boutonnieres settled!

On the way to Westfield this weekend the lady (Cindy) who makes the lovely feather pins that I fell in love with called me back. We chatted about colours and materials and timeframes, and when I couldn't adequately describe what I was looking for, I emailed her the picture of the one I was liking. I knew I took that picture for a reason!!
So, she's gathering materials and looking over the feathers she's got in stock. She'll be making four just like the one I showed you but with the silver celtic knot in the center, and one slightly different, or bigger for Andrew.

Boutonnieres: check. Now if only we knew some of the important details like, you know, venue. That would probably be good huh?

Sun Tea

I tried making sun tea today, but I can't say I'm crazy about the results. Sun tea is a type of iced tea that uses heat from the sun to steep the tea bags, so it never truly gets hot. It's supposed to have a different sort of taste from pouring boiling water over the tea bags and then letting it cool. Less tannins are supposed to leech out, making it less bitter.
When I tried making my sun tea today I added lemon juice and honey to my cold water and tea bags before putting it out in the sun. I found the tea weak tasting, and perhaps it just needed longer steeping, but I had to head out to pathfinders, so it had to come in. It also tasted... I don't know... funny.
I'm going to try again some time, but perhaps only add lemon and sweeten after all the steeping is done and the tea comes back inside.

Boutonniere Possibilities

Isn't that just beautiful? Last weekend at the 1812 event at long woods one of the vendors had these wonderful feather brooches for sale, that a friend of his hand makes. Since I'm thinking of using sunflowers for the ladies' bouquets and that's just too large a flower to turn into a boutonniere, these might be just the ticket!!  Terry (the vendor) is going to put me in touch with the lady who makes them and we'll parley about a set of four custom made brooches. I really like the one pictured and the colours are just about right, but then andrew spotted a different one with a silver celtic knot at the center instead of a shell, and we both agreed that is more us!

Totally Hooked

On this series!! I can't get enough of it! I watched a boxed set of the first season while house sitting for a friend, and since have read the first two books and am diving into the third headlong. I'm tempted to start watching the second season, but I think I'd just be frustrated until I can sit down and watch the whole set in one go.

Quiche

I'd never made a Quiche before, and today I thought it was past time I tried! I used the farm fresh, free range eggs from the farmer's market, as well as the shittake mushrooms and asparagus, and added some onion and spinach. It was FABULOUS!! Why have I never made quiche before?

The recipe made two, so I've even got one to tuck away in the freezer for a rainy day!

All Fired Up!

I went to the farmer's market today, and had such a lovely time!! It was so heartening that some of the people that I get my food from remembered me from last year. I'm making connections in this little ecosystem of mine. I had a long chat today with the folks over at plowshare farm, it turns out that with over 7 acres of market garden, they don't own a tractor. Nope. It's all horse power. Isn't that fantastic? They have two draft horses, one of whom is a Belgian and the other a Suffolk Punch. They grow over 62 varieties of plants, I betcha that's more than most grocery stores can boast!

It's really gotten me thinking about our garden and what I want to do with it this year, but mom still thinks we should wait at least another week to put anything in the ground. To that I say bah humbug. I saved some pumpkin seeds from last year, I think they might just go into the garden this afternoon, at least I'll feel like I'm getting something done! We've learned from last year, all viny plants are going in a separate garden!

Um... Start over?

Andrew's grandma has been in hospital so I've been with him since Saturday night. I figured that the sourdough starter could survive without feeding in the mean time, but I forgot that without constant stirring and disruption of the surface, mold starts to grow. Oh crap.
What I'm not sure of is, like cheese can I cut/skim the mold of the top, transfer to a clean bowl and keep on my merry way or must I start fresh?