Fall Vacation: Day 1

This year's trip was a little bit bittersweet.

We have been coming to the western part of the state for eight years now and it was tough to see all the damage wrought by this year's recent flooding.

Things looked vastly different.

The banks of the Kickapoo and the Bad Axe rivers are carved out and much wider now. In some places both rivers have changed their course.

Soil and sand deposits have formed new berms and islands. Farm fields and yards are caked with mud or littered with stones and boulders. Roads and bridges have collected giant piles of downed trees.

Road crews and city workers and pretty much everyone with access to a backhoe have been very busy clearing out what they can; making new drainage ditches, scraping debris off roads and filling in sink holes and washed out roadways.  So, yes, while the destruction is still shockingly in evidence, the recovery is, as well.

And that gave us hope. For the people and the homes and the livelihoods ravaged. And also for our return next year. We will be eager to see how the passage of time and another Winter, Spring and Summer have worked to undo some of the stark scars.

So I will end this post with sunset pictures. And golden corn fields. And a little girl on a bike, flying down gravel roads surrounded by reflective river water pools.

Because there is always beauty to be found.

Filter.

After nearly a decade of going the 
name-brand fillable water pitcher filtration route (I'm guessing you know which one I'm eluding to) I decided our family needed a change. To something a little more sustainable and a little less etched, cloudy, probably leaching toxins, plastic.

Never mind the whole buying new inserts, recycling the old inserts thing.

(Thankfully, though, we do have a place to recycle them in our city.)

So when I came across the above, couldn't be simpler, method I was sold.

I ordered the Japanese binchotan charcoal sticks on Amazon. (Is there anything Amazon doesn't sell? I mean, really? Is there?) And the glass 1 gallon Mason jar with spigot from Macy's.

The rest is purely science. Or maybe magic. Or perhaps sheer delusion on my part?

I mean, I know, it's a stick. In water.

But our water does taste better. We don't have to fill a pitcher 5+ times a day. Those other plastic insert filters are filled with the same charcoal, essentially. (It's just ground up. And contained.) And after about 
2-3 months, when this stick has served it's purpose, I can toss it into our compost and start over.

Very much worth it in my mind.

There is a tiny bit of maintenance, of course. Beside sanitizing the jar, first thing, and cleaning it regularly. 

Before it's first use you are supposed to brush the charcoal stick clean under cold running water and then boil it for 10 minutes to activate it. And you continue to do the boiling for 10 minutes thing every 2 weeks or so. To refresh the charcoal, as the instructions, that come included, say.

But that's it.

Not bad. And not plastic.

(P.S. They do sell specifically designed glass jars, for the charcoal sticks, on Amazon. I just wanted something that didn't require pouring. So my suddenly very interested in drinking more water, because there's a cool, black, stick in it, 8 year old could just help herself.)

Spice.

Just in time for Fall and the "Pumpkin spice" everything (and I do mean EVERYTHING) season is this lovely little syrup. Full of the warm, deep flavors and aromas that conjure up images of turning leaves, waning daylight hours and that certain, welcome nip in the air it's the perfect addition to your morning coffee, your afternoon latte or your evening cup of warm milk.

It is, however, sans pumpkin.

Because.

Sometimes enough is enough.

http://www.readingmytealeaves.com/2014/11/brown-sugar-spice-syrup.html

Celebrate.

A little gluten free, vegan, Raspberry "Buttermilk" cake for our anniversary.


http://thefoodcharlatan.com/2016/07/11/raspberry-buttermilk-cake-vegan-recipe/

Vintage.

Some new to me treasures from the neighborhood consignment store.

Small wood Mandolin slicer. Because my plastic one gave out ages ago. And was a NIGHTMARE to clean.

Pinking shears. Because everything looks neater with zigzag edges. Seems backwards, I know. But it's true.

Linen napkins. Set of 6. Because it was time for my polyester ones to go.

Glass storage jar. Because my vanilla beans came in this very cool test tube thing. But you can't actually stand it up. And it tends to try and roll out of my cupboard if I'm not careful.

Second glass storage jar. Because I acquired even more mother of pearl buttons from my grandma's old button box. And now they all have a home.

Thermos. Because it is quite possibly the cutest thing ever. And I have plans to use it this fall. And it was still in it's original packaging. With paper label and seal and everything.

Board balm.

Otherwise known as TLC for parched cutting boards and lackluster wooden spoons.

1 part organic beeswax

3 parts unrefined coconut oil

Melt together in a double boiler. Stir gently and pour carefully into a sterilized container. 

Use as necessary and desired, smearing a finger dab or two or three onto your wooden surface of choice. And buffing in with a well worn rag.

Let sit several hours or overnight. Then add more. Or rebuff. Or simply call it good.

A satisfying little task to undertake when your hands are feeling neglected. And you have some serious thinking to do.

Our stove saga.

So we all remember the time our oven filled our house with carbon monoxide and tried to kill us.

No? 

Just me? 

Well. It wasn't that long ago. And it really wasn't THAT dramatic. Just loud. When both detectors went off. And late. After midnight by the time our house was cleared and all 3 of us, plus the cat, could go back into our house and fall into bed.

You know, and it was a bit sobering. Thank God for CO detectors. And husbands being home. 

But it was also a game changer. Because we had always said when the first of the kitchen appliances, all of which range from 15 to 33 years old, went we would start the kitchen remodel.

So.

Here we are. 

Old, dangerous stove done and gone. New one ordered.

And are we re-doing the kitchen? Or was our bluff called?

Well. Yes. And kinda yes.

Obviously we got a new stove. After a seemingly long and really, like, boring 2 weeks of cold salads, grilled meat and waffles on repeat, it arrived.

And we love it. 

You never realize how long you have been limping along, your cooking and baking and even water boiling skills seriously compromised until, bam, suddenly they aren't.

I celebrated a return to my kitchen functioning on it's full, if not seriously improved, capacity with a true test of any oven.

Paleo chocolate souffle cupcakes.

Obviously. They turned out. 

(That frosting though? That's another story. Eventually I got it. But I had to draw deeply on my 5 years of paleo baking experience. Not for the faint of heart, in other words...)

Josh, in turn, celebrated with something he has been desperately missing. Homemade granola; on, bonus, newly ordered cookie sheets. Ordered because new-stove, why-not, the-others-were-11-years-old-and-warped.

 And I think, truly and honestly, this was the first batch, ever, that did not end up burned.

Successes all around.

So.

Back to the whole kitchen remodel thing.

Is it happening? 

Yes. It is. In fact, a new, smaller, taller, more streamline fridge is on order and should be arriving next week. But. That might be the extent of it. For awhile. 

Not a long while. (We hope?)

But for now.

Unless, of course, a revolt is staged and our giant microwave bites the dust.