Snow!

What a pile of snow. Sheesh. It was late this year, but it still shocked all of us weathered Minnesotans. I have to admit, I felt a little trapped and even made a slushy trip to the closest grocery store to get some provisions - as if we didn't have enough food in our house to get through 24 hours. The weather just left me feeling a little murky. I blame the darkness for that, too. No wonder we get into the holiday spirit so early around here, we need some bright lights and merry-making to pull us through. I mean, the snowman photo was taken in the middle of the day and it's pretty dim out there. The endless weather talk on the radio told me that November is the dreariest month. SO, after Christmas we have the bitter cold, yet cheerfully sunny, month of January to look forward to. Until then, it's eggnog time. Wahoo!

And shopping time, too!

The sale at the Skating Center went well despite the weather. First it was TOO warm and then it was TOO snowy (according to the buzz at the show), but really, there were big crowds almost every day and my load was much lighter when I packed up my goods on Sunday.

Still, I really produced a lot of books in the past few months and I spent two hours this morning taking photographs for Etsy. I will be adding an item or three every day for the next few weeks so keep checking by, y'all!

I have some journals to add, and many albums of many sizes. I also made some leather book keychains. And more brag books, which I'm thinking I will soon be done with. I have made hundreds of them and I think that is plenty.

A Darn Nice Squash

So, there I was working at my Co-op job a month or so ago, helping one of my favorite local growers, Wheatfield Hill Organics, unload a mound of pumpkins. Among the pumpkins was this beauty of a squash that I at once swiped. The farmer told me it was a Long Island Cheese Wheel squash but I think it may have been a Muscade de Provence - both varieties I have admired in the Seed Savers catalog in the past and I was very excited to try one. Weighing in at 17 pounds it was HUGE and I couldn't wait to get it home as a lovely object d'art. As you can see by the picture it was quite sizeable:

Last week it started to seep sugar around the stem. It was time to cook it.

It was super orange inside, and oh so full of flesh. It took about 2 hours to bake the pieces and they barely all fit into my oven. It yielded 23 cups of sweet sweet puree. That's almost enough for 12 pies.

It was a bit stringy but the cusinart took care of that. I froze most of it for later use and made some of it into a crustless pumpkin pie...which is maybe more accurately described as a pumpkin custard. It turned out very orange, like a carrot pie, and I swear it has a bit of carrot flavor but maybe that's just my eyes playing a trick on my brain.

I used the Joy of Cooking recipe and a Clay Coyote Cazuela Pot (A great gift for the foodie in your life...a clay pot that can be used on the stove as well as in the oven).

Abiyoyo

A nice little clip of our little banjo player singing Abiyoyo, a Pete Seeger story/song. I love how he's trying to modulate his voice to match the banjo. What a sweetie.

God Jul

My work is still being shown at Peggy's Holiday Boutique at the Roseville Skating Center through Sunday, November 14th. This leaves my Etsy shop a little empty for the next week, but I'm excited to add my new God Jul notecards and a few other new things as I find time to be in my studio.

God Jul is Swedish, or course, for Merry Christmas.

I drew these three illustrations to send out as cards this year and you can do the same if you would like. They make dandy framed Jul decor as well.

The straw horse, dala horse, and heart cookie worked well on the gingerbready craft paper. They come with craft paper envelopes as well.

These notecards are featured in a darling cozy wonderful holiday treasury right now. This is a fun treasury so be sure to click on the link!

My mom always makes the classic gingerbread hearts with frosting lining the border, they are hung on the cookie tree with glee. Not having a photo of her cookie tree I found one online for sale from Fforests Fancies: It would be a fun thing to make, don't ya think?

Round and Round

The time of eating and merry-making is upon us and I am pumped. It's always around this time that my brain starts working overtime thinking about all the creations I want to make for the holidays. I'm talking mostly edibles, but some gift ideas have sprung up as well. I think it's the sweetest feeling this time of the year to list all of my to-dos. In just a few weeks I'll be up to my eyeballs in work and the weekends will fill with parties and my list will be modified time after time, so I best enjoy the idea of all these snacks right now.

So, in case anyone in the world wants to know what is on my list today, I will share it. I usually go for candy as cookies are in well supply in my family. Plus, candy is usually gluten-free and oh so very naughty.

1. Toffee. A darling story next to a simple recipe in the last edition of the Co-op Mix periodical has me convinced that toffee is a must-have this year.

2. Macaroons. The cakey kind. I made some like these:last year and they were super super good. I have no idea what recipe I used so we'll see what happens.

3. Gluten-free lefse. I miss lefse. Do fresh homemade corn tortillas with melted butter and sugar on them taste like lefse? SORT OF, at least the butter and sugar part. This will, by far, be the most challenging task of the season. I considered making it the past couple years but didn't get much further than some online research. Perhaps this or this or this very long-winded account will lead to success.

4. Turtles. This is becoming a staple since I made a batch with my friend Heather in high school. It's easy. I'll probably just make an itty bitty batch.

5. Peanut Butter Cups. I already know I will probably not make these but I just know my hub would love them. I have made them before. They are good. I mean, you mix peanut butter with butter and cover it with chocolate. Hello!

That's the sweets. They will be a nice addition to Christmas, and Solstice, and Lille Julaften, and all the rest.

On the less-sweet note we will be assisting once again with potato sausage and beer making this year - I even hear talk of a gluten-free home brew. Wow. We've got a pile of buckwheat groats and sorghum syrup in our fridge waiting for the big brew day.

I guess all of this holiday prep makes the dark days go faster. Not that I've noticed time moving slow ever in my life, but still, being stuck inside just makes you want to plan a party. Well, I better go cook some squash for "pumpkin" pie and think about what I'm going to make for Thanksgiving.

What are others thinking about making this year? Anything new?

Fall/Holiday Calendar

It's that time of year again!

There are gallery open houses, art crawls, and shows happening all over. I will have some of my Swirling Tree work at two events this fall.

I opted to limit my shows to just two so I can keep my etsy shop well stocked. I'm feeling good with my inventory levels and trying to finish up a few loose ends for my first show this coming weekend in Dassel, MN with Levandowski Pottery. Stop by if you can! It will be a good show, they are unveiling their new gallery and five guest artists (including moi) will be peddling their wares.

Next on the agenda is Peggy's at the Roseville Skating Center November 6-14. This is a fantastic show with loads of artwork. Come and fill a basket with wonderful creative goodness. I did a lot of my holiday shopping here last year...and some shopping for myself as well. It's a unique experience where all of the artwork is set up as one gallery, so you can pay once and not have to hop from booth to booth. The artisans volunteer throughout the week to help with bagging, greeting, arranging, etc. It's a fun time with live music and lots of food goodies as well.

It seems early, but with a little cold snap I think people will be able to think about Christmas shopping, really, there are only 69 days left to shop. Heck, FGH already has his Christmas outfit. Hanna has a sale going on so it was hard to resist. Thanks Gma Barb!

There are quite a few things I have not put into my shop that I will bring to the shows. I have yet to finish and photograph my latest creations, but one nice specimen is pictured at the top of this post. I have a whole line of what I'm calling "Artful Journals." This one has some unique beads made of coral, an interesting raised surface on the front cover, Nepalese Lokta papers, and coral-colored end sheets. I have high hopes, as usual, of getting all my books and cards made for this Holiday season, but it all comes down to what kind of work time I can fit into each busy day. Speaking of, I best get cutting and tearing and folding paper into rectangles.

Oktoberfest

Happy October! The Equinox passed us quickly and here we are already celebrating October. Time is passing much too quickly. I feel like every time I blink another week has been crossed off the calendar. We headed down to our future home town of New Ulm for Oktoberfest on Saturday. It was a cool but sunny day and we took in nearly every sight including a hike to the top of Hermann (the German) which was very scary - especially with FGH refusing to come back down - all three of us had a shaky few moments getting down the top of the winding staircase. I had to talk Fredrik into squeezing Peter's beard and closing his little eyes while Peter held him tightly to his chest. It was ridiculous. Still, it was a good view when we were at the top.

We took the horse-drawn trolley ride, listened to music, had some beers and brats, did some shopping, visited the Wanda Gag house (super fantastic), headed out to Flandrau where Fredrik eagerly looked for the "beach" (sand-bottom pool) and was not disappointed that the water was gone since piles and piles of sand was an awesome find. It was a good time and we all feel pretty drained today.