The Way You Make Me Feel

Wow! Welcome all you newbie commenters and readers! I'm so glad to have you onboard here at Small Measure and look forward to getting to know you all better. 

In the meantime, come check out some of my fellow friends in Blog Land, whose posts are always informative, instructive, and, in one case, taste-bud tantalizing! 

To begin, come meet P (that's P, as in "Persephone") over at her always hilarious, often-fuzzy-animal-containing, Brooklyn-based blog whatpossessedme. I found P over a year ago and I can honestly say that my life is richer because of her writings. The consistent wit she proffers could easily give Tina Fey et al a serious run for their money. Currently in between jobs, P and her fiance, "Fauxhawk," are cavorting this week over in the land of elves. Yours truly will be guest blogging in her absence on July 16th. Check it! 

Maria, herbalist, RN, and mama-extraordinaire, chronicles the trials and triumphs of her own homesteading adventures on a 25-acre mountainside at dirtundermynails (the posts of the "piggy pants" she knit her infant son are worth taking a gander for alone!). 

For folks living in the Asheville, NC area, you'll want to make a beeline for Jodi's cake shop, Short Street Cakes. Turning out some tasty cupcake morsels daily, Jodi emphasizes the use of local and organic ingredients. She also does weddings, among other events, so keep her in mind should you find yourself in the need for a sweet explosion. Vegan and gluten-free needs can be accommodated. 

Kelly and Erik chronicle homesteading in the City of Angels over at homegrown evolution. Their freak-of-nature chicken, appropriately dubbed "Chickenzilla," recently produced an egg that could easily feed a family of four. Take a look!

 

Finally, just because, I'll leave you with a little dose of Michael:

Small Measure Can-Do Contest

Welcome to the first of a series of monthly contests I will be hosting here at Small Measure! The contest will be posted on the first Monday of each month from now until the release of my book, Homemade Living: Canning & Preserving with Ashley English. Each month one lucky person will win an artfully crafted canned item featured in the book and made by yours truly. For July, in honor of Summer, I’ll be giving away a jar of lip-smacking Peach & Lavender Butter. It’s the perfect blend of nostalgic juicy goodness blended with a touch of floral.                                                                               

How to enter:  Simply leave a comment to THIS specific post by telling me your favorite Summer food memory. Your comment must link to your particular blog or web site (and therefore to your contact information) or include your e-mail address. Otherwise, I won’t be able to get in touch with you if you win. Any entries that do not include some way of getting in touch with you will be disqualified.                                                                                                              

Deadline:  Comments must be received by midnight EST July 20th, 2009. Odds of winning will depend upon the number of eligible entries received.  

Other rules:

1. You must have a mailing address in the United States of America. (Sorry, international folks!)                                          

2. Only entry comment per person.                                                                                                                                                                

How it works:  Each comment will be assigned a sequential number. The winning number will be selected from a random number generator, so there’ll be no favorites, simply a game of chance.                                                                             

Keep coming back each month to see the next tasty item up for grabs! And feel free to tell your friends or repost this on your own blog! 

Our Newest Addition

In precisely 1 1/2 hours, I'll be heading out with my  beekeeping buddy, Jenny, to pick up two fully established hives. A little bit nervous, a whole lot excited, the buzzing beauties will be a welcome addition to our happy enclave out here in the forest. As soon as they've had time to calm down and settle in, I'll post some photos. And away we go! 

*Image from here. 

Home Sweet Homestead

There's a wonderfully written article (thanks Carol!) about yours truly in today's Asheville Citizen-Times. In addition to discussing my "Homemade Living" book series, it also references the canning classes I'll be teaching here in Asheville. Here are descriptions of the classes, along with pertinent info., including time, place, and cost. I'd love to see some of you there! 

EARTH FARE SOUTH

“Jam Session” – July 7 – 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Come learn the basics of making homemade jam. Class covers information regarding the water bath canning method, necessary equipment, ingredient selection, and achieving a “set” (what makes jam “jam”). Students will receive hands-on instruction, printed materials, and a jar of homemade jam to take away. Date: July 7, 2009. Time: 6:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m. Location: Earth Fare Community Room, 1856 Hendersonville Rd., Asheville, NC. Cost: $20. Space is limited to 25 students. Please call 210-0100 to reserve your spot. 

“In A Pickle” – July 14 – 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Come learn the basics of making homemade quick pickles. Class covers information regarding the water bath canning method, necessary equipment, ingredient selection, and picking fundamentals. Students will receive hands-on instruction, printed materials, and a jar of homemade pickles to take away. Date: July 14, 2009. Time: 6:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m. Location: Earth Fare Community Room, 1856 Hendersonville Rd. Asheville, NC. Cost: $20. Space is limited to 25 students. Please call 210-0100 to reserve your spot. 

EARTH FARE WESTGATE

 “Jam Session” – July 11 – 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Location: Earth Fare Community Room, Westgate Shopping Center Asheville, NC. Cost: $20. Space is limited to 20 students. Please call 253-7656 to reserve your spot. 

“In A Pickle” – July 13 – 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Location: Earth Fare Community Room, Westgate Shopping Center Asheville, NC. Cost: $20. Space is limited to 20 students. Please call 253-7656 to reserve your spot.

It's A Family Affair

You might have noticed I've been a bit absent around here lately. That's in large part on account of the fact that my two younger sisters were visiting from Florida for the past week. 
Part of our week's activities (to be listed below) involved the final photo shoot for the Canning & Preserving book in the Homemade Living series. I took the opportunity to teach Devan and Theo the joys of water bath canning. They rocked it like only the Adams sisters can. 
In honor of the season, and North Carolina's proximity to, well, South Carolina (well known for its peaches), we made Peach & Lavender butter. The recipe is included in "Canning & Preserving" (get ready to whip up some jars yourself next Summer, as by then, you'll hopefully have your hands on my book, slated for release April 2010).  Here the girls are using an immersion blender to render the cooked chunks of peaches into a smooth, buttery sauce. 
Theo deftly removes any trapped air bubbles in the jars with the aid of a wooden chopstick. 
Devan secured the lids and screw bands, while Theo moved on to expert (and repeated) bowl licking. 

This was the first time I've taught the craft to anyone. It felt so empowering to pass on the knowledge, and inherent joy, of water bath canning. They told me on their way out this morning that they're already beginning to feel the urge to make jam out of every piece of fruit in sight. They've got the FEVER!

Here's a run down of our week together:

-Summer Solstice potluck at a friend's house

-Lavender Festival on a mountaintop, complete with chocolate lavender ice cream, baby goat petting, and lavender lemonade

-Tour of the Biltmore House and grounds, prefaced by a forest picnic in a bamboo grove; we capped the evening with dinner and "The Hangover" at Cinebarre

-Indian food at Mela, followed up by haircuts at Adorn; next, we shopped downtown, imbibed Lychee cocktails at an outdoor cafe, and gorged ourselves on Glenn's homemade pizza

-All-day Jam Session, Jar-Decorating, and Gift-Basket Creation (for the next day's photo shoot); homemade mac & cheese for dinner (YUM!)

-Photo Shoot (We were documenting a "Canning Party", where you get together with your best pals, whip up a batch of something delicious, can it, giggle, and bask in each other's wonderousness)

-Hike through a rhododendron and fern forest alongside a creek in Montreat, followed by shopping and homemade gelato in the gorgeous postage-sized town of Black Mountain (we're already looking for real estate), and a beer with an old high-school friend at an outdoor Mexican cantina 

-River tubing on the Green River, followed by a garden, bee yard, & honey extraction tour at a friend's house, cocktails at dusk, grilled food, and late-night s'mores around the fire pit

I miss them already. My older brother and his wife came up from Charlotte yesterday to enjoy the tubing and feasting. I love a house full of family. Devan, who was infinitely gracious enough to masterfully paint our upstairs hall during her visit, is already planning to return in Autumn for more house projects and sisterly fun. We're collectively plotting for my father and stepmother to relocate to the area (got that Pops?). It officially feels like Summer! 

*Small Measure: Visit local farms. In fact, this weekend, the annual Family Farm Tour was happening. I had too much going on to attend, but we actually visited one of the participating farms during the Lavender Festival. Local farm visits, especially during Summer months, are fabulous ways to harvest produce at its peak, both nutritionally and flavor-wise.  Check out pickyourown for locations of local farms in your area. 

World's Greatest

I can't imagine a more perfect Pop. Seen here circa 1978, probably in Virginia Beach, VA. Full disclosure: I was workin' an itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini that day. Thanks Mom! 
Here's my pop with his siblings, rockin' some serious hair (he's on the far right, back row). 

Dad, you know what Jimmy, Walker, Devan, Theo and I all think of you-you're a neat freak who hates dirt. Actually, while we do think that (and love you for it), our more overarching collective thought is that you are a warm, compassionate, infinitely generous, charming, nurturing man. We love you dearly. TOP OF THE POPS!!!!

From Here To Eternity

I had the exquisite pleasure this past weekend of working on and attending a gorgeous wedding in southwestern Virginia. Here's the view from behind the wedding tent. 
My extraordinarily talented pals Jessica and Meredith of Aria Floral tricked out the site like only they can. When they asked me to accompany them for the weekend and work on this treasure of a wedding, I jumped at the opportunity. While these candid camera shots I took give you no real sense of the grandiose scale of things, they do give you a sense of place. I was too busy working to grab any shots of all we did before the wedding began. The farmhouse above was restored for the wedding and will in the future serve as a parallel Inn to the restaurant. 
Turns out, the parents of the groom, Tom and Kyra Bishop, own Townhouse, a restaurant in Chilhowie, Virginia, gaining accolades by the day. In fact, they were profiled just yesterday in the New York Times. Seriously folks, you might think I'm crazy since wedding food isn't usually known to qualify for "best meal ever," but in the case of this wedding, I can tell you without question that the food prepared by chefs Karen Urie and John Shields was the best food I have ever had. Ever. Ever ever ever. And I honeymooned in Paris, Monaco, and Rome, so that's sayin' something. Chef Urie even made nougat dipped in chocolate, which is my mostest most favorite confection of all time. And mini macarons. And apricot pates des fruits. And truffles infused with raspberry..........
After leaving their posts at esteemed restaurants Trotter's and Alinea respectively, the two chefs were wooed to the middle of nowhere and given complete creative and culinary license. The food was so delicious and innovative, in fact, that Glenn and I hopping in the car this very evening for the two hour drive back to Chilhowie. Townhouse sponsors periodic benefit dinners and tonight's topic is on the plight of the honeybee. Since the theme dovetails perfectly with my next book topic, and my taste buds are crying out for more Urie and Shields, and Glenn didn't get to partake in the feasting this past weekend, away we go! In depth details forthcoming.....

*On the bee front, I attended what was dubbed  a "Swarm of Women Beekeepers" this past Sunday afternoon at the lovely Hawk & Ivy Bed and Breakfast just north of Asheville. Twenty-four ladies showed up with victuals and libations (can you say 'blackberry mead'?), sat in a circle, and shared about our bee experiences. Being the "new bee," I mostly listened. I did make a lady-bee friend, though, and will be visiting her home and hive in a week or so. Lots of buzzness in the works, folks!