Celebrate the Harvest: Being Thankful for A Working Computer

It's been hard to Celebrate the Harvest this week since my computer crashed on Monday night. If anything it has made me INCREDIBLY thankful for moments when the computer does work, and what a working computer enables me to do: blog, edit photos, create graphics and logos...So today, while my computer is in the shop getting some TLC, I'm on a borrowed computer.


I'd love to share some photos of some of the amazing things that my Mom and I have been sewing over the past week in preparation for our craft fair this weekend, but due to my computer woes it looks like you'll just have to show up in person to check out all the loveliness that's been going down:-)


This Sunday we will be at the Greenland Women's Club Craft Fair and Pie Festival  from 10am to 3pm at the Greenland Central School in Greenland, NH.


Hope to see you there!


--Sarah

Fall Food

Farro and Roasted Squash Pilaf

Fall is here in New Hampshire.  The leaves are gone, except for the oak and a few stubborn maples.  Cloudy days can be really gray and dreary.

We joined a CSA (community supported agriculture) this summer,  a local farm- Heron Pond Farm- sold shares and half shares and those members get a weekly supply of veggies and some fruit.  Along with all the regular summer veggies, I received some that I would not buy on a normal basis, like beets and squash.  I remember my mom eating pickled beets, but as a child they made me gag...  Squash always seemed to be served mashed with marshmallows on top, yuck.  So I was faced with a dilemma either I learned to make recipes that I liked with these new to me vegetables or throw them out.  And since throwing them out was a waste I began looking for recipes.


This recipe comes from the November 2010 issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray
(this is how it is in the magazine...I made some changes)

Farro and Roasted Squash Pilaf

Serves 8 (or 4 really hungry people)

1 cup dried cranberries

1 butternut squash (about 2 pounds) peeled and cut into 3/4 inch cubes (about 5 cups)

3 1/2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

salt and pepper

1 1/2 cups farro

2/3 raw pumpkin seeds

3/4 cup thinly slice scallions

2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped

*   *   *   *   *   

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  line a baking sheet with parchment.  In a small bowl, soak the cranberries in 1 1/2 cups hot water until slightly softened, about 40 min; drain.

2.  In a large bowl, toss the squash with 2 tablespoons olive oil, the lemon juice, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.  Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and bake tossing once, until lightly browned, about 30 minutes; let cool.

3.  Meanwhile, in a pot of boiling salted water, cook the farro until just tender, 15 minutes,  Drain and let cool.

4.  In a medium skillet, toast the pumpkin seeds over medium heat until puffed and pale brown, about 5 minutes; let cool.

5.  In a large bowl, combine the farro, roasted squash, cranberries, pumpkin seeds, scallions, thyme and the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil; season with salt and pepper.

My Changes:
I did not soak the cranberries, I used Craisins, added them at step 5
I used cashews instead of pumpkin seeds.


Here are some pictures of the process:

Peel the squash and remove the seeds

fresh lemon juices smells wonderful!

Squash ready for the oven

Farro is a grain much like wheat berries, cooking time is less than with wheat berries

Yummy scallions

Thyme

I really wish this was scratch and sniff, it smells sooooo wonderful!!

Roasted squash goodness, the lemon juice really adds a nice flavor.  What you can't  hear is the smoke detector going off because the lemon juice burned...

Yummy Goodness

This would be a great addition to Thanksgiving dinner!!

Harvest Time

For the next two weeks leading up to Thanksgiving we will be celebrating the season with crafts and recipes that celebrate everything Harvest! This week we'll start with a Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread. Instead of looking up an all new recipe I decided to modify my Banana Bread recipe(which is really yummy), simply by substituting canned pumpkin for the bananas.

Here's a look at the process:

 

I added chocolate chips...nothing says harvest like pumpkin AND chocolate. Mmmm.

 And here's the finished product:

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread Recipe:

1 can pumpkin

2 eggs

1 stick of butter (1/2 cup)

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp baking soda 

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

2 cups flour

1 bag milk chocolate chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350

1. soften butter, then mix in pumpkin, eggs and sugar

2. add dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt and spices stir thoroughly

3. mix in chocolate chips

4. transfer to greased loaf pan and bake at 350 for 50 minutes.

--Sarah

Pottery Barn Advent Calendar DIY

Two years ago the Pottery Barn debuted this advent calendar in their Pottery Barn Kids catalog. I loved it! I loved the way there were pockets for every day and I imagined our future family (we didn't have kids yet) tucking little gifts into the pockets and exchanging them each day leading up to Christmas.

I remember as a kid, my parents would get a paper advent calendar that had little doors and each night, after my dad got home from work we would all stand around the fridge while he opened the door. The anticipation of the moment is still a vivid memory of my childhood, one that I wanted my own children to experience too. 

I wanted to order it back in 2008, but it was $69 (!!) and we didn't have any kids at that time so it didn't seem like a legitimate purchase (not that you need kids to have an Advent calendar). So I decided then that I would make it. I went down to the local craft store and purchased several yards of green felt and a whole stack of 8x11 pieces of felt in every color I could find and a whole bunch of embroidery floss (the same supplies I used for those easy felt ornaments). 

I roughly followed the same dimensions that were listed in the Pottery Barn catalog: 36" wide and 61" high.When it came to the shape of the tree, I folded the felt in half and with a dark marker drew the shape of the tree onto the felt.  I also copied some of the pocket motifs: the snowman, stocking, santa and ribbons, but I also personalized many of the pockets with places that are important to our family.

Here's the Pottery Barn Version

Here's my version:

 

 A look at some of the pockets:

For most of the pockets I glued the small pieces then used a blanket stitch around them to secure them and give a more finished look. 

 Snowman

 Baby Jesus in the manger.

 Gift and mittens.

 The North Pole

 Christmas tree light strings (really they are buttons!) and gingerbread.

 Holly.

 Tree and ornaments.

 Pockets can hold all kinds of goodies: stickers, playing cards, little activity kits, note pads...

 And then there were the pockets I made that had personal significance:

 Lighthouse, since we vacation every year at the beach in Maine where my husband's family owns a beach house.

 Cactus, for the years we lived in Arizona and had "Christmas in the Desert."

 

 Mt. Washington summit, where my husband and I first met hiking.

 The Tree is two pieces of felt stitched together. I didn't put any sort of batting or interfacing in between. It was stiff enough on its own.

 Three O-rings on the back to hang from. It lays flat nicely against the wall without any need for extra support.

 It took me about a year to make, not because it time consuming, but because it was one of those projects that I just kept putting off. I finished it last year, just in time for Christmas. Last Christmas Sophia was a brand-new, two-week-old baby, this year she'll be a year old and more able to participate in our new family tradition!

 --Sarah