Birthdays, Baking & Bad News
Hello friend,
I’ve so been enjoying writing to you lately in these Substack newsletters. If you’re new to Cultivating the Beautiful Life and the Elliott Homestead, welcome!
I’ve been trying something new with these Friday letters that I’m calling Notes from the Homestead. All week long, I’ve been taking note of moments, inspirations, ideas, bites, and words that make an impact on me to share with you here.
I’d love to know what you think! Would you let me know with a like or comment?
Here are the treasures I saved up to share with you this week, along with a very personal prayer request at the end:
Something I’m celebrating…
Our Sir William turned 11 this week. Birthdays are perhaps my favorite celebration in our family — we do them the same, every birthday. We don’t do big “friend” birthdays or have extravagant parties. Rather, our birthdays are always small and intimate.
We bag up a few gifts, blow up a packet of balloons, and hang our beloved “Happy Birthday” banner in the dining room. The child is ushered into the dining room, surrounded by the singing of Happy Birthday, and gets to open their gifts in their pajamas.
My mom and dad are the only ones to join us for the birthday dinner — whatever supper the child chooses, with whatever sweet treat they’d like for dessert (William chose an Italian olive-oil chocolate cake this time).
Birthdays at the cottage are small, tender, and delightful. My favorite part is seeing the delight with which they receive their small bounty of gifts and handmade cards. Juliette also left Will her whole pile of euro coins as a gift. Score!
Something I’m contemplating…
I’ve always seen it as a bit of a challenge to live in a way that does honor to both the present day we’ve been given and the future that we must prepare for. To live in the “now” and the “not yet” at the same time. While a large piece of me desires to sit in the summer sun and eat vine-ripened tomatoes all day, every day, the late summer season demands that our home-educating family must prepare for what’s ahead.
August is a month of in-between. Here is ours:
I must ask — if you don’t yet subscribe to our YouTube channel, will you please take a quick second to do so? Each “thumbs up,” share, follow, and comment means the world to our little family business. Grazie mille.
Something that reminds me of Italy…
It’s rare to find an Italian kitchen without a moka pot… a preferred choice for homemade espresso. Unlike Americans, Italians certainly don’t sit around filling large coffee mugs from an even larger coffee pot.
Instead, you’ll see these little stovetop espresso makers in apartments and homes. The familiar bubbling sound of their percolation is one you won’t soon forget — and the aroma! Che bello!
This is very important: you may think of espresso as something too bitter… too acidic on the tongue. Bad espresso leaves one’s mouth tinged with a sharp tang of acid.
But good espresso? Well, that sounds dark, round, with a smoooooth finish.
When I want such an espresso, I use this coffee. It’s a treat that I keep around for such occasions — when I want the action of screwing on the moka pot lid, when I want to listen to the bubbling water floating up through the ground coffee beans, when I want to sip and savor a strong cup of espresso that feels welcoming, flavorful, and balanced.
We stock moka pots and also this fantastic Sicilian coffee in our online store, Limone.
A small moment of wonder amongst the chaos of it all.
Something I ate…
The weather has mellowed slightly, and that has encouraged me to bake bread once again! I wanted to share with you my most anticipated delight each late summer when the clusters of grapes that hang in the gardens begin to ripen. A simple bread known as a schiacciacata con l’uva, with grapes and sugar all roasted and tucked in.
I believe the Tuscans argue it is their creation, but I’ll leave that to the Italians to decide.
Tuscan Schiacciacata Con L’Uva (Grape Focaccia)
Ingredients:
3/4 cups (200 grams) of water
2 tablespoons (20 grams) of yeast
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons of fine salt
3 1/3 cups (400 grams) of flour
2-3 bunches of ripe grapes, taken off the stem
A handful of fresh figs, optional
3/4 cup (150 grams) of sugar
Instructions:
Combine the water, yeast, olive oil, and salt together in a large bowl. Allow it to sit for 3 minutes. Add in the flour and stir well to combine. Knead the dough until it is smooth, adding a few more tablespoons of water if needed to create a smooth and elastic dough.
Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl. Cover tightly and allow the dough to rise until doubled, about 90 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Line a baking tray with parchment paper and drizzle it with olive oil. Divide the dough in half. Transfer half of the dough onto the baking tray and use your hands and fingers to pull and shape it into a rectangle to fill the pan.
Place half of the grapes onto the dough, spreading them evenly and pressing them gently into the dough. Sprinkle the grapes with half of the sugar.
Roll the second half of the dough into a rectangle and place it on top of the first, using your fingers to seal the edges. It will be rustic — that’s okay.
Top the second layer of dough with the remaining grapes and sugar. Use your fingers to press them gently down into the dough. Drizzle again with more olive oil.
Cover the bread loosely with plastic wrap and allow it to rise again for 1 hour.
Bake the bread for 40-45 minutes, until fragrant and golden.
Something I’m reading…
Some of you already know that I am married to an old soul, a hobbit really. Stuart would happily wear only tweed, eat nothing but roasted meats and baked breads, and could happily smoke his pipe, read, and write letters all day long.
Though Stuart has taught The Lord of the Rings many times to his students, I’ve never taken the leap to read it myself — until this week. As he mentions in this week’s video, he’ll be teaching through it again this year with Owen. I figured it was high time to join in the Middle-earth fun.
So I’m going to attempt to read The Lord of the Rings if you’d like to join me. So far, I’ve only made it through Bilbo’s birthday, which is the first chapter, though it is a splendid one indeed.
I’m feeling optimistic.
I’ve challenged myself to spend way more intentional time in good literature this season, and after just finishing C.S. Lewis’ Till We Have Faces, I’ve got my motors revved for more.
LOTR enthusiasts — any grand advice for me as I begin?
Some hard news I’m still processing…
“When I find myself in the Lord’s darkest cellars, I look for his choicest of wine. ”
I texted these words to my Mom this past week, as she was in need of comfort. None of us are immune to the hardships of life, and some hardships are very scary, very uncertain, and very hard indeed. Praying people, would you please join me in praying for all comfort for my Mom? She had surgery last week to remove a cyst and is recovering slowly, while at the same time awaiting the results of a biopsy that has been sent off to a specialist. Preliminary reports were not encouraging. We are praying for clear results, complete healing, and peace and strength for the path ahead.
I love getting to meet you all here week after week. Thank you for being a part of our story.
