a gypsy caravan

Yarn Along

I have been working on a Milo Vest for Tess using Georgie Hallam's pattern.  The Plymouth Superwash Merino is so soft and nice to work with. I haven't been knitting nearly as much as I'd like because we are moving from the outlying township into the village, right off the town square.  I have been packing and picking out paint and appliances which is plenty fun but I miss having quiet knitting time. We will be moving into a large, historic house that was built in 1870. It should be fun to live there, in the midst of the village. There will be sidewalks for the girls to ride their bikes and scooters. And did I mention a coffee shop, library, antique shops and small town hardware store within walking distance? :)

When I can catch a few minutes, I've been reading A Child's Garden and The Family Kitchen Garden.  I'm looking forward to planting some perennnial beds, including a tea garden. I will miss the house in the woods (and especially all of the hummingbirds) but I am looking forward to our new adventure!  

I'm knitting the Milo vest in a larger size than needed in hopes that I actually complete it while she can still wear it. 

Sorry that all of my photos are taken in front of this same window, on this same place on the table. The current house is dark inside because it is surrounded by trees.  There is only a small amount natural light on the main floor of the house so all of my pictures seem to be taken there. :)

If you'd like to see more Yarn Along projects, stop over at Ginny's. 

brussel sprouts with bacon

On Superbowl Sunday, I was craving brussel sprouts.  I know, that's kind of a strange thing to crave as it's not really football game fare.  When I ran to the store to pick up the food for the game, I bought some nice brussel sprouts and a package of bacon.  I had read a recipe for brussel sprouts, bacon and juniper berries a few days earlier.  Now, I'm showing my culinary ignorance when I tell you that I don't know what a juniper berry is, nor do I know where to locate one in a grocery store. So, I eliminated them from the recipe. Juniper berries sound like something I might have picked off a bush as a child and my mother would have warned me countlessly not to ingest. 

While the rest of the family was munching on chips and salsa, refried bean dip and other treats, I cooked and ate my bowl of brussel sprouts.  I have to tell you, they were delicious! (I also had some bean dip.) :)

The recipe can be found in Tender: A Cook and His Vegetable Patch by Nigel Slater. 

giveaway winner

The winner of a copy of An Everlasting Meal is...JC!

Congratulations to you!  Please email your mailing address to me at agypsycaravan at gmail dot com and I will send the book your way. 

Have a great weekend everyone!

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

More entries at Soulemama's.

redwork love

One thing that was an adjustment for me when we moved to the country two years ago was the lack of thrift stores.  I was used to living in an inner ring suburb that had many thrift shops. I love to go wandering around a Goodwill to find vintage linens, handknit baby sweaters and other treasures.  The positive flip side of moving to the country is that there are a whole lot of antique shops.  We have two or three on our town's square and there is a fabulous one in the neighboring village. 

I purchased an antique Jenny Lind toddler bed for Tess there the other day. It is very sturdy and cost less than one of the plastic race car/princess types that can be found at Walmart. One thing that I've had no trouble finding at any of the local shops is redwork. I am so fond of redwork and I think it looks cheery any time of year. I found a vintage redwork crib-sized quilt a couple of days after I bought the bed. The shop owner said it was made in the 1930s but it could've been made a few years ago.  It is in wonderful condition and is not threadbare or stained in any way.  I am pretty excited about the pair! 

Here's a closeup of some of the quilt squares.

Here are a couple of vintage redwork, cross-stitched table runners that I've picked up over the years. I can hear my mother's voice in my head telling me that I should have ironed these before posting photos. :)

One wonderful book of redwork patterns is called Redwork from the Workbasket. It is a compilation of patterns from the crafting magazine The Workbasket, which boasts a sixty year history. I am working on a pattern for a pillow that reads "Sweet Dreams".  I'll post photos as I progress.  :) There are so many nice pattern books and many, many free patterns to be found online for people interested in redwork or embroidery in general. 

Do you do redwork embroidery? What are some of your favorite sources for patterns? 

Thank you for visiting today!

an everlasting meal and a giveaway

I've been enjoying a wonderful cooking book called An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace by Tamar Adler. 

From the dust jacket description:

"Reviving the inspiring message of M. F. K. Fisher’s How to Cook a Wolf— written in 1942 during wartime shortages—An Everlasting Meal shows that cooking is the path to better eating.

Through the insightful essays in An Everlasting Meal, Tamar Adler issues a rallying cry to home cooks.

In chapters about boiling water, cooking eggs and beans, and summoning respectable meals from empty cupboards, Tamar weaves philosophy and instruction into approachable lessons on instinctive cooking. Tamar shows how to make the most of everything you buy, demonstrating what the world’s great chefs know: that great meals rely on the bones and peels and ends of meals before them.

She explains how to smarten up simple food and gives advice for fixing dishes gone awry. She recommends turning to neglected onions, celery, and potatoes for inexpensive meals that taste full of fresh vegetables, and cooking meat and fish resourcefully.

By wresting cooking from doctrine and doldrums, Tamar encourages readers to begin from wherever they are, with whatever they have. An Everlasting Meal is elegant testimony to the value of cooking and an empowering, indispensable tool for eaters today."

(That'd be my smudgy, olive oil covered fingerprint on the cover. :)

What I love most about this book is, that while it is most definitely a cookbook full of recipes, it is written as a series of comfortable, narrative essays. Hearing Adler's voice through her writing is similar to being taught to cook by one's mother or grandmother in a gentle, conversational, no-nonsense way.  

In the author's words, "This book contains what I know of boiling and cooking eggs.  It contains my strategies for cooking vegetables and meat, which rely on the fortuitous truth that both are best bought whole and cooked ahead, and the ways I have of making each earn its keep.  It doesn't contain "perfect" or "professional" ways to do anything, because we don't need to be professionals to cook well, any more than we need to be doctors to treat bruises and scrapes: we don't need to shop like chefs or cook like chefs; we need to shop and cook like people learning to cook, like what we are--people who are hungry."

An Everlasting Meal reminds us that much can be done with little, that many meals can be squeaked out of the stems, roots and leaves of vegetables.  For more flavor, we can add some meat and a little bit of bread. While the book teaches frugality and economy in using what is available, it does not scrimp on taste. The recipes are simple yet delicious and earthy. I made a most simple pot of boiled broccoli last night as a sidedish and it tasted so much more delicious than usual, following Tamar's suggestions. 

Because I've enjoyed this book ever so much, I'd like to give away a copy.   :)

Leave a message in the comment section to be included in the drawing.  Also, if you'd like, tell us about your favorite comfort food from your childhood (or adulthood for that matter). 

I will pull a name from the comments on Friday evening.    Thanks for visiting!