In the Kitchen | CSA Dreaming

With warmer weather on the horizon, I'm anxiously thinking ahead to the warmth of June - it has to warm up, right? - and the warmer weather means this deliciousness will begin:

We've been going the CSA route for a few years now and last year our farmer retired - thankfully, one of our fellow members was kind enough to find another CSA for us. Our new farmers, Nicole & Joe, are pretty fabulous and I have nothing but praise for Good Earth Farm and the amazing produce we get from them each week.

Their new logo is pretty awesome too:

If you haven't tried a CSA and love fresh produce, I highly recommend joining one. The upfront cost can seem like a lot, but over the course of the summer our grocery shopping is pretty minimal since we're not generally purchasing much - if any - produce. I love that our food is grown locally and the quality with our CSA is top-notch. This was another weekly delivery from last summer:

If you're not familiar with the CSA concept, you can read about it here on the Local Harvest website and you can even check for availability in your area. If you're local to the Beaver Dam, WI area, there are still shares available with Good Earth Farm in a variety of sizes, along with some fabulous add-on options including: bread, fruit, mushrooms, and a late season share! As of the beginning of April they are about 80% full, so there aren't many shares left.

Visit this page on the Good Earth Farm website to get details on joining.

They also have a newsletter with recipes and other great information - you can find several years of archived issues here and they're available even if you're not a member.

Do you have questions or a CSA experience to share? Just leave a comment below - I love hearing from you!

Many thanks to Nicole and Joe for everything you and your workers do to provide our family with amazing food each week! We're excited for the 2014 season to kick off!

On the mend...

I came down with a bear of a cold. The worst cold I've had in years that resulted in me taking a sick day and closing the shop for the first time in the nearly 4 years we've been in business. But... I'm on the mend and slowly getting back up to speed.

In the week before my cold attacked me, I had some super fun stuff on the horizon with the new class schedule and a new toy that I had just picked up. The response to the classes was overwhelming and it was so exciting to have classes fill in just the first couple days they were posted! I have wait-lists for several of the classes and now that I'm feeling better, I'm looking at dates for additional sessions. Super. Exciting.

As for the new toy I mentioned in my last post... well, we packed this happy guy in the car and went on a short trip to a sewing machine dealer...

 Where, I got this:

And this is as far as it's made it. Kind of sad, but there just hasn't been time to unpack it and play with the being sick in bed and all. So, it's patiently waiting in the box and I'm hoping time will cooperate in the next couple weeks. My first project will be the Patricia Cowl by Shannon Cook - I saw her pattern and tutorial over a year ago and I've had it on my mind since then for a perfect first project! I'll keep you posted!

I've spent a good portion of the last week napping, but between naps, I've been OD'ing on Desperate Housewives and working on these:

Jane Richmond's Linden Mittens in Crazy Zauberball for Jane's Linden KAL, but I decided to get even crazier and do this:

I split the ball in half and I'm working 5-round stripes from each and the end result is fabulous:

I have the first one done now and I'm getting ready to cast on the second mitten. The thing I love - and hate - about Crazy Zauberball, is the striping is totally random. I like things to match, so this yarn really pushes me to just let go and let it be what it will be. I know I'll have mismatched mittens with mismatched thumbs, but I'm trying to not care and just go with it because there's no way I can even try to make them match. I'm walking on the wild side. lol!

I'm also still hard at work on this for the Journey-along:

I'm about 1/3 of the way done and now that I'm feeling better, I expect to make some good headway on this project so I can get it out on display at the shop. I love the regular rhythm of Onward, it's a very relaxing knit.

As usual, I've been up to a few other things, but I'll save those for next time.

Until then... Cheers!!!

Apples and Teasers...

The holidays are fast approaching and I'll openly admit that I'm less than prepared, but I am enjoying myself and know it will all get done with time to spare. I took a break from work and holiday prep today for a little quality kitchen time.

After a wonderful season with our local CSA, we had apples left in the fridge from the last fruit delivery and they've been staring at me for weeks and today I finally made applesauce with some of these lovelies:

All in all, it was a little over 4 lbs of peeled and sliced apples that cooked in the crock pot for about 3 hours with a wee bit of water and a touch of lemon juice. I mushed them with a potato masher (fancy, right?) and water bath canned in half pint jars. I had a small bit of applesauce left and I'm saving that for breakfast tomorrow. It is SO yummy!!!

As for what's on my needles... My holiday projects have to be kept under wraps for now, but of course I'm working on "work" projects - some secret, some not... I recently finished these lovely mitts from the new book Journey:

I just cast off another project from Journey yesterday and there's more to come very soon on this amazing book arriving at Firefly Fibers and details on both FO's along with what's being cast on next - both of these samples will be on display at the shop. As for the secret project...

I'm clicking away on the next shop Knitalong for the 1st Quarter of 2014 and this one is 'hush-hush' (as usual), but here's a photo teaser with some clues:

I know I didn't show you even a smidgen of the actual project (go ahead and shake your fist at me) and like the photo I posted awhile back, it's black & white (more fist shaking here) so you can't even tell the color, but here's what the photo does share:

• A rough idea of the size of the needle and yarn (nothing teeny or ginormous).
• At least 2 skeins of yarn are used - remember this is a WIP so there might be more yarn already knit up.
• There are charts and counting involved - it's good for keeping the brain sharp and it's not a "knit to 'x' length" kind of project.

I will also add that the yarn will be a new addition in 2014 and I love it! Like, REALLY love it!

I'm thoroughly enjoying both the yarn and the pattern and I can't wait to share the details when the new KAL is posted! It will be worth the wait...

Until next time, Cheers!

How's your holiday preparation coming along? Are you on task or am I the only one that's fallen behind already?