As we edge towards Winter Solstice, I feel more drawn than ever to baking, and nesting, and hibernating. This week we made some dinner buns (my first ever, I have to admit) and they were not only incredibly fun to make with my little daughter, but also very delicious. That combination is not always so easy to achieve, I’ve found.

I tried to catch some pictures, but the bowl lined with my vintage Vera tea towel was empty so quickly that I just managed to take this one.

You can head over here to find the recipe I used. We used half whole spelt flour, 2% milk, and not as much butter as she called for (though I might use a little more next time).

And then there’s this wooden reindeer – another very child-friendly activity that will yield a sweet winter creature for your nature table. Or your mantel. Or your window sill.

All you need is a little saw, some twigs of different widths, a touch of glue, and an awl to make the little holes required for the legs, neck and antlers.

I finally acquired a small stash of vintage wooden clothespins, and am looking for some young kid-friendly crafts to make using them – any suggestions?

A very special and magical winter Solstice to you.

p.s. you can still enter the giveaway for handmade felted heart pebbles and a Marimekko pillow sham cover!

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The last night of Hanukkah is tomorrow night. And this is our favorite Hanukkah treat – hands down. Deceptively simple but decadently delicious… potato latkes!

They make great party food – you can even use them as a replacement for a cracker to make rustic canapes (though I haven’t actually tried this, just seen it done).

Here’s our favorite latke recipe.

1 big (organic) potato
1 small onion
1/4 cup of flour (we use whole spelt)
1 large egg
salt and pepper

Use a big box grater for both of them (alternatively you can use a food processor but I prefer the grater). Try to squeeze out as much water as possible from both the onion and potato. Then whisk in the flour, egg, and seasoning.

Then heat about 2 tbsp of oil in a big pan, and pack a tablespoon (not heaping), dropping them into the hot pan, and flattening them slightly.

I cook mine for 10-15 minutes a side (approximately, usually less the second batch) and then flip.

You can easily increase the number of latkes you make by keeping the same ratio of ingredients above but simply using more of them. I’ve never once had any leftover latkes.

So for those of you celebrating, enjoy the last of the holiday tomorrow… and for those of you looking forward to your own holiday celebrations – hope you find this recipe as delightful as we do!

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This time of the year is so full of feasts for all the senses… the visual beauty of the changing leaves (absolulely impossible to accurately capture on film I think), the aromatic apples and squashes cooking up, the drying flowers and herbs, the garlic planting for next year…

Here is the middle of our dining room table right now.

In a bowl sit the waxed leaves we did from this wonderful tutorial…

Next to it the beautiful red poppy bowl from MarciG…

And the tiny orange owl candleholder from her mother, Lee from OneClayBead…

And a handmade leaf and tissue paper candle lantern to shed warm, auburn light on our evening meals.

Oh, and this scrumptious rustic apple galette – you can find the recipe here.

What are your own fall favorites?

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Just about now… 6 years ago… the rain poured down on the 100 year old home in the little town of Perth, Ontario, we’d chosen to be the place of our wedding. We all huddled in the front room, and I promised to love, ever so gently, the man I had come to know and care about so deeply. As the clouds broke into a shining bright sunny late afternoon just moments after the short, handmade and hand written ceremony, everything felt so very right.

Six years in, and my best friend is my partner in life and still the sexiest man I have ever met.

We first bonded over food, and preparing and eating delicious food is still such an important part of what makes us tick.

So in honor of our anniversary, I share with you a favorite recipe of ours. Something we adapted from a New England bed and breakfast we visited long ago (pre-kids). It’s wonderful – fresh and even the next day (if it lasts that long). It makes a beautiful breakfast or brunch, or light dessert at any meal.

Apple Clafouti (4-6 servings)

Set your oven to 350.

In a bowl, mix 1 cup of flour, 3 tbsp of sugar, touch of salt, 4 eggs, 1 cup of 1/2 and 1/2 or cream if you want it richer, 1 tsp of vanilla. Then add in 3 tbsp of melted butter, or coconut oil.

Heat a 9-10″ ovenproof skillet (we use our cast iron one) on low heat on the stove. Coat with butter. Then add the batter, cook gently until it begins to set.

Meanwhile combine 2 tbsp of brown sugar with some cinnamon to taste. Add about 3 thinly sliced apples and coat them. Layer them on the batter, working from the outside in. Drizzle the top with a tbsp or so of melted butter.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

YUM.

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Creamed corn is all tied up in my forest of childhood memories.  I remember it served in the little lightly spotted grey Dansk dishes my mother served up to start meals sometimes. I remember it camping, cooked right in the fire (now that I know about BPA can linings those memories send little twinges up my spine, but that’s altogether a different story).

(photo above, via Flickr)

A few years ago once we stopped using cans, we stopped having creamed corn. Actually I think I stopped long before that too, as I was probably in my mid-20′s phase of making sure everything was new and different than what I did growing up.

So when my Mister Mister suggested we use the bounty of organic corn we’ve been lucky enough to find for the last month, I pounced.

We experimented. And this is what we’ve settled on.

Creamed Corn Redux

Heat a tablespoon of coconut oil in a large saute pan over medium heat until it is hot, then add 3-4 cups of fresh corn kernels (about 4 ears). Stir it so it doesn’t stick or burn, for about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Then add 1/2 cup of cream, and another 1/4 cup of either water or homemade stock, stirring frequently for 4-5 minutes.

I turn the heat down to low and simmer for awhile longer, 10-15 minutes at least.  Then I remove from the heat and add some more pepper and some parmesan cheese.

Then I refrigerate it and take it out the next day, warm it up and have a delightful feast.

… What? I know. It sounds absolutely ridiculous to purposefully not eat the corn right then and there. But trust me, it tastes even more delicious (markedly so) the next day. We’ve tried this several times just to make sure our taste buds weren’t playing tricks on us.

And our Weck jars are simply wonderful. Just canned a pile of organic pears we picked from our local biodynamic orchard. Left lots less head room this time – just less than 1/2″ inch, and felt a lot more confident about the process. It feels so wonderful to know that the fruit is safe. It still boggles my mind how home canners have to contend with BPA in their lids.

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I shouldn’t be posting these today, on one of the last beautiful, hot days of August with the hints of autumn all around, and the bountiful summer harvest well underway. Surrounded by cucumbers, zuchinni, tomatoes. I have fabulous harvest recipes for the most scrumptious cream corn and baked tomato sauce and apple dessert.

Maybe that’s exactly why I’m posting this – because these scrumptious bars were something so different than what we’ve been eating. A little almost-illegal respite.  I didn’t plan it that way – I made these to celebrate our daughter’s peanut tolerance + love (peanut allergy runs in our families). They were magnificent. So here they are.

Now I suppose they could be made with regular crisped rice cereal, sugar and corn syrup. But the sweet hit we got from these would make me reticent to go that route, even if I didn’t care a fig about what I was putting in me.

Make the crisped rice layer:

- 1/4 cup of water heated in a small saucepan, with 3 tbsp of brown rice syrup and 1/5 cup evaporated sugar cane (or your sugar of choice) and stir until combined. With a candy thermometer, cook over medium, bringing it to a boil, and cook it until about 235F. This takes a while with brown rice syrup, but do not despair.

- Remove from the heat, stir in about 3 tbs of coconut oil (or butter) and pour over the mix, quickly mixing it and pouring it into your lightly greased 8″ square pan. I used my hands, and pressed it all into the bottom (not the sides). Cool at room temperature.

Next work on the peanut butter layer.

- In a bain marie (in a pot sitting inside another pot filled with water), I stirred 1 cup of creamy organic peanut butter with about 1/4 (or even 1/5) of an organic chocolate bar (the large thin rectangle kind).  I used milk chocolate, but you can use dark too. When it was all melted and smooth, I poured it over the cool crust. Then I refrigerated it for about an hour and a half.

 

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The lovely Amy of ProgressivePioneer just posted a guest post by me about one of our favorite summer recipes.  Pop by her blog to see how we make ours. These days I love pairing the refreshing cucumber yogurt with the very, very hot Ethiopian meat sandwiches we get from a local biodynamic Ottawa-area farmer each week, Berhanu Wassihun.

Berhanu is profoundly amazing, and a very inspiring individual to know.

Just like the little 8 month old whippersnapper who visited our home yesterday. I barely slept last night with all that loud clock ticking in my head… my heart.

At the beginning of the visit, she and her 3 and a half year old friend were sitting side by side as we moms talked about how much growing babies need to do before they can run and jump and build block towers. My daughter paused for a few long moments, and then said: “Mama, my baby part is still inside me… right here” as she patted her chest.

Yes, my love, yours is right there and always will be. All of ours are. We need to be gentle with one another in life and honor our baby selves and the amazingly free, creative and trusting little people inside ourselves.

I will leave you on a lighter note – the same day, in the afternoon, my daughter was chatting with her Grandma (SewnNatural’s other pair of hands) on the phone. She turned our (old fashioned, corded phone) upside down and asked: “I’m holding the phone upside down. Are you standing upside down in your house, Grandma?”

Made me think back to the days I was sure that teeny tiny people lived in our television and made it all work.  I was really really certain.

(photo credit, Flickr)

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