happy halloween!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful day.  My stomach still hates me.  All the sugar around just makes it worse so I am trying to not eat too much.  But I can eat as many brussel sprouts as I want to!  My current favorite way to eat brussel sprouts is roasted with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  They actually turn sweet in twenty minutes.  I guess you could call them candy then but my Tall Short Person would say not!  She is unwilling to try them even though Small Mister likes them.  The cooks boil them at her work.  That just does not sound good to me!

roasted brussel sprouts

as many brussel sprouts as you wish to eat, go for the small ones

a couple tablespoons of olive oil

salt

pepper

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.  Pour the olive oil on a pan.  I have a cast iron pizza pan I really like.  Cut the stems off the brussel sprouts.  Peel off the outside leaves.  Cut into quarters.  Put on the pan.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  

Put in the oven.  Stir at the 10 minute mark.  They should be nice and golden at 20 minutes.

These are so good I did not get a picture of them after roasting.  But we were also hungry.  I served these with other roasted vegetables and baked salmon.  So far, my stomach is very happy with me.  I am not sure the piece of fresh bread I am about to have will settle, but I hope so.

spinning wheel!

I just had to share another picture from our trip.  This was near our campsite.  It makes me smile to see it.

I mentioned that I bought a bit of fiber at SAFF.  Here it is.  Half of this will need skirting, washing, and carding before I can spin it.  The other half just needs to be carded.  Looking at this pile I realized that I really need a drum carder.  I should be ordering it at the end of this week.  Tools!  I am a tool junky!

The tool I brought home with me was a new spinning wheel.  It is a Lendrum.  It is so easy to put together, unless of course Pirate King Malarkey takes over and tells you his adventures on the high sea.

Once I had a little sleep after the drive home, I started spinning.  I spun a pound of fiber in an afternoon and evening.  There was life that kept me from going straight through but that is okay.  I really like this spinning wheel.  My Beloved observed that I was never this comfortable using my older one.

And there would never been a way I could spin with Small Mister on my lap.  He finds my spinning wheel almost as fascinating as my sewing machine.  This wheel has many less pieces that can hurt him if a finger goes towards it while I am spinning.

I think this wheel is just wonderful.  It folds down so I can take it with me.  I can spin in my rocking chair or watching videos on the "couch."  The Pirate King Malarkey can tell me tales of the high seas from my lap.  Life is good and full of smiles.

camping in the great smoky mountains

Last week, even being sick still, my Beloved and I packed up our "new" subarbuan.  We had been planning on going to the Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair all year and decided we could do this.  Yes, we are a bit crazy.  Food is still not settling, even today.  Both my Beloved and my head still hurts but we made it!  I could post the pictures from last year because the colors were just as glorious.  

Taking as many pictures of the leaves did not happen because I was feeling badly but I think all the smiles from the colors helped.  And the smells!  I wish I could post how everything smelled.  The people we met at the campground and at the fair were awfully nice.  I am going to show off what I got tomorrow.  I am very excited!

We actually car camped for the first time in years.  We both realized that we had missed it, only using a trailer in the last five years or so.  There will probably be more of this in the future.  But without a kitchen, food was simpler but not too much.  We had two dinner salads on consecutive nights.  Proteins and vegetables are really working best on my stomach.  

This salad was easy over the fire and tasty.  I would use sweet vinaigrette on it but if you do not, it is still tasty or use something that you would like.

mexicanish meat salad

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 onion, peeled and chopped

3/4 pound beef, cut into bite size pieces

1/2 jar salsa, I used one with peach and mangos in it

half a head of romaine

In a cast iron skillet, heat the oil.  Add the onions and let brown.  Add the meat and let brown.  Add the salsa and let heat through.  You may wish to heat it a bit until some of the liquid cooks offs.

Put the greens on two plates.  Pour the meat mixture over.  Dress with a vinaigrette or a dressing of your choice.

Easy and simple for car camping.  Easy on my unsettled stomach.  It is actually what I should have made for dinner tonight!  Dinner did not settle at all!

digital letterpress

Saturday was the second half of my letterpress class using photoplymer plates.

Because we were being taught who does printing as their work, I learned a lot.  But also, we had a chance to play.  That was so much fun!  

I was able to work with my tree on different papers and with metallic ink.

And I made some stationary.  I practiced with words too.  I learned how I would make plates differently as well.  I can see where in the future I would really like my own printing press, whether it is one I build myself from instructables or a real letterpress.  And there are still more classes at the Museum of Printing History I wish to take!

We have been very under the weather around here.  Everyone has been very sick with a stomach virus so this was really the high point of the weekend.  Each of us is barely out of bed.  Yeseterday, I could not lift my head out of bed to post this and I was actually feeling a bit better later in the evening.  We have to get better.  We are driving to a fiber fair later this week!

the garden is growing!

I have been spending a lot of time in the garden.  Between getting beds ready, weeding, thinning, planting, the time just flies by.  I am surprised how many of the seeds have come up.  Every day I turn around and the plants just seem to get bigger!

When we thin the garden, we have been adding the greens to our meals.  My Beloved usually starts the day with a green smoothie.  He has been adding a handful of garden greens to it.

This weekend, I scrambled eggs with the thinned greens and green chili haberno salmon jerky.  Tasty!

It is just nice to know I can go to the garden and fill the salad bowl.  We finished the last of the store bought lettuce today.  It will be a while before we need to buy more.  I am hoping the broccoli will start to catch up.  I cheated and got some plants from the farmer's market.  I am trying not to be too overwhelmed with all the harvest at once, like the pumpkins!