Amy Artisan

The end of October meant that it was time for my annual Halloween trip to Texas to see my two favorite little girls. In addition to our “normal” fun of playtime, reading, crafts & more we also hosted a fun Halloween party for their little friends. Of course costumes were required for all. In mid-September when the girls were on their way to buy their Halloween costumes they called me and asked what I was going to dress up as. When I told them that I didn’t know yet and asked what they thought I should be, in unison they replied “A Fairy Godmother.” And just like that I knew what my costume would be…because how can you say no to these adorable little girls?!?

Reading is something that I enjoy year round; however, as the weather turns cool I find myself looking forward to the times when I can “hibernate” with a good book & an unending mug of coffee or tea. Just in time for these cooler times, Kate Jacobs is bringing out two books on November 3rd.

The first book was actually released last year and is now coming to paperback. The women of The Friday Night Knitting Club are back with more tales of friendship in Knit Two.

The first time I met Kate, we talked about the characters of FNKC and I asked if she had any plans for future stories about them. Her response was non committal. I told her then that I would enjoy continuing to read more about these women; however, that first book also did leave me satisfied with a complete story. What a treat it was last year to receive my advance copy of Knit Two and return to the world of these women.

This novel picks up 5 years after the end of the first book. As in real life, reading this story was just like “picking up where you left off” with friends that you haven’t been in touch with in a while. Knit Two is filled with new loves, new babies, new adventures – including Italian vacations – and more. As I mentioned to a friend, this was just a charming read of good fiction.

To celebrate the paperback release of Knit Two, Kate’s publisher has provided me with 2 copies of the book to share with you. So, let’s have a contest! Between now and November 3rd, leave a comment on this post. In keeping with the themes of the book, please share a favorite memory from a vacation or from your own “knitting circle” or other close circle of friends.

Also coming out on November 3rd is a holiday tale with the Friday Night Knitting Club women in Knit the Season. Stay tuned next week for a review of this delightful holiday tale and another contest.

Kate is out on tour to promote her books – if she’s coming to your city, I’d highly recommend taking time out from your schedule to go to a reading.

As seems to be my “norm” these days I have mentally blogged a lot of things in the last couple of weeks & then they never make it to the blog ‘for real.’ As autumn has kicked into full swing around here, it’s easy to keep looking ahead to what’s next between now and the end of the year. As I have apples simmering down to apple butter this morning, it’s time to take a few moments to look back on some highlights from my busy September.

The third weekend of the month meant a trip “home” to Kansas to celebrate the wedding of Ryan & Kristy. Rebecca & I met up at the Wichita airport on Friday morning and before we headed up to Kristy’s hometown we made a few Wichita detours. First up was a chance to meet a longtime blog friend, Laura. We met up at Twist and then enjoyed a delightful lunch at a cafe down the street. It was a wonderful time “catching up” with a friend!

After saying goodbye to Laura & Lila Pearl, we headed to the river front and the Keeper of the Plains. The Artisan family moved away from Wichita when we were both very young – Rebecca was too young to have memories of our time there and one of my memories is this statue.

The rest of the weekend was spent celebrating Ryan & Kristy. Friday evening was the rehearsal at the arboretum and the evening ended with a bit of a bachelorette celebration. On Saturday morning everyone was up & at it early as we headed back to the arboretum to continue setting up for the ceremony & reception. After a quick trip back to the hotel to get “gussied up” we were all back on site for the festivities to begin. Rebecca & I were the wedding day coordinators so we were able to enjoy many “behind the scenes” moments in addition to attending a beautiful ceremony & reception. As is the case with all weddings, once the ceremony started the evening seemed to speed by and before long we were gathered outside with sparklers as Ryan & Kristy left in a vintage car to begin their new life together. It was a bit of a whirlwind of a weekend; however, Rebecca & I had fun being “home” in Kansas and celebrating such a wonderful day with our Kansas sister!

The last weekend in September was our third annual Picture Perfect weekend of scrapbooking & more over in Michigan City. It was a beautiful fall weekend filled with crafting, friends and fun. Instead of traditional scrapbooking, I started to dip my toes into digital scrapbooking and also made a lot of cards (for a great cause to be highlighted in a future post). In addition to the craft time at the house, several of us enjoyed a few fun excursions – the farmer’s market on Saturday morning and a trip to my favorite winery on Saturday afternoon. We once again toasted Saturday’s sunset on the dunes – just breathtaking!

What fun ways to spend time with friends and family!

For as long as there has been handicraft, the stitches have told a story…the needlework samplers that young girls created to perfect their skill…the colors and embellishments used in a Navajo blanket…the quilts made from scraps of worn out dresses and other fabrics of a household…a yarn that was discovered on a favorite trip…

These days many crafters are swimming in supplies/stash – how many of us have said “I’m not going to buy anymore yarn/fabric/etc. until I use some up” at least once in the last year? As I look at my spare room and the supplies of yarn and other crafting supplies sometimes it is overwhelming. Imagine not having the the basics for your craft or very limited supplies? Late last week I came across a “quick” web initiative that I knew I had to join in – Iraqi Bundles of Love. The concept is simple – pack a flat rate box with sewing/fiber supplies and send it for distribution in Iraq. What began as a simple request to a few friends quickly exploded – currently 500 boxes have been received and an Army warehouse has been assigned to receive the boxes.

I was headed home to the ‘Ville for the long weekend so I sent the link to the Artisan family and suggested it be a family activity. Everyone agreed. Dad went to the Post Office and picked up boxes. When I got home on Saturday, one of the spare beds downstairs was covered with remnants from Mom’s stash. We then went to Hobby Lobby to pick up some basic sewing tools and also a bit of yarn and some knitting needles. (It didn’t work to bring home some of my yarn stash…no room in my carry-on). On Monday morning, we pulled all the supplies together & got busy creating 3 bundles of love. (And even the kitties had to help.)

As we sorted the fabrics into 3 piles and Mom rolled them tightly, it was a bit of a walk down memory lane…the warm flannels that have been Mom’s cold weather robes, the whimsical lightweight prints that have been her warm weather robes, shiny satins from bridesmaids dresses that Mom was “commissioned” to make, leftover lace from a former neighbor’s high school reunion dress, tapestry from recovering the piano bench, the green print from when I sewed sculpted Christmas trees for gifts (20 years ago!) and so many more. The notions that we gathered told stories as well – ribbons from trimming dresses, vintage buttons, snaps and zippers and more that we had picked up when a friend bought a house & contents over 15 years ago and more.

As Mom expertly packed the 3 boxes to full, we joked that the packing skills she acquired from all of Dad’s military moves were being put to use. On Monday afternoon, Dad & I trekked to the 24 hour post office which is always open & always had people working the counter…umm, yeah they now have the Automated Postal Center station available for use so Mom & Dad shipped the boxes on Tuesday.  Soon these boxes will join thousands of other bundles in a warehouse in Iraq.

Before long these bundles will be distributed to Iraqi women for use – some are small businesses and sewing co-ops, some will just be for family use. And someday soon these bits of fabric and notions will be part of new stories in a land that is rebuilding.

(The deadline for sending packages has passed…now we all watch to see what happens as IBOL Guy receives all the boxes & begins to distribute them…)

Whether we want to admit it or not, summertime is winding down. My sister has been back teaching for 3 weeks, Miss Butterfly started first grade (!) this past week, the sunlight looks different each day & indeed the days are getting shorter. Before too much longer, my summer Saturday ritual of going to the Farmer’s Market will be coming to an end for another year. As winter returns, I may not have the market to look forward to each week but I have been busy preserving a bit of summertime to enjoy in the coming months.

From almost the first trip to the farmer’s market in May, I have been “putting up” some produce. The first preservation was rhubarb – I have at least 8-10 cups of sliced rhubarb in my freezer. As I mentioned earlier this summer, most of my Michigan blueberries have been frozen for future use. (Although one pint was used to make a lovely blueberry infused vodka.) One of the farmer’s at the market features large bunches of basil for a couple of weeks – so the basil has been turned into pesto & awaits in the freezer to provide a bit of summer green throughout the coming months.

Until this summer, freezing was the only summer preservation that I had done on my own. When I came across a recipe for Apricot Jam with Riesling a few weeks ago I thought that would be a good way to try my hand at canning. Instead of apricots, I picked up my favorite golden plums at the market. I picked up some cute jars and made jam one Sunday afternoon. Surprisingly, I didn’t have any Riesling at home so I went with a Gewurztraminer instead. After standing over the hot stove & stirring the bubbling pot, I ended up with about 5 cups of jam – 3 cups of Golden Plum Gewürztraminer Jam were canned. I ended up putting the cans through a hot water bath – the pop…pop…pop…pop…pop…pop of the jars sealing once they were out of the water bath was a sweet sound indeed.

With 6 jars empty and some golden plums left over I decided to make another batch of jam. This one I think bottled the summer sunshine, I call it Sweet Sunshine Jam – it is the Golden Plum Gewürztraminer with peaches, nectarines and a splash of vanilla extract in it.

As I had success with my first foray into canning I starting searching online for other possibilities. I stumbled across the Canning Across America site and discovered that this was their kick-off weekend of spreading the word about canning and preserving. With nothing on my calendar for the weekend, I decided that I would have my own “Canvolution” in the kitchen. The weather forecast was for an unseasonably cool Saturday – perfect for “slaving” over a hot stove.  On their site were 2 recipes that I decided to give a try: Sugar Plums in Syrup & Mixed Summer Pickles.

I remember Artisan Mom canning plums when we were younger – while the plums were delicious, my favorite part was the lemonade that she would always sweeten with the plum juice once a jar was opened. In keeping with my tradition of using recipes as a starting point, for my plums I added a bit of vanilla to the syrup & also had a cinnamon stick in the pot as the syrup came together. Since I had more syrup than jars of plums, I have put the leftover syrup in the fridge to use for sweetening iced coffee/frappes in the coming weeks.

For the summer pickles, I used green beans, carrots (orange, white & purple) & cauliflower. Each jar has a clove of garlic in it. Most of the jars have a combination of mixed peppercorns, mustard seeds and celery seeds. In one jar of cauliflower, I used curry powder and red chili flakes – attempting to recreate the pickled veggies from a local kabob place.

Since I was already venturing to w-mart to get the pint canning jars, I decided to pick up another flat of jam jars. Next in the jars this weekend was Spiced Tomato Jam. Last summer I made Mark Bittman’s Tomato Jam and thoroughly enjoyed it on steak, on sandwiches and on veggies. For canning, I merged elements of that recipe with another recipe that I stumbled upon and used an assortment of beautiful tomatoes. 6 small jars of tomato jam are ready for cooler months. The rest of the jam is in the fridge to be used this week.

This morning I pulled the remaining blueberries from the fridge and filled 3 jars with Blueberry Jam using this recipe. There are still 3 jars from the flat that are empty but I think they will remain that way for the time being.

For now, the canning is done. I now need to rearrange the pantry shelves for storing these bits of summer for use in the cooler months ahead. I still have a flat of pint jars – instead of dealing with the returning the jars I think I will hold onto them for later this fall – I normally put up applesauce in the freezer, this year I think it will be in jars!