saturday recap, 50 words or less

This is what to look for: om tapestry, hand-stencilled banner, Fiona in her Saturday best and some snuggly sorts of goods all ready for winter. Drank some coffee, ate some breakfast pastries, chit-chatted and met people and generally lived it up.

applique, you will be mine

Remember when I said I was going to start appliqueing all the time? Lies. But I have, however, recently reignited this interest and played around with some appliqued designs for tomorrow's market. I'm in love. So crisp & clean & fun. A smidge tedious, but worth it.

So in addition to snuggly hats & classic neck cozies & the like, there will also be some applique. Mom & I will be hanging out snacking on delicious farmers' market treats and talking shop. Do stop by if you have the chance, or pencil another of the date's into your calendar. Long-distance? Shoot me an email and we'll be penpals. Or find me on Etsy.

(Keep your eyes peeled for another holiday market announcement in the next few weeks!)

acorn squash, processed

You'll Need:

• an acorn squash
• garlic (Called for an entire head, we used a few cloves)
• 1 c vegetable stock
• parsley
• salt n pepa

Now, just:

1. Cut the squash in half, salt n pepa it and roast in a baking pan, face down for about 45 minutes. Add some water to cover the bottom of the pan. While you're at it, roast the garlic too in some foil.
2. Once cooked and mushy, scoop out the squash & peel the garlic (hot hot hot). Add to food processor with vegetable stock, parsely and maybe some more seasoning. Process.
3. That's it. Serve over pasta with some parmesan and, if desired, a big dollop of ricotta cheese.

sneak peek

I'll be offering a limited run of snuggly winter hats for sale, starting this Saturday at the Troy Winter Market and next week on Etsy.

winter tour dates announced

Troy Winter Farmer's Market

Uncle Sam Atrium, Broadway @ 3rd & 4th Streets
Downtown Troy
9am-1pm

We'll be there on...
November 21
December 19
January 16
February 13

Check out the website for more info and directions and links. We'll be hanging around with the farmers' market folk. Because it's not just about crafts. It's about food & crafts. Does it get much better than that? Well there's also plenty of on- and off-street parking. So NOW does it get any better?

ankle huggers

You know you love the slightly bent left leg pose that is eerily consistent in both pictures.

I used this tutorial by Freshly Picked (found via Darling Dexter) to skinnify some jeans. Which is just perfect because I have been searching for the right pair of skinny jeans... not too sausage-y, etc. I scored my favorite pair at a consignment shop... they are Old Navy brand but apparently NOT the same as the ones actually in Old Navy. Counterintuitive. So I couldn't just buy more of them. But I had an old pair of bootcut (ok they were flared...) jeans that I loved and decided they would be perfect to tuck into my new boots. So chop chop, skinny ankle they went.

Can you even tell the difference between those pictures? I can, but maybe it's not so clear to everyone else. I took in the ankles about 2 inches.

(Also, if I've ever skinnified your jeans before (there are a few of you gals out there) I'm sorry I didn't use this tutorial. It's a better method, less seam bunching. So, go ahead and use this from now on.)

sweet potato crispy mush

As it turns out, sweet potato hash with red onion and tofu isn't really photogenic. I know, I was totally surprised too. Recipe called for smoked tofu and suggested meatless bacon product as a substitute. Couldn't find smoked tofu, refused to buy meatless bacon (I don't even love real meat bacon so I was skeptical about the non-meat version (Also did you know you could buy meatless bologna? WHAT?! I mean, what the hell is in bologna anyway? And then meatless? I bet they taste exactly the same (and speaking of deli meat, there is a deli worker at my grocery store that gives you a slice of meat, cheese, etc. to taste while you wait for your order and it's so awesome, just like when I used to get rolled up bologna as a kid in line))). So I just marinated some regular chunks and threw them in. Cut up a hard boiled egg, drizzle on a little balsamic vinegar and then devour.

The recipe is in the book, so just do yourself a favor and buy it. It's by the same Mollie Katzen that wrote Moosewood Cookbook. Basically though, it's sweet potatoes, red onion & garlic sauteed up until crispy-mushy, with some tofu plus a boiled egg and balsamic.

felt leaves & glitter

We were trees & these are my tree stumps. It's too bad so many of my pictures were blurry, because in most of them I can be found striking various tree-like poses. I asked the boy if we could say we were Ents from LoTR... you can imagine what the answer was. So plain old handmade oak trees we were. With glitter (me). And a birds' nest headband (yeah just me).

(Also: Inspired by martawrites to make these spooky ghost cookies.)