Introducing Einkorn: the wheat we can eat

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For a couple years I had occasionally come across posts from writers I follow about their family's food sensitivities leading them to switch from conventional wheat to Einkorn. 

Food sensitivities within my own family lead me to ask: what is Einkorn wheat? According to Jovial Foods (from whom we buy our flour): 

"Einkorn is very different from all other varieties of wheat. It was the first species of wheat grown by man more than 12,000 years ago." Since then it has never been hybridized and remains the purest (and easiest to digest) form of wheat known today.

More about the genetics from Jovial Foods: 

"Like einkorn, most plants are diploids, which mean they have one set of chromosomes from a male parent and one from the female parent. When other species of wheat were created, additional sets of chromosomes were added. Emmer wheat was created roughly 2,000 years after einkorn by the hybridization of two wild grasses adding two sets of chromosomes. Kamut®and Durum Wheat are descendants of Emmer. Spelt was the first wheat hybridization that occurred with the help of man between cultivated emmer and a wild grass, creating a species with six sets of chromosomes. Common bread wheat descended from spelt."

Why does this matter to me? Several people in my family, while not fully allergic, are sensitive to wheat, and feel the all-too-familiar "wheat bloat" after eating much conventional wheat.

Enter Einkorn - the wheat we can all enjoy. While it ends up being a little bit more expensive than standard flour, the results are more nutritious, and noticeably more delicious. I have had several non-bakers ask me for the recipe and a lesson after tasting homemade einkorn bread. 

Even if our youngest family member grows out of her sensitivity, we will continue to enjoy this newfound addition to our lives.

If you're interested, I could wax poetic about my love for this grain - someday I hope to buy a high quality grain mill so we can grind our own fresh flours. Until then enjoy this teaser, and thank you Jovial!

Photos c Jovial Foods. 

This is my own personal experience and in no way a paid advert for them. 

Also please note, that while many with wheat sensitivities can fully enjoy einkorn free of discomfort, it does still contain gluten.

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Happy New Year

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It hardly seems as though it's the end of the year with the rush and bustle of the holiday months still ringing in our ears. But there's the date - January 1st. 

Even though it's a precise measurement from a pretty arbitrary start point, the turning of the year is still something to celebrate - if for nothing else than the ritual and tradition of celebrating. 

So we turn our clocks and calendars and refresh our resolve. We recollect the past year and promise with all our intentions and hope to do better in the coming year.

The past couple of months I've been enjoying very much enjoying felting. The mini-hedgehog and its log were a present for C. The needle-felted owl was made as a gift for a cousin's new baby and the case is for myself. 

Sending you love and wishing you a better year to come than we had this past year. Although, for us, 2013 will be pretty hard to top!

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C's Tower

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Ever since I babysat for a family with a "learning tower" I've looked forward to having one for my own children. Fast forward to a few months ago, I was quite taken aback by their three figure price tag. 

Lo and behold, Ana White (one of our first stops for inspiration, when looking to build anything) had plans for a helping tower. A quick trip to the lumber section and the skills of an awesome daddy (C's) and we have a perfect helping platform.

She already helps chop vegetables and helps with splashing in dishes - so many things to learn!

Daddy altered the plans to fit our counter height, small kitchen, and young child, raising, shortening, and omitting as necessary. It truly is wonderful to watch our not-even-one-year-old helping with meals and being a part of such and important piece of nourishing our lives.

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Perpetual Calendar with Friends

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I have quite a list of posts waiting on the back burner. This morning, I finally got time to snap the pictures for this one. 

Several months ago I came across this link/pin, and was inspired to make our own perpetual calendar.

I needle felted seasonal clothing for four wooden peg dolls. I'm excited to gain greater awareness of days, months and seasons passing through this simple ritual of keeping our daily calendar current.

In case you're thinking, "ok, two blocks, six sides each... waitaminit..." 

Here's how it works. Both blocks have 0, 1, and 2. One block has 3, 5, and 6, which doubles as 9. The other block has the 4, 7, and 8, to complete the set.

Now we just have to decide where we shall keep our calendar!

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Introducing Wee Willow Catkin

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Inspired by this doll and its poem that reminded me of a similar poem, and sewn with a materials kit from this shop, I made C's first doll. 

As a crafter, I always hope that the recipient will like my creation, but as a mama I was trying to keep that hope in check. I wanted C to be free to play with a doll (or not) as she chose, without pressure from me. I cannot tell you how my heart began to sing when she couldn't keep her eyes away as soon as I'd sewn on the eyes, before hair, before a body. Now that I've finished, Willow is well loved, and C smiles when she sees her.

I can recall a poem in English about "Wee Willow Catkin" from my childhood and remember vivid images of the catkins (also knowns as pussywillows) that played through my head. I cannot for the life of me remember more, or even enough to find it. It may have been a proper translation of the German poem but the rough online translation didn't ring enough bells for me to be sure.

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Going Back to Basics - Use Your Scraps

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There are many things that past generations did as a matter of course that we are just beginning to bring back now - such as bringing bags to carry goods home. I am so thankful that  throwaways are becoming less and less favorable. 

For many reasons I've sought to minimize my use of plastics and have always preferred natural materials. When buying or making toys or other stuffed objects I've always tried to use cotton or wool, but due to cost have succumbed to the ease of poly-fill on more than one occasion. 

Just over two years ago I made a scrap bag to collect the little bits and ends of fabric and yarn leftover from any of my various endeavors. Finally, the "something delightful" I threatened to stuff has come along. 

Rag dolls of yesteryear were made with leftover scraps and stuffed with even more of the same. Today we can just as easily use our extra bits of fiber instead of buying new material.

To make your own scrap stuffing, save the odds and ends from your projects as you go. Cut your scraps/rags into pieces one inch or smaller. This will allow them to shift and move with washing.

Rag or scrap stuffing works like a dream, is completely machine washable, and will not shrink or clump like many natural stuffings. It also reduces and recycles perfectly good fiber that would otherwise end up in a landfill. 

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Changing Directions here at Myrrhmade

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As I mentioned back in February, my life has changed drastically and I'm still mulling a bit as to how to update this space without having it become a documentation of our children (present and future). I've been struggling to figure out what I want to put into and get out of this blog. I'm not going to abandon it altogether but need to update the use of this blog to better fit my life and myself.

What to do now, what to change, what to keep, and many more such quandaries have been occupying my thoughts and I've yet to come up with any definite answers. So, for now, I'll have to content myself with a slight change of directions. 

One of my original purposes here was to document my adventures, whether they were in my kitchen or half way around the world. Before becoming a parent, there was inherently energy that I could devote solely to my own interests and my own person. As a single person, I was the center and main consumer of my own attentions and energies.

The new addition to our family has charged me with a great responsibility - the stewardship of another being until she is able to take care of herself. This moves the center of my energy away from my own person and focuses it on giving to others. I find myself wanting to reflect that direction here as well.

In the past I've sometimes added recipes or directions in case someone else was interested in trying their own hand. Going forward I want to share what we do that might make a difference for other people. I hope to make this blog less about documenting my own exploits and more about showing what has worked well for us and how easy it can be to make improvements. 

There are also some side projects in the wings so look forward to other adventures!

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Homemade maple teething necklace

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Even before I had an amazing child of my own, I saw and admired beautiful carved teething necklaces.  They seemed like such a simply beautiful piece of craftsmanship and yet their hefty price tags always turned me away.

Until I realized I could make my own. 

Using a piece of leftover maple, I sawed, drilled, carved, and sanded until I arrived at this.

This post has been waiting for almost two months in the hope 

of getting a good picture of it in use. She is just starting to teeth at almost 

five months and I've got better things to do than wait for photographs. 

So here she is figuring out her fingers.

In the interim, this mama-made toy has come in handy at restaurants, on walks, in the car, and helping to set a world record!

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