New year, new toys...

First off, I want to give a big THANK YOU to everyone who has supported my fiber adventure in one way or another- my customers, my spinning buddies, and my boyfriend. I can't believe how far I've come over the past year!

Also, I promise to get better about blog posts. I'm going to aim for at least once a week. Hold me to it!

My new big thing outside of spinning and dyeing has been baking. I treated myself to a KitchenAid Artisan stand mixer a couple of weeks ago, and the oven has been on ever since. I LOVE making bread, but I hate having to clean off a big section of counter space to knead it on, which then ends up making a big flour mess... Now everything is done in a bowl that cleans up lickety split. Hello fresh loaf of bread twice a week! If that wasn't enough, I bought a cheese making kit from Ricki the "Cheese Queen". I made my first batch of mozzarella last night and marinated it in olive oil, herbs and red pepper flakes. My lunch today: harvest grain bread with mozzarella:


In other news, it has snowed more in Chicago this year than I think it has in the years since I moved here combined! Thankfully the cold snap is over (almost 2 days straight with subzero temps).


Ok, I've got to get back to the dye pots. If you're a spinner or fiber enthusiast, please check out the poll on the top right of the page! I've got access to tons of new fiber blends, so I'd like to order the ones you all want to spin the most!

Fall Bake-Along: Pumpkin Bread!

So some Twitter friends and I have been discussing baked pumpkin goodness all week long. Here is my recipe for pumpkin bread:


1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I use olive oil for everything though!)
1/2 cup water
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups flour (sometimes I do half white flour and half whole wheat flour)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup pumpkin puree
3/4 cup chopped dates*
3/4 cup chopped walnuts*

*optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix sugar, oil, water and eggs together. In another bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cloves and cinnamon; then add to the first mixture. Add the pumpkin, dates and walnuts and mix well. Pour into your baking tin of choice (I use either two small loaf tins or one big loaf, but you could probably do these as muffins too.) Bake until done, at least 1 hour. Best served with hot coffee or tea on a cool autumn morning, or with a glass of milk as a bed time snack :)