Moving Ahead

 Another long, difficult week at the farm, and so, I was a no-call, no-show at Tuesday Weaving!  I did hire two new people, but neither can start until mid to late November.  I know it will be here before I know it, but my feet tell me it can't be here soon enough!
  I walked by the back prep sink this week and saw this pan of pigs' ears.  Fighting back the urge to squeal like a little girl, I made a beeline for my quiet, serene chocolate room, where I made this:
  Ah, lovely chocolate combined with hazelnuts, in a luscious combination of textures and flavor.
  Maybe the savory cooks feel the same way about their gnarly pigs' ears.  Maybe they think:  Mmmmmm, gelatinous cartilage and bristly skin, boiled and deep fried to a lovely combination of textures and flavors.  Maybe.  I don't know.  I'll eat just about anything, but sometimes I glimpse it in its raw form and think, maybe I won't try  that one!

  Fall is in full force here in east Tennessee, and sitting outside today on Market Square in Knoxville made me glad I live here.  The temperature was perfect, with a light breeze making the falling leaves dance.  Pumpkins are everywhere, and here is what I did with them:  Frozen pumpkin souffle with cashew crust, smoked ginger cream and smoked vanilla anglaise.  I got into the autumnal spirit this week by playing with the smoker while someone smoked a bunch of briskets, and the ginger and vanilla soaked up just a tinge of the smokiness, just enough to make you wonder what that extra element was in the flavor.
  Since I didn't go to Norris to weave yesterday, I had the day to clean house and rearrange furniture.  Growing up, we moved quite a lot.  I went to two elementaries, two middle schools and three high schools.  As an adult, I've tried to hold still as much as possible.  But I tend to move furniture every so often.  It's easier than moving, a lot cheaper and can be fun!  Now there's a bookcase in the dining room full of cookbooks, shelves in the kitchen full of baking pans and mixing bowls where once there were cookbooks, and the desk I'm sitting at now moved from the living room back to the back bedroom where it started.

 
Lately, Weftie gets more use from the looms than I do.  But I'm hoping for some down time soon, when I'll be able to just sit at one loom or another, surrounded by my furry entourage, just weaving.  Hope you're weaving happily now!

Maggie