We are still enjoying all the blueberries we can possibly eat, so I thought I would post another recipe today (coconut cardamom vegan overnight oat parfait with blueberry chia seed jam!) that makes use of blueberries. I haven't made this recipe yet, but it's definitely on my list. The chia seeds act as a thickening agent; in some recipes, they are almost like tapioca. I keep a bag of chia seeds in the fridge and use them to thicken everything from smoothies to spaghetti sauce. If you are a new vegan or transitioning into a vegan diet, coconut milk is another ingredient that you'll find is a staple. We always have a few cans on hand in the pantry; it's good in curries, soups, smoothies (can you tell we like smoothies at our house?!), and I've even made delicious popsicles with it.
Yesterday Bryan & I made a trip to Winston Salem, where I spent most of the day rehearsing with our friend J.W. We are preparing a recital for this coming October; we'll be performing at Western Carolina University and at High Point University, where J.W. teaches. One of the pieces on the program is a new piece that Bryan wrote for us; it was great fun to read through that piece together for the first time, and to hear Bryan's reactions and suggestions.
We rehearsed for a total of about five hours, a morning rehearsal and an afternoon rehearsal with a lunch break in between. J.W. and I have been working together for about three years now (this is the second full program we'll be doing together), and are becoming accustomed to relying on just a few lengthy, rather intense rehearsals to get all our work done. We were able to get through the entire program, worked out some of the more challenging passages and made plans for our next rehearsal.
Chamber music rehearsals are one of my favorite things about being a pianist. I love trying out different interpretations of phrases, varying the dynamics, tempo, and articulation to see what sounds just right, and drawing from multiple musicians' perspectives and experience to make decisions about how the final performance will sound ... or, how we hope it will sound!
With only a couple of weeks left until the fall semester begins, I've been busy getting entries in order for September's Mountain State Fair. The photo above is one of the many (probably at least a hundred) quilts that hung in the exhibit hall last September. This year I'll be entering several items in the handspinning category: a skein of yarn made with wool I dyed using natural dyes, a skein of yarn yarn I spun (but didn't dye myself), and a knitted item made with my hand-spun yarn that I'm just finishing up. Last year everything I entered won at least one ribbon; I'm hoping to be just as lucky again this year!
This past weekend several farms in Jackson County, NC, hosted the annual Jackson County Farm Tour. I didn't get to go this year, but the vegetable garden at our church was on the tour, and apparently there were quite a few visitors.
As I've mentioned before, Bryan & I have made several visits in the past few weeks to a blueberry farm near our house. It's been a very good year for all kinds of berries here; blueberries, in particular, are abundant and especially sweet. We picked a few pounds of berries this afternoon and had a chance to visit with the farmer who manages the farm, Thomas Berry Farm, for the family who owns it. (We learned that he had recently moved to this area from northern Vermont, not far from where we had lived in New York!) The farm is completely u-pick, and they have sold over a ton of blueberries so far this summer! There are still plenty of berries to be picked, and the farm seems to be very popular, though it's never crowded. We've eaten some of the fresh blueberries (how could we resist!), but most of them are in quart-sized bags in the freezer, and will go into oatmeal or muffins this winter. I may get adventurous and make a few pints of jam, too ... we'll see!
Everything at the farm is self-serve; usually there is no one there; everyone is on the honor system to pay for what they pick, and it seems to work. Buckets are provided; a jug of ice water and some paper cups (kept in mason jars to keep them clean!) are on a table where guests sign in and pay for their berries.
Today in church, our communion hymn was Rockingham. I love that hymn because it has a really interesting alto line. One of the many things I love about our church, St. John's Episcopal in Sylva, is that we sing five hymns all the way through every Sunday: a processional hymn, a sequence hymn, a presentation hymn, a communion hymn, and a procession at departing (we also chant the psalm each week, and sing the gloria and the sanctus). I can't remember ever omitting a verse or leaving out one of the hymns. The music and words we sing are an important part of the worship service.
Clouds here in the Smoky Mountains can be so beautiful! I find the sky much more interesting to look at on a cloudy day than on a perfectly clear day. One day last week as we were driving back to Cullowhee from Waynesville it started to rain. This particular stretch of highway travels through several gaps and ridges in the mountains, so it's quite common to encounter changes in the weather every few miles, in the winter as well as in the summer. At some point we realized that it was still raining, but that we were driving through a patch of bright sunshine! It reminded me of this song, and the line, "I'm going where the sun keeps shining / Through the pouring rain."
