fall has officially arrived at my place. i was dreading it at first but now i'm getting inspired by the season. i've been baking and enjoying the intermittent rain, the colorful leaves on all the trees and the cozy warmth of my kitchen. last weekend i collected a bunch of wild dried plants by the river and made an arrangement with them.
it reminded me that i've been wanting to make a
nature table at my house. we found an old dresser several months ago on the side of the road and it's been sitting outside looking rather forlorn. it turned out to be the perfect size for a nature table! i covered it with some wool fabric i had in my stash and our very first nature table was born!
pixie and i then went out into the yard and collected all kinds of fall nature treasures. there are sticks, rocks, leaves and chicken feathers! i also want to make some other cute fun things to put on it. pixie got a little porcelain angel/fairy from my sister and put it on the table too. i added a big brown candle.
here is
a cute autumn nature table, on a very cute blog, i might add. i was really inspired by the pool of
nature tables on flikr and this page:
a gallery of nature tables.
i hope you have fun learning about these and maybe even start a nature table for your family (if you don't already have one)!
it seems to me that there is nothing better on a cool, cloudy, damp fall day than warm soup with crusty bread. this is the soup i made today. and a new favorite bread recipe i've been playing with! :)
menagerie soup
ingredients:
4 potaotes, washed and coarsely chopped
1 large onion, diced
1 cup red lentils (i strongly prefer these to the brown lentils)
1/2 cup alphabet pasta
10 cups water, milk or a combination
seasonings:
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon rosemary
1 teaspoon rainbow pepper (fresh ground)
1 tablespoon chunky salt
1 tablespoon butter
instructions:
put the first five ingredients in a good soup pot. mix them up and bring to a boil. turn it down and let simmer. when the potatoes are soft, add the seasonings. simmer for a little longer. serve hot (preferably in a colorful bowl) with crusty buttered bread!
garlic and sundried tomato sourdough bread
ingredients:
1/4 cup sourdough
starter
1 cup whole wheat flour
5 1/2 cups white flour
2 1/2 cups room temperature water
2 teaspoons salt
olive oil
6-10 cloves garlic peeled and cut whatever size you like
1/3 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped
instructions:
measure the starter into your bowl. add the water. stir it up. add the whole wheat flour and salt. start adding the white flour 1/2 a cup at a time. i use my kitchen aid to mix most of the flour in. once it's mostly mixed together, take it out of the bowl and knead it for 15-20 minutes or until it passes the
windowpane test. i know that sounds like a long time but it's
so worth it!
put the dough in a bowl coated with olive oil. cover really well(i use 2 plastic grocery bags). let it rise overnight or, if you start in the morning, all day! after it rises, punch it down to get the air out. knead it a bit to see if you need more flour. if it seems floppy you will need more flour! it's better for it to be a little stiff than not have enough flour. flatten it out a little and put the garlic and sundried tomatoes on it. roll it up and shape it into one big loaf or two regular ones. place on a floured baking sheet or in buttered bread pans. let rise a little before baking, 45 minutes or so. place a dish of water on the bottom oven rack. bake the bread at 350' for about an hour or until internal bread temperature reaches 190'. mist it occasionally (maybe every 15-20 minutes) with water while baking. let cool on a wire rack under a towel. i like to slice it and broil it with butter on it just till it's crispy!
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time for hot fall drinks and bonfires!
