Homemade Veggie Pot Pie

Awhile ago I was visiting a young friend during lunch time and she was eating an Amy's pot pie.   She told me she loved that kind because of the cheesy sauce in with the veggies and so, of course, I had to try making something similar - it really did look delicious.  Pot pies are, to me, an ultimate in comfort food.  So here was my first attempt and it worked well enough that we all decided we wanted it to be a regular part of our meal planning.

I sauteed an onion in grapeseed oil in my cast iron pan then added some cut up veggies (I only had potatoes and the carrots from E's garden that time but next time I would likely add sweet potato too).  I sauteed the veg for a few minutes and then added some broth and covered it with a lid so the veggies would cook a bit.  Once they were cooked a bit I used a slotted spoon to scoop them into a casserole dish and sprinkled on some of my dried thyme. 

Then with the leftover broth in my pan I made a gravy.  I usually just mix a bit of butter a flour to make a roux and then blend it in with the broth and add our favourite spices.  This time I did that but then after it looked sufficiently gravyish I also added some grated sharp cheddar cheese - it was delicious.  But, since I am also trying to use up things in our freezers to make room for holiday baking  I also dug out some raw cashews and made some cashew cream in my blender (just blend raw cashew bits and water until it looks like cream) and then added this to the gravy/sauce for even more creaminess.  So delicious. 

I got chickpeas, green beans (from our garden) and peas out of the freezer and added those to the casserole dish with the other veggies (for my sons' sake I refrained from adding zucchini) and then poured the sauce over all of it.  I had already made a pastry dough using this recipe from my tomato pie recipe.  I rolled it out and put it on top of the casserole dish and the baked it at (I think ) 375 or 400 for probably 30-40 minutes.  Guess what's on our menu for tonight?

The Pox - Round Two

We've been having lots of fun in our preparations for the holidays.  There has been more crafting for gifts.  This bookmark will be sent out with some other goodies tomorrow.  I made these for my parents last year and they were well received (the idea came from Soulemama's book Handmade Home) and when I was asking a friend for gift ideas she reminded me of them so now my brother will have one too.

We started our holiday baking.  So far we've made our annual toffee, Nanaimo bars (also something we make once a year) and W made dough for sugar cookies (he wants to cut them out and ice them).

Hard to believe that just four ingredients could turn into something so delicious.  Recipe here in case I've tempted you and I do hope I have - it's melt-in-your-mouth delicious.

I cut some greenery from different trees to make our decorations.  A door wreath is a must-have for me and I also love to have smaller branches throughout the house and especially on the fireplace mantle.

And the boys have been busy making gifts as well.  They've been making  hand-dipped beeswax candles.

And they've been doing some woodworking too.  E has been making these simple and lovely napkin rings.  We all love gifts made of natural materials and strive to make sure all the gifts we make reflect our concern for our Earth.  I think these napkin rings are simply beautiful and am so pleased that my boys love making gifts as much as we do.

I'm glad we were able to get quite a bit done last week because now we settle into round 2 of the pox.  E showed signs of it yesterday and definitely has it this morning.   So...he and I will find some quiet things to do over the next few days until the worst is over - and I will be very grateful for audio books.

Radical Homemakers

I have long thought of myself as a homemaker - as in the Maker of the Home - and have been very proud to do so, after all, what could be more important than making a home for my loved ones and I.  When I heard about the book Radical Homemakers I asked our library to buy it so I was very pleased to see it sitting in my library bin last week.  I knew it was my kind of book almost from the moment I started reading it.  Every once in a while I find books that are so good that I don't want to put them down and so with this one I managed to find a way to read it while I went about my daily round.  I even found a way to clip it open so that I could read it while knitting gifts (which I've never been tempted to do before).

It is such a good feeling to come across a book telling about a group of people who value the same things you do.  I enjoyed reading about each person in the book and very much felt a feeling of community while reading.  And, when you choose to live your life outside the norm in our society, it always feels good to hear about others making similar life choices - it is very affirming.  Such a good book!  And so, I think the next time someone asks "What do you do?" I might just say, "I am a Radical Homemaker."  How fun is that?

Re-purposed Skirt

I've always loved to make something new out of something old, I have a hard time bringing myself to get rid of anything made of natural fibres because I know that I could re-make it and give it a new life.  My friends and family know this about me and so I am sometimes the lucky recipient of things that others no longer use.  A friend of mine has been giving me all kinds of goodies lately and when she gave me a couple skirts I put them aside to  make into aprons - I knew they would be just right for this purpose. 

Unfortunately, I tend to have more creative ideas than I  have time so often these projects can pile up on my shelves.  I had some free time this past weekend so I decided I would re-make these skirts into aprons for gifts - making things for gifts always seems to motivate me to get going. 

I thought I'd share the process here because it really is a simple way to give a skirt a new life.  I seam-ripped the back seam and took out the zipper.  Then I used some scrap fabric I had on hand to make two long-ish ties.  I inserted the ends of the ties into the ends of the waistband (where I had seam-ripped it open).

Then I sewed the ties in as I sewed a new seam down each side joining the fabric and the lining into a finished seam (the old seam allowance from the middle seam became the turned under edges to make a nice finish).

And that was it!

Our Christmas Tree

Last year was our first (and we thought, only) year in this temporary home and we decided that we would take full advantage of the tall ceiling and get a giant Christmas tree.  Since we find ourselves still here it seemed only natural to go out and find another big tree for this year's celebrations.  On Saturday we went a couple miles up the road and started our search.  Our faithful friend scouted things out for us (actually he just bounded through the snow as blissful as a puppy just as he does on our daily walks).  We found the one we wanted in a very short time.

Then we brought it home and set it up - much more quickly than last year due to the experience gained from our struggles last year.

The next day, after far too long for E's liking (he was asking at very regular intervals when we would be decorating from the moment we set it up) we decorated it.  One of the things I love about Christmas is getting out the box of decorations each year and the memories they invoke.  Most of our ornaments are handmade and I can recall the making of them and what was happening at that time in our lives - they all have their own little bit of history.

And now I look forward to evenings in front of the fire, with the tree all aglow and filling our home with its delightful fresh scent.  Beautiful!

And what was keeping us so busy that our poor youngest son had to wait to decorate that tree?  We were both making gifts.  I especially love it when S gets time to create.  He makes beautiful, useful items out of wood and he does it so well.  Last year he made these walnut breadboards/serving boards and this year he is making walnut utensils like this butter spreader (and other secret things...or so I hear).

Such a fun time of  year.

Quiet Time

We've had more time at home than usual and E and I are quite enjoying it (the poxy teenager W, not so much).  I've been catching up on some gift making and have one parcel almost ready to go (thankfully I made one of these button-tab hats much earlier this year in a short-lasted fit of organization) .

This is the Regular Guy Beanie from Ravelry.  I've made five of these now and they're just an all around good toque - they fit well, the size is easily adjusted and you can add stripes or not.

I also made a tiny little gift for an acorn-loving little friend.  I started out trying to make it with mohair (in just the perfect shade of nut-brown) but alas, fine mohair yarn and I don't get on at the best of times and when I added in the four small needles needed AND knitting front and back of stitches...well, it just wasn't happening.  So...I chose another yarn and this little acorn (pattern from this website) came together very nicely. 

I think she'll quite like it.

And, even though we have plenty of snow outside the windows, I can never have a wintertime without handmade paper snowflakes ON the windows.  They are one of my favourite simple pleasures and I could happily cut them all day.

And,  I've even had time to finally strain some of my neglected well-aged tinctures that have been sitting on my shelves waiting ever-so-patiently to be strained and bottled.  This one is wild rose-hip - I love the colour.

Crusty Portuguese-American Yeasted Cornbread and...Coyotes.

A few days ago I thought I would try two more recipes from Kneadlessly Simple, I chose the recipe for Crusty Portuguese-American Yeasted Cornbread (because it sounded too good not to try) and San Francisco-style Sourdough bread (this time made with yogurt and vinegar because I've just started the sourdough starter recipe from the book).  I baked the cornbread one after dinner and we ate half of it for a bedtime snack, the rest we saved to eat with our dinner the next night - it's delicious with chili.  I'm so delighted with how well these breads turn out and how simple they are to make.  I'm looking forward to tasting the sourdough loaf, it is waiting in the fridge to be baked with tonight's dinner. My  sourdough starter will be ready to test in a week and I'm looking forward to loaves of bread that remind me of a long ago trip to San Francisco when S and I were newly married.

On Saturday morning E, our spotter of all things animal (if there is a creature of any kind in range he will spot it), vegetable (he is always the first to find the wild berries), and mineral (beautiful stones and...coin - if there is money on the ground he Will see it) noticed a coyote outside.  We  all looked outside and saw three of them.  We watched them for awhile and then, it seemed, they left.  Later that morning we let one of our cats out and, after a bit, I noticed that she was crouching on the deck in her "stalking" position.  I looked out and we saw the coyotes again, one of them was just below the deck staring up at us (or more likely, her).

I opened the patio door and she zipped in the house, still down low to the ground.  She raced through the living room, up the stairs to our bedroom where I thought she went under the bed.  When I looked up I spotted her here...

high up on the window ledge of the highest window - watching the coyotes from a safe spot.