Designing in Life

Gluten-free Crackers

I admit it.  I am totally addicted to these crackers.

They are made with fresh rosemary and a sprinkling of kosher salt on top.  You can't eat just one, or two, or 6. 

Here is the modified recipe from Elana's Pantry.

Gluten-free Rosemary Crackers

3 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
4 tablespoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped
2 tablespoon grapeseed oil
2 eggs
Kosher Salt – optional

1. In a large bowl, combine almond flour, salt and rosemary
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together oil and eggs
3. Stir wet ingredients into almond flour mixture until thoroughly combined
4. Roll the dough into a ball and divide into four pieces.  Press one of the pieces  between 2 sheets of parchment paper and roll to 1/16 inch thickness
5. Remove top piece of parchment paper
6. Transfer the bottom piece with rolled out dough onto baking sheet
7. Cut dough into 2-inch squares with a knife or pizza cutter and sprinkle with kosher salt if desired
8. Bake at 350° for 12-15 minutes, until lightly golden
9. Let crackers cool on baking sheet for 30 minutes, then serve

I know if you try these, you'll love them as much as I do.   They are very easy to make, which is always a bonus when you're trying something new.  As far as making and eating foods that are gluten-free, these get an A+ from me.

Spring Has Not Sprung

I don't know how it happened, but Vermont did not get the memo about spring arriving.  Even though there are signs of spring wherever you look, the air is winter-cold.

In an effort to think in a spring-like frame of mind, there are flowers on my table.

I know we're not alone in our quest for spring-like weather, because I hear from my sisters farther south that it is cold there too.  Still, if you know anyone who has any pull in warm-weather making, please make an appeal on behalf of all those who are just a tad sick of winter this year!

Spring Break

Well, not really.  My break started on Saturday and ends tomorrow afternoon at 3:oo, when I have to scoot out for a photo shoot for work.  I should have planned better, but sometime things just happen.

Instead of showing you paint and primer and a just about finished laundry room (which is what I've been doing on my "Spring Break"), I thought I'd share a few things that a person might really do if they took a break!

Super Moon.

You probably heard more than you wanted to hear about it, and went outside in the evening to see what all the fuss was about. 

We traveled about 5 miles west to 22A, which was a perfect vantage point.  The moon rise was 7:27, but we sat for a while realizing that there were mountains it had to climb first.  Nick and I agreed that it really was brighter and really was bigger. (It was 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter in the sky.)  The moon on Saturday was 221,565 miles from earth, and is normally 238,855 miles.

On Sunday we drove up to Stowe to see Beth, Jim, Chloe and Phoebe, who were on their own Spring Break.  The snow was glorious and they had great skiing.  Chloe is a great little skier, and seems to be happy out there on the mountain side.

Nick and I went for a walk through the snow before heading up the mountain.  The temperature was in the 40's, and the sky was a beautiful blue against the snow – and there was plenty of it.

We headed up the mountain to meet up with everyone.  In the Lodge the guys had beers and the girls sipped lattes and hot chocolate.  Then off to the out door pool we went.  Sadly, Nick and I forgot our bathing suits, agreeing that it would be fun to go in an outdoor pool when there is so much snow on the ground.  The 90 degree temperature certainly helps – and then there is the little jump you can make into the hot tub.

We all enjoyed Mexican food in town, then Nick and I took off for home.  A wonderful Sunday, and much needed break for us.

We're back working at home, and won't get everything we had hoped to get done by the time we have to go back to work.  But there is always next week!

Scherenschnitte

Say what???  Well, this is the German word for paper cutting.  If memory serves me correctly (who knows these days), my Aunt Marguerite (when she was younger) knew how to create pictures using this German technique.  She had two framed paper cuttings that I found incredibly intriguing.

I recently ran across Elsa Mora's (aka Alista) blog entitled, "The Heart of Papercuts."  Please take a look at it, and definitely read her bio.  I'm pretty sure you'll find her art as fascinating as I do.  Here are a few of her cuttings.

Unbelievably beautiful!!

Laundry Room – the DIY Way

You might remember me posting a picture at the start of our laundry room project  earlier this year.

I'm happy to report that the washing machine, as I post, is happily washing a load of laundry.  The resident DIYer aka "Handyman Nick" has almost finished the laundry room.  Only a few minor things are left to do.

The dryer isn't downstairs yet, so it means taking laundry upstairs to be dried.  But we are soooooo close to having it completed.  Next stop, finishing the bathroom on the main floor.

It's Sugaring Time!!!

When the temperatures rise above freezing during the day, and dip back during the night, you know it must be March...and that means it's time to tap the sugar maple trees.

Traveling anywhere, this is a very familiar sight:

I have several friends that sugar with buckets, and there a lot of people who do it this way.  Now-a-days though, you find more and more people using the tubing method.  Running tubes to the tapped trees and into your sugarhouse eliminates the daunting task of hauling all the sap.

It takes 30-40 gallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup.  The sap contains a high percentage of water. Boiling the sap evaporates the water, which eventually thickens and becomes that beautiful amber sweetness that's just right on your breakfast pancakes.

To celebrate the season, I thought I'd share a recipe for something I make all year long with maple syrup.

Maple Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup Pure Vermont Maple Syrup
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

Preparation:

Combine mustard and garlic in a small bowl. With a whisk, add vinegar, maple syrup and lemon juice. Add olive oil and continue whisking until ingredients are well combined. Season with salt and pepper. Refrigerated, the dressing will keep for several weeks.

And for the record...Mrs. Butterworth doesn't have a fighting chance when it comes to the real thing.  Splurg when it comes to syrup.  You'll be happy you did!

 

The Aftermath

We are all dug out, thank you very much.  It is life back to usual for us, although there are still kids out of school because towns are having such a hard time dealing with so much snow. 

So, here in pictures...the aftermath.

And then suddenly the sun was throwing late-day shadows across the landscape.

Proving, I suppose that every cloud has a silver lining...although when Nick got to work the next day I don't think he was agreeing with that at all.

Epic Snowstorm

Yes, that's what they're calling this early March blizzard we're having...EPIC.  No going to work today, even for Nick.  He was called early this morning and told the store would be closed.  I have plenty of work that I brought home to keep me busy.

I thought you might like to see what it looks like out front of the house at noon.  The snow plow has not been by yet, and we have been in blizzard conditions for 24 hours. I've circled the mailbox, so that you can gauge where the road is (or should be) right in front of it.

Last weekend, the Jersey City group came for another visit.  Phoebe and I stayed home while Chloe, Jim and Beth went to Sugarbush to ski.  Before leaving, Chloe tried on her ski ensemble for us.

While they were here, we had another dump of 8 inches of snow.  So on Sunday, before everyone went home, we went out to play.

Chloe put on her x-country skis and took off with Beth.

Jim pulled Phoebe around on the toboggan – with Sadies help.

Chloe decided she should make a "snow nest" for Phoebe.

Phoebe (with her Big Foot snow shoes on) decided she'd rather just eat the snow.

But then decided maybe she should watch the birds with Pop Pop.

We're pretty lucky to have little visitors that drive us outside to have fun in the winter.  Today, however, no matter if we had small visitors or not, we're staying put until this storm lifts.