Baby Kirk Jr

Here is a picture of my baby cousin. He's sporting the new hat that I made him. It's very fashionable, don't you think? I used the umbilical cord pattern from Stitch n Bitch.

Apple Bread Pudding

I like food porn. I admit it. I love pictures of food, recipes for comfort food and exotic recipes that I'll never make but can imagine eating. I seek out peoples experience eating all sorts of meals and hope to come across some new ingredient.
The other night Joe was out and Sylvia was spending the night at a friends, so it was just Jasper and I. He fell asleep early and I found myself spending the next 3 hours surfing the internet for food blogs. Upon reflection, it was pretty sad, I could have been watching Cartoon Network or finishing my socks.
While I was cruising sites I came across a lot of posts dedicated to bread puddings, which I love. It's custard and bread, two of the best things in the world, all in one place. Of course I bookmarked my favorites so I could make them. Or at least I thought I did.
Who needs a recipe anyway? You do? Okay here is what I did for this delicious Apple Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce.....a total conglomeration of what I can remember reading on how to make it. Be warned.....this recipe is unnecessarily fattening, but totally worth it.

4 apples peeled and diced
4 cups ciabatta bread cubed
1 1/2 pint heavy whipping cream
1 cup or so milk
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
4 eggs beaten
added with no particular measuring involved(use common sense):
cinnamon
almond extract( a tasty but non necessary addition)
vanilla extract
ginger powder
salt
chopped pecans
molasses
1/4 cup currants soaked in whiskey then drained....the soaking part is probably optional but it then it won't taste like whiskey!


To start, the bread was combined with the pecans,currants and apples in a greased 9x11 or so pan. Then I beat the eggs , sugars, spices and extracts together in a bowl.
I melted the butter over medium low heat in a saucepan than added the cream,milk and molasses while stirring constantly until the molasses melted. I then removed the pan from the heat and slowly added the egg mixture, again making sure to still stir constantly.
The egg mixture was poured over the bread and baked in a preheated oven at 350 for about 45 minutes.

I used this caramel sauce recipe except I substituted brown sugar for white. It all was very rich and delicious!

Elderberry Tincture

In September I got some elderberries from GirlWithASword. I tinctured them in a quart jar with Bombay Gin. I waited until today to bottle it. I probably should have done it a few weeks ago but I was a little worried about getting the job done right.
So today I cleaned and boiled the bottles, found my funnel and cheese cloth and went to it. It was very messy. I wasted about half a bottle due to the funnel spout being the wrong size and elderberry is very staining. Cie la Vie.
It's another thing I can check of my to do list, which always feels good.

Outside

I spent some time with my grandma in Harvey yesterday. As usual she made a delicious and simple lunch. We had oven roasted chicken breast with celery,carrots, and ginger accompanied by baked sweet potatoes, salad and caramelized corn. Then we went outside to work. I helped her wrap small grapevines for the winter so the rabbits won't eat them. We also did some pruning of the vines. It was a gorgeous day to be outside working. I feel so alive and happy when I do manual labor outside and yet I don't do it that often. I'm pretty good at identifying the things that make me happy, but it's pretty hard for me to do them. Things like walking everyday, working in the yard, keeping the dishes clean, drinking lots of water.....ah, it's okay. It's a process right?

Hellooo!

Okay, it's been awhile. More than a little while really. It wouldn't suprise me if you never wanted to hear from me again. The way I just fell of the face of the interweb and into Real life.
Well I can tell you I've been a busy bee. It hasn't been for lack of news that I have neglected to blog. Rather it's been for lack of words.
I can say today that I am very happy and grateful for my life in all it's many layers. On November 1st I dedicated my self to a year and a day( the 366 kind) of self seeking and discovery. I intend this to be a deeping of my soul and a reconnection to my journey here on earth.
Cheesy and esoteric? Yep. Awesome and life changing. Yep.

Jasper and Sylvia are both growing and changing. I will post fun picks as soon as I reclaim my camera from a set of less than appropriate pictures ;)

You may or may not have noticed that I added two new links to The Place's I Go section. Abundance By Magic and My Everyday Magic are both magical places that you should visit. It's awesome to me that there are people out there doing such fun and positive things in their everyday lives. It something I am trying to incorporate into mine. Check them out and watch the magic unfold!