Pumpkin Oatmeal Pancakes

I know, I know. Pumpkin EVERYTHING! EVERYWHERE! But it's fall, so pumpkins. So there.

I was born in central New York and raised in Connecticut. And my birthday is in October, the day before Halloween no less. So I am sure that I would be violating some sort of unwritten contract if I didn't love everything pumpkin and apple and autumnal. So it's a damn good thing I do!

I also love food blogs, but it makes me crazy when there are 8,000 pictures of the same dish before you can even see the recipe! So I won't do that to you.

I made these delicious pancakes this morning, and they are full of fiber and can be easily adapted to your own taste and dietary preferences, as well as vegan and gluten free options. They aren't too sweet, which is how I like my pancakes. I also like texture, so the addition of oats is good and adding walnuts makes them even better. Not everyone in my family likes walnuts, so I added them to the top of each individual pancake before I flipped them to the other side. I made half with and half without. I didn't soak my walnuts first because I decided when I woke up that I wanted these, and I didn't have presoaked ones on hand. You could also add diced apples, dried cranberries, raisins, ground flax seeds, pecans, almonds, sunflower seeds, hazelnuts. This already makes a boat load of pancakes (which can easily be frozen and reheated in your toaster), so remember the more stuff you add, the more you will have. But they will be so chock-full of good stuff, they will practically be like breakfast cookies! With butter and syrup!

Pumpkin Oatmeal Pancakes
In a large bowl, whisk together:
1-1/2 cups raw milk (or almond, rice, or hemp)
1 can organic pumpkin puree (or mashed sweet potato)
2 eggs (or egg substitute if you are vegan. I don't have a lot of experience with chia as an egg replacement, but if you do, go for it!)
2 tbs. melted butter or oil of your choice (coconut, grape seed)
2 tbs. unfiltered apple cider vinegar (Bragg's is what I use)


Then add:
4 tbs. brown sugar (or honey, maple syrup, or molasses)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tbs. baking soda
1 tsp. allspice
1 tbsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. ground ginger (grate some fresh, if you have it)

Whisk briskly, then add:
2 c. all-purpose flour (or 1/2 wheat and 1/2 AP. Or a gluten free AP substitute.)
1/2 c. rolled oats (or soaked steel cut oats)
2 c. walnuts (and/or other additions)

Stir completely and thoroughly. Then drop by 1/4 cup blobs and fry in butter or oil. Serve with butter and maple syrup. Or melted fig jam. Or anything that you like!



And some thick peppered bacon goes perfectly!

Saturday Morning Farmers Market

Then I came home and made pancakes with these giant blackberries and some lemon curd. 

Weeds or Wildflowers?

If I have to pullover to the side of the road just to take their photo, I say wildflowers. 

The Joy of a Proper Bagel

I.

Made.

Bagels!

I made bagels! From scratch! They were surprisingly easy and incredibly delicious. I can't get over how easy they were. All of them had flaked salt on them, and then some had poppy seeds, some sesame, and some caraway.

I made one with all three seeds, plus dried rosemary. And then I stood by the counter and ate the whole thing, slathered in raw butter. Well, I did give hubby a bite. We just stared at each other like, “What have I done?!”

I used this recipe, and it could not have been easier. Since I have been here in the Midwest, I have not had a good bagel, i.e. an East Coast bagel. I don’t even know if this qualifies as an East Coast bagel. But it is a delicious, homemade bagel that is chewy on the outside, tender inside, and can be made with whatever flavors you like.


Oh, thank heavens for the dough hook!

Formed, already boiled, and topped with salt and seeds.

Baked and ready to eat! I probably could have let them go another 5 minutes or so, but I didn't want to mess them up!

Little Girl Hair

My girl is 7 now, but still small for her age and looks much younger. Well, I think she looks much younger, but she's got long arms and legs. She's very tall! If she were standing, that is. Her new haircut makes her look her age now, I think.

Anyway.

Her hair is this lovely, soft cornsilk, but the back has always been a complete nightmare. For years, I attributed it to her being on her back a lot, but that is not the case. She can look perfectly normal from the front, but then the back is horrible, all knotted up, and almost matted into one solid dreadlock. I have tried coconut oil, olive oil, argan oil, and all kinds of leave-in conditioner. Even lotion, for Pete's sake. I was at Barnes & Noble one morning when I saw a man walk in with his daughter. She had the rattiest, messiest snarl of locks that I had ever seen — since I dropped P off at school that morning, that is. We chatted for a bit, commiserated over the frustration and pain involved with that kind of hair. We basically gave each other permission to carry on.

I would love for her to have long, blonde ringlets or at least be at a length that I could braid, put up, play with. Maybe when she's older — if she allows me to still play with her hair.

For now, a short bob with lots of conditioner and regular brushing is all we can do.

Before

After

Or we could just forget about it and get her this t-shirt.

I just approved two comments from nearly TWO years ago! That just sad. I am so sorry!

I've been intending to get back to this. My neighbor works for a big blog site that rhymes with Blogger, and she encouraged me. So here I am. And I actually have something to say.

There has been a big (pun intended) movement lately of body acceptance for us rounder girls. Finally. What I don't understand about this is how it brings the amateur doctors and armchair stylists out of the woodwork! Every person knows better than your own doctor and, by God, they can just look at you and tell that you have diabetes, high blood pressure, fatty liver disease, and probably cooties. We round girls don't think that every skinny person has an eating disorder or a tapeworm or giardia. We also don't assume that they are healthy. Just like it is totally unfair to assume that we are unhealthy OR that we eat Twinkies for breakfast, fried chicken for lunch, and 8 cartons of ice cream for dinner. As an aside, I just need to say that there are people in my family, extended family, who talk about how fat they are and are constantly on some diet or another. Because they are like a size 10 or in one case, a 2. Seriously. They must think I am some sort of monster. That's fine. I ain't got time for that kind of crap!

Anyway, I am not turning this into a fat acceptance blog. There are people that do that far better than I could ever dream, like Jess at The Militant Baker and anyone involved in this bit of awesomeness. I just had to get this off my chest as I had it out with some people on xoJane.com today. But I also got some immense love there and that was fantastic.

Your body does not determine your worth. There are worse things in the world to be than fat. Like a bigot or a racist or a misogynist or a murderer or a rapist or a child molester or a hypocrite or a traitor or a liar or abusive or mean to animals or mean to other people or rude. Well, I hope you get it. Thanks for listening.

Fall Doings

P's class recently had a field trip to the apple orchard. We are so lucky to have such a beautiful orchard so close to our house.

I also taught a class at the shop where I am a vendor. This is one my students with her Halloween cone.

For my next class, which is tomorrow, we will be making this little guy!

And I've been filling my booth with sparkly Christmas beauties!

And the big news is that I am working on my Etsy shop so that you can buy online and start your Christmas shopping, all while supporting a stay-at-home mom and artist!

Busiest I Have Ever Been!

This has been a busy couple of months, here in my little world. September started with First Friday Weekend at Brocante Bliss, then sharing a booth with some friends at The Fleeting Flea, and last Saturday was The Gathering, a day of workshops and creative ideas up in St. Joseph. Carol Spinski of Raised in Cotton was the guest speaker, and she was so inspiring! She talked about following your bliss, making time to do the things you love, and all those things that are so hard for us women to do sometimes — not because we don't have supportive people in our lives, but because we feel guilty taking the time for ourselves. Or maybe we have been doing other things for other people for so long that we don't even remember how to do what we like. One thing she touched on is branding, for those of us who are trying to build our own businesses. I need to talk to her more about that!


Here are some photos of the day!

I also have been busy, busy making too!

This week I am teaching my very first class at Brocante Bliss! We will be making Halloween paper cones (tussy mussies) to decorate the home or to give away. Then we're back to First Friday Weekend for October!

Back again. Seriously.

So a new friend said to me, "You have a blog?" Yes, I do. I have one, one constantly neglected, yet always here for me. One that I always intend to get back to and only sort of do. I have been super busy with new creative adventures, so I really need to keep up with things here, and make it another part of my business. I also often have more to say than is appropriate for Facebook, where I live most of the time). Things will still get personal because that's how I am. An open book. But there is more too.

[Photo by my friend and fellow vendor, Chris of Pemberlie.] I have finally found a place where my creativity is appreciated AND brings a little much-needed money into the home. I am selling my jewelry and home accessories at one of the many vintage markets in Kansas City's West Bottoms. There are at least 8 markets that I can think of off the top of my head, and I have a booth in the newest one, Brocante Bliss, at 1222 West 12th Street. I absolutely love it! It is so energizing being around so many like-minded people. It is good for my soul and good for my head. It is a wonderful distraction from real life, which is still hard and beautiful all at the same time. Little P is doing well in her therapies for her cerebral palsy, and we got her a new walker to keep her walking going strong. She doesn't need to be held up anymore, which is BIG! I haven't posted about it here, but last summer she was diagnosed with epilepsy, and we have been trying for this past year to get it under control, to no avail. We have been through five meds and two diets to try to control the seizures, and nothing has worked. Just a couple weeks ago, we switched doctors to someone who had been recommended on a special needs parenting Facebook page I am on. He is not a warm and fuzzy guy, but he has a plan but also had some bad news. He diagnosed her with Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, which is a rare and severe seizure disorder. I cried. He told me that she would never be free of seizures. I cried some more. But just like with the cerebral palsy, it's a little comforting to know what we are dealing with and make a plan, rather than stabbing in the dark like we have been for the past year. So we are changing meds around and have added a new one. Things are changing slowly for the better for her. She also will be having a device implanted next month called a VNS, vagus nerve stimulator. In the simplest terms, it's like a pacemaker for the brain. Since her new meds are working well, I'm excited to see what the VNS does. But I have to keep reminding myself that we are going for relief, not cure. On the other hand, she has never once done what a doctor said she would or would not do!

I stood at my kitchen window yesterday as a cold front came through. It was grey and windy, which I love. I had dinner on the stove and had just made some pumpkin bars. Fall is coming, my favorite time of the year. The kids are back in school and are loving it, thank goodness. Although fall means the end of some things, it feels like the beginning of others. This is my time of renewal.

Be fab!

This started as a Facebook post, but it went on so long that I figured I ought to post it here.

I had the craziest but extremely detailed and clear dream last night. I dreamt I was walking through a "mall" but in an old building, like Dewitt Mall in Ithaca or Thorne's Market in Northampton. There was a small Tibetan woman who had a small booth selling Buddhist items. I started talking to her, and she handed me some cards and told me to choose one. I picked one called "Grey" (one of my favorite colors). She told me that it said that I wasn't doing the world any good by not being awesome. That I needed to show my true self all the time, but I didn't know why that true self was. She said my true self was kind, loving, sparkling, adorable (she used that word). She said I DO show that, but that I needed to do it more. What she said was basically this quote from Marianne Williamson:

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.' We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

I love this quote! I read this article last night, which probably contributed to my dream. If you know me, you know that this is NOT me. I have pretty low self esteem. I was raised to be put on a happy face when things were truly crappy. I was so meek in high school that people thought I was a snot because I couldn't talk to other people (NOT because I thought I was better, believe me). I am grateful to be friends in real life now with people that I wasn't friends with in high school. I think (but I've never asked) that some of those friends were amongst those who thought I was weird in high school. I was Ally Sheedy's character in The Breakfast Club, but I really wanted to be more like Molly Ringwald's character (at least in looks and in popularity). But that's not ME, not even now.

So, to shine is NOT easy for me. But I get it! What if we all showed our fabulousness and delighted in the fabulousness of others? What if we complimented instead of belittled? So, GO and be fabulous today, and I will try really hard to do the same!

I will start with five things I think are good about myself:

1. I am kind to other people. If I see a stranger wearing something nice or with a great hairstyle, I will tell them so. I hope that it makes their day. It might be the only nice thing they hear all day and might turn their mood around.

2. I think I have a good eye for color and style. I love browsing through my own Pinterest boards. My home is beginning to look like my Home board, but I need to dress to reflect my style more.

3. I have really smart, really adorable kids. That's not all me, of course, as they have an awesome dad.

4. I am a good cook.

5. I am funny. Well, my husband laughs at my jokes, anyway, so either he's deranged or I am funny. I hope it's a little bit of both.

Zinc Table Tutorial

Today I want to share a project I have wanted to try for a while. I love the look of zinc tables and old industrial furniture, like shop tables, workbenches, etc. They are cool, but SO expensive. I recently saw a zinc dining room table at Anthropologie and I seriously did not even dare to look at the price. I can sure imagine though! I also love these aluminum pieces from Restoration Hardware. Again, don’t even look at the price. You will need medical attention if you do.

You looked, didn't you?

There have been a couple great tutorials on making Anthro’s zinc letters, so I used those principles to try on a larger scale. We bought this console table at Target about 4 years ago. It’s got an espresso finish, which I do like, but I wanted something more vintage looking.

To this project you will need some inexpensive tools.

Table (or whatever you want to zinc-ize)

Modge Podge

Craft paint (I used Martha Stewart’s metallic silver and black and Golden’s Micaceous Iron Oxide)

Cheap brushes, foam ones will work too

Nails

Hammer

Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil (it must be heavy duty; you will thank me when your project doesn’t rip)

The instructions are simple: Coat the piece with Modge Podge. Work in manageable sections so it doesn’t dry out before you stick the foil to it. I started with the legs and wrapped the foil around them. Keep in mind that as you overlap sections, hide the serrated edge that is created when you tear the foil off the roll. You would never see an edge like that on a table like this. Also when you are overlapping on the legs, make sure a piece higher up on the leg overlaps the lower section.

**REALLY IMPORTANT**

Put the foil shiny side down dull side up. You will forget this a million times and have to pull off the foil and start over. Or maybe you won’t. But I did. Have the dull side up gives you a good start to the zinc look.

Okay, back to the table. When you get to the table top, kind of make like hospital corners when you wrap around a corner and edge.

Then mix your paints with water. I can’t give you an exact formula because what shade you want depends on you, but don’t leave it too thick or it won’t spread and streak properly. Don’t make it too thin or you will still see too much of the foil underneath. You can always go over thin layers to get the right shade.

When your piece is dry, pound in some small nails wherever makes sense to you. I did at the corners, seams, and every 8” or so around the top of the table. Then I used my finger to apply some Micaceous Iron Oxide paint around each nail head for a more worn look. You can add some wherever some weathering makes sense to you.

See? No big deal! Easy peasy.

The knobs came from Hobby Lobby and were about $3 each. (They have 50% off sales ALL the time. I hardly ever pay full price for anything there.)