A Rustic Farm Breakfast Over Fire

...and more weekly happenings on the homestead.

I’m laying in bed as I type this, freshly showered, nuzzled up in my new navy blue pajamas decorated with small, happy pink hearts. I’m exhausted (so please forgive any grammatical or spelling errors) but full of gratitude.

I spent the entire day reorganizing, cleaning, and checking on all of our root cellar produce. A few onions every now and again will bolt or rot in the bins and need to be removed, inevitably jars get knocked over, garlic bulbs roll behind the shelving, and the canisters of food need to be refilled, dusted, and accounted for. It isn’t a task I would choose out of all available options, but I was eager to account for it regardless. It’s like when I’ve got dirty laundry waiting for me - I just want it done.

So I dove in and spent the better part of six hours moving, shifting, dusting, pouring, vacuum packing, and scrubbing. At the end of it all, the cellar looked wonderfully attended to and cared for. My eyes welled with tears. I felt so overwhelmed with gratitude for my little storage of food.

We still have more cabbage heads than I can count, hundreds of pounds of potatoes, six crates of onions, two crates of shallots, and shelves full of jams, jellies, tomato sauce, and relish. We certainly don’t grow all of our food and the shelves are rounded out nicely with my favorite boxed pastas, olive oils, vinegars, and spices.

A string of patio lights strung around the little scruffy room made it feel cozy and wonderful. My little slice of wonky, dirty, root cellar paradise.

There’s still a vermon of some sort in the cold room to deal with…. and I’ll forever be shuffling stuff to and frow… but at least now, it’s accounted for.

Why does work like this, especially when it comes to the kitchen, make me so happy?

Is it the feeling of resourcefulness? The joy in still eating harvests from gardens long buried under the weight of snow? The pleasure of seeing your work canned in mason jar form?

We pulled from the root cellar bounty earlier this week to make a rustic farm breakfast over fire. In this case, we make use of roasted red peppers, shallots, and freeze dried parsley. Come join us in our kitchen for a slow morning of farm breakfast…

I also spent some time this week creating new habits and meditating on the idea of a smaller world. Even though I’ve spent my career sharing online, I’ve been pondering more what the online world will look like in the future and which parts of it I hope to be in.

The idea of a smaller world may seem uncomfortably limited after what we’ve been able to see, experience, and share in over the last decade - but I’ve found the idea incredibly liberating.

You can read more about “A Smaller World” right here on the blog.

Last week, Stuart and I also had the brief pleasure of sitting down together sans children to talk about our goals and aspirations for the coming year. The amount of work that we have planned for our little farm and business will only be possible by the grace of God and no distractions. I’ve given up Netflix to study Italian, put timers on my social media apps (which I now only use exclusively for work) so I can devote more time to reading, and have been trying to stay full of grace for my family and embrace where we are.

I pray every day for peace with where things are, not where I think they should be.

I love this farm, this work, and this family. I want to feel and taste it all… not just rush to the finish line.

Lastly, we began filling spots for our Winter Party Workshop! You may reserve your spot by sending your payment and shipping address via Venmo (@shaye-elliott-2) or via PayPal (shaye@theelliotthomestead.com). Because we just redid our logo (after eight years!) it’s been a lot of fun to workout the new printed materials that are shipped to all participants. I, perhaps, get a bit too much pleasure out of beautiful tissue paper and colors. Still, the plans are well underway for a wonderful time of intimate cooking together!

In this workshop, our small group will be cooking 8 recipes together! We will be covering:

• speciality quick doughs

• marinated vegetables

• making the best use of winter citrus and winter greens

• hosting, table setting, prep work, and tips

• plating food

• homemade crackers

• planning a menu

• his and her cocktails

As a reminder, each participant will receive a package in the mail prior to the workshop. It includes a printed, bound packet specific for this workshop that will include shopping lists, prep work, recipes, and note pages, a signed cookbook, an Elliott Homestead apron, and a piece of my sourdough starter.

We would love for you to join this intimate, wonderful time together. You may reserve your spot by sending your payment and shipping address via Venmo (@shaye-elliott-2) or via PayPal (shaye@theelliotthomestead.com).

There’s loads more ahead in the coming week… more prep for the workshop, more snow, more meals, more laundry, more homeschool, and more wonder at this world we live in.

I’m grateful to have shared this week with you and look forward to the beautiful winter days ahead. Even though winter can be a bit of a downer for some of us, there’s a lot of beauty and effort to be enjoyed.

PS: When I’m really grouchy, I go visit my animals. Even when it’s deathly cold outside, smelling them, hearing their sounds, and watching them eat brings my heart a wonderful peace. Just in case you find yourself in a state this week… try to find a cow to hang out with. I promise, it’ll help.

Cheers,

Shaye

PS: Cooking Community members! New recipes and the corresponding instructional videos are LIVE up on the member site and ready for you to enjoy! Learn more on joining the community or login right here.