Sunday Happy

Ah, another week down. And how was it for you? Was is warm and spring all week or did you get a late April snow storm? We got a few inches in the middle of the week. And honestly I might have grumbled a bit, but mostly because I couldn't bike for a couple days. Other then that, I freaking loved it. Soft fluffy snow one day, 60 degrees the next. And this is why I love VT!

Beside a weird summer, winter weather swing, the week was not to different fro the last. Both the mr and I have been doing our things. Him off redoing a kitchen, me trying to get a big batch of mugs done. I was (and still am) trying to finish up the taxes and all that jazz. We also (and more the mr then me) finished putting up the garden fence and I am in LOVE with it. It is so cute but also so needed! Sure the squirrels can still get it ( they jump in from the trees but I am not to worried about them) but it will keep the bunnies and cats and woodchucks out. Hopefully. Last years garden fiasco really hurt my soul so those little fuckers better not this year. HA!

Did a few other fun things. I went to the dentist! That was super exciting given the fact that they we closed for 1/2 a year and this was the earliest appointment I could get. Nothing like a good teeth cleaning, am I right? And I went for a nice spring hike with Meg, Barb, and the kiddos. So found a big river rock at the beginning of the hike and made Megan carry it for an hour and a half because she was convinced she found a dinosaur egg. I was convinced too. But now that I think of it, no one had informed me of a hatched dinosaur so I think it was probably just a rock. We also had the littles over. I fed them all the food. Judah and I made cupcakes. Barb got frosting all over her clothes. Coco ran around like a like mad man, and Miley, well she was 13. Enough said.

Yesterday was one of those super gratifying days. I woke up to late spring again. Went for a bike ride and a run then came home to the mr doing a few things for me and off he went to work. I then spent the rest of the day in and out of the house doing yard work, playing in the garden, and cleaning the house. It was so nice, if not slightly frustrating because I wanted to do everything at once and didn't get more done. But none the less, at least I got some seeds in the ground. And my house is nice and clean!

Today is suppose to rain all day and I am glad about it. I think the mr and I are going to have a little chore date this afternoon and then after chores I hope to spend some of the rainy afternoon sitting on the porch with coffee and a blanket and my pile of books. I am currently in the throws of reading 4 books at the moment. Not exactly sure how that happened but I know 2 of them are new releases so I can’t renew them which means I gots to read them before they are due. Library problem right?

Interesting internet from the week.

-Taking On Climate Change At Home: How You Can Cut Carbon Emissions. Every little bit counts.

-I think this is very good advice. Don’t Wish for Happiness. Work for It.

-We knew about the shortage, so heres what to do about it. How to Cope With the Garden Gnome Shortage

-WTF Is Absinthe Anyway?. I have never had it but always thought of it as tripping on the green fairy cause it makes you hallucinate? But I bet I would love it (maybe too much)

-The “Whitest Paint On Record” Was Just Created, and It Could Lessen the Need for AC. Huh.

-If you are a juggler, this house is for you. A Double-Dome Home Built by a Juggler

-The Swedish Law of Wanderlust. Unrestricted camping and outdoor adventure.When it is safe, this is where I want to go!

--Sorry to crush your goals but You (Probably) Can’t Everest Mount Everest.

-The Sneaky Way Your Dirt Is Sabotaging Your Houseplants (and How to Fix It). The dirt your plant live in is very much important.

-ON TREND: LESS STYLED, MORE YOU. All so pretty.

Pictures from the week.

Sweet Potato Steaks on Arugula and Kale with Pea Avocado Cream

All I want to do is eat fists fulls of arugula. Ok, maybe that is not all I want to do, but it is something that I have been doing a lot. I have always really like arugula but as of right now, it is my top choice green!

Anyway, big green salads are all I want to eat because it is spring and all and greens are the best in the spring. But I still am eating a lot of roots and will be eating them for a few more weeks unit winter farm share dies down. And because it is the end of the season, the choice of roots is dwindling and we basically get a bucket of carrots, beets, and sweet potatoes. Lots of sweet potatoes, which by the way, I am not made about. And greens, We get lots of greens!

So my new favorite salad comes to fruition. Thick cut sweet potato steaks on a bed of fresh spring arugula and kale toped with a thick creamy avocado pea situation and some toasted walnuts for flair and crunch. I mean, is your mouth watering and your tummy grumbling yet?

Mine is but that is just how it always is.

Now to the steaks and salad!

The stuff. A sweet potato, some arugula and tender kale, peas (frozen and thawed) half an avocado, some toasted walnuts, a lemon, and salt and pepper.

Start by cutting the sweet potato into thick steaks. 4-5 same thickness slices if you may.

And no roast up the sweet potato steaks. Just place hem onto a baking sheet and pop them into a hot oven. Bake for 2-30 minutes, flipping over after 15-20 minutes. Once tender, remove from oven and set aside.

While sweet potatoes are baking, make pea avocado cream. Place peas and avocado into a blender or cup if using a hand blender along with the juice of the lemon and about a tablespoon of water. And a small pinch of salt. Blend until smooth. Add more water a tablespoon at a time until you get a thick but pourable constancy.

Now rough chop the kale and toss together with the arugula and place in a large salad bowl

Place the sweet potato steaks on top of the greens. Note here that the sweet potato steaks can be hot, warm, or cold. The are good all the ways.

Then top it all with the pea avocado cream. Toss on the toasted walnuts and add some more black pepper and that be that. Grab a fork and a knife if you wish and get to it.

So much goodness in the mouth!

-C

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Sweet Potato Steaks on Arugula and Kale with Pea Avocado Cream

serves 1-2

• 1 medium sweet potato

• 1/2 cup frozen (and thawed) green peas

• 1/2 of an avocado

• a small lemon

• 2 large handfuls of fresh arugula

• 4-5 leaves of tender kale

• 1/4 cup toasted walnuts

• around 1/4 cup cold water

• salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450. Wash sweet potato and cut into 4-5 equal thickness slices. Place cut pieces on a baking sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper and pop into oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes, flipping after 15 or until the sweet potato is tender. Remove from oven and let cool a bit.

While sweet potato is baking off, make pea avocado cream. Place the peas and avocado into a blender or cup if using a hand blender, add in the juice of the lemon and a pinch of salt. Blend until smooth. Add in a tablespoon or two (or more) to thin out until it is still thick but pourable. Also rough chop the kale and mix together with the arugula in a big salad bowl.

Once sweet potato steaks have baked and cooled off a little bit (you can eat them hot or cold so whatever temperature you want), place them on top of the greens then top with the pea avocado cream, sprinkle on toasted walnuts, more black pepper, and maybe a squeeze of more lemon if you have it.

Then grab a fork and knife and start eating.

Crispy Green Beans

I rely pretty heavily on frozen produce in the mid to late parts of winter. I do have my winter farm share but that is never enough so I pack my freezer as full as I can with stuff in the fall (mostly shredded zucchini and lots of tomatoes and eggplant). And then sometime between Christmas and New Years its pretty much gone. Once that happens I start in with store bought frozen veggies. I usually by frozen broccoli, peas, and green beans and right now me and the frozen green beans are having a moment.

I don’t know how it started but almost everyday I dump like half a bag of frozen green beans (sometimes a whole bag) onto a baking sheet without any oil or seasoning, and pop it into a hot oven for like 15 minutes. And that is it. I pull them put and they are crispy, crunchy, and probably one of the tastily way a green bean can be eaten (besides fresh). And the weird thing is, I have tried to mimic the crispness and crunchiness with fresh green beans but it never works out. There is something about roasting them frozen that gives them the perfect crispy texture. And no no to oil. They don’t need it, it only makes the beans soggy.

So it might seem kind of weird and it’s not a recipe, but I highly, HIGHLY, suggest that next time have a hankering for a tastely crunchy treat, try roasting some frozen green beans. And then let me know if you become addicted too.

Sometimes it’s the simplest things, you know?

Frozen beans go straight from freezer onto baking sheet and into the oven.

They then come out crispy. That's it.

And yes, I usually just eat them off the baking sheet with my fingers because why bother dirtying a dish?

-C

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Crispy Green Beans

• Frozen green beans

Preheat oven to 400

Dump frozen green beans onto a non oiled baking sheet single layered and place into hot oven. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until crispy. Remove and eat.

Sunday Happy

Happy last day of February! Add a rapidly meting snow pack with 40 degree temaptures and we got ourselves a bonafide spring going on. Haha. I am not fooled. I have lived in this state my whole life. This is just a tease. I fully expect another snow storm and frigid temperatures to return again soon. But is sure is nice to have the windows open in the house for a little while!

Another week. More of the same stuff. Went for a little hike with the mr and then another with Megan, Barb, and So. I dived head on into 2020 paperwork for all of our favorite duty as Americans…Taxes. (😑), and Paul came over and sat on my back porch while I shaved his head. I worked, I read a book, I ran a lot. And that is about it.

Today the mr and I are going somewhere to walk the woods and have a car picnic lunch. After that I have a few house chores I need to get done. The littles (Miley, Judah, and Emerson) are going to be staying with us for the week while their mom has surgery so we are getting ready for that. I guess I probably should go grocery shopping as well. They eat a lot. Wish us luck!

The past week of interneting.

-Spring Weather Lore. I have heard a few of these. Vermonters talk about the weather a lot.

-I am not a marathoner but I run 4-5 miles everyday. It is crazy how spot on this is about runners, or what I think about a least. (I am not a badminton player so I wouldn’t know) What Marathoners (and Badminton Players) Think About

-5 Techniques for Mastering Your Spice Cabinet. Use all the spices!

-These pictures are so freaking sweet and amazing. Photographers Make Kids' Wildest Dreams Come To Life

-Will Regenerative Agriculture Change How We Grocery Shop?

-I did not know a yellow penguin even existed. I love it. A Rare Yellow Penguin Has Been Photographed for the First Time on a South Georgia Island

-I do all of these so I agree. 5 Cleaning Habits You Should Start Immediately

-We’re having trouble recognizing each other in masks, and it’s getting awkward. And even weirder is having met someone in the past year an not knowing what they actually look like.

-Is the Western way of raising kids weird? Hahaha, yeah but I didn't say it!

Pictures from the week

-C

Sunday Happy

All of a sudden I feel it. Spring is in the air. Not like spring is coming right now but there is a hint. The temperatures are rising a little (not -15 every morning) , the sunlight is stronger and the rising earlier. I am starting to get annoyed at my winter jacket. I want to clean every single nook and cranny of the house. Yeah, spring time. It is ah coming and I am not made about it!

Past another week and here we are. Not much different then other weeks for the past while. We went hiking on Valentines day and enjoyed just being together. Hung out with Barb, had a snow storm that didn't actually accumulate to much (although I did have to shovel a lot…stupid plow kept me busy) and spent a lot of time with the clay in both studios. Uneventful but eventful enough. I am starting to feel a bit antsy, like I need to run the streets screaming, and I am not sure if it is pandemic fatigue, a little touch of cabin fever, or if I am just losing my mind. It’s probably a bit of all three. So yeah, there is that. HA!

Today, circled right back to Sunday. What to do? The mr and I both have a bunch of stuff going on the next few days (weeks) so I don’t know how much time we will have to wonder off today but we really need to chill for a least a little while. Thinking maybe a smaller hike nearby or even just a nice long stroll along the lake. That actually sounds nice. And coffee. A lakeside coffee stroll.

And I think I might have just made a plan. Good on me!

Some internet from the week.

-Explaining this week’s deadly US cold snap. A shitty week down south for sure. And why it matters The Impact of Severe Winter Storms

-A Vegan Community Fridge at a Boxing Gym? Oh hell yeah! Boxers can be vegan too!

-A Bicycle. A Trip. Or Just Pants: The Things We Buy When Pining For Normal Times. Have you bought or planned anything in anticipation? I am planning, planning on doing then things that got screwed the past year.

-The trees know everything. Ancient Trees Show When The Earth's Magnetic Field Last Flipped Out

-I am not moving Mars. The Perseverance rover is now on Mars. What does it hope to find there?

-How To Keep Your Pantry Free of Creepy-Crawly Pests. My biggest problem is always fruit flies. Stupid flies.
-The BOOKS! Tokyo’s Kadokawa Culture Museum Houses an Arresting Kengo Kuma-Designed Bookshelf Theater

-There is something about this kitchen that I just really like. Calamine Pinks in a Converted Barn Kitchen by Plain English

-Thats a big drawing. Artist breaks world record for largest solo drawing

Pictures from the week.