Hakurei turnips. November 2012, Virginia.
I do so love a good list of links. But I’m also sensitive to what a mad racket we’ve got going inside our brains in this age of easy sharing. Stuck, I turned to my mom and best friend, and blog reader par excellence. Without hesitation she said: “Keep the lists short.”
1) Curried Sweet Potato Soup with Goat Cheese Biscuits from Joy the Baker :: I made both these a couple nights ago and both are out of this world. The soup is warm and wonderful, and surprisingly complex for the pretty minimal effort involved. The biscuits are phenomenal. I’m going to be making them a lot. Also, use what you have! I used up what I think was the last of our turkey broth from Thanksgiving in the soup, and I used lard instead of butter in the biscuits.
2) The Slow Web from Jack Cheng :: This is a long(ish) and deeply worthy read. What he says about how the randomness and frequency of the updates (in our inboxes, dashboards, feeds) stimulates the reward mechanisms in our brains really resonated with me … but really, so did every other paragraph. Yes, I say. Yes.
3) Homespun Mom Comes Unraveled from Shannon Hayes :: An oldie but goodie, I share this one as often as I can. Shannon went on to write the powerful Radical Homemakers: Reclaiming Domesticity from a Consumer Culture after this essay, and I can’t wait to curl up with a warm drink and her newest book. But that will have to wait until some spring week when I can explore the libraries near our new home. In the meantime – always – I can turn to this piece. She writes: “Somehow, on our paths toward this noble life, one more group of girls has fallen prey to another impossible feminine ideal. And I, for one, am crumbling under the pressure of Über-Momming. Our gardens are a mess, my kids are throwing up on the way to the market, my fingers ache from milking the cow, we’re running out of homemade soap, and attachment parenting is causing my back to ache.” (Also I like what she has to say about gin.)
loved radical homemakers. will definitely check out her newest book – thanks for alerting me!
You bet! I’ve had a super quick browse through it and it’s neat. All kinds of uses for bones and fat (lard lip balm!!), and some essays that really resonated for me as a farm owner (“Why won’t my farmer sell cut-up chicken parts?” “Why are pastured birds so darn pricey?”). And LOADS of recipes. Can’t wait.
A lovely short list. I do agree on the short link list. To long and you get lost. Thanks for giving me some really interesting things to read.
I adore Shannon’s book and read it when it first came out. It made me all the more grounded in the changes I was making in my life.
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Craziness love! We’ve “met” a bit on twitter, but I’ve never stopped by. Turns out we are both Whole Foods contributors so it brought me back to your space here! First, I’ve been thinking lots of lists (I am a list maker by heart), second, if you have relocated to Hudson Valley yet, we are a mere skip across the Delaware from you! Third, Shanon Hayes is great, agreed. Her words are a great inspiration for the heart. Got to meet her in person last year…you know shes not too far…lets go visit! Have fun in the snow.
:)Lisa
Hi Lisa! I’m SO sorry to be so many days in answering — these are some crazy weeks. We’re still in Virginia but will be in New York in no time. And although we’ll technically be in the Hudson Valley, we’ll be living MUCH closer to the Delaware, just five or six miles! I wonder how close we’ll be??