Did Ya Know I'm a Spinner?

Apologies for missing yesterday's post, but i spent most of the day doing chores and driving down to the Eugene Textile Center to pick up my new spinning wheel! Well, it's actually used, but it's new to me and I'm totally stoked. Pocket was totally flumoxed by the strange whirring device, but she's gotten used to it and is willing to share her partitioned "keep the carpet clean while she's in heat" part of the house with Clementine, my new Clemes & Clemes Modern Wheel.
My uncle recently asked bemusedly: They still make those? Is that an antique? No sirree: fiber arts aren't some archaic craft of Rumpelstiltskin's era, the fiber community is large and in charge with tons of active spinning/knitting/crocheting/weaving groups and events all over the country, and especially up here in Oregon.

 I've already made half a dozen new spinning (and sheep/alpaca/goat keeping) friends who have graciously passed on their advice and some incredibly helpful tips to this newbie spinner. I've been spinning on a drop spindle since before we left Austin.... but wasn't really doing it "right" until i met my new friends and had a few key pieces of advice given to me at the crucial moment.  No longer just spinning for no apparent reason, i have 2 balls of 2 ply handspun yarn to my name and i've even crocheted a hat for myself! A really good looking, well fitting hat! I hadn't crocheted anything in years, so i'm just amazed it looks like anything. Photos of the hat coming soon. Thanks to one of my new friends for having me over to her farm to meet her critters and to help me ply my two spindles full of single ply yarn using a GIANT spindle she happened to have. The resultant ball of yarn looks a little freaky, but once i put it to use the colors really go together great.

My first plied yarns wrapped into skeins, washed, and hung to dry. Nice balance!

Voila! Center pulled ball ready to become a hat!

Drop spindles are great. You can bring them anywhere. They're super portable and light. They're convenient..... but they aren't overly efficient in the long run. You can only fit so much yarn on a spindle, and it's a bit more difficult to ply on one. Since my friend happened to have a super huge spindle i could ply onto, and she helped regulate the tension from my two spindles in a make shift lazy kate (shoe box with holes in it) it worked alright. But in the future, i need to ply by myself, and Clementine should really help to facilitate that. Wheels are also great for spinning more yarn in a shorter amount of time since the winding on is done at the same time as the spinning, whereas spindling requires frequent pauses to wrap the new yarn around the spindle.

These are my spindles: a beautiful and really nicely balanced spindle I bought in Texas, and a basic student Ashford spindle i picked up here in Corvallis.

My first attempts on Clementine were frustrating and awkward. Fiddling with the tension, trying to figure out how to draft in the opposite direction as i do when using a spindle, learning how to operate the treadle smoothly and evenly: all these things are quite tricky on their own but together it's quite a bit like patting your head and rubbing your belly. Luckily, I'm a trained musician and should be able to coordinate my movements at different beats, etc.... and i caught on relatively quickly! I still have a lot to learn, about proper drafting (regulating the thickness of the fiber into the spindle) and using the tension to regulate the wheel's movements. I have lots to learn, but I'm doing pretty well so far, and have some decently almost even weighted yarn on the bobbin. Wahoo!

I love learning new crafts and hobbies. It is a delight to push oneself out of your comfort zone to try something new, and especially delightful when you begin to become proficient at it! Not only am i enjoying the act of spinning, holding my handspun yarn and creating art and apparel using such a basic and "old-fashioned" skill.... but i'm so loving being so quickly welcomed into my community and making friends with some really wise and fun-loving ladies.

Remember that movie with Wynona Ryder and the ladies who sew quilts? Whether you've seen it or not, the concept is the same: i'm a young woman with a young family starting out in a new state. To be able to spend a few hours every week sitting around and talking about silly to important things with some "older" and wise ladies is priceless. I think it is so important for young people to become connected with older generations, even if its just our parent's age or younger. To learn in part through the experiences of others and to glean the wisdom from others that have already forged a life for themselves is just invaluable, especially when they're into so many of the same things we plan to do. I feel so blessed to have fallen in with my new friends and can't wait to learn even more from them, and to entertain them a bit with my silly and frank personality.

Jobs and Hormones

Miranda's got another job interview! Driving over the coastal range to meet with a woman/farmer near Alsea and hopefully wow her with my blogging/marketing/organizational skills....    I'll say no more. Just wish me luck!

As far as the hormones are concerned: little miss Pocket is having her 2nd heat. Almost exactly 7 months after her first, how's that for regularity? As many of my female readers are familiar with: she's having some mood swings. Poor thing is barking at every little sound outside and growling non-stop.

At least my box turtle (who has free range of the house, like any house pet) is eating well and stopped trying to lay eggs in my shoes.

I run a strange household....

Goulash with Fresh Seasonal Veggies

Here's another mom-inspired meal i cooked up recently. I remember requesting "goulash with squeeky beans" pretty often as a kid. Mom always cooked hers with a bit of ground meat - adding frozen beans and tomato sauce was a great way to stretch a pound of meat to feed her little family. Instead of ground beef i used ground turkey (not the recalled type!), and instead of frozen, french cut beans i used fresh beans plus a bunch of other seasonal veggies. Add just a bit of tomato sauce and some curry powder, you've got the essence of my mama's goulash. Delicious! This made just the right amount for us to have 1 serving each for dinner and leftovers for each our lunches. Since i've been relying on the availability of seasonal veggies lately, use my recipes as a starting point or guideline and sub in whatever veggies are available to you. The only necessary items to make this dish feel like itself are tomato sauce, beans and curry powder.

Gosh, i need to work on my presentation. Would help if this apartment had any lights in it.

Not My Mama's Goulash Recipe

• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1/2 jar tomato/marinara sauce
• Generous portion of green beans, ends removed and chopped in half
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 3 smallish asian eggplants, sliced
• 1 carrot, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 cayenne pepper, dried and crushed or fresh and diced
• 1 fresh tomato, diced
• Salt and Pepper
• Curry powder, generous pinch

Brown the turkey meat with the herbs then add the veggies and sauce, cover and simmer until veggies are cooked to your liking. Pretty simple! If you prefer al dente eggplant, add them after the beans are beginning to cook through. I like my goulash pretty 'mushy' so i threw everything in together to do their thing. You can serve goulash by itself or over noodles or rice.

You can find this post and many more awesome homesteading tips/ recipes and more at Simple Lives Thursdays, a blog hop!

Elk Stroganoff

OMG. I have to use that keyboard shortcut for this meal. Cuz, OMG it was amazing. The house smelled amazing. The end results tasted amazing. Even the dog ate amazingly. (some grain free kibble, plus raw elk and squash!) This stroganoff surprisingly smelled a lot like my mama's stroganoff, which was made using completely different ingredients (mostly store bought) but the health benefits of this meal far exceeded hers. Sorry for the dis, ma.

My sister is up and moving to Wisconsin soon, and she gifted me with an assortment of meats and other items from her freezer, including some elk meat hunted by her boyfriend (who shares the same name as my husband: confusing!) Included in the elk meat was some ground burger style meat. Beans are in season, so i was looking for something i could prepare with meat and a side of beans and just stumbled into this meal in my brain: stroganoff! I found a recipe online to use as a reference, and added more veggies and different herbs, and of course used my homemade yogurt instead of sour cream or store bought yogurt. The results were fabulous and i'm so proud of us for leaving leftovers!

Elk Stroganoff with a side of Beans

• 1 lb ground elk meat (or venison, or bison, or even turkey)
• 2 patty pan squash (or zucchini, or green peppers, or whatever is in season - you get the idea)
• 1 red onion
• 1 or more large garlic clove
• Good pinch of dried hot peppers
• 2 cans sliced mushrooms, or 1 cup fresh/sliced mushrooms
• Splash olive oil
• 2 T flour
• 1 Cup broth or 1/2 cup broth/ 1/2 cup red or white wine. I used turkey broth as that's what i had
• 1 Cup yogurt
• Dried herbs of your choice: i used basil/thyme/oregano/smoked paprika
• 2 T dijon mustard

• Pan full of fresh green beans, the skinnier the more delicious
• Butter or olive oil

Set the stage: one large pan with lid. One medium pot with water. One large pot with water and a steam rack. Prep your beans by pinching off the stemmy bits and arranging on the steaming tray.

Toss oil, onion, garlic, mushrooms and meat in the pan at medium/high heat until meat is browned. There can still be plenty of red showing. Toss in flour and squash and stir continuously for about 2 minutes. Add the herbs and broth, stir and reduce heat to medium. Cover and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes.  Meanwhile get the water for your pasta (i used whole grain egg noodles) going and turn on the heat under your green beans. The fresh beans will take over 5 minutes to adequately soften. Once the beans are ready, the pasta is done and the meat has simmered turn off the heat and add yogurt and mustard. Stir well and delight in the aromas!

Serve the stroganoff over egg noodles (or rice, or raw zucchini 'noodles') with a side of beans that have been drained and tossed with a scant amount of butter or oil. I used roasted pepper infused olive oil and a splash of truffle oil, plus salt. Yum!

Stroganoff isn't the prettiest dish, and i'd publish the aroma if i could. You'll just have to get invited over for dinner to enjoy that element. ;)

You can find this post and more great recipes and tips at the Simple Lives Thursday blog hop!

Sun Dried Tomato Pesto with Seasonal Veggies and Tofu

Man, oh man. Thank you again Mooney Farms for the delicious sun dried tomato products!

Mooney Farms is a family owned business in California and is the largest producer of sun dried tomatoes in the U.S. They really know their stuff, because these suckers were DELICIOUS! I snacked the package of spicey sun dried tomatoes within days, and have been slathering the pesto on just about everything. I'm saving those julienned tomatoes in oil for something special this Winter, but i whipped up a delicious meal of seasonal veggies, tofu and sun dried tomato pesto the other night to my family's delight.



Although we left our veggie gardens back in Austin, I've had unlimited access to fresh, organic produce from Gathering Together Farm where my husband works. Me is one lucky wifey! You can't beat fresh, organic veggies and our health is as good or better than ever: having access to so many varieties of vegetable is even better than growing my own limited supply in a harsh, hot climate. This meal featured purple potatoes, perky chard, fresh tomatoes, zucchini and of course the lycopine packed sundried tomato pesto. Yum!

Chop all the ingredients (could use any seasonal veggies) and toss in according to cooking times. Potatoes and chard stalks first, zucchini, herbs and sauce second, chard greens last. Add tofu or meat for added protein at the beginning to absorb all the flavors. Chard should be cooked like spinach, until just wilted but not dessicated. Adding some lemon juice to leafy greens helps avoid discoloration.

Serve with some fresh tomato and mozz on top and you're in heaven!

You can learn more about Mooney Farms, their family history and their products at their website www.MooneyFarms.com and can like them on Facebook too! They're one of my page's favorites. They even have a Twitter feed for those of you tweet-a-holics. You can really taste the quality in these products!

YES, The Oregon Coast CAN Be Sunny!

I finally bring a windbreaker to the beach, and it's sunny and WARM! Of course.

Love it!

Travel Log: Deschutes Brew Pub

I spent a day in beautiful Bend this past weekend, to visit sisters and to show my hubby a bit of the East side he hasn't seen. The poor guy did all the driving though, so I'm not sure he got as good of a view as he'd like. I'll drive next trip, though. ;) It was a beautiful drive through Lebanon and Sweet Home (where we stared about wondering if this would be a good area to buy in, the land values are great over there!) and then over the Santiam pass along the windy Santiam River. Not as windy a drive as Mackenzie pass, but still pretty darned windy and slow. A 2.5 hour drive definitely took us 3 and we arrived at my sisters house a bit frazzled and appreciative of a glass of delicious, local chardonnay. We supped on elk her boyfriend had hunted and fresh veggies my husband harvested at work, and filled ourselves in anticipation of a day of kayaking......  Or just filled ourselves. We were still full in the morning!

Can you see the Pocket pup in her yellow life vest running in the reeds?

What a beautiful day kayaking! We drove out to Sparks lake past Mt. Bachelor and put in some kayaks, a canoe and a paddle board to enjoy the pristine mountain waters. The water was so clear! You could see straight to the bottom, and saw no fish, much to my land-bound-with-fishing-pole-in-hand husband's chagrine. We were accompanied by dogs of all sizes: my Pocket in her life vest (makes it easier to pull her out of the water if she falls, which she never does, or jumps in for some stick fetching), Kobe the Chihuahua in his life vest, Saquoia with her energy and excellent swimmer's legs, and Amity with a will to tag along. I've never seen a dog swim as far as Saquoia did that day: impressive. Off we all went for a several hour long paddle about through craggy rocks under gorgeous mountain views.

After kayaking, we were finally hungry again and made it to the pub my other sister works: Deschutes Brewery. I've been drinking Deschutes' beer since i was young and just developing my beer-snob palette. I started with Mirror Pond as my favorite, but have refined my taste since living near Live Oak brewery in Austin with their fan-frickin-tastic hefeweisen.... I'm now more partial to the complex flavors in white ales and other interesting, often Belgian inspired brews. Our server brought us a few samples to try and i chose their Twin Pillars ale. So yummy! Golden orangey, tons of spice and flavor spinning about. This beer has a pretty high alcohol content, so they serve it in smaller portions in a fancy snifter glass. Ooh la la.

We indulged in an appetizer, the delicious pub pretzel. Man alive! This sauce is too good to even be explained. Cheesey, mustardy, delicious goodness on a plate. And the pretzel itself......   You can tell it was scarfed quickly.

For dinner my sister smartly ordered the salad that i should have ordered, my hubby got the toasted cheese and i got fish in chips. At least i didn't eat all the chips! The fish wasn't greasy though and was cooked perfectly: flakey yet moist. All the food was great. All the beer was great. The service was great (even on the super crowded local's night), and our seat outside (despite new construction of a more pub space next door) was perfect in the late summer temps.

If you're a beer connoisseur and find yourself in Bend, don't miss a trip to Deschutes Brew Pub. There's also one in Portland! If you have the time that we didn't, also check out the brewery itself for a tour to see where this fine elixer is made. It's always fun to hear about how beer is brewed: there's a lot more to it than you may think! It takes some skilled artisans to play with sugar, grain and yeast to create magic in a pint glass. If you stop into the pub in Bend, ask for Sarah and tell her Miranda sent you!

Can It Forward!

This past Saturday was National Can It Forward Day! Did you host or attend a canning party? I had to work most of the day, but i did make some time to put up 2 little jars of organic cucumbers and green beans. I chose to make these little guys refrigerator pickles, simply due to laziness and and a crowded weekend schedule.

I used Ball's pickle mix with some apple cider vinegar and water. So easy! No boiling of pickling spices for ages, just measure and stir in the pickle mix and pour over cut up cucumbers. I left the bowl of stewing cukes on the counter for about 30 minutes then jammed the veggies in a couple of jars, covering them with the liquid. Seal and refrigerate and whammo: pickles! I'll leave these guys in the fridge until the end of the month before i taste them, so check back for my results!

My New Obsession

Dahlias. 
I still know so little about this amazing tuborous flower of wonder.... but i do know that they are gorgeous and if i have my druthers i'll be planting as many as i can stuff into our new homestead.

I mean, c'mon! They're SO. PRETTY. Ahg, i can't even stand it.

Travel Log: Lava Beds National Monument

I told y'all I never take myself too seriously. ;)

I realized that although i shared the disturbing infection that's killing bats all over the states, White-Nose Syndrome, that I forgot to tell the tale of our actual trip to the lava beds.

The Lava Beds is a pretty darn cool place, and a location that has been a must on the 'the cousins are visiting and need something to do' docket since I was a little kid. Needless to say, I got a bit burnt out on the whole thing and this was actually my first trip back in over SEVEN years! Wow. (I still can't believe i've been alive long enough to have 7 years ago put me over 7 years old. sheesh.) The lava beds in Tulelake are composted of fields of chunky lava, cinder cones, and cool as all get out lava tubes formed from cooling lava flowing above and below other cooling lava. You can get a lot more information from reading their literature.

My favorite lava tube has always been the Catacombs. It's the longest one, and you can really get lost in there and shimmy down tiny crannies if you're adventurous. It is advised to bring some maps with you if you plan on shimmying... I usually just go to crawling point and turn back. i was super excited to find a little hole in the wall that was my favorite go-to place as a child. I can remember bringing one set of cousins there one summer, and the 3 of us fitting through the little hole into a whole new (secret) chamber. The following summer and another set of cousins: i was too big. :( Darned those hips! I was excited to find it though, despite my non-fitting adult girth.

The lava beds is also a great place to hike and bike. The 'cave loop' is a nice little circuit with some hills and great views. If you're going caving, don't forget to bring good lights and a sweatshirt. It's always cool down in the caves, even when it's blistering hot up on the pavement/cinder fields. Headlamps work great for clambering about, but they're not quite bright enough, so another flashlight might be helpful. The Tulelake lava beds are in California, and the cost to get in is $10 a car and is good for 7 days. There is a campground up in Medicine Lake that is just fantastic (with great fishing!) and the visitor's center is worth checking out.

It's not too often that you get to wander about in such a wild place. Lavacicles and other neat formations really show how the tubes were made, and it's easy to imagine you're being sucked down a molten hot flow of lava.

Market Food

Nom. I love me some market food. It's usually more expensive than i'd like to pay, but in this case it's so worth it and so fresh. Market food is great because you can usually watch your food being cooked right in front of you. You can easily tell the difference between fresh and pre-prepared: it's all out in the open for you to see. I shy away from the booths with large tubs of pre-prepared 'something' waiting to be reheated or slapped on a plate and covered with sauce, and I gravitate towards the smell of freshly cooked veggies and spices. When i got hungry last Saturday, i was in luck!

I tend to get hungry really early when i work the Saturday farmer's market. I'm up at 5:30 and my body gets all flumoxed and confused. So by 'lunch break' at 10:45 i'm about ready to eat a horse. But i'm also not getting any exercise, so prefer to eat something 'light' yet filling. Last week i chose this same booth's 'tofu burger': way too much bun. This week i went with the market pad thai, and was NOT disapointed.

To start with, this pad thai is made fresh every day. By fresh, i mean FRESH: the owner scours the market for seasonal veggies from other market vendors. This is serious 'market pad thai,' every veggie in it comes from the local vendors. That in itself is pretty neat. The fact that it's super delicious puts the icing on the cake.... or should i say the ginger peanut sauce on the noodles. Tee hee. The pad thai is full of delicious flavors and veggies already, and they even have a 'condiment tray' with sprouts, cucumbers, hot sauces, etc. For $5 i got the 'small plate' and was definitely full afterwards. Full, but not guilty full: sure pad thai is noodle based, but the freshness and abundance of veggies really lightened the meal.

I think this is one of the best deals at the market, so check it out if you're in the neighborhood this Saturday! Corner of Monroe and 2nd. Stop by and see us while you're there, too: we're just around the corner.

Vegetarian Spaghetti

Who says you need ground meat to make scrumptious spaghetti? Not me! With the husband bringing home as much fresh produce as I could want, i decided to stir up some spaghetti for dinner. No, the sauce is not home canned and the pasta not home pressed.... but i'm dealing with a new kitchen and a fraction of my kitchen tools, okay! The reason i even had store bought spaghetti sauce in my cupboard at all stems around my desire to avoid BPAs. Canned tomatoes are packaged in cans that are lined with the nasty plastic stuff, so if i want store bought preserved tomatoes, i go with those that are packaged in glass. That leaves me most often with prepared pasta sauce. There are some decent options out there, just be sure and read the ingredient labels: there's a lot of sugar and corn syrup hiding out there!

Veggie Spaghettie

• 2-3 small zucchini, quartered and sliced
• 2-3 small/young Asian eggplants, halved and sliced. (You could use larger Italian eggplants as well, but if you want to skip peeling them choose very young specimens with thin skin)
• Mushrooms, about a cup diced
• 1 large or 2 small sweet onions, diced
• Several cloves garlic, diced
• We like it spicy: 5-6 diced serranos or jalapenos or cayenne peppers
• Fresh and dried herbs: basil, rosemary, thyme, tarragon etc
• Splash red wine
• Tomato Sauce, preferably home canned or organic

Note to self and others: eggplants and mushrooms cook at about the same speed! I made this batch of sauce with the zucchini and eggplant going in at the same time. Mushy eggplant. That's fine and everything, but i would have liked a little more oomf left in those little purple friends. This is how i'd recommend cooking it:

Drizzle a pan with some olive oil and throw in the onions, zucchini, dried herbs and some salt on med/high heat. It's nice to get a little brown on the zucchini for flavor and texture. Stir it about so it doesn't get overly burned, and throw in the rest of the veggies once the zucchini is getting a bit soft.  Once the shrooms are getting soft, cover the whole pan in the pasta sauce, red wine and fresh herbs. Stir and cover on med, med/low until the sauce is bubbling nicely. Let the flavors amalgamate for at least 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep the tomato from sticking, at which point you can turn it down to low and let the sauce hang out until you're ready for it.


I served ours over some (store bought) angel hair pasta and shredded some parm on top. Delish! Very filling, packed with nutrients, and much lower in fat than sauce filled with sausage or ground beef. Feel free to toss in any veggies you like and keep it seasonal. Butternuts in Fall, garlic scapes in Spring.... nom nom nom.


This post can be found at Simple Lives Thursday!

Travel Log: Benton County Fair

I am a major sucker for county fairs. I just love them! They remind me of my youth, my roots, and my love for fried pastries...... I resisted the elephant ears this time. My husband and I biked to the fair last weekend and had a great time. We even got $2 off the ticket price for taking eco friendly transportation: pretty cool! Less cool that i took us about 20 blocks too far east on the bike bath by accident: good for me, not so great for my tired after work husband. It was a gorgeous ride, though and we huffed our way to the closest stall for some cute animal fixes.

When i was a teenager, i cared more about the rides than the displays. Nowadays I can't bring myself to spend $8 for one ride, despite the Scrambler being my favorite ride EVER. So we settled ourselves with the displays and I quizzed myself on my knowledge of different goat and chicken breeds. Checking out all the different goats was good for us in visualizing our future flock, as well. Sheep: TOO BIG! We'll definitely be starting out with a dairy goat and weaned doeling. Angora goats, however aren't that big, so we might get a full Angora wether instead of a Pygora. Baby goats are so dang cute. It's hard to resist them and I about adopted one on the spot!

This little kid kept instigating the older goats to butting matches. Complete sillyness.

We also stumbled on a display set up for agility dogs. I've been toying with the idea of getting Pocket into agility. We've already worked with her to develop herding skills, but agility would be a great outlet for her energy and active brain without having to rely on big ole' sheep.  Best Friend's Obedience and Agility School sounds like a great opportunity for us and is reasonably priced, in my opinion that is. The woman who told us about the program considered the classes to be quite expensive, but at $90 per 6 week course, that's a heck of a lot cheaper than the $275 we spent on Pocket's puppy obedience class at the excellent school we took her to in Austin. The only rub is that you have to take tons of classes in order to work your way into agility. You don't even get to see the equipment until 5 or 6 classes in. That's a lot of dedication and commitment to time, so we'll wait until we have 'real jobs' that will be keeping us here longer than October. Still an exciting opportunity to look forward to.

Biking to the county fair and walking about looking at animals, chatting with locals, asking questions and making plans, holding hands and feeling like part of the community: what a great example of exactly what my husband and I were looking for in our move to Oregon. We're out of the big city and we're already feeling like part of a small town. We're making friends and connections, and just enjoying simple living at a different pace.