June 1

The Calendar says June, though it feels as though May only just arrived. 

It was a rainy month here. A welcome one. After so many dry weeks, everything seemed to stretch.  The garden and the grass grew. The weeds certainly grew. Now the Heat has settled in. 

The girls are home for summer. The days have shifted shape.  There are bakery mornings, chicken chores, meals to make, cupboards to sort, and the small work of preparing for what's next. 

For us, that's Maine. 

In a few weeks, I'll head north for the first time in two years. I've been making lists in my head while folding laundry and washing dishes.  What am I forgetting? 

The small work of stepping away from your life that normally requires your daily presence.  

I'm looking forward to familiar roads and faces and the smell of pine trees. 

Happy summer, gardens growing, trips planned, long days return. 

June has indeed arrived. Happy Birthday to Mimi, who would have been 97, gone much too soon. 

ཐིཋྀ tina

between rains

Hot bakery ovens traded for a hot honey latte, which feels right even with summer pressing in at the edges. Last night's storm left everything washed clean by this morning's light. The garden feels alive after the rain.  we have had a lot of rain.  Roses blooming wide and the butternut squash seedlings are reaching up.  I picked 5 blackberries on my way back inside and ate them standing in the wet grass while the chickens were close by and our one chicken we call Blackberry, well she is a smart girl and so she made the case for a fence last year. I threw her one that looked not quite right for me but perfect for her. So much of this season feels fragile in the loveliest way.  Fleeting. Temporary. Here for only a moment before the calendar turns again.  June is knocking at the door.  

spring! eggs!

 

There is a really distinct shift that happens this time of year when the eggs suddenly start piling up.  After a cold winter, those spring eggs sure are nice, and honestly, we just can't eat them fast enough. It always feels good to lean into the foods that are rooted in the season, especially when it means using the fresh greens growing in the garden.  I have Swiss Chard growing right now, so that's what went in the pan tonight, though kale or spinach work just as well.  As far as our abundance of eggs - We are so thankful to be offering them at Kat's Sourdough and Juice Bar in Germantown these past few weeks.

This is a quick dinner tonight and I thought I'd share how it comes together.  I start with a big chunk of butter in the pan and let the chard cook down, as chard does. Once the greens are sauteed, I pour in a good amount of cream or half and half, and just let it bubble up with the chard.  Then I crack in the eggs, just 2 eggs tonight since I'm having a rare solo afternoon.  Add salt and pepper and crumble in some goat cheese. If you have some hearty toasts you can use those for dipping in your yolk after it is just set.  I don't have toast, or bread for that matter, worthy of yolk dipping so I just scrambled it all up right in the skillet.  It turns out so soft, creamy and delicious.  A perfect breakfast or dinner with those spring! Eggs! 

And you? What are you making with your spring abundances this week?  

 

spring thoughts

 

                                                                         

               

Lately, I have been thinking a long while about the noise of the world ~the way we so quickly try to tell one another what to do, what to eat, and who to become. It’s a curious thing, isn't it? The desire to shape another's thoughts for them. I don’t believe life works in such a forced way. I think we each come to our truths in our own time, in our own way, and in our own quiet corners. I don’t wish for someone to stand over me, and I certainly don't wish to stand over anyone else. 

There is a freedom in the simple act of choosing. If one’s heart ~and budget~ leads them toward a plate of radishes, baked beans, and bacon, then that is exactly where they should be. It is okay. Living close to the earth is a deeply personal journey, one that looks different for every set of hands that works the soil.  The gardens and animals we tend to, the rewards, are that much more meaningful. 

And yet, there is a softening that happens when we walk a path bound up with nature. When we try to empathize with the earth, we begin to see the sentience in the beings around us. We see the fear, the distress, and the very real feelings of the creatures we share this space with. It makes us a bit more respectful, doesn't it? A bit more thoughtful about the plate. 

Each person gets to decide. I believe that today as much as I ever have. But I also believe in the power of paying attention ~to where things come from, and the relationship we want to cultivate with the farmer or the wild around us.

dutch baby, rain baby

I look outside and judge the type of rain based on if the chickens are out of their house

she can not decide, so we just leave the door open

We started the day in cotton gowns, sleeveless and as it started to rain I reached for a plaid shirt:: by the time the day darkens into night, we will be back in our flannel pajamas and definitely warm socks tomorrow. 
I made a blueberry Dutch Baby because it seems like the perfect rainy morning to get the oven going.  It is an easy make, but I have read online that sometimes people struggle with the puff aspect of the oven pancake.  I'm not sure and can't attest to what problems they run into, but I'm wondering if it has something to do with the age of the eggs?  So I can only recommend using farm eggs, either from yours or your neighborhood egg person,,,they are everywhere these days <yay> My recipe is: 

preheat your oven to 400 degrees (mine is convection and automatically adjusts this to 375)

3 farm fresh eggs (room temp)

3/4 cup milk

3 T melted butter.   preheat and melt it in your size 8 or 10 inch cast iron skillet and pour half of it into your milk and egg mixture.  I use my stove top for this step. Leave the rest in the pan on low. 

3 T (more or less) raw cane sugar.  you can put less but you may not get that crusty sweet top that pairs well with the tartness of the blueberries. 

1 T vanilla

pinch salt

3/4 unbleached organic AP flour 

1/4 cup wild blueberries, frozen (my favorites are found at Trader Joe's and are wild harvested from the Boreal forest in Canada) I really do think the tiny berries work great here.  I add half to the buttered warmed skillet bottom, pour in my batter and sprinkle the rest on top and pop into the oven.  

Bake for 20+ minutes, until puffed and set in the center. 

While your Dutch baby is baking, set your timer on your phone because you don't want to forget it, ahem.  take your phone outside in your backyard and walk around with your pajamas in the rain (if you are so lucky) and enjoy this time while your breakfast cooks. This is part of the "recipe" so you must do it for the pancake to come out!! :))

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.  I have a lot of work to get done at home today.  But I plan to do it well fed and very well caffeinated. OK, I'm off to find those wool socks I already packed away because we will wake up to 40s tomorrow! 

xo, ~tina

away

    

I hadn't intended to be away from the blog all summer.  I started working outside of the home and well something had to fall away while I adjusted to new rhythms.  All of a sudden it was October.  I do not really know what happened to September, I blinked and it was over.  The garden is over, mostly.  There are still a few things making a comeback.  Like the basil, green onions, Tulsi, stonecrop, and comfrey...  which all waned a bit in the heat of August but a new flush as soon as the cooler temps (80s) arrived.  The Moonflower is just now blooming, as I planted the seeds quite late.  I sunk them in the hot earth mid July and the vine took it's time, but she's here now and the blooms against the night sky are nothing short of spectacular.  The Harvest Moon rise with moon flowers glowing.  Magic I tell you. 

I got 10 chicks accidentally from the local farm supply store on the town square.  By that I only mean that I hadn't originally planned to get fall chicks.  I had a text from a friend that "Russell's has 5 week old Easter Eggers" oh and 2 Buff Orpingstons... and well I went and rescued them from their wire confines.  Even if we don't keep them, they are here for now, on earth.  Messages came in when I shared them with my Instagram, questions.  You got them and might not keep them?  Yes.  Did you have to ask your husband?  No.  you see I asked my husband one time back in 2012 if I could get chickens.  He trusts my knowledge and care for them and leaves me to manage the flock dynamics. He doesn't worry about or micromanage the details of who comes or goes out in the hen house. He does see to the pine needles that the neighbor threw away and brings me the bags for them and helps peddle the eggs.  

I hope to be in this space more often as the decline of Instagram continues.  The transition from what it used to be to what it is now is apparent for all to see.  I feel it's a struggle to maintain any kind of audience in that space.  I see folks with large audiences struggling to reach the people who want to see them, for the most part.  There are those super popular accounts that still have reach, but for the little folks over there it feels more and more like a waste of time.  I continually feel like posting in a space like the blog might prove to serve me better.  BUT then with news of platforms like Typepad closing it's doors and SO many wonderful blogs I read over there being GONE~ well I'm not sure even how long Blogger with keep it's doors open... 
Well thanks for being here and following along with my little corner of the internet.  Happy Autumn.  Happy October.  

~tina