The Light of a New Year

Hello, friends.  Last week, I made sweet potato pie with leftover sweet potatoes.  Lettuce was harvested for egg and avocado toast.  On Monday, J did some work at a distillery that sells food in their tasting room.  The sell by date was up on a number of their jams, and local specialty goat cheeses were dated the following day.  They filled a box up for him, which he brought home, and immediately shared some with his business partner, and some with a neighbor.  We tried the mango goat cheese before dinner, which was very nice.  He tried a dill and lemon pepper one later in the week, and I tried an onion and chive one, and we thought both were good.  They're nice treats for us.  Our beets were used in an apple beet salad.  My mending pile, and the ironing were caught up.  I sewed two hair scrunchies, using some of the plant-dyed fabric.  A load of laundry was hung on the line, but didn't fully dry, with possible rain forecast that night, so it was finished in the dryer.  I enjoyed walks with the pups when it wasn't raining.  Soapmaking oils were melted on the woodstove.  The man who recently gave a shout out on my shaving brush and the sample soap on his youtube channel, did another nice segment this week on my shaving soap, and I already sold one soap from it.    

Spaghetti squash and lambs quarter were pulled from the freezer for a side dish.  Winter squash and peanuts were pulled from the freezer for succotash, and thyme was harvested to go in it.  Our garlic was used in a brussels sprouts dish, and our blueberries were used in cranberry relish.  After picking a book up at the library, I got local milk in our small community store, and several greeting cards at Dollar General.  I've been going through things, mostly paperwork, as I can. A pile of papers were shredded, and others were organized.  Some books will be donated.  With all the shredding, another bin of shredded paper was added to the compost bin.  I found the seed starting schedule, and the peas saved from last year that I'll soon be planting.  Some of the small sweet potatoes were cooked on the woodstove for the pups.  Bean burritos were made for a simple meal one night.  The hens have upped their egg laying some.  I hope it lasts.  On a night J felt like having sausages and baked beans, I pulled frozen leftover broccoli in garlic sauce from the freezer, and made some jasmine rice.  

I had my first massage appointment since last March, which was lovely, then delivered soap to a gallery across the street.  I usually go to the thrift store after, but didn't this time, with the recent treasures I brought home.  On the way home, I shopped at Harris Teeter, picking up a favorite wine at $2 off, another bottle of wine for my sister that was on sale, and mushrooms for .99 ea.  I bought 4 packs, and intend to can them for future meals.  In one of the aisles, I happened to look up, and saw a Ball box on the top shelf.  Though I couldn't see anything in it, when I pulled it down, I found boxes of regular canning lids.  I bought 6 of them, at $2.99 ea., and left the remainder for someone else.  I'd recently been looking for lids without luck, and was very happy to find these.  It's hard to know how many I'll need each year, but I feel better having these.  There was some ricotta that needed to be finished, and a little bit of pasta sauce.  They were combined, and served over pasta, with a green salad.  The last of some homemade salad dressing was finished.  I redeemed 2200 Swagbucks for a $25 Lowes GC. 

We had an hour of intermittent mixed wintry precip on Saturday.  Nothing stuck, but it was nice to see a few snow flurries.  The stove was cleaned with baking soda and homemade thieves vinegar.  While I was powder coating orders, J put the final window in the new workshop, which he picked up for $25 through fb Marketplace, and worked on the door hardware.  I finally cooked the last of the chestnuts last week, and on Sunday, made a chestnut mousse with most of what remained.  Laundry was hung on the line, which dried quickly in the breeze.  I enjoyed watching several episodes of Victoria on amazon prime, as well as a few things on youtube.  I'm sending wishes and prayers for peace in the US this week, as well as the rest of the world.  May it be so.