Dear Sunday Letter friends,
Hey, hey! The past week was spring break for much of Arkansas. Lots of folks have been traveling to all sorts of cool places—I know because I’ve seen their fabulous pictures on social media. My sister and I drove Momma home to the farm, so that’s where we’ve been the past few days. While Mississippi County probably isn’t anyone’s idea of a spring break destination, we love being back home come rain or come shine.
Our Safe Place
Serious storms moved overhead Friday night. When a tornado warning blasted on our phones, we spent some time in our safe place. The safe place at the farm is the tiny room that was once the bedroom my sister and I shared when we were kids. It’s the perfect storm shelter room because after a house expansion in the seventies, it became an interior room with no windows.
It’s also the enchanted room, the space our children played and stayed when they visited the farm. Now they, too, are all grown, and the room is filled with toys and tea sets and music boxes, a few glow in the dark stars dot the ceiling—in other words, all the things that make for enchantment.
We got reacquainted with the room Friday night. While the storm raged outside, we were tucked away with our wine, lots of laughter, and Momma pontificating about something or other.
Thankfully, we survived to see another farm day.
How Cute is this Caterpillar Peeler?
Very cute!
It’s called a caterpeeler. Ha.
I saw it at the Crystal Bridges gift shop (and I’m a sucker for a museum gift shop), but the funny thing is I had just said I need a new vegetable peeler. So no way I could pass it up.
It brings me joy (as both Marie Kondo and Bernice Hart would say).
Manufactured by Genuine Fred, for $10 you too can have one.
Air-fried Carrot Strips
My new caterpeeler helped me make air-fried carrot strips. I saw a similar recipe on social media (maybe Instagram) and thought it sounded like a brilliant way to add a little crunch to a salad.
- Peel carrot into strips. (I only used one carrot to top two salads.)
- Drizzle a tiny bit of olive oil over carrots and toss.
- Add salt and pepper.
- Spread carrots in air-fryer basket.
- I set my timer for 5 minutes, and turned the basket at 2.5 minutes. Make sure to watch. You want them a little crispy, but they will burn super fast.
Into the air fryer:
On top of my salad:
This was easy and tasty and extra fun with my caterpeeler. I’ll definitely be making air-fried carrots on the regular.
My new Terrarium!
I attended at terrarium-making class last weekend during Plantapalooza in Fayetteville. The class was taught by Lindsay Neely of Pink Fern Plant Co., and it was both educational and fun.
Look how great my new creation turned out!
If you get a chance to attend one of Lindsay’s classes, do it. Also, she sells houseplants in interesting and often repurposed containers at Brick City in Fayetteville.
Things Momma Says:
I don’t have spring break anymore.
***
The storms that came through Friday night sure left lots of devastation behind, including several deaths in Mississippi. This morning I’m thinking of the good people of Rolling Fork, MS—a few years ago I was invited to participate in the library’s author series Lower Delta Talks. What a sad situation, one that could have happened to any of us. Prayers for those who have lost not only their entire hometown, but many friends and loved ones.
Don’t forget to celebrate the small things in the week ahead. Also remember—with rain comes blooms, although some of us have an over-abundance of rain for now.
Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.
Did you wear your sturdy shoes to the safe room? Lol
I always get dressed with shoes, purse, etc, meds, nearby in a bag when there are tornadoes predicted. That stems from an experience when I was home alone with my young daughters and our schnauzer. I had a radio to listen to, we got in our tub in the center of our house..I could tell when the tornado was passing overhead. I suddenly looked down and my tennis shoes were on the floor by the bathroom sink. We survived and were lucky that it only messed up a portion of our fence. It tore up a portion of the Town Center in De Soto, then traveled to Lancaster and destroyed the Town Square in Lancaster, TX. I’d gone there with my parents since I was little for our shopping. I still see those tennis shoes on the floor. I’m praying for all in Mississippi. Love your caterpillar peeler!
Love the peeler. So cute. We did put our sturdy shoes on, I think. Good to be home. ❤️