Cliff Hangers and Heirloom Tomatoes

Today, as I puttered about in (what I euphemistically call) my garden, it occurred to me that fall is the ultimate cliff hanger. Last October I mulched and covered and raked and babied the asparagus, blueberries, raspberries, and lone little peach tree. Then came winter. It rained, and snowed, and froze, and thawed. And snowed some more.

It felt like the end of the season of a really tasty TV show; I was left with reruns and good memories for months on end, until the show resumes next season.

I enjoyed my reruns, and loved every drop of home-canned salsa, tomato sauce, and pickled beets. Now I'm ready for the new season. Who will star this year? The heirloom seeds special-ordered from Iowa and Pennsylvania? Or the old flower seeds gathered from my last garden in Berkeley before leaving in 1999 (and not planted until now)?

Will the raspberries remain sad, plain little sticks guarded by chicken wire or will they burst forth, grow tall and produce zillions of berries? Will the asapargus rise from the depths where it has been patiently waiting all winter? The tulips, the irisis and the day lilies are coming back - their green tips are bursting out of the ground even as we speak. Ooooh! What will happen? I can hardly wait!

Thus inspired, I went searching for a poem about spring. I stopped when I found this one. Nope, it's not about spring. But it has a dog, and great big snowflakes. And that, dear reader, is more than enough for me!

Snow, Aldo

by Kate DiCamillo.

Once, I was in New York,

in Central Park, and I saw

an old man in a black overcoat walking

a black dog. This was springtime

and the trees were still

bare and the sky was

gray and low and it began, suddenly,

to snow:

big fat flakes

that twirled and landed on the

black of the man's overcoat and

the black dog's fur. The dog

lifted his face and stared

up at the sky. The man looked

up, too. "Snow, Aldo," he said to the dog,

"snow." And he laughed.

The dog looked

at him and wagged his tail.

If I was in charge of making

snow globes, this is what I would put inside:

the old man in the black overcoat,

the black dog,

two friends with their faces turned up to the sky

as if they were receiving a blessing,

as if they were being blessed together

by something

as simple as snow

in March.

Happy Birthday Kurt!

Kurt looking oh-so-dashing in the Birthday Cape and his Carhart coveralls

Liat knocked on our door early this morning to present THE BIRTHDAY CAPE to Kurt to wear on this special day, his 57th birthday. He put it on, and wore it all day. Actually, he took it off when he and Bob spied a grass fire out on DR land (you can see a long way from the second floor of the Mercantile) and went dashing off to save the day. He felt that perhaps a tie-dyed cape was not appropriate apparel when working side-by-side with one's Mennonite neighbors to extinguish prairie blazes...But he put it back on for dinner, and is wearing it right now as he takes over the world (playing 'Civilization' on his computer).

We celebrated last night with a 4-layer chocolate cake at Sandhill dinner:

As you can tell my theory on birthday cakes is primarily "if you can't make them really pretty, glop on a LOT of really good chocolate..." It seems to work very well - everyone loved it and there wasn't a smidgen of chocolate left on the plate.

We also made "Happy Birthday Kurt!" badges, and the kids helped me distribute them this morning. Even Baloo wore one for an hour or so (his was tied, not pinned, on).

Toren, Sierra, Baloo, Cynder & Angela wearing 'Happy Birthday' badges

And finally, for Kurt on his birthday, with love:

Us Together

I do not like anything the way I

like you in your underwear I like you

and in your party clothes o my in your

party clothes and with nothing on at all

you do not need to wear a thing at all

for me to like you and you may talk or

not talk I like you either way nothing

makes me feel so nearly at home on Earth

as just to be with you and say nothing.

-George Johnston

Sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast...

...said the Queen. And like the Rabbit, I am so very, very behind!

For example, Easter was a week ago, and I have not yet posted the photo of the oh-so-cute Bunny Head pastries the Carletons made and brought over. Dave (aka "Cob") later explained that they carefully chose the ones that actually looked like bunnies (not pug dogs, or monsters, for example) to bring over. It seems that after awhile making bunnies loses its glamour for 5-, 10- and 12-year old boys, and they tend to get a bit, um, creative.

And speaking of creative 10-year-old boys, yesterday Duncan proudly showed me the new handkerchief that he had sewn. Embroidered proudly in the upper right hand corner was the word "snot." I'm envisioning an entire Duncan line for the Mercantile. We can have hankies that say "snot," "boogers," and who knows what else. Ack!

Yesterday we had our first official Milkweed Mercantile staff meeting. Yeah for us! We talked about the business structure. My goal is that it will not be "Alline-driven" but team driven. The five components of the business - Inn, Cafe, Online Store, DR store, Seminars - will each be responsible for meeting its own budget while working closely together so that ALL succeed. We have a GREAT group (I'll introduce them soon) and I continue to feel strongly that if I follow my heart that good things will happen.

The Spring 2008 issue of Communities magazine just came out.My complimentary copies arrived yesterday. I have both an article (Building a Business in Community) and a book review in it.



In the article I talk about how grateful I am for the grant I received from Eileen Fisher (pictured above at a celebratory lunch). We also put in a photo of the Mercantile in its current state: framed and ready for a roof:



That's it for now. I'm going to go make dinner for Mark, Alyson and new baby Cole (I'm thinking calzones, slaw and brownies for dessert), then Kurt and I are headed off to Quincy for dinner with Amy and Juan. More later!

Saved from Scurvy

Today Tony returned (via train) from a trip to California. While he was in the Bay Area he saw our beloved Miss Lindsey. She is a former member of Sandhill and a character out of a fabulous, wacky, and too-funny-to-be-believed novel that is still being written. Anyway, Tony hauled back a heavy, carefully wrapped package addressed to me and Kurt, with a note that said "hope this'll help fend off the scurvy!"



With great anticipation I peeled back paper layer after bubble wrap layer, finding the glimmering prize inside: two jars of homemade Meyer lemon marmalade. I am swooning! I am SO happy! I may not share it with anyone - I've convinced Kurt that he much prefers strawberry preserves. My morning toast will never be the same.

PS If you need an Aesthetic Pruner and/or Gardening Coach, please contact Lindsay. She does pruning for health and beauty in the urban context - ornamental and fruit trees, shrubs, roses, container plants. You will be delighted with her work. And maybe, if you're very good, she'll bring you some marmalade. linzonia@yahoo.com

The Secret Life of Baloo

Kurt and I run a "don't ask, don't tell" household - as long as Baloo is back in time for dinner we don't pry. Every once in awhile, though, I get a clue that there is much more to Baloo's life than I am aware of. For example, today I received this (from Liat) via email:

Sledding on Vista de la Moo, March 2008

Had I known he liked sledding we could have gotten him one of his own for Christmas. Thank goodness Thomas is willing to share his.

In other matters, I apologize for the lack of posts. One week ago tonight I was remembering (vividly) lines from Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion:

Michele: Ewwww...remember when we had Mexican food and I threw up...?

Romy: I hate throwing up.

Michele: (Gasping in delight at the synchronicity of their friendship) Me too!

Let's just leave it at that, and say that I'm feeling much better now, thank you!

And now that I'm fully recovered, I've been experimenting with new recipes. I made BREAD (yeah for me and my KitchenAid mixer!) and it was really good. Yesterday I made a cake that had bananas, chocolate chips, and walnuts. I think it was called Monkey Cake but the name has somehow morphed into Monkey Brain Cake, which is really quite catchy - I'm sure with a name like Monkey Brains we'll sell zillions of them at the Mercantile. Today I made Thomas Keller's version of Nutter Butter cookies. They look AND taste like the Savannah Girl Scout Cookies. They are pretty amazing.

OK. This is boring even ME, so I'm signing off for tonight. Ah, Saturday night in Rutledge, Missouri. Kinda makes you wish you were here, eh?

Simple Pleasures for Simple Minds

Last month Kurt and got to spend a week in New York. Yep, bright lights, big city. More on the real reason for the trip (the Milkweed Mercantile was the recipient of an Eileen Fisher Grant for Women Entrepreneurs) in future posts. Right now I'd like to share what was REALLY exciting about the trip, at least for me.

Tender Buttons.





















This tiny little shop in the Upper West Side absolutley oozes with charm. See those buttons along the wall in the photo above? Those are all little boxes (4x2x8") stacked and filled with the buttons that are affixed to the outside. It is an amazing experience to walk in and realize the limitlessness of the world of buttons. So I went shopping, supposedly for future hand-made Mercantile projects. Right.


exhibits a and b

teeny, tiny bags

When I walked out, all I had to show for my efforts (and payment) were two little teeny bags tucked into a very small bag (see exhibits a and b).

You'd think they'd at least give you a GREAT BIG bag so that you felt like you'd received some return on your investment.

But oh, what buttons! Mice-and-cheese buttons, mother of pearl buttons, hand-carved wood buttons, very cool buttons...

Years ago I attended the International Quilt Festival in Houston, where I had the pleasure of hearing Elinor Peace Bailey speak. She was marvelous, and what I liked best was what she had to say about fabric. Quilters are often consumed with enormous guilt about their "quilt stash." This is an undisclosed quantity, usually large, of fabric. Purchased in quilt stores, quilt festivals, and anywhere else imaginable, stashes continually grow. One never knows when might need that particular fabric. Green and blue dots? Hmmmm, that might come in handy some day, I better buy two yards. And so it piles up, and up, and up.

But Elinor put my mind at rest. She understood. She said that whenever one takes a pile of fabric out, and touches it, and thinks about it, and plays with it for awhile, one is using the fabric. That is the key. You do not have to cut it up and sew it into something to use it. Touching it is enough. Quilters are kinesthetic - we touch things. It's a visceral thing. I suspect it is the same with buttons.

Come over sometime, and I'll let you play with mine!

A Cupcake is a Thing of Beauty, and a Joy for 3 minutes...

John Keats wrote:

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:

Its loveliness increases;

it will neverPass into nothingness;

but still will keep

A bower quiet for us, and a sleep

Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.

I believe he was speaking of my cupcakes:

Carrot Cake Cupcakes, topped with cream cheese icing and candied ginger

Yes - beauty, sweet, health, quiet breathing (or is that panting and drooling?) - that about covers it!

Tonight is tri-community (Dancing Rabbit, Sandhill Farm & Red Earth Farms) potluck. And while traditionally a potluck means that one brings a dish that would be enough to feed one's family (i.e. the number of people in your party who will be eating at the potluck), when one brings dessert there absolutely MUST be enough to go around. Granted, there are a few non-sugar and non-wheat eaters in our midst, but if you want to avoid a kid-riot (and I do, at all costs) you bring extra.


The Recipe

CARROT CAKE
Vegan
From The New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook

Preheat oven to 350

1 cup salad oil
1 c. white sugar
1 c. brown sugar
1 ½ - 2 c. water or soymilk

4 c. unbleached white flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 ½ tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp allspice

3 c. grated carrots
1 c. chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts)
½ c. raisins

Blend oil and sugar, add water and beat. Sift the flour with remaining dry ingredients and add to sugar mixture. Add carrots and nuts and mix well. Bake in a 9x13” pan at 350 for 35-40 minutes.

For cupcakes: grease cupcake tins. Bake for about 12 minutes.

FROSTING
1 container Tofutti PLAIN Better Than Cream Cheese
½ cube soy margarine
3 c. sifted powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Beat together with whisk attachment. Add more sugar if it is too wet, soy milk if it is too stiff.


That's it for tonight. I've been thinking a lot about sustainable business, and how to have a store where selling things really is not the bottom line, and am working myself into a tizzy. So I made cupcakes. With lots of frosting. And lots of leftovers.