Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes

HAPPY WEEKEND!

After some very cold nights and blustery days, we've been having some beautiful sun these past few days and it's been feeling gloriously as though winter is officially over. I'd hate to jinx it, so I'll just acknowledge that it's felt pretty wonderful.

We've inadvertently gained a new rooster - I didn't

get a picture in time, but this* looks a lot like him

Something delicious: This is currently in the kitchen rising (in my first attempt), so I can't vouch for this particular recipe, but I can tell you that tsoureki is super delicious and that I'm excited to try baking the whole eggs into it.

Something neat: Something about spring in particular makes me nostalgic for John Denver (maybe it's because I have "The Garden Song" on my mind?). This has some really nice covers on it (and some that aren't great, I won't lie), but it mostly makes me want to put on one of our John Denver albums.

Something to read:  Warm weather always puts me in the mood for some Jeeves and Wooster. There's just something about Wooster's frivolities and the hijinks that ensue that make these stories perfect for warm weather reading. I think I may need to get my hands on this for the summer.

Something to make: I love Kata Golda and this is pretty much the cutest. I made one for Silas for tomorrow.

Another from the egg hunt, he was so excited!

*Rooster photo is from here.

You're the Easter bunny when you smile

In their natural state

Now that we have a steady supply of eggs coming in and March is moving right along, I’ve had egg dyeing on my mind. I’ve been really excited about trying out natural egg dyeing for a few years now and decided that this was the perfect opportunity to do some testing. For this attempt, I wanted to use items that I already had on hand, so that gave me four different materials - beets, turmeric, yellow onion skins, and red onion skins (I had the onion skins around from onions we’d formerly peeled,  but if you needed to peel fresh onions,  you could always caramelize them and freeze them for later). First up is making the dye bath. I would suggest using at least a quart of water, even if you’re only dyeing an egg or two in that color, as some water will evaporate and you will need enough to fully cover your egg(s). Bring water, salt*, vinegar, and dyeing agent to a boil in a large pot. Lower to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, or until it reaches your desired color (you can test this by spooning some into a white bowl). Below are the "recipes" I used.

desired color	dyeing material	amount of material per quart of water	added to the mix
yellow	turmeric	6 tablespoons	2 tablespoons vinegar, 2 tablespoons salt
pink	beets	4 cups	2 tablespoons vinegar, 2 tablespoons salt
brown	onion skins	4 cups (about 12 onions worth)	2 tablespoons vinegar, 2 tablespoons salt
maroon	red onion skins	4 cups	2 tablespoons vinegar, 2 tablespoons salt

*I'm not entirely sold on the salt - it didn't seem to have much impact on the depth of the color and I wonder if it contributed to some of the thinning that happened to my egg shells that soaked overnight.

After I made the dyes, I tried a couple of different techniques. I put half of the eggs into the dye baths raw and simmered them for 15 minutes, then poured the dye into a jar and soaked the eggs in the dye in the fridge overnight. The other half, I hardboiled, cooled, and then put into the cooled dye bath and into the fridge overnight.

Here’s what they looked like when I’d finished:

The eggs that went straight into the fridge were very subtle. The eggs cooked in the dye were more vibrant (except for the turmeric, not sure what happened there), but not as exciting as I'd hoped. Overall, I think that they are interesting and pretty in their way, but I’m not totally satisfied. There are a few things I’d do differently next time. I would make the dyes stronger (probably both increase the ratio of dyeing matter to water and cook the dye a little longer). I would dye them as we did when we were kids, periodically turning one egg at a time in a bowl, so that the kiddo can help and so I can get the color more even (probably have to leave them to soak for a bit and come back - wonder how long hardboiled eggs can sit out?). I do also acknowledge that starting out with brown eggs means that the colors won't look as vibrant as they would on white eggs. Still, I'm happy with my first attempt, and he really liked the hunt!

This face cracks me up

Here are some of the resources that I used, as well as some that I found after the fact:

• Two Men and a  Little Farm
• theKitchn
• serious eats
• Martha Stewart
• Design*Sponge
• radmegan

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes

HAPPY WEEKEND!

Woot, spring is here!

Something delicious: Now that we're getting a steady supply of eggs, I can start using them as a main ingredient again, rather than hoarding them away for occasional use in baking or cooking. One of my favorite spring treats is egg salad. I don't have a recipe per se, but here's the general idea. Mash up some hard boiled eggs (you can slice them if you want it to look prettier, I'd say about two per person). Add a generous squirt of mustard (I think stoneground is especially nice), a little horseradish (or hot sauce, if you prefer), a spoonful of yogurt (or mayo, if that's your bag), something pickled, and spices (salt, pepper, paprika, celery seed, caraway, curry, whatever sounds good). Eat it plain, spread it on some bread, dip some crackers or veggies in it, oh the possibilities!

Something neat: Tres and I have been getting excited about building some kind of sun porch off of the front door, mainly as a place to grow up our tomato and pepper seedlings (somehow the combination of seedlings in the living room and an active, curious toddler doesn't sound very promising), but also as a place to eat, read, etc. when it's sunny but not super warm (I suspect it would quickly become a favorite napping spot for a few felines we know too. . .). I'm imagining a hammock and a couple of comfy chairs. Something like this would be totally doable, this is way bigger and fancier than what we'd need, but is an example of a more permanent structure. There isn't time to put it together this year, but it's fun to think about.

Something to read: Spring always puts me in the mood to read this. It was a favorite in my Pre-K classes and I'm really looking forward to when Silas has a little more patience and interest in longer books, so that he can hear it too (maybe next spring?).

Something to make: I finally gave this a try (a bit early, I know), after having it on the brain for the past few years. I'll write more about it next week, but the short of it is that it was fun to do, but needs a little more experimentation.

He wears his sunglasses at night

Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings

HAPPY WEEKEND!

I swear this thing used to be bigger. . .

Something delicious: The confluence of the late winter cold currently making the rounds here and the prospect of having lots of honey on hand has had me thinking about a ginger "tea" that I used to buy when I was living in New York and feeling under the weather. This was basically it, made from the giant jars of ginger-infused honey she describes in her post. I'm looking forward to making some of our own next winter.

Something neat: I got super excited about the John C. Campbell Folk School a couple of years ago (still am, but it's not really any more of a practical option presently) and was interested to read that it has inspired a smattering of imitators. I really love the idea of people gathering together to share their specialized skills and hope that it's a trend that continues to grow.

Something to read: This is the study referenced in the article I mentioned a month or so ago. As someone who was raised when "self esteem" was a major buzz word (buzz phrase?), it's especially interesting to me to see the distinctions she's making, that children should be encouraged and praised for their efforts, rather than their innate intelligence or facility with task ("I like how you tried all of the pieces." rather than "You finished the puzzle, you're so smart!"). It makes sense to me, but then again, praising children's intelligences when they did well seemed like a good idea at the time. 

Something to make: I made five of these last week, to frame some cards that I've been wanting to hang in the kitchen since we moved in. The awesome part: they cut the plexiglass to my specifications and gave it to me for free at our hardware store, since they were able to use scraps that would have otherwise been thrown out. Not so awesome: the tape dries really quickly and "just eyeballing it" is not as easy as it sounds. I had to peel off several pieces before getting it lined up and they are definitely not anywhere close to even or consistent. Some tips. Do the shorter edge first and make it a little shorter than the corners (the longer sides will cover them and then it's easier to fold the corners later). As for the corners, it's just like wrapping a present (this was difficult for my brain to process, but my hands figured it out pretty quickly). I'm happy with them, but the bottom line is that this is cheap, but likely won't look professional. 

Any eggs in here?

I'm as restless as a willow in a windstorm

February is a month of anticipation around here, as the weather starts to get a little warmer and we start looking forward to spring. I know that stores have had the bathing suits out since New Year's, but I really don't think that I'm jumping the gun here when I say that we're getting close now. 

This gives you a good idea of their variation - the lady

on the right is the most mature and the left is the least

The chickens are fully grown (or nearly) and at varying stages of maturity, some have fairly substantial combs and have become quite red around the face. Eggs shouldn't be too long off now! Scratch that, we got our first egg yesterday!

Tiny first egg

The trees and shrubs are full of buds.

This forsythia is going to go off any day now

The seeds are organized and ready.

The garden is tilled and the drip line is laid.

Yep, it's definitely starting to look like (nearly) spring around here.

Schnitzel with noodles

HAPPY WEEKEND!


Got to see these two on their way to Hawaii (this is obviously
not a photo from our house, but somehow we didn't manage
to whip out the cameras in our whirlwind 15 hours together)

Something delicious: Ok, I haven't actually tried any of these yet, but I think that the idea is brilliant. Not sure if we'll get to try it this weekend (And what would I pick? Carrots? Beets? Parsnips?), but I'm anxious to do so soon!

Something neat: I found these quite compelling (I was going to say entertaining, but that seemed a bit flip, some are rather serious)- I think that pogonotrophy might be my favorite, but it's hard to pick.

Something to read: While more than a bit disheartening, I found this a very interesting read. I imagine that most of us realize that we're being heavily manipulated by the marketing and engineering of processed foods, the lengths companies go to to do so (and their complete disregard for the health of their consumers) is pretty mind boggling.

Something to make: I made Tres orange marmalade a few Christmases ago that was a dismal failure. This both inspires me and gives me hope that I can get it right yet.

Reading in his little house

The bees are buzzing in the trees

The bee on the right is a Carniolan*

Well, I did it. I just ordered us two packages of Carniolan honey bees. Which means that, in about two months, we will have two hives going. I'm super excited to be finally starting on this project, after talking about it for a few years now. I'm off to do some reading, to get ready for my bees!

* This photo is from here.