Christmas decorations

Hello Ladies, near and far! I've been a busy bee trying to add some decor to this ol' house in Highland Park, and I've started with a wreath. At Trae's parents' house in Jasper, I chopped a small cedar down (while Trae watched. big help!) and we're going to use it for our Christmas tree. I've never ever decorated for Christmas before, but now that we're in a house together, it seems like more of an occasion. What are y'all doing for Christmas? Anything big or small?

p.s. - some good listen'ins:
Lay My Burden Down by Caroline Herring; Beasts of the Southern Wild soundtrack

Daisy's Garden Stir Fry

Plus some.

Hello Ladies!

I am garden-sitting for our lovely Daisy while she is up in New York, and it is truly a treat to tuck myself up in that quiet, lush space for half and hour every few days.  It's twice as nice because it's right up the hill from the Farmer's Daughter.  I was down there the other day, feeling a little panicked and a little frustrated for various reasons, but up the hill I went to pick Daisy's luffa and snip off yard-long beans.

As soon as I'd stepped over the chain onto her dratted burmuda grass, I felt 3/4 of my stress drain away, and the last thread was gone by the time my arms were in the luffa vines, sniffing their singular nutty smell.  It's like my own private Urban Farm.  And best of all, it's not mine.  I can reap the benefit of all her hard work (plus some of Jesus') and use it purely for my own relaxation   She's got it all- flowers, bees lazily buzzing, herbs, bird baths galore,  exotic Asian veggies, rocks, rabbits....

Since she was so sad to miss her bolting Baby Bok Choy (although I'm trying hard to save some for her- it's truly precious), I thought we'd all share it in a virtual one-dish potluck....  No pictures of the garden; I may snip snap one next time I'm up there- it's Magical though so it may not take to (extremely) amateur photography...

I rarely make stir-fry, but I sure do love to eat it... Plus, it take to time at'all... What's my problem?

Daisy's Garden Stir Fry
with shiitake, tofu, and some other stuff too

• 1 inch of baby ginger (I got some at the mkt in ATL!) (this is a very baby-focused meal), thinly sliced 
• 1 small hot pepper, minced
• 1/4 hubbard squash, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1/2 block firm tofu, cut into your favorite-sized squares
• 5 shiitake, destemmed and sliced
• 1 luffa, peeled and sliced into rounds
• 2 heads of baby bok choy, rinsed, and broken apart
• 1 cup of rice, cooked like you know you know how 

I marinated the tofu in a bit of fish sauce, soy sauce, tofu water, honey, and vinegar for about 10 minutes.

Heat a wok or skillet til hot with about a tablespoon of oil.  Toss in the ginger and hot pepper, stir briefly, then add the squash.  Cook til the squash begins to soften- about 7 minutes.  You can add the mushrooms with the squash, but I actually prefer to cook them separate in a dry skillet, as I think this makes them taste more mushroomy.  Add the tofu and luffa, cook a few minutes, and then, at the very last minute, wilt the baby bok choy.  Season with salt or soy sauce and serve right away.

Love!

-Ann Middle

missin y'all

Hello lovely ladies, wherever you are.
My cousin just had a baby, and my mind is filled with thoughts of wonderful ladies and healthy babies and good home cookin. I wish we could be together more often, but...since we can't, here are some pictures of the lovely prairie that I've been seeing these past few days in North Dakota. Thinkin of y'all!

Love,
Laura

readin:Unaccustomed Earth by Jumpha Lahiri

listenin to: The Blues Run the Game by Jackson C. Frank

Sunday

With the grey rainy weather and Fletcher napping I have some time to write a posting. It's been a while so here go some more sweet pictures of Fletcher, of course, and a little window into our Sunday.

While Kelsey and Fletcher entertained one another I made some bread. The recipe is a slight variation on Deborah Madison's Cracked Wheat Honey bread. It's a nice bread to make especially when I don't have a lot of time to invest. And a warm slice of it slightly after it emerges from the oven, with a little butter and honey brings a big smile.

Sorghum Wheat Bread

- 1/4 cup warm water

- 1 tsp. sugar   

- 2 1/4 tsp. dry yeast

- 1 and 1/4 cup farm milk or buttermilk

- 1/4 sorghum, honey, or steen's syrup

- 1/4 cup oil

- pinch sea salt

- 1 cup all purpose flour

-1 cup oats

- 4 cups Sonrisa whole wheat flour

* Combine 1/4 cup warm water with sugar and yeast and set aside. Oil 2 8x4 in. bread pans.

*Combine 1 1/2 cups hot water and milk then stir in sorghum, oil, and salt. Add yeast mixture then the oats. Then you can start adding the flours. Knead for around 5 minutes or so. 

* Put dough into an oiled bowl and let rise until doubled in size. Around 1 1/4 hours. 

* Push dough down and divide in to two loaves. Set into the greased pans and let rise again covered for around 45 minutes.

* While rising preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes. Enjoy!!

In the afternoon it began to rain finally and so Kelsey and Fletcher stepped out on the porch to soak it up. 

And then we read the Tailor of Gloucester. I went to the Knitting Mill one day and stumbled across a whole lot of Beatrix Potter books. They are just the right size to fit in this little fellows mouth.

And later on we went and scoped out an apple tree on Sequtachie Mountain. The lady said we could pick some so the next day we went back and got 6 bushels worth! I've made apple butter, a cake and soon I'll put up some sauce!

Love to all - Ashley

Reading: The Tailor of Gloucester by Beatrix Potter

Beating the Summer Heat

Now if only that bucket was a little bit bigger.....

Love, Ashley

Books to read: David Haskell's 'The Forest Unseen'

aprons away!

Well, I finished my first (and only) apron! It's been on my mind for a while, seeing all these pretty aprons hanging up in people's kitchens, thinking, Oh! that'd be nice to have...

So here it is, (I think the floral print was from Elspeth's giveaway pile last year):

It's also the first thing I've stitched together all by hand! I was surprised at how fast and satisfying it was to do it that way. I liked how much you can tailor it when stitching by hand, adjusting as you go, without having to worry about pinning it as much.

Now, time to make some biscuits!

reading: Ely by Ely Green

listening to: Ann-Marie Slaughter's interview with Terri Gross, about women in the workplace (check it out here!)

Farmer's Daughter

Although Shane and Elf have already seen it, I promised (Laura) I'd put it up here.  So here it is.  I know what I think about it, but let me know what you think.  It is possibly for our logo, words to come- drawn by the impossibly amazing Yuri.

Love, Ann

Too cute to keep to myself....

Unfortunately for me I've got this picture as my computer background.  It's impossible to get anything else done, 'cause all I want to do is gaze at this handsome couple.

Ahhh, the life of an aunt!

Love from Auntie Ann

mountain view

Check out the view from the top of this mountain! Is that a good-lookin man or what?!

This wonderful mister met me on my birthday last week! And we'll be headin home to Chattanooga in a couple weeks now. Cannot wait to see you all soon. Lots o love.

 lvc

listenin to: fiddle tunes -  "Say, Darlin, Say" "Get Along Cindy"
readin: All the Living by C E Morgan

cherry trees in bloom

Hullo! i missed you dear ones this weekend, lounging under the frothing cherry trees in the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. It was so easy to imagine the circle of you, sharing champagne and giggles. I was the best dressed (unless you prefer city chic) in a blue bicycle dress that arrived in the mail the day before from Miss Ashley! 

 three of my classmates: Nancy, Clarisse, and Haley- who always look more citywise than me. we painted hearts on our knees (and elsewhere) after a couple bottles of renegade champagne were downed. 

wish a fantastic ann photo was taken of these, which would end up on a card... next year, p'rhaps?

missin' you! in all shades of pink

Elspeth's Dinner

'Twas o-so-long-ago but Miss Elf just sent me a few pictures she took (as I took none)- with both black and white and color.

To see the menu go here: annsfoodletters.blogspot.com

Moss looks lovely smiley holding some pink eggs- in action.  

Miss Elf also looking lovely smiley, a more common occurrence in photos than Moss, but no less beautiful.

Me in my Spring-Time dress, tailored for me by the soon-to-be-world-famous Elf Yiddle-Giddle. 

And Mike and Kalli, the dishwashers, using all Safety Precautions

Love, Ann Middle Tindell

Shakerag Hollow in March

On the last day of March we decided to take a venture to one of my favorite places to go in the Spring time. I went last year for the first time with Miriam, Ann and Mike, and I have never seen a more beautifully diverse landscape in all my time. So this year Kelsey, Fletcher and I packed some snacks, diapers and a camera and went on our way to explore what spring ephemerals might be showing themselves. 

Everywhere you look wildflowers, ferns, moss, little critters, and so much covers the forest floor. It's so beautiful. Kelsey says it's called Shakerag Hollow because there use to be lots of moonshiners down there and if ever anyone wanted some they would hang a rag in branch with money in it and come back to some moonshine waiting for them, or so they say. 

Mountain azaleas were blooming all around. 

We couldn't figure out who lives in here. Perhaps a little gnome, I would want to live here if I were a forest dweller. Right on the edge of a trickling spring with lovely plants growing all around. 

Larkspur

Mayapples blooming in March!!

Phlox and Ferns happily living together

A brief stop on a fallen tree to change Flethers diaper. He was awake for a good portion of the hike just a lookin' all around. 

Foam Flower

And a break for kisses.

Love, Ashley and Fletcher    

Books to look at: Wildflowers of Tennessee the Ohio Valley and the Southern Appalachians

It's about time...

Well, I figured it's about time I say hello. Because I miss y'all so much. And things here are wonderful and cool and full of wool and beautiful sunsets and yummy seafood and fiddle music, and the only thing missing is wonderful ladies to enjoy it all with. So here's a brief rundown of some projects I've done and pictures from here and there.

Before I left, I made this hat. My first one! Yes, it is still hat weather here (around 40 degrees) but we had one day in the 80's last week!

Also before I left, I made this little bag to carry around my books...

and pens!   My mother has the most wonderful old Pfaff sewing machine that belonged to her mother when she was growing up (who sewed lots of clothes for her 12 children!), and mom taught me how to sew on it when I was little. Thanks, mom!

And here's where I live. This is the sunrise, half a block from my house! I live right on the edge of Portland, which has a little peninsula that sticks out into the bay. I love getting up early to watch the sun rise over the islands in the bay. For a few minutes, the world is absolutely beautiful.

And while I've been here, I've been lucky enough to hang out with some pretty interesting folks in order to make radio stories. One story I did was about ice fishing. I spent two days out on this lake with the guy on the left, Rick. He's been an ice fisherman all his life. Here's a pike he caught:

They're really pretty! I'm working on a website to put some of my audio stories up so I can share them with you. The first audio piece I ever made is being published by a local magazine's website this week (it will be here)! And I'm also writing a little bit about my time in Maine on my blog, here.

And finally, I'm missing this guy like crazy, but he's already been to visit once, so I guess life ain't that bad. I miss y'all!  If you get the hankerin to head north, you are all welcome here! Lots o love (and lobstah, as they say it!) from Maine.

Laura

p.s. - playing "Say Farmer, Can I Have Your Daughter" - new favorite fiddle tune! and singing "Buffalo Gals" to welcome springtime.
Read: Blood, Bones, and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton