Tag: life

Posted in Life, The Universe, and Everything

Winter Prep And More Soup

Posted on by Melissa

I’ve been trying to limit my social media and online time lately, and I have to say, it’s doing good things for my mental state. I’ve also been helping a friend with her plants and making a million crochet mushroom friends to sell at a craft fair next month, which has also been nice.

The temperatures are supposed to drop below freezing tonight, and stay chilly for the next few days, so today’s plan is to pick up a CSA order for a friend who’s away on vacation, and spend the rest of the day vacuuming the radiators before the heat kicks on (it’s set to come on automatically when it reaches the preprogrammed temperature in here) and making a menu plan based on whatever veggies I end up with from the farm. There’s supposed to be ginger, some greens, squash, daikon, and things along those lines, so it should be interesting. Depending, I may grab a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store so I have bones to make soup stock with.

Speaking of soup…

Earlier, a friend was asking about good soup recipes to make in the fantastic new cast iron cauldron she just got (I am SO jealous), so I shared my bean soup recipe. After I did so, it occurred to me that other folks might be interested, and so here you go. As a bonus, it’s not only healthy (yes, even with bacon, see the notes at the end), but it’s pretty inexpensive to make, which is extra important these days.


White Bean Soup

Ingredients:

2 cups white beans, soaked overnight, or 2 drained cans

4 slices of bacon, chopped, or 2 Tbs butter (I recommend the bacon)

1 ½ cups onion, chopped

½ cup carrots, chopped

½ cup celery, chopped

½ cups mushrooms, sliced

2-3 cloves garlic, sliced

4 cups chicken broth

1 cup water

1 tsp Italian seasoning

Black pepper

Instructions:

1.) Drain and rinse beans, set aside.

2.) In a large pot, cook bacon for about 4 minutes or so, or melt butter, on medium-high heat.

3.) Add onions and cook until clear.

4.) Add remaining vegetables and cook for about 5 minutes.

5.) Add beans, broth, and water and bring to a boil.

6.) Add Italian seasoning and reduce heat to a simmer.

7.) If using dried beans, cook at least 90 minutes, or until beans are soft and tender. If using canned, cook about 30 minutes.

8.) Add black pepper to taste and enjoy with a nice bit of bread.

Note: If you want it creamier, squish some of the beans while cooking to thicken the broth.

Also note: There really is no added salt. The bacon adds the perfect amount of salt, so it’s not needed. Obviously, adjust to taste if you use butter, instead.

Well, that’s it for me for the moment. Time to get off the computer and get going for the day. Be well, my dears.

Posted in Auntie Yaga's Home For Wayward Monsters, Life, The Universe, and Everything, YouTube

The Story I Keep Returning To

Posted on by Melissa

They say that every writer (artist, whatever) has one story that they keep returning to over and over again.

I think there’s truth in that. I’m not sure what the foundation story that I keep returning to is, exactly, but I have my suspicions. The face it wears most often is “Auntie Yaga’s Home For Wayward Monsters”. At it’s heart, it’s a story about found family, animal welfare, and caring for those deemed “monstrous” by society. Also soup and fresh bread.

Alright, fine, yes…it also includes gingerbread houses, mortars, pestles, chicken-legged huts, and all that…

There have been several iterations of Auntie Yaga’s Home since the original fibercraft accident that created Fester the Zombie Bunny and his fondness for wasabi peas more than a decade ago, and there will likely be several more before it’s done with me. The most recent shape and stories seem to have run their course, for the time being at least, and now it’s time to move on to the next variation.

A YouTube channel was not where I expected it to go next but, well, here we appear to be.

But, you say, don’t you already have a YouTube channel?

I do, and I have every intention of returning to that one, however it has some critical issues that I’m stuck on that I can’t find the way around just yet. Some of them are as simple as not having suitable winter clothes for being outside in the New England winter for long, while others are a bit more complicated.

One of the issues can be solved by splitting off and starting a secondary channel for Indoor Things like cooking, small craft projects, and whatnot. When it’s too cold to go outside (or smokey in summer, because let’s face it, Smoke Season is now an annual occurrence), I can make videos that include things like making easy soups, breads, and other tasty goodness while mixing in bits of folklore and stories.

So where did this come from? Well, a couple of weeks ago, after 17 years together, Himself and I got married. We just had a very wee ceremony/slash Halloween party at home, nothing fancy. While looking for wedding clothes (surprising no one, I dressed up as a witch, complete with pointy hat), I had to consider what my “witch aesthetic” is, and realized that it can best be described as “Hobbitcore Baba Yaga”. When I mentioned this on social media, the sheer number of people who agreed with this assessment was rather impressive.

It sort of stuck around in my head and eventually it dawned on me that this was the answer to a couple of my YouTube problems. A second channel, built on the niche of that concept. It wasn’t until I was talking to Himself, trying to figure out a name for the channel, that the idea of rebooting “Auntie Yaga’s Home” came up. I wasn’t sold at first, but the more I’ve thought about it, the more the idea makes sense. I’ll probably modify the name to something like “At Home With Auntie Yaga” or whatever, because this is less about the monster adoption and more about the homey things, but yeah.

Anyway, that’s where things are at. I’m really looking forward to getting back to making videos again, and seeing where this new direction takes me. It should be an interesting adventure.

How’s things with you?

Posted in Life, The Universe, and Everything

Back At The Writing Desk?

Posted on by Melissa

This past spring and summer I learned a very valuable lesson. When one is pretty much as burned out as it’s possible to get without ending up in a hospital bed, it’s probably not a good time to try and start another intensive project.

That YouTube idea didn’t get far. Mainly because I was so crispy that I wasn’t able to actually get started all that much at all. I wanted to, but every time I tried, my brain would go silent and the executives would stop functioning and nothing would happen. I still want to get back to it, because I love making videos, but I need to come up with a coherent plan for what kind of story I want to tell first. I have a few ideas, but I need to flesh them out more. I also need to figure out warmer winter clothes this year, because my current coat is not warm enough to be outside in for long.

On the other hand, I’m finally recovered enough that I’ve actually been thinking about self-employment again, and it doesn’t make me want to crawl into a cave and hiss at anyone that thinks about looking in my general direction, so I guess that’s a good sign that recovery is coming along nicely?

* * * * * * *

Back in August, I went to my 30th year class reunion. It was pretty chill and it was nice to see folks I haven’t seen since graduation. I ended up looking through our senior yearbook and was reminded that my answer to the “What do you want to do with your life?” question was “To write professionally”. It’s funny, I’ve pretty much done everything else that I wanted to do, except that. I mean, I’ve written things and people have tossed money at me, but I’ve never actually written at a pro level.

Thinking about it, I still want to do that. I think the issue I have is the same one that I’ve always had.

I do not want to write novels. I don’t have a novel in me. I don’t think I even have so much as a novella. I have anthologies, at best. Collections of short stories. There’s probably some poetry lurking in there somewhere still, as well. This makes publishing complicated. In addition to the usual kinds of complication that dealing with the publishing industry entails. I could self-publish, but gods that’s a lot of work and a helluva learning curve.

Of course, there’s the other problem. I need to actually write again. Weird, I know.

Still, it’s good to know that I do still want to write. It’s a start.

* * * * * * *

In other news, after 17 years together, Himself and I are finally making things official and getting married at the end of October. Nothing fancy, just us, a couple of friends to stand witness, a friend to officiate, and a costume party on the porch. I’m having fun collecting decorations. We haven’t made a general announcement, though we’re not keeping it secret, either. True to form, we’re just sort of moseying our way into it.

* * * * * * *

I’m going to try and start blogging regularly again, though we’ll see how that goes. My track record hasn’t been great for a long time, so I’m not expecting much. Who knows? Maybe I’ll surprise myself.

For now, though, it’s time to wrap things up and go run the day’s errands.

I hope your day goes well, dear readers.