My birthday is Hallowe'en, and yes, the apostrophe indicates that you know how to properly spell the word! ("e'en" is a contraction for "evening") As a child it was much akin to a Christmas birthday -but it's gotten much more fun the older I get. This year, my friend, Joni happened to be visiting from Scotland where she's lived with her husband for many years. And she brought me a spurtle!!! I was soooo excited :-) The spurtle is that lovely turned piece of wood in the pic above - and it's been used since the 15th century to stir.... porridge! The Golden Spurtle Porridge Making Championship competition is held in Carrbridge Scotland every year. I quickly chopped and steamed up some of the delicious apples Stan and Bev brought down, ran them through the chinois, and added some spices for Apple Butter making... The spurtle lived up to it's reputation - the rounded end fitting evenly against the ceramic sides of the pot - not one lump was left ...
Robbin Roshi Rose talks about knitting, singing and building musical community,the urgency of ethical politics, food - of course!- and life after the nest is emptied.