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Pleiades Slotted Wooden Spoon

Pleiades Slotted Wooden Spoon

New Moon, New Spoon

March 07, 2019 by Ashley Look in Carving

I’m pretty focused on fresh starts right now and with a new moon upon us and spring around the corner, I’m starting to shift gears. Unfortunately, change doesn’t always arrive lockstep. It feels as though I’ve swapped one holding pattern for another, and waiting and time remain the constant backstory. After four years of sitting idle caregiving for my parents, they have both now passed and yet I remain. Even the dog is no longer company and so the question of home feels foreign as I remain in their house but lack everything else.

There’s an emptiness here that I hope holds space for a new beginning. However, cold starts are a struggle and the days are slowly slipping into months. It’s hard to grasp the slowness though. Whereas before the nothingness dragged, I am now consumed by the clock ticking and yet, I have nowhere to be. No job, no curfew, no obligations to be accountable to… Just me and again, this strange relationship with time.

The Pleiades Slotted Wooden Spoon is available in the shop. Click here.

The Pleiades Slotted Wooden Spoon is available in the shop. Click here.

If you read my father’s obituary then you know Space was a big deal for this household. Like, as in “lunar landing/ satellite telemetry ” big deal. Growing-up with a human calculator was no easy task for a girl afraid of math. But somewhere along the way I gathered the significance of measurement relative to his passion for Space. I remember him giving me a gyroscope once as a gift and forever trying to get it to spin upon a string. Only now, as an adult, am I making sense of it. In watching this gyroscope video and seeing one in action do I realize how planetary this gift was and his own interest in celestial movement.

Time often accounts for change and those changes parlay seasons. And now, amid all the change that lays so heavy in my air, I am reminded that the seasons of life can account for nothingness and without much attention, life just passes by. So, if you have ever come to this page and wondered about the Full Moon Baking Club or my obsession with time it’s probably worth noting that the space-time continuum is some complicated mathematical model that I’ll never truly understand but thanks to the gyroscope, I can trust that this time will pass. Nature is cyclical… Seasons are cyclical… And if there is ever a clock worth trusting, it’s not the one that tells the time; it’s one that tells where we are in the cycle.

It’s understandable that the seasons of life can be difficult and if you are anything like me, you might find yourself far from one that brings a good harvest. The growing ain’t good right now cause I have nothing much to sow. I’m just now sorting seeds. It’s not realistic to assume life will magically fall into place. But time itself is a kind of magic and so a little intentional seed planting now will surely grow into something later. What better time keeper than the moon? (I think my dad would agree.) And what better way to track change than pursue a craft? Time lends itself to the artisan maker and good craftsmanship can take a lifetime. For the moment all I have is seeds. Time will tell but until then… new moon, new spoon!

March 07, 2019 /Ashley Look
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Full Moon Baking Club’s October 2018 bread: Squash + Maple + Walnut Loaf

Full Moon Baking Club’s October 2018 bread: Squash + Maple + Walnut Loaf

October 2018: Squash + Maple + Walnut Loaf

November 23, 2018 by Ashley Look in Full Moon Baking Club, Recipes

Sorry for the delay! It took a whole month for me to get this posted here but I promise to do better moving forward. My goal is to have the recipe posted before the coming new moon, giving ample time for all to get their bake on! It also gives me a deadline to work towards. The Full Moon Baking Club is part baking creativity and part time tracking. It’s all in effort to account for the slipping of time. And slip it does!!! Most days I have no idea where time goes but at least this monthly infusion of bread baking will hold a mirror up to the hours.

I also want to thank those of you that joined me. I loved seeing your breads and breaking them with you!

IMG_8692.JPG IMG_8696.JPG IMG_8697.JPG IMG_8698.JPG

Ingredients

  • 1 cup squash puree (I used roasted buttercup squash but can pumpkin can replace fresh squash.)
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup
  • 2 tsp. active dry yeast
  • 4 cups flour (and more for dusting)
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, mix together the squash, maple syrup, and yeast.
  2. Add the flour, salt, water and walnuts.
  3. Mix to combine so the dough starts to come together.
  4. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead the dough untils its smooth and well formed (Could take 10 or so minutes.)
  5. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover and let rise for 1 hour.
  6. After the first rise, knead the dough again on a floured surface and then place it into an oiled loaf pan.
  7. Cover and let rise for another hour.
  8. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
  9. Bake for 35-45 minutes and then cool on a wire rack.
Freshly baked and sliced Squash + Maple + Walnut Loaf from the 2018 October launch of the Full Moon Baking Club.

Freshly baked and sliced Squash + Maple + Walnut Loaf from the 2018 October launch of the Full Moon Baking Club.

Disclaimer:

Here’s the thing about homemade bread… It’s great fresh from the oven. Seriously, nothing compares. But later in the week it tends to lose its appeal. The hack for that is heat! You can wrap it in foil with a sprinkle of water and the heat plus moisture will help revive that freshness. Or you can do what I typically do which is make lots of grilled cheese type sandwiches, panzanella salads, and eggs-in-a-hole. There’s nothing like a hot skillet to bring dead bread back to life!

See you soon!

PS- If you are playing Winter Squash Bingo then I feel it’s important to share I used this recipe for #how2ButtercupSquash. ;)

November 23, 2018 /Ashley Look
how to feed a senior, Full Moon Baking Club, October 2018, Squash Maple Walnut Loaf, bread baking, breaking bread, buttercup squash, Winter Squash Bingo, #how2ButtercupSquash, new moon, bread recipe, where time goes
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