On Saturday we made our way out to the Kane County flea market. If you live in the area and you haven't been, well, seriously, go. We picked up the vintage high chair for only 20 bucks, and the needlework and vintage fabric were a great find as well. I have dress plans for the fabric, but I have to decide on a pattern first.

Last expected frost date has, believe it or not, already passed (was Tuesday!) I'm still hardening off my plants, at least for the rest of the week, and hope to put them in the ground this weekend. Truly, I cannot believe it.

Made this week: rosemary olive oil crackers, using Amanda's recipe, made with einkorn flour and topped with Celtic sea salt, fresh cracked pepper, and toasted sesame seeds. We had picked up some goat cheese rolled in apricots at the grocery store, but were unable to find approve-able crackers, so we made some instead. My first time making crackers, and seriously it was one of the easier baked goods I have made.

Lastly, latte (he)art by my lovely hubby. Love you too mister :) Being that it is something like 80 degrees right now, I can hardly look at that picture, though, and am seriously dreaming of swimming in giant vats of milky iced coffee. Don't mistake this for me complaining about the heat, I love it. Just ask Alan: if I had it my way, we'd forgo the AC altogether and install a cattle trough swimming pool in the backyard instead. The only thing I don't like about the heat? Spiders. Every spider in my whole house has sensed the return of warm weather and, this very day, has crawled out from those deepest, darkest of secret lairs where they have been languishing all winter, formulating, in their dirty, evil little minds, their twisted and sordid plans of overunning the planet. I'm pretty sure that's all true.

Saving eggshells for my calcium-hungry tomatoes.

I made another loaf of sourdough, which felt a little like taking a step back, since I hadn't made one in a while and I could already tell I had lost the feel for it a bit. I used the same flour, same hydration, and it was like working with the slime monster from the Goosebumps books (remember that one?). It turned out with a good crumb and tasted great (we polished it off in about 2 days), but it was just a nightmare to handle.

(That mark on Tenny's forehead is from pulling the iron off of a high shelf and onto his head - ouch!)

The weather continues to be hilarious. It snowed last week, and then we were promptly outside playing in the yard a few days later. As the season marches on the list of tasks swells with it, and there are days I barely touch my computer, but to perhaps do some garden research, certainly not lingering long enough to leisurely write for this space. There is plenty to do, but I'm mostly busy because I haven't been doing this whole thing (as in, mother of two, baker, gardener, home-owner) long enough to be adept and organized in all the various aspects (and also maybe because we were at church 6 times in 5 days for Holy Week). I end up feeling a bit like a chicken running around with its head cut off. Not a great feeling for even a selective-perfectionist. Alan always tells me I can't be perfect at everything, and especially not right away. Ha! Okay, okay. . . I know he's right. Anyways, I really respect the skills of homemakers of yesteryear who managed to accomplish all of these things, and with far fewer time-saving devices. I envy the wisdom that was no doubt passed down to them directly, for it has in many ways been lost, and the isolated rediscovering of these skills is difficult. I'm thankful for the wealth of information that the internet provides, but hungry for more personal ways of gaining knowledge; sometimes you want just one person that you trust and know well to tell you how they do it, rather than a million strangers offering a million ways.

I hope you all had a Blessed Easter. Our's was full of good worship, family time, and food. For Easter dessert I made a Hoosier Mama strawberry pie with a cheaters lattice crust. Once again, her crust instructions didn't fail me: pure perfection.

Eggs from Violet (thanks Violet!)

And now I must be off - Tenny has a little stomach thing and the pitiful little guy needs tending to. Hopefully your week has started off (and continues) with less puke than mine!