Mmm!

Well, it seems like I can only manage to post once a week these days. Last week was rough, with Sydney home sick most of the week and Bill out of town. Today Owen is home sick and I'm suffering as well, although I've dusted off my Neti pot and that's definitely helping. Right now my stomach is rumbling while I'm waiting for these beauties to cool enough to be eaten:



I'm reading a very interesting book right now, called In Defense of Food, and it is changing (or, I should say, re-energizing) my view of what our family should eat. It builds on what I learned from "The Book" (aka Animal, Vegetable, Miracle) last year and motivates me to bake that bread and pick those green tomatoes...



The motto of In Defense of Food is "Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants." I love it. He also debunks much of what we've been taught over the past several decades regarding low-fat and, recently, low-carb diets. He talks about how harmful hydrogenation of oil is to our health and how saturated fat isn't necessarily to blame for heart disease and diabetes (but refined white flour and sugar most certainly are). It's really making me think about everything we eat and how far it comes from the actual plant or animal. Baking bread at home allows me to control every single ingredient in that bread. I can use whole wheat flour, molasses instead of high-fructose corn syrup, butter instead of hydrogenated oil.

I've been doing plenty of knitting while nursing my cold, although nothing I can show you. I did get an exciting bit of news last week - you'll need to watch this space in early December to see what I'm talking about. We had the first book photo session this past weekend and had a great time - there were chickens, children and cherry tomatoes involved. It is motivating me to get back on track with the book projects and knit, knit, knit!

Yesterday I got together with my knitting guild friends Donna, Katrina and Amanda for a birthday breakfast for us late summer/fall babies (that would be me and Amanda), and look what I got!

This will become Flamethrower Socks.


Shawl pin!


And this is the coolest little bag with a weighted bottom (so you can put your yarn ball in it, pull away and the bag won't move):


I love my knitterly friends!

I think my bread is just about ready to eat (and I'm getting distracted by the author of In Defense of Food, who just happens to be on Fresh Air right now), so I'll leave you with the aroma of fresh bread floating in the air... Yum!