Mop Philosophy Monday

 I've given up on ironing our napkins and no one seems to notice.

I guess the important, and civilized, thing is to simply have a napkin, one that's not made of paper which will end up in a landfill.  Oh, and that the napkin be clean is important too.

My mother-in-law Joan had an energy-saving habit of reusing cloth napkins in personalized napkin rings, which meant cloth napkins could have multiple uses before washing without sharing germs.  Anyone else do this?

The best article I've read in the last couple days is this one in The New Yorker by Jonathan Franzen.

Something small that can be done in our own homes that practices recycling and re-use?
Buy antiques!

 Antiques can be had for a song these days.  I bought this little French chair and English oak table for a little under $200 Canadian dollars, for both pieces.  It's in excellent condition and exquisitely pretty, I'm currently using it as a vanity table.  Isn't it gleaming and perfect?

 I have bought some new throw pillows, but there are so many etsy sellers making them from designer samples and remnants that it ends up being a massive win-win: expensive fabrics injected into a decor for reasonable prices, and a re-use of a fabric remnant or designer sample.  Also support of women who are working their own cottage industry... okay it's a win-win-win.

Let's have a small peek at the stone house:

The stone house with fall colours.

 I bought this wallpaper from a clearance centre in Michigan, it's a Thibault that was discontinued.  I'm hoping to hang it in the guest room of the stone house.

Elephants.

I hope you're set up to have a great week.  Let me know if you read that article.
xoxDani

Polished

 I spent yesterday afternoon doing some cooking while listening to the rest of the Fault Lines podcast on cbc.
 (Incidentally, there's an article in a 2015 issue of The New Yorker titled The Really Big One on the subject that I'm currently reading, it's so interesting.)

One of my absolute favourite kitchen chores is polishing our La Cornue range, and if you have anything stainless steel in your own kitchen I highly recommend the Method Steel For Real polish.
It removes all the marks, even the baked on bits, as well as dust and streaks, and it somehow does smell like fresh apples.

I had some butternut squash bottoms left over from a stew I made and I really wanted to try stuffing them with vegetables and lentils.

 I sautéed leeks and mushrooms, but not too aggressively, as this filling was to be baked before serving.

 I added some French lentils and some cashew cream.  I had cooked up a big batch of French lentils early in the week so that I would have some around to add to dishes as I needed them ( I find they keep in the fridge quite well for up to five days).

I roasted the bottoms of the butternut squash first, which softened the squash itself, making them pliable enough that I could easily scoop out the seeds and stringy bits.

 Once they were scooped I simple filled them with my mixture.  I left them on the range until I needed to bake them for our dinner.

 My friends came around for drinks before dinner so it was one of those evenings I was happy to have my dinner sorted well beforehand.  I served the stuffed squash with a potato dish and a green salad on the side.

I have to trot over to the Beauty Shop today (and not a moment too soon), then I start my physiotherapy for my wretched neck, fingers crossed I can get some help with it!

Be well and have a lovely day today,
xoxDani