his request, I came up with what instantly became a favorite for him and Emily.
It has all things taco-y and cheese-y... and the best part? It also has about 1/2 a bunch of kale! Diced to smithereens, of course. Emily had no idea! It was a moment of brilliance for this mama. One that will be repeated in various ways, for sure.
First, it was Miss Smarty Pants herself who persuaded me to fully swing back to the slightly sweet and delightfully creamy way of enjoying my brew. I had a long stint on the "I'll take my coffee black please" side of the fence, but I'm not sure there's any going back now. Can you imagine making your own vanilla creamer? So good. And clever! I doubled the vanilla because it just seemed like a fun idea. It was probably totally unnecessary but I did. I'd like to try using maple syrup as the sweetener... it might change the consistency though... hmmn. Will ponder that and make it work. Alicia's vanilla creamer is outstanding, I bet many of you have the ingredients to make it right now!
Next, it was Elena and her very lovely recipes that turned me on to three of my favorite ingredients all swirled up in a combination that I have never tried! You should write these things on your grocery list right away and make it very soon. So perfect for autumn.
Then, it was Amanda with her yummy broccoli soup that found it's way to our dinner table the other night. Accompanied by various random things from the pantry to round out the offering. That works, doesn't it?
And finally, it was all of you, my crock-pot friends. Your wisdom and confidence is rubbing off on me! I decided to put all of Amanda's soup ingredients into the crock-pot early in the day on Sunday. We had a soccer game in the afternoon several towns away, I knew my little athlete would be hungry when we arrived home. I simply gave it a whirl in the blender after we walked in and dinner was served!
A couple of weeks ago I had a birthday, the day marked my 37th successful trip around the sun. To be honest, I'm not really thrilled about this number. It's an odd little number that doesn't carry great significance as far as birthdays go, but I've just never liked the sound or feel of it. And now here I am, owning it for a full year like it or not, so I guess I better make the most of it! We celebrated with Thai food at a far away, dingy bar. We do not recommend this, unless of course you are not too thrilled about turning 37 and need a few good laughs... then you should hurry up and go because it turns out Thai food and happy hour in a typical, depressed mill town on a Friday night are an entertaining combination.
A fresh stack of new books and a little something sparkly were lovely surprises at the end of the day too.
It was several days later however, that I received the most unexpected and beautiful gift in the mail. Adam's mother has been quietly and secretly knitting this sweater for me for quite some time now. I can't even tell you what my thoughts were upon opening it, because truly, I was completely speechless.
The color. It's green!
The buttons. They're wood!
It is so warm, beautiful and is the first handknit for me sweater I have ever owned!
For me, knitting my own sweater (and sweaters for my family), would probably be The Everest of crafting. What a capable feeling one who can do such a thing must have. I have so much to learn...
I do clearly remember having one thought (besides overwhelming gratitude) when I opened this package. I remember thinking, "This is the perfect apple picking sweater!" You know I had to try it out this weekend...
It turns out that yes indeed, it is the perfect apple picking sweater! With a sweater this beautiful to wear year after year while summer fades and autumn rises, I think I will happily be up for another 37 years of apple picking, so long as I have my handknit for me sweater to mark the occasion. Thank you Pamela!
A few people thought the house pictured in the last post was our home, some of you thought we were on vacation and staying there. Well, it was actually neither, and both at the same time.
We had the pleasure last weekend of traveling up to Vermont (to the property that we will be moving to in July), where we blissfully roamed for hours. In no time at all, the house in the photos of that post will be our home, and we will spend our days living closely to the earth and one another, our perfect life long vacation.
There is so much I want to share about this life change, and I will share many things. But it is likely that what I write here is about all the information I'm willing to part with at the time. The short explanation of what is happening is that we will be renting this property with the option to buy it in a 2-3 years time. It is the best arrangement for us and a comfortable arrangement for the owners. Speaking of the owners; we think they're rather fantastic and part of my not going into too much depth about the details and location of this property has to do with the fact that it indeed belongs to someone else and it's important to us that their privacy is considered. All of this to say that the few times I have written about our Vermont move, I received a bunch of very sweet yet curious emails and comments from people wondering where exactly it is... how we found it... etc... for now I'd like to let what I do share be enough, I won't have much else to share beyond that. I hope everyone understands.
We headed up to do a little more exploring and started the day at a sweet little country fair. It was quaint, festive and unbelievably perfect. All I could think of was how complete it felt and it is so wonderful to think that it will become our country fair very soon. These photos are from our time there. Goodness, it felt so gentle and safe.
After our time at the fair we headed over to the property, I'm sure you can imagine how many photos I took while we explored the entire afternoon away. As we pulled up the driveway, greeted by a freshly painted house and fields that had just been hayed, my mind filled with the very thoughts that have been occupying my dreams and my days for months now; "I just can't believe it's really happening, it fulfills and surpasses all that we had hoped and planned for."
I made a little video collection of photos, with a song that has become an important part of the soundtrack to this chapter of my life. I hope you have a few minutes to watch it, and don't forget to turn up your volume! The title for this post was pulled from my favorite part of the song.
Later this week, Adam has an appointment with a real estate attorney in Vermont. He'll also spend some time at the town hall checking out property records and such. Things are moving in a very forward direction, and it feels so incredibly good.
It was nice to stop in here for a bit this afternoon, now it is back to weekending. Emily's first soccer game is tonight and we are all rather excited around here!