2011 Projects ( not everything, but you get the idea!)

I'm pretty sure the UPS man thinks I'm made from crazy. Wild hair barely contained by my scarf (it's cute and vintage, at least,) flour all over my clothes, dog barking, and kids running/crawling to the door: the older one shouting, "the delivery bus is here!"

Oh, well.

I'm making chicken and corn chowder with sweet potato biscuits for dinner. It smells so good: garlicky, onion-y, and biscuit-y.

Go on, make the biscuits, you know you want to. The crazy is optional.

Sweet Potato Biscuits, about 20

Recipe adapted from the 3191 blog, originally adapted from Martha Stewart Living.

1 pound sweet potatoes or yam (one large one is usually sufficient)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (chilled), cut into small pieces
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Prick the sweet potato and bake until soft (about one hour...you can also do this more quickly in a microwave). Once the sweet potato has cooled, scoop the flesh from the skin and pass through a food mill, ricer or sieve. You should have about 1 3/4 cups puree.

Stir together the flour, baking powder, salt and cayenne. Cut in butter with your hands until it resembles a course meal. Mix milk with sweet potato puree and add it to the other ingredients. Mix dough, just to incorporate (I use my hands). If the dough is really sticky, add a touch more flour. Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead a few times. Pat out to a 1/2 inch thickness. Cut biscuits into squares, or use an overturned glass to make circles (we don't have special biscuits here, square works for crazies.) Place on greased cookie sheet, then into preheated oven and cook until risen and slightly brown, about 10 minutes (longer for larger biscuits). Serve warm.

I'm so happy it's fall! What little bit of summer we had was nice and all, but I'm more of a sweater wearing, soup cooking, bread baking, candle burning kind of girl.

E and I spent a Saturday morning recently running errands and stopping off for a coffee/hot chocolate with our new books. Bliss.

We found out F's hearing loss has reversed itself--he no longer has to wear hearing aids! In fact, the audiologist said he has "textbook perfect" hearing! So, so happy!!!

I sent in my doula certification paperwork! Now I'm just waiting to hear that I'm certified!

Daybook:

Outside my window...the occasional car. It's Sunday night, so pretty quiet.

I am thinking...that I'd like the vicodin to kick in.

I am thankful for...understanding people.

I am wearing...pajamas.

I am remembering...that I have a lot to tomorrow.

I am going...to work harder at keeping the house cleaner. It's not terrible, but it's not as well-kept as I'd like.

I am currently reading...Anil's Ghost.

I am hoping...that I do not catch the boys' nasty respiratory infection.

On my mind...midwifery, doula-ing, a ton of projects that I hope to have time to finish, Halloween costumes (Star Wars!,) grocery shopping.

Noticing that...I'm much happier if I take the time to do a really good job with my chores.

Pondering these words..."Mama!"

From the kitchen...pumpkin bread, apple butter, applesauce, gluten free peanut butter cookies, peach BBQ sauce, vanilla honey peach butter, the last of the roasted tomatoes, fresh bread (in 5 minutes a day!) and butternut squash soup.

Around the house...so. many. freaking. legos.

One of my favorite things...Our family doctor's cell phone number.

Check it out!

I'm positively twitchy for Fall...I can't wait for deeper colors, pumpkin spice, leaves crunching, Halloween, Thanksgiving, lots of friends and family, and fires in the fireplace!!!

Source: marthastewart.com via Jessie on Pinterest

(Image from Martha Stewart.)

I can't decide whether or not to keep this one...on the one hand, I love the mermaid and umbrella fabrics, but on the other I have a tons of zipper pouches...maybe I'll put it in the shop?

Just a little bit of hand sewing I've been working on lately.

FIni's first birthday was a few days ago...it's hard to believe he's already a year old! He's such a sweet little boy--always so happy. He says "mama", "gah" (car), "gah" (dog), "gah" (cat). He also meows and woofs at the cats and dog, and makes a very "chewbacca-esque" sound for cars "vrooming."

So, for his first birthday, Mama made him a little doll to carry around (well, hopefully someday he will...) It's the Koji Doll from Wee Wonderfuls book...so flipping cute!

I've jumped on the bandwagon, been sucked into the hype, gone all in, etc. I've joined the Farmer's Wife Quilt-a-long. This will be a total scrapbusting project for me, and I'm hoping to use up all my precious bits of fabric that I've been hoarding.

Though I'm not into baskets or bouquets, so I don't plan to make all 111 blocks, so I guess I'm more of a mistress than a wife, tee hee.