Rebecca Sower

honeycrisp apple crisp

My husband and I drove up to the Country Living fair this weekend.  On the way home we stopped by this store and...there they were!

...what I've been waiting for all year...the season's first honeycrisp apples.

My favorite apple.  I bought a big bag full...some to eat on the way home, some to put in the kid's school lunches, and some to make apple crisp (recipe below).  Sorry no photos of the finished dessert, we ate it all.

HONEYCRISP APPLE CRISP:

Dice 6-7 apples into baking dish (i leave the peel on).  Squeeze half a lemon over apples.  Drizzle honey (i use local wildflower honey; or you could use pure maple syrup) over apples and stir around a bit to coat.  Sprinkle cinnamon over top.  Mix this topping in a separate bowl:  6ish tablespoons of soft (real) butter, about 1 cup regular oats, 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, 1/3 cup flour, spoonful of cinnamon (here's where you can grate in a little nutmeg, or a pinch of ground cloves, etc., if you'd like).  Scatter mixed topping over apples.  Toast some pecans or walnuts and sprinkle over apples if desired.  Bake at 375 for 40 or so minutes.  Serve warm with ice cream and/or coffee if you'd like.

Happy almost fall!

for the ideas (and the food)

Another snow yesterday. 

But here on our little 'farm', January is the beginning of warm and green too.

Why is this so exciting to me?  A small spoonful of soil and a tiny seed.

That will grow into something beautiful and healthful for our table and our bodies.

Even the books are exciting to me. And I spend much of my winter curled up somewhere, pouring over the pages and the photos.  Daydreaming.

If I close my eyes I can almost smell the good earth, feel the soil in my hands.

This year, a much bigger garden.  It's likely I'm over-achieving.

But I will be at home there, between the rows, letting my thoughts wander and meander as I tend the vegetables.

Why do I grow a vegetable garden?  The food.  Of course the food.  Straight from the earth to my family's table.  There is nothing so nourishing as that.

But also for the way my mind gets to run off and play while I'm out there digging in the dirt.  It's good for mind and soul and body. Why would I not do this?

Do you garden?

life, creatively

I'm in full-on homestead mode here on our little piece of earth.  If summer is busy, autumn is even more so.  But beautifully busy.  Feel-good distractions pulling me away from this computer.

Our newest hens are laying like crazy.  So with the baskets full of healthy, happy eggs comes much fall baking.  And since I'm in the kitchen...

 
I should bake a pie or two with these most delicious honeycrisp apples that I've gone back to the store three times to restock.  We can't stop eating them this time of year.  Wow, my kitchen is a busy place, a lot of kitchen sounds with good tunes to keep me bustling.

 
My sweet-16 cupcake baker made these.  And for dinner you could try this stew or this meatloaf.  We loved them both.  Let's see, what else is going on around here?

Oh yeah, it's time to drag this beast out and put her to work.  And work she does....

 

For the past few years I've been canning all sorts of foods with the best ingredients available, many are from local gardens and farmers.  It feels so good to be less relient on ingredients I'm not okay with.  Can you tell I watched Food Inc. again recently?  Gets me every time.

 

Fall is also backpacking season for us.  The packs are lined up and getting ready to go for our trip to the mountains next week.  100% nature and each other for three straight days.  We come home dirty and exhausted and a little grouchy.  But our spirits are cleansed and mended and re-energized.  Unplugging from everything always offer its own beautiful rewards.  Need a source of inspiration for getting out into God's green earth?  I have just the thing.  And when we return?  It's back to 'project studio re-do', no more procrastinating.  It's coming along, a little more slowly with my self-imposed budget of $0.  Pushes me to be a little more creative in my thought processes.

So you see?  There's much calling me away from this computer screen.  I know it's the same with you.  Grab my hand and let's get out there together.  No more sitting around talking about living creatively...let the creative life begin!

 

 

 

there, that's done

I don't know why but I habitually forget to post my photos on Flickr.  Silly me.  But I took care of that last night and now it's all up to date...I think.

Here's the link if you'd like to stop by for a visit.

And a parting thought for the day...dedicated to all my fellow gardeners...

 

Until next time then, may each of you find beauty in your day.

for what they are

"We love the things we love for what they are."

{ robert frost }

Things like...

...fresh basil on the patio, and things like...

...the prettiest cupcakes made by my sweet-16 (inspired by those cake shows on tv--she's really good at this isn't she?), and things like...

...a dear dad's 70th birthday celebration (guess who made the cowboy cake?), and things like...

...a lazy kitty in the sun (thanks Bernie, I still love her!), and things like...

...a sweet young hen from our newest flock (she actually comes up to me so I can pick her up and pet her...I've named her 'Buttercream'...because she's golden and sweet), and things like...

...a daughter who's finally coming home from Haiti this weekend (I'm so proud of her but I miss her like crazy.  Is this the first time you've seen a hippie-clown?  Yeah, me too.)

What are the things you love for what they are?  You should do a blog post about them...you should.  And let me know so I can stop by.  I'd really like that.

chasing summer

Summer has felt like a butterfly fluttering by, and I the child laughing and running and never quite catching it.  But those are the best kind of summers.  A lot of time spent with my family, and a lot of that time right here at home humble home.

So while cobwebs have been forming in my studio, and dust bunnies are collecting under my furniture, and weeds are growing in my flower beds, and the sounds of television are not even heard, I have been...

...on a 9-day mission trip to Montana, desolately beautiful Montana...

 

...playing lots of marathon Monopoly sessions (only one single game have i won so far. one.)...

...swimming under the hot sun and evening stars...

 

...making frequent trips into town to visit here and sometimes here...

...and then camping out in the kitchen, canning for the pantry...

 

...making homemade pizzas and guacamole...

 

...baking pies and pound cakes (still getting around to that homemade bread)...

 

(obviously trying to make up for all those years of being a lame cook and lazy baker)

...I have also been catching up on some reading...

...nursing an injured stray kitten back to health.  meet henry...

 

...tending to our vegetable patch...

...canoeing the Red River and hiking the Big South Fork...

Well, I don't deserve a summer this good, but it's been just that.  Really, really good.

How are you chasing summer?  Post it on your blog and let me know...would love to know what your summer looks like so far.