Setting the Stage

This week marked a huge milestone in the first two books in my series. In short, I finished. All of the text is complete. That feels absolutely enormous to write. This time last year, I was working in a doctor's office. Now, I've written two books as part of a series, with more to come, I get to work at home, in my jammies, with my furry brood (husband notwithstanding), and write about adventures in small-scale homesteading. No complaints.

We shot two photo shoots this week for the recipes in the "Raising Chickens" book. Above is creative director at Lark Books (my publisher), Chris Bryant, at whose home we took the photos. Here he can be seen in his natural environment,  tenderly working stylistic magic on zucchini and basil. 
My own lovey dove, chef extraordinaire, Glenn, doing his thing with eggs. 
The assistance of Ned, Chris's cat, was utterly indispensable. 
The best editor a gal could ever hope for, Nicole McConville. She edits, she makes exquisite art, she plays the accordion somethin' fierce, AND she washes prop dishes. Presenting the original renaissance woman. I call her "Freddy", my fusion of friend and editor (and it sounds much more benign than "Freditor," right?)
Going in for the shot. 

*Small Measure: Buy local. As much as possible, I'm placing emphasis in the book series on supporting local farmers and growers. Freshness really counts, in terms of quality and taste, not to mention supporting livelihoods and community viability in wherever it is that you call home. The eggs for this shot were as local as you can get, seeing as how they came from The Ladies. 

I Am the Cheese

I took a beginning cheese-making workshop this past Saturday at an adorable creamery about 1 1/2 hours north of here. Cynthia Sharpe is the proprietor of Oak Moon Creamery and she can make cheese like nobody's business. 
We were making mozzarella, feta, and cheddar all at the same time, so I can't tell you which cheese is hanging in this bag, but I can assure you that it tasted delicious. Turns out cheddar is both a noun and a verb-to "cheddar" is to take curds that have been drained, slice them, and sort of fold, or cobble, them back onto themselves, thus forming the tell-tale grain lines that form in cheddar cheese. Who knew? Cheese-makers/mongers, that's who!
Here you can see what is called a "clean break" being cut. This is desirable and something you look for after you've added cultures and rennet to milk. It means the cheese is turning into, well, cheese-it's firming up. 
Here's Cynthia removing the curds into a flour sac-lined colander for draining off the whey. 
Some gorgeous feta, which worked it's way into zucchini, basil, and feta frittatas made for the photo shoot of recipes in my "Raising Chickens" book. Scrumdiddlyumptious!!!! The day was perfect. It started with coffee and cream from one of the attendees jersey cow. I'd like to swim in that cream, thank you very much. It is the absolute stuff of dreams. Cynthia's mom and pop showed up at lunchtime with delicious veggie soup, cornbread, and the most horde-inducing cake you can imagine-I snuck back for seconds! And got crumbs all over me as I drove away, smashing cake into my face! Yessir! My fellow cheese-patriots were a rowdy band of women from all walks of life. It was bliss. 

I'm now completely seized with cheese and dairy fever. I want a goat and I want one NOW! Imagine the possibilities-homemade cheese, fresh milk; however, if I do get a goat, and made the aforementioned dairy products, our friends would NEVER invite us over for dinner again...we'll end up being the coveted dining/eating/feasting destination. There are worse things, though. Say Cheese! 

Proof

A flowering quince about to burst forth in scandalous bloom. 
A riot of sunshine splendor. 
Crocuses creeping out of hiding. 
The forsythia can barely contain itself. 
Tip tops of trees are budding up. 

Spring is coming. Everywhere I look I see proof. Hold on, ye winter weary. The warmth is 'a comin'. 

Small Measure: Air dry your laundry. You don't need a backyard or a clothesline to showcase your business either. If you live in an apartment, simply throwing open the windows and spreading your garments over the backs of chairs or atop windowsills works splendidly. Country or suburban dwellers, well, you've got some room, no matter how diminutive, for even the most humble of taught lines to be hung. There's such easy comfort that comes from watching your things, mentionable and otherwise, blowing in the wind. Plus, it's good exercise, what with the bending over, pinning up, removing, and folding. As a bonus, you're saving money-a perk, no doubt, but definitely not the be all, end all. Clothespins up, pin onward!

Small But Meaningful

When I originally decided to begin a blog in June 2008, I had all sorts of visions of what it would be on topically. A bit on food, a bit on gardening, a bit on crazy videos I find on youtube. Mostly, though, I wanted to somehow be didactic, informative, instructive without being boring or preachy or lame. Small measure is a term that actually sums up how I feel a life should be lived. If we take small, simple measures that allow us to treat our friends, families, and planet with kindness, generosity, and empathy, the health of all will benefit. 

To that end, I'd been meaning to leave each post with a "small measure" or a "one simple thing", if you will. Something that you can easily incorporate into your life that might impose less of a burden on the world around you, whether that be in your personal relationships, your lifestyle habits, or your interaction with the natural world. Well, dears, that time has come. Mostly, the small measures will be an additional component to the posts, not the topic of the post itself. It will be the cherry on top, not the hot fudge sundae (oh, man, hot fudge sundaes...........). Feel free to offer up some small measures of your own. I'd love to know how you all move through life with grace, compassion, and thoughtfulness. And humorous small measures are certainly always welcome, as well (i.e. never feed the dog chili...). 

Small Measure: Carry a hankie (that's a handkerchief, for those of you not down with nasal cloth colloquialisms). 'Specially this time of year, when so many folks have colds. My dad has been a life-long proponent of the hankie. Of course, you'll need more than one, as they get pretty rank pretty fast, but hankies are a much sounder choice than kleenex, environmentally-speaking. Plus, there are some pretty cool ones out there, so, depending on your predilection, you could deposit your precious nasal knowledge into a camouflaged, John Deere, paisley (Pop's choice), or floral hankie. Allow the hankie to make a statement, about your environmental AND design choices. 

Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda

This is what being trapped at home does to a gal. I was supposed to be at a much anticipated all-day homemade dairy products workshop. Instead, an unexpected snow storm has me sequestered indoors, planning my vegetable garden empire, catching up on outdated magazines, and learning about photo booth on my mac. The workshop was rescheduled to March 14th, so I'll eventually make my debut into d.i.y. feta, ricotta, yogurt, and kefir. 

In the meantime, I'm working on a small measure feature I'd been hoping to have going some time ago. All secrets will be revealed in my next post.....'til then, it's back to breathy descriptions of cucumbers and arugula, a forthcoming mug of hot chocolate (thanks G.!!!), and assorted and sundry "effects." 

Chillin' With the Peeps

These are from a photo shoot done this week for the chapters in the "Raising Chickens" book on incubating, hatching, and raising chicks. It was a pretty magical day. A chick even pipped its way out "for us", as though on cue. The setting was the gorgeous Double G Ranch, stewarded by the imminently gracious and hospitable Lance and Valerie Graves. If you're in the Asheville area and are looking for organic feed or chickens raised organically, give them a call. They'll hook you up. They've also got a host of adorable pygmy goats, horses, and pigs, which although not for sale, are worth the trip out to their place alone. BABY PYGMY GOATS! If you're looking for the cute threshold, look no further. 

I've got to tell you, folks, the photos for the book are truly stellar. Lynn Harty is an immense talent. She's doing both of the first two books in the series and is the sort of photographer that, even if you are the type of person who only gets up close and personal with chickens and vegetables when they served to you by a waiter, will have you ordering chicks and mason jars faster than you can say "Buff Orphington." She's a treat, and I'm lucky to have been paired up with her. 

*Images by Lynn Harty courtesty of Lark Books. 

A Humble Cabin In The Woods

This cabin in Northern Idaho, designed by architectural firm Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen, is blowing my mind. In the sage words of Tina Fey, I want to go to there. I've looked at it just about every day for six days now. Check it out yourself. Be sure to move through the thumbnails and watch the short video of the giant window being cranked open. Talk about ventilation. I think I'd like something similar for my birthday. It's only a 'cabin,' right? 

*Image provided by Tropolism.