our heartland

This past weekend we leaped into Autumn with some misty, moisty, cool weather.  It seems Mother Nature is already getting ready for the end of October.

 
All around, the trees were wearing sparkling shawls.

 
Josh is also anticipating cooler weather as he did a firewood forage this past weekend.  One of six trips up the mountain to get enough wood to see that our nest is cozy through the winter.  These past several years, I have always had a babe in my arms or on my hip, so I'm not able to be of much use out there.  Instead, I chose to clean up our wood cookstove, that in our household, is the one true task that rings in the Autumn season.

 
We love love love our cookstove.  When we were married, we searched high and low for a used Heartland Cookstove just like the one Josh grew up with, and that his mother still uses.  Not only is it a charming and attractive focal point in our home, it works well...for many purposes.

 
After five years, I am still learning how to use it, and my mother-in-law assures me it took her over a decade to master baking in this oven.  The trick is to heat it up really hot (this can take a while, so having my knitting handy is a necessity...oh darn!), then add small pieces of wood consistently while baking.  Over the years I have practiced baking sporadically, but lately I've been inspired to bake more with our wood heat.  (I also have a gas oven for summer cooking).  I can make pies, casseroles, turkeys (!), quiches, and crisps fairly confidently, however baking cookies has been a bit of a disaster...a few times now.  Another trick is to rotate the food being baked several times as the left side of the oven, which is closer to the heat source, cooks hotter.

 
Josh uses the cooktop almost every winter morning to fry up eggs or hashbrowns.  I like making pancakes on it as the heat is so even and hot.  We also do lots of soups, chilis, stews, and chicken stocks on our cookstove.  For sledding parties or dinners with friends, there is always a big pot of apple cider or chai tea simmering and filling our home with its heavenly scents.  The warming oven also is used a lot, and not just for serving hot meals.  Craft projects dry nicely in there, as do wet mitts and toques, yogurt cultures well, and bread rises beautifully.

 
It seems someone is always cozying up alongside the warmth radiating from the cookstove.

 
Even in summertime, there is always a big bouquet of garden fresh flowers on display on the cooktop.

This truly is the centre of our home.  In the winter, when the snow is blanketing the ground outside and the winds are chilly and crisp, we gather round the stove like in old days past.  So it is with great fondness that I scrub down the stove, and polish up the chrome, anticipating many more memories to make round this here hearth.

Comments

[Plain and Joyful Living]

Oh, I just love this post. We have just the place in our good size kitchen for our someday cookstove - it is on our wish list. When we lived off grid in a mobile home - we used our woodstove to cook and bake on. We are a bit spoiled now as a branch new conventional stove came with the rustic cottage we bought a year ago.. .but we are working towards a cookstove - as soon as we can save enough.
Thanks for sharing this! Very inspiring.
Warm wishes, Tonya

[Jules]

Thank you Tonya for your kind words. I would love to see what stove you eventually purchase...do you have any idea?

[Mina]

What a lovely post, with so many beautiful things, I love , love your cookstove!!!
Thank you for sharing the beauty that surrounds you and your family life.

[kyndale]

I LOVE cobwebs. They are so beautiful. I often stop and photograph them. I showed my husband your stove. What a beautiful hearth you've created in your home. I would love to have such a beauty in my home someday. Is that your kitchen area?

[kyndale]

oh yeah, I'm enjoying the mismatched socks!

[Jen G]

I am so very much enjoying your blog, Jules! Beautiful and inspiring, bringing back so many memories of when Maya was so young and life seemed a little slower. I think when she gets home from school we will make a fall nature table (whether she wants to or not!)Love the stove too!

[Jules]

Kyndale, Thank you for your appreciations! This Heartland is beside the main kitchen area (we have an open-concept home), and it still has a long way to go before it is finished. We want to make a river rock wall behind the cookstove with a nook for firewood. One day, oh one day, our home will be finished and yet, the getting there is a wonderful journey in and of itself!

[Jules]

Dear Sweet Jen, Thank you for visiting! I think one is never too old for a nature table...some days I find I am the one lingering around it the most! And Jen, Maya is never too old to record those special, remarkable moments! In fact, this has given me so much pleasure to be creative this way!
Love, Jules