Herons, Winter Toolkits, The Rolling Prep Calendar, and Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream
Reflecting on beginner bird sketching, expanding my indoor art kit, a recent realization about meal batching, and a bonus pumpkin pie ice cream recipe.
🌿 Field Notes: Nature, Art & Ecology
Phenology & Seasonal Shifts: “Bert” Returns
As fishing activity around the nearby lake winds down, Great Blue Herons are returning to fish and hunt. They’ve been scarce for nearly six months, spooked away by human activity long enough that I was beginning to forget how to draw them from memory. I’m glad they’re back!
If you’re new to drawing birds, herons and egrets can be fantastic sketching subjects! They remain relatively still while oftentimes occupying the same area for extended periods, only moving occasionally to lunge at a fish (or a mole!).
Field Kit & Tools: Winter Re-Tooling
Just as we swap out our wardrobes when the seasons change, I tend to add a little extra bulk to my art kit as the weather cools. Since most of my sketching sessions move indoors to protect my fingers from dropping temperatures, I’m experimenting with a few extra pens I’ve been wanting to try regularly. Because I won’t be lugging these extra supplies around on long field hikes, the added weight isn’t a concern.
Winter re-tooling gives me room to play and see what sticks. It also helps me decide what to shed when warmer weather returns and it’s time for spring cleaning and re-evaluating my “essentials.”
The current line-up. What are your essentials right now?
Left/Top: I use my Pentel Multi8 to house a variety of 2mm graphite “leads” (4H to 2B) as well as a non-photo blue “lead”. I keep one chamber open to pop colored leads I cut down when I wish to include color pencil accents. The Aquaphor lip balm cylinder has a chunk of kneaded eraser inside. 😅 Middle: I slip the large Neocritz case into my art bag when going out, or, when I need to keep things lean, I just poach a few of my favorite tools and stick those in a pen sleeve that I strap onto my sketchbook. Right/Bottom: I'm loving grey Microns (01 and 05) and playing with some other fineliners and mark makers I've added and removed sporadically over the years. The Sailor fude nib will likely always be among my top three art supplies.
🏋️ Body & Craft: Movement, Mindset & Sourdough
Mindset & Nutrition Rewiring: Present Brooke vs. Future Brooke
I’m a huge fan of batching. Whenever I can bulk-prepare something I’d otherwise have to chop or prep daily, I choose to get it done all at once to spare “Future Brooke” from repetitive kitchen fatigue. Batching saves loads of time and acts as a built-in insurance policy for my nutrition and fitness goals, ensuring healthy, grab-and-go options are ready before fatigue or laziness sets in.
Batching was also a cornerstone of my 1,001 Skies Project, particularly in the earliest year when I painted the sky each morning at 7:30 a.m. within a highly specific layout. Had I not had a good system for batching my sky frameworks (and later, sky squares) and preparing my materials, I honestly don’t think I would have been able to keep pace.
My weekly ritual includes batching Greek yogurt fruit cups, protein powder stacks, spinach salads, sprouted greens, and sourdough loaves. Until recently, I scheduled all of this prep for the weekend. But over time, all that batching...batched together...began to counteract the very benefits I was seeking.
With every new prep task I added to the mix, preparing for “Future Brooke” meant denying “Present Brooke” valuable free time during peak weekend hours. The system meant to bring order to my week was draining the freeform R&R I needed most.
The Weekly Experiment: The Rolling Prep Calendar
Unwilling to give up the benefits of batching, I decided to test a distributed approach: The Rolling Prep Calendar. Instead of powering through 3 to 4 continuous hours of prep on a Saturday or Sunday, I broke the work into 30- to 45-minute micro-sessions spread across a few work nights.
Prepping salads or measuring protein stacks while listening to a podcast or audiobook after work fits more naturally into weekday evenings. Best of all, it handed back a large block of uninterrupted weekend time for the analog hobbies I prefer to get lost in.
📚 Marginalia: Mind, Philosophy & Books
“Failing to plan is planning to fail.” — Benjamin Franklin (attributed)
I think of this quote often. While it ties directly into this week’s reflection on batching and meal prep, it serves as a broader reminder: if we don’t intentionally carve out space on the calendar for the things we care about most, daily busyness will happily fill that space for us.
💬 Over to You
When you reflect on your own goals and creative interests, what is one small tweak you could make to protect your current energy while reclaiming time for something you love?
🥧 Bonus: A Seasonal Treat
Homemade Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream
With the holidays fast approaching, I decided to try my hand at developing a pumpkin pie ice cream recipe. Creating this recipe took a couple of trials, but it’s been a fun, iterative process and I’m happy with how it turned out!
I try to keep added sugars out of my diet, but I do love some good ice cream on occasion and this really hit the spot.
Here’s the recipe for any fellow ice cream + pumpkin pie lovers looking to enjoy a special scratch-made treat this season!
Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 420g (1 ¾ cups) whole milk
- 410g (1 ¾ cups) heavy cream
- 325g (1 ¼ cup) pumpkin purée
- 125g (¾ cup) granulated cane sugar or ¾ cup maple syrup
- 18g (1 tbsp. + 1 tsp) vanilla extract
- 4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- ½ tsp ginger
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
- 60g (¾ cup) Biscoff cookie crumbles
- Optional: 27g (3 tbsp. milk powder or whey protein powder)
- Optional: ½ tsp xanthan gum
Directions
Whisk all the dry ingredients except the pumpkin pie spice and set aside.
Into a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the whole milk, heavy cream, pumpkin purée, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla and stir until incorporated. Reduce heat to low to prevent the mix from coming to a simmer.
Gradually begin to whisk in the dry ingredients. Once the sugar and dry ingredients have dissolved, remove from heat. For best results, use an immersion blender in the saucepan to blend the ingredients into a more cohesive mix.
Chill the mixture for 2-24 hours (the longer, the more flavorful the ice cream will become).
Transfer the ice cream mixture to an ice cream maker and churn. Once churning is complete, transfer half of the ice cream to an ice cream container or glass dish and distribute half of the Biscoff cookie crumbles over the ice cream, gently pressing them into the mix. Transfer the remaining half of the ice cream to the container then distribute the remaining cookie crumbles on top, pressing them into a smooth layer.
Notes
Xanthan gum is a natural stabilizer that improves the texture of the ice cream and extends shelf life for up to three months.
Milk powder and/or whey protein powder increases the protein content and imparts a creamier texture without adding more fat.
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