Cacoa Chai Ashwagandha Balls

Somewhere between tears, November harvests, and other acts of daily privilege, I'll likely be making these today, or sometime soonish.

With the chill of autumn setting in it's as good a time as any to make a small batch of warming Cacoa Chai Ashwagandha Balls. ::nods::

The recipe's not hard 'n' fast, so mix 'n' match your ingredients as your inspiration (and what you have on hand) guides you.

Cacoa Chai Ashwagandha Balls

⅓ cups nut butter or tahini

¼ cup syrup (maple, fruit, herbal or honey)

½ t. vanilla extract

3 T. cacao

3 T. ashwagandha powder

1 t. cardamom powder

1 t. cinnamon powder

1 t. ginger powder

1 t. grated nutmeg

Mix together the nut/seed butter, syrup 'n' vanilla. Blend in the powdered herbs, mix really well.

Roll into 1-inch balls (you many want to chill the “dough” a bit before rolling), dust in powdered cacao (or coconut, or hemp seeds, sesame seeds, or anything of your choice).

These will keep in the refrigerator several weeks, if they last that long. I invite you to make a batch, and enJOY.

Peace. 🕊

The Final Poblano Harvest

Today’s rains combined with the mild chill have inspired me to harvest the last of the poblano peppers. Seems a good a day as any to get them roasted. It’ll warm ‘n’ cozy up our little hut, along with the plum tomatoes I’ll be roasting.

Some of these poblanos will be used with dinner this evening, along with that cilantro ’n’ green onion in the basket, as well as the roasted salsa verde that I made the other day.

I don’t know what dinner will be yet, but I know it will be good.

Peace. 🕊 

Intentions of Color

The pace of the autumn harvest season has tempered, though there's still plenty out there. Freezing temps are still somewhere over the horizon, so there's still room to breathe. But when that seasonal friend enters there will be a great sense of urgency for all the summer harvests. The autumn harvests are cool in the gardens until the deep freezing hits and/or snow falls. It's a fascinating and magical time of year, full of joy and melancholy. 

It's the season that allows more time for indoor activities, so aside from my usual journaling (currently B&W) I'm making space for intentions of color with my collection of watercolor options. I've been doing some meditative play with them, inspired by the opening session of Tamara Laporte’s Life Book 2023 tasters offering where I created "Breathe magic." 

So that's what's on my work table today: A daily(ish) journal and intentions of color. I share this with anticipation of seeing all that's shared by my re-acquainted creative friends for this week's What's on Your Workdesk? Wednesday. I invite you to take a peek, and mayhaps join us!

Peace. 🕊 

Bomba

This morning’s harvest expresses the first step in making a batch of Bomba, a traditional Calabrese preserved condiment.

There’s probably as many ways to make this, as there are Calabrians who make it, yet the process is pretty constant, and is used for preserving a number of garden harvests.

These beautiful fruits are washed, so we move onto the next steps of chopping and /or slicing, salting them, placing them to mingle in a colander over a bowl, and weigh them all down so they may shed their excess water, I will revisit them tomorrow.

Here’s a link to a favored source that offers written, imaged, and video guidance, which is so fab for the beginner.

🕊

rose

Lunga di Napoli Score

Today I processed one Lunga di Napoli squash because it had some nibbles that might have compromise long-term storage. It’s the largest of five, and it weighed in at 25 pounds 'n' 13 ounces.

So... there's 16 pints in the canner, 8 trays in the dehydrator, two quarts puréed, and another two quarts raw, for the oven tonight.

Not too shabby for one squash!

Peace. 🕊

Patience

We're perched on the rim of autumn's arrival in my part of the world, and my work table awaits me with projects, mending and repairs, art journaling, and some adulting to be addressed before November's arrival.  And even though November's arrival still feels a long way off, methinks we all know... tempus fugit. 

And it's because of that winged time that my focus points only to the gardens right now, on the harvests, and the preservations in progress. Today there's Lunga di Napoli, a winter squash, that needs harvesting so the curing may begin... there's harvested crabapples that need attention... autumn crops that need some love, and the daily garden harvests 'n' maintenance that go with growing 'n' preserving a lion's share of our food. 

It's work, no doubt, yet it is profound enJOYment and magical Medicine that nourishes 'n' sustains us in oh so many ways. Plus, I dig "shopping" in our pantries, in a far out way. 

So today, as my work table holds its pattern in this seasonal suspended animation, I'll be harvesting green beans for dinner as well as for the dehydrator... making crabapple juice... prepping tomatoes to dry, and bag for the freezer (for future purée), harvesting those winter squash, some amaranth, broom corn, various greens, summer squash, and more... and managing the seasonal lists for the days ahead. 

So for my creative friends participating in this week's What's on Your Workdesk? Wednesday, that's my deal... a work table in the waiting. And I do look forward to the days of opening a jar of homemade garden soup for a quick meal so I can catch up on those projects patiently waiting.

Peace. 🕊 

 

Sam the Cat

It's been forever since I've participated in a creative challenge. It's been forever since I've participated in any online art community. But I want to get back to it, because it's such a good Medicine, and so I shall. I need to be patient with myself, as this is a very busy time of year for us on our little acre, what with growing, harvesting, and preserving a lion's share of our own vegetable food. That said, I do journal in some way most every day, be it words, scribbles 'n' doodles, some thing… because creative expression is good Medicine.

I used to be a regular participant of Art Journal Journey, and it's been years - literal years - since I've engaged. Yet this month's theme inspired me to catch a sketch of Sam the Cat, sitting on a book, gazing out the window, while I sipped a cup of tea. After all, this month's theme is Books, Cats and Tea. 

So there it is: A baby step to return to the fab community of art journalers out there. It feels good. ::nods::

🕊

Garden Canning Season

The garden canning season has officially begun on our little acre, with 8 quarts minestrone soup, and 4 quarts of beans in highly seasoned water. This is roughly 24 meals. And I say that’s not too shabby.

Next up will be stuffed pepper soup, and stuffed cabbage soup. And other stuff. But not today. Today we wait patiently for these jars to process. Tomorrow we’ll wash them, label them, and put them on the shelves.

I’m already looking forward to our fast slow food this winter.

I’m feeling very grateful.

🕊