and the winner is

Sorry about the quality of this photograph.
I didn't want to risk taking the scarf out of the bag!
Things happen around here.

Thank you to every reader who entered my little giveaway for the traditional Ethiopian scarf. I enjoyed your varied examples of inspirational people, some very personal and others more publicly-known figures, past and present. And now I have some new inspiring people and books to follow up on - thanks!

There were 24 entries in total. I used the popular and magical Sequence Generator on random.org to find the winner:

 # 7

And counting down from the first comment, the 7th entry is:

KathNovember 6, 2013 at 6:31 AM
I am going to read about Dr Hamlin, she sounds like an amazing lady. Thank you for bringing this work to my attention and offering this beautiful scarf as a gift to one of your Internet friends.

You are very welcome, my internet friend! Please drop me an email with your mailing address, and I will send Piper straight to the Post Office with your package.

Or maybe I'd better drive? The pond is on the way to the Post Office...

 

...and we wouldn't want any accidents.

Now, Kath, just one more thing...who inspires you?  :)

~~~~~ 

wordless wednesday

~~~~~

just a dusting

Lingering flakes decorate the Chalet de Capri.

It started snowing around 545 this morning, and stopped within an hour. Every surface was still covered with snow when the goats began to stir.

The babies had never seen snow before. Tsuga barely seemed to notice, and got right on with her breakfast. Sambucus was a bit unsettled. Fortunately, a few pieces of apple peel brought the world right back onto its axis.

Mmmmmm...apple! Watch your fingers!

It's cold enough that even now, when the sun is going down, there is still a little snow here and there.

I've taken many photographs of this particular mullein plant, as it is between the house and the goat barn. This is what it looked like in mid-May. Every morning, it seemed more soft new leaves had magically appeared in a furry rosette on the ground:

By early June, it was knee-high.

By July, shoulder-high mullein stalks were rising dramatically above other vegetation. As soon as the first flowers began to open, bees appeared and got right to work.

And on this November morning I had to hold my camera straight up over my head to take this picture of the top of the stalk:

~~~

A little dusting of snow is a gentle way of easing into winter.

Just a little reminder of where we're headed.

As if a reminder is needed!

As I fall asleep at night, I'm thinking about which pre-Winter task takes priority the next day. And every morning I regretfully add items to the task list.

~~~

I just came in from giving the goats their evening hay, and I had to break through the ice on their water buckets again. So yes, Winter is very much on my mind.

But that's no reason to forget all about Spring, is it?

Let's see. Here's a reminder of Spring:

At 3 weeks old, Tsuga discovered the Chalet and immediately attempted to scale it. She saw no reason to subdue her optimism in the face of Gravity. I think I will try to follow this model in relation to Winter.

~~~~~

frontiers in baking

So, what time can you be here? I tried a new recipe!

With apples!

The first step: toasting chopped pecans. 

This was also a new thing.

Previously, the only thing I'd toasted was bread.

 Interrupting this recipe with

a newsflash from the Poultry Palace:

the hens are again presenting me with eggs.

One or two lovely organic eggs daily.

Already, winter looks less harsh.

Thank you, hens!

Returning to the new recipe:

it appeared on my blog feed today,

from King Arthur Flour.

I love those folks.

They are passionate about what they do,

and they really know how to share the joy!

~~~

Most recipes, no matter where I find them, call for ingredients I don't have on hand. So even the most interesting recipes get filed away, until maybe - maybe - one day I remember 

to buy the missing ingredients.

And then remember what the ingredients are meant for.

And where I put the recipe.

Cooking can be so hard.

But not today!

I had all the ingredients for "naked apple-vanilla pie."

Note: the "naked" refers to the lack of crust.

The apples are not naked.

They are also not clothed.

They are peeled, so maybe they are sort of undressed?

You know, I think the "naked" aspect may be a bit of a distraction from the main event, which is this:

 If someone served this to me at a dinner party and challenged me in a playful, dinner-party-way, to identify the dish, I wouldn't describe it as "a crustless pie."

It's hard to pinpoint, really, and I hope in this imaginary scenario my future happiness would in no way hinge upon my response to the host's question.

"Hmmm...well...a delicious variation on an apple clafoutis?"

That's the best comparison I can make. However, now that I think about it, the Comptonia Taste Test didn't include the recommended cream or ice cream for a topper. That addition may very well make it seem more pie-ish, overall.

But I don't know.

Perhaps I should get some ice cream and try it?

(You can bet I won't have any trouble remembering to pick up that ingredient.)

Whatever it's called, I like it!

Perhaps you'd like it, too?

It's easy, quick, and involves apples.

It's different from "the usual" apple desserts.

The pecans - that would be the toasted pecans - add texture.

And the light note of vanilla is lovely.

And I'm adding a link to the recipe.

~~~

Apple season. 

Loving it.

~~~~~

fruit and veg

The weather has been quite variable this week.

Mornings like today, with ice in the goats' water buckets.

And days that feel like late Spring, when the air is so balmy one can think of nothing but gardening.

~~~

On a 21F morning this week, my thoughts turned naturally to baking. This plum cobbler may not look like much, but I wish you could have been in my house while it was baking. Made me want to bake every day, just for the aroma.

I would be embarrassed to tell you how quickly this disappeared.

Will just say this about cobbler:

good for breakfast, lunch, and late-night snacking.

Not for supper, of course.

That would be irresponsible and self-indulgent.

~~~

On a nice warm day, Piper and I visited a nearby orchard to buy apples in anticipation of the next baking day. 

Lots of apples. And cider.

Lovely, delicious cider.

Made mostly from Macintosh apples,

with some other varieties added.

Like this charming Golden Russet:

Then, there was a hard frost and I pulled the cabbages.

The valiant cabbages that continued to grow despite the endless onslaught of leaf-eating insects that escaped my 

daily attempts at elimination.

Every cabbage looked like this:

Pondering the subtle differences between "harvest" and "salvage," I made one precious quart of sauerkraut, now fermenting in the kitchen:

and enjoyed the last meal of just-picked vegetables from the 2013 gardening endeavor. A reminder of summer, when the garden was the source of most of my grocery "shopping."

Good times!

~~~

Then, surprise! The weather changed again.

An entire day of rain and gloom.

Time for another bake.

An experiment with fresh cranberries and apples.

It resulted in a sort of cross between a tea biscuit and a scone.

Behold: the "bisconey."

And my method for storing baked goods:

Two of my Grammy's glass pie pans.

This works very well!

Of course, we're probably talking about short-term storage.

 ~~~~~