weekending: swap!

A little break here in the gratitude series to make note of a very fun get together we hosted this afternoon.... a homemade foods (and other generally utilitarian items) swap.  Woohoo!  This is something I've long wanted to do and it was so much fun.  Both to host and to participate in.  We hosted about 15 folks and nine participated in the swap.  We drew numbers and then worked through the list, with each swapper selecting one item in each round until they reached the number of rounds equaling the number of things they brought.  So basically, a one for one swap.  There are other, more formal, ways to do this, but we felt this worked very well and folks were pretty psyched with all the swap options.  We enjoyed it so much that I'm already planning to host another one closer to the holidays.

So as to give you a feel for how it all went down and what kinds of things were up for grabs, I'll tell you about our own swaps.  Mike and I contributed: 2 jars each salsa verde and apple butter, 1 jar of roasted jalapeno hot sauce, 1 jar of roasted serrano hot sauce, 1 apple pie, and a set of crocheted cotton dishcloths.  We came away with: a set of sewn & embroidered dishcloths/washcloths, a set of recycled t-shirt reusable shopping bags, a pair of earrings, a lovely hat, a super soft cowl, (can you guess which one of us did most of the choosing?), a bag of mixed hot peppers, herbal tea bags, a set of reusable snack & sandwich bags, and a handknit baby hat. (no, we aren't expecting) And now that I count all that out, I realize we put in 8 and came away with 9.  Oh no!  Somehow I must have skipped over someone in the last round.  No fear though, I will find the rightful owner of my bag of mixed hot peppers and pass them on.  And I thought I did such a good job of keeping track.

Swap hostess snafu aside, there was so much other good stuff to go around too~ chai concentrate, bliss balls (delicious balls of nut buttery-fruity goodness), kombucha mothers, black walnuts, black walnut tincture, fresh turmeric, an aloe plant, applesauce, eggs, scarves, flour-less brownies, an adorable acorn cap matching game, dried herbs, apple-cheddar cookies..... really, it was simply AMAZING. (except for the sneaky hostess ripping off an extra bag of hot peppers, ahem)

We made vegetarian chili with quinoa, butternut squash/apple/coconut milk bisque, bread, pumpkin pie, cookies, and apple bread pudding.  The apple bread pudding was chosen based on it's compatibility with the amazing goat milk caramel sauce that I've been loving lately.  There was a fire, white twinkly lights, hot cider, good friends, a sweet pack of toddlers and not-so-toddlers running around playing quite happily, good food, good beer, and awesome goodies.  And even after making enough of the soups (a double batch of each) to feed all of these lovely people, we had enough to put two quarts of each in the freezer and enough chili for dinner tomorrow.  Sweet!  I can't wait to do this again.

Clean up was fast and we were left with good food and a darkening sky that made the twinkly lights and fire all the more enjoyable.  As much fun as she had with her buds, Claire was happy to be hanging out on the benches by the fire pit with just mama and papa, and after a little bit of down time inside, sleep came quickly for her.

And now, I'm off to polish off the last serving of that apple cider bread pudding.  For which I am very grateful.

cheers~


linking up with amanda at habit of being