Searching for Saraspunza

Views, Hunger, Sartorial Eye, Bravery, and Love…


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Pumpkin Spice Granola

Making something good for yourself and your family is such a virtuous experience, at least for me. I love to cook. I love the imperfectness of it. I love how the recipe in my head turn out different every single time. People will ask me for the recipe for something and more often than not, I have very little recollection of what I actually put into the recipe.

Just as in driving from point A to point B, I never remember the street names or how many lights further along it is, but I do remember the way the road curved or the stretch of trees right before the driveway. So it is with cooking too. I have my tried and true recipes. I have my favorite cookbooks and my dependable standbys. But every now and then it is nice to take a detour and try something else.

Granola. The Sprouted Kitchen has an amazing recipe for Pumpkin Granola. I had just finished baking pies for the Salvation Army. Sixty-six in total when I realized I still had an open can of pumpkin. Sick of pies, but out of granola. Hmmm.. Sounds delish…

You need your Sprouted Kitchen cookbook… By the way, the pictures are so beautiful. Really. Worth. Every. Penny.

It is already starting to look a wee bit messy around here. The recipe mixes up in just a minute or two, really.

I decided to add some pepitas to the mix. It adds a bit more texture and crunch and certainly goes with the pumpkin pie spice going on here.

Spread it out on two sheet pans. I used my silpat sheets. I love them so much! They kept the granola from sticking and interestingly, I think the granola had a bit more crunch because of it.

With a little homemade greek yogurt and a drizzle of honey… Yum! I encourage you to whip up a batch of granola for yourself. So healthy. So delicious. So simple.

Love,

S


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Five Minute Friday: Stay

Each week over at Lisa Jo Baker there is a  great project that is really fun to participate in. She calls it Five Minute Friday and basically you communicate with yourself and the paper for five minutes. She provides a word, usually a pretty evocative word that you respond to, in writing, for five minutes. Makes sense, right!?!

Some of our best writing can come out in five minutes of free-writing. When we allow ourselves to write freely, we can really go places. Kind of like the scene in Bull Durham where the Susan Sarandon character makes the Tim Robbins character wear a garter under his baseball uniform so he can free himself and get back into what he really needs to do which is improve his pitching. A hilarious scene and of course, the movie where they fell in love, but this scene really hones in on that idea of being able to liberate your process and just: Let it Be.

So, here goes.

GO

Stay

How do I stay? It has been years and I am tired and the road is long. The road that just keeps turning up ahead to places I have not seen before. The road that looks bleak and stormy, again.

How do I stay? How do I stay when all around me I see good marriages. Good partners. Good exchanges. Shiny happy people.

How do I stay? When the signs are many and the road is bumpy. When all I want is to be held and loved and held some more. To be seen, noticed, loved…

How do I stay? In this place that is my home. In this life that has grown unfamiliar. In this contract that seems invalid. Two people enter a contract and the terms seem to have been lost. What are the rules again?

How do I stay? How can I not when all that I know tells me to stay? Stay I will. For I did sign a contract. I did make promises and I have faith that the road will become sunny again. That together we will see things and experience things that make us both smile, at each other, again. How do I not stay?

STOP

Love,

S


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30 Days of Thankful, Day 11

This is really cool. I am thankful I live in a world where talent comes in many forms. Insight can catch you off guard. Smiles are plentiful. New days are here. Now is where it is at.

Disclaimer: One swear word at the beginning…

Love,

S


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Links to Love: Clutches…

I started out by looking for good gift ideas for a dear sister or friend. As I built that particular list of good ideas, I noticed that I kept being drawn to the clutch. There are so many elegant ones. Below find some of the good ones….

Okay, here is a lovely one. Perfect for an evening out. Perfect for a first date with an over the top casual look to accent. This clutch reminds me of a skirt that Blair at Atlantic-Pacific featured a while ago. Gorgeous.

MiaVonMinksWedding

This is a beauty. I love the saturated color. I can see it with an a casual look; moto jacket, breton stripe, jeans, and jewel tone loafers or ballet flats. It is lined and ready for your favorite lipstick!

Marketa

This is vintage. This is a great match up to this for a his and hers thing. It can stand on its own though quite nicely thank you. Cognac leather on the outside and burgundy velvet on the inside. Gold accents. Zippered pockets and accordion styling.

telegraphvintage

Custom made book clutch…

vivaslasvixens

Okay, this is a laptop sleeve, but couldn’t you also see it being used as a statement clutch? Such quality leather and the stitching is a great detail.

LUSCIOUSLEATHERNYC

Here is a lovely clutch purse made with waxed canvas and vegan leather in stunning and classic colorways. Completely handmade and clearly a classic that will age beautifully.

1point61

Any of these clutches could be the perfect gift for a dear sister, friend, or well, the way I am thinking, yourself….

Love,

S


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30 Days of Thankful, Day 10

Every year for the last 30 years the women in my family have gotten together and baked pumpkin pies for the Salvation Army Homeless Shelters. Every female gets involved. My daughters started crimping crusts and mixing filling at the age of two, aprons rolled at the waist to fit them.

Everyone has a job. One measures spices. One beats eggs and mixes fillings. One opens cans and sets up recycling. One rolls out pie crust. One crimps the edges into pretty patterns. One supervises the ovens and timers making sure not one pie burns. One controls the music selections and refills the tea, coffee, and hot chocolate mugs. Everyone laughs at their follies. Everyone tells stories. Everyone takes away a sense of goodness and pride.

My mother makes a huge trip to Winco to buy pumpkin, evaporated milk, sugar, spices, eggs, and crust makings. My sister runs to Starbucks to get everyone set up with their special fall drink.

At the end of a long day depending on how large the ovens are in that house that year, we have made between 24 and 112 pies. This year, I am on my own. This year I moved 600 miles away from my family, so this year I was on my own.

I spent the day rolling out crusts and checking timers. Making sure I measured the spices just like my sister does; meticulously and carefully. I crimped each crust just as my mother does, a fluted edge you can only get with pointer finger and thumb working together in tandem. I made coffee for myself in a mug I love. I played Van Morrison  as I baked away and thought about all the years gone past of baking.

Sixty six pies will be dropped off at the Salvation Army in my new town before the end of the day. I am thankful that I can do this thing. This baking thing. This helping others thing. This carrying on of the tradition thing.

Love,

S


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30 Days of Thankful, Day 8

There are many things to be thankful for but this is one of my favorites at this time of year.

Eggnog Lattes! Homemade that is.

I use my espresso machine and pull a double shot which I pour into a hot mixture of one third this amazing eggnog and two thirds skim milk. Delicious!

Love,

S

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