Roost Gathers Steam

This is a little pastry I made for a slow foods pot luck last Sunday. I wanted to make something that used what I already had on hand and the potluck theme was apples. I didn't have any fresh apples so I used apple sauce.

They turned out quite well but I learned a few things from my experimental pastry and before I offer this recipe up I will have to make them again to perfect it. I am going to save this for inclusion in the first issue of Roost. Since the first issue is the winter issue I think it fitting that a number of recipes be included that use home preserved goods. Or at least use the kinds of things many people do make themselves (apple sauce, pickles, etc.). That's the tricky part about preserving your own food- it's one thing to prepare something for storage but it's a whole other thing to-

a) remember to use it
b) know how to use it well
c) remember why you made cranberry flavored saur kraut

Today I will be working on my raised beds with the lumber I have remaining. I don't know how far that will take me into the project but I will take some pictures for an instructional article on making simple raised beds. This is not a project that has never been covered in print before but I have had enough people wonder how I do mine to warrant a piece on doing them my way. Because I need to finish this project in a timely way I may buy new lumber for it if needed. However, my blog friend Blaize did bring up a very good point which is that I don't look for salvaged lumber and it would be much more economical and ecologically sound if I did.

I have checked in with my local Habitat For Humanity restore and while they do have salvaged lumber, most of what I found was pressure treated. I won't use that for garden beds no matter how cheap because of the much worse chemicals used in them than are used for the regular lumber. What I haven't done is keep my eye on both Freecycle and Craig's list. So what I'm thinking is that for next year's raised bed projects I will wait to do them until I find the materials. Of course...if I could find stone or brick...oh yeah. A girl can dream, right?

But the monastery garden needs to be built and filled soon so that it is ready to plant in early spring. Since the weather is going to turn soon, time is of the essence.

Checking for used sources of supplies for projects is definitely an area I need improvement in. Thanks for the nudge Blaize! Impatience is my worst enemy when it comes to finding stuff on Craig's list or elsewhere.

*I have decided to go anti specific holiday. I realize that this is one of those things I do that keeps me from being a billionaire, and I'm ok with that. As Max puts it "We're hundred-aires!" and it's good to just dream of paying bills in a timely unstressful manner. I want to cater to the seasons with respect to what that means in terms of cooking, housekeeping, and raising animals. Crafts are great because we can make so many cool things ourselves but why gear it towards the holidays? I need gifts to give in exchange for other things I want and need from my friends. Gifts to give for birthdays and anniversaries are so much more personal. And sometimes giving gifts is best of all when there is no occasion for it.