Rumpelstiltskin: almond butter & hemp

I know, I know.  It’s been 3 months!!  Not only did lot of water go under the bridge, it swept the bridge clean away.  NOT……but it seems that way some times.

First this happened and that didn’t happen.  Then this didn’t happen, and that did happen, then it all did and/or didn’t happen.  Couldn’t keep up and CharivariLife just stumbled, then crawled, and finally heaved a great sigh and laid down by the wayside….savasana……only to catch some much-needed breath before it could slowly, gently, revive itself.

Meanwhile, there was a great trip to California and a wonderful visit with best old friends…old best friends? Best older friends? Older best friends?  How to word it without sounding “odd,” (oh my, that sounds wrong, too)??  Hm, maybe I should say long-time best friends.  Yeah, that’s it!! Anyway, so fun to catch up on “deep into the night” conversations, good food, lots of laughter, some tears, and promises to make it all happen again soon.  The plan is for Austin in the spring!  Nothing like the Texas Hill Country in springtime!!  Miles of yellow flowers, poppies, Indian paintbrush, bluebonnets....and lots of sunshine.

What are the girls waiting on, you ask?  Homemade raw organic almond butter.  I’ve been making little batches, spiked with a touch of himmy, and eating it on my breakfast toast in the mornings.  By the way, Food for Life makes a most wonderful Bhutanese red rice bread that is so delicious toasted & spread with almond butter and a drop of raw honey.  I love it because, not only is it gluten-free, it’s egg-free, too – woohoo!!  The girls obviously like it, as well, and are passively "vulturing" around the table, hoping it will inspire my generosity.  Don’t count on it, girls. 

Each batch of the almond butter takes quite a while to make in the food processor because the motor tends to want to burn up.  You process the almonds till they’re floury, then keep on processing till the almond meal becomes like a ball of dough and spins around the processor bowl a few times.  Apparently that releases the oil and voila – almond butter.  Now I know why it’s so expensive in the stores: it’s labor intensive, besides the fact that organic almonds aren’t cheap.  But it is so good and so so worth it.  Give it a try; just make sure you let the machine rest occasionally to cool the motor.  Otherwise, that jar of almond butter will have cost you the price of a new processor J

Doesn’t that look gorgeous? I feel like I’m making something magical when I’m making almond butter.  Made me think of Rumpelstiltskin spinning straw into gold.  I don’t like raw almonds, but grind them up and add a sprinkle of salt, and I’m all over it. 

Which brings me to………

The postie left me a wonderful surprise in my mailbox today – 1500 yards of 100% pure spun hemp by Hemp for Knitting. Can’t wait to start knitting with this yarn.  Not sure what it will end up being – Shawl? Cardi? Face flannels? (Flannel sounds much nicer than wash-cloth.) And the color – isn’t it absolutely gorgeous??  I LOVE green!!
And now, one last item…… J and the girls ran a 10k last weekend, while I supportively cheered them on from the warmth of the car….knitting away on a lace moebius wrap. It was too windy and chilly to sit at the amphitheater and listen to the band, so I got in some knitting and could watch them as they started the first round of the run………..and welcome them back.  I made a short video; will work on getting it posted, as well as some pics from SoCal.

A bientot......