~ This & That ~

This week...

My Mama came by with several boxes of canning goodness for me.

Passed down by her Mother & my Dads mother.

Old enamel pots, ancient mason jars (and some newer ones), a sieve,

funnels, an apple peeler & more.

What a treasure!

It was so fun to unpack those boxes & put the equipment to use again!

I started reading these two lovely books.

The Big Book of Handspinning is on my Christmas wish list. :)

I bought some beautiful alpaca roving at the last farmers market that
I can't wait to get on the spinning wheel!
I also started knitting a new baby hat for the Mothering by Nature store
in a lovely purplish kettle dyed Peruvian cotton.





Two sneaky children ran off with my camera to take photos of their lego creations
(and some silly shots of each other!)

I woke up at 3am worried about a friends surgery

& not being able to fall back asleep,

made the most of it by canning

3 jars of apple sauce & 8 jars of raspberry jam

from the berries I froze that we picked this Summer.

Tried a new breakfast recipe (a winner!) out with the kids.

Creamed Quinoa

1/2 c. quinoa(rinsed)

1 c. milk ( I used rice milk)

1 pat butter

Heat the milk to boiling and reduce flame.

Add quinoa and butter.

Reduce heat to low careful not to let

the milk boil over (as it tends to do).

Cover the pot and check every few minutes

to stir and test the texture of the quinoa.

Fully cooking the grain should take about 10-15 minutes.

Scoop the quinoa into a bowl.

Pour a tad of cream on it if you'd like.

We scooped a dollop of our pumpkin butter on top.

Next time, I'd like to add fresh chopped pears or

apples...maybe walnuts

My children loved it without any sweetener but I'm sure some maple syrup or honey would be delish drizzled over the top.

This is a fantastic warm before school breakfast.

What's new in your home this week?