Tag Archives: food

Unknown's avatar

November-ing

by

As we careen toward Thanksgiving I’ve been trying with all my might to enjoy November and its relative calm.  After the Big Meal it will be all Christmas and crazy, but for now it’s still fall, everything pumpkin is still in vogue for the month.  There are still a few patches of color here and there where the rain and wind have not knocked them off the trees, and it’s still not bitter cold.

Although, truth be told, the weather here has been so bizarre I think I’d take the bitter cold just so I’d know how to cope.  Instead we’ve had a day where it flurried like mad for about an hour followed by temperatures in the 70’s a few days later.  You never know if you’ll need the A/C or the heat on.

It’s the ending of fall, and it’s bittersweet.

We will be having Thanksgiving at home this year with Paul’s family, and I am enjoying getting the house organized and cleaned in readiness for it (hey, cleaning is therapeutic for me!).  In the meantime it’s starting to get hard to concentrate on school when there’s so much to be done and to enjoy, but we’re at least not falling behind.

11.20.13a

Oona’s reading a lot of seasonally appropriate books about Thanksgiving (though the pickings are slim on these – as a historian I don’t like the ones that whitewash the history, even-or maybe especially- for little ones).

11.20.13b

Yesterday my November issue of British Country Living came, and I spent a glorious afternoon with a cup of coffee and some gingerbread cookies from Trader Joe’s, pouring over its pages.

That mug, by the way, is one of my absolute favorites.  It was made by my friend Anna Branner with Susan’s logo on it, and you can find more of Anna’s wonderful wares HERE.

To top off all things Novembery, we’ve been enjoying some homemade Pumpkin-Cinnamon Swirl bread.  It’s wonderful toasted with a bit of butter.  I used the recipe for the Cinnamon Swirl bread (made in the Pullman Loaf pan) from King Arthur Flour, but for the filling I added about a third cup of pumpkin puree and took out 1 egg and the water.  It’s got just a touch of pumpkin-y flavor when it’s done and it smells heavenly while it’s baking!

11.20.13c

 

 

Unknown's avatar

How To Throw A Party Like A Pro

by

What happens when two talented cooks/restauranteurs throw a 5th birthday bash for their son?

A fantastic party with amazing food on a beautiful fall Sunday.

My friend Lisa and Will had us (plus many, many, many) other people to celebrate Alston’s big day.  Oona fairly wore herself out playing in the leaves and chasing ducks and dogs and other kids around while Maddie acted as official baby-watcher for darling little Marie.

10.27.13a

Just look at that baby!

10.27.13b

10.27.13c

10.27.13n

Tree stump chairs by the fire and food.

10.27.13d

10.27.13e

Pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.  I know, you’re jealous.  Yes, they were every bit as amazing as they sound.

10.27.13f

 

10.27.13g

I mentioned the food, right?  Aside from the fall-themed appetizer spread there was pulled pork and coleslaw.  And it was YUM.

Maddie and Emily and I drank gallons of the hot apple cider (and I may have sampled some of the hard cider as well……)

10.27.13h

10.27.13i

10.27.13k

The little man of the hour!

10.27.13j

10.27.13l

Oysters!

10.27.13m

Will by the fire, which was perfect: not too hot for such a sunny day, but just warm enough for the chill in the air.

Fall parties like this are my favorite kind.  The bugs are mostly gone, the leaves are stunning, the campfire isn’t sweltering, the food is warming.

It’s one of the best ways to turn 5!

 

Unknown's avatar

Apple Cider Doughnuts

by

You all know how much I love King Arthur Flour, right?  They have some of the best recipes on their site, and the best ingredients with which to make them (no I am not getting paid to say that!).

So it’s no surprise that I am on their website frequently.   While browsing last week I came across a recipe for Apple Cider Doughnuts.

Well, of course I had to try them!  And though generally I am a food purist and would prefer my doughnuts as nature intended them – fried – I was willing to try them out baked.  After all, less fat, right?

10.23.13a

These two ingredients are this recipes secret weapons of flavor.  Boiled Cider and applesauce (I used my own, made with the ninety billion pounds of apples we picked).

10.23.13b

The batter worked up very quickly, and gets plopped into the doughnut pan (it was like $10 at Bed Bath & Beyond).

10.23.13c

After baking, I slid them all out of the pan and then they had a bath in cinnamon and sugar.

10.23.13d

The sugar mixture sticks best if they’re put it in directly from the oven.

10.23.13e

I made about 18 doughnuts in all.  Though it was hard to keep an accurate count because they kept getting eaten!

In all, the only real disappointment wasn’t taste – related.  I adore the smell of cider donuts wafting on the breeze at the orchard while they’re being fried.  Sadly, my house did not smell that way while baking these.  But the flavor was right and even though they’re not *quite* as delectable as fried doughnuts, they are a super, serious, amazingly close second.

We’ll be making these again.

Unknown's avatar

So Much Fun It’s Scary

by

Halloween has always been one of our favorite holidays.  All the beautiful leaves and weather, the fun and spooky decorations, dressing up, eating candy!

Luckily we have friends who enjoy it just as much as we do, and welcome us all to their home every year for an evening of spooky festivity!

10.20.13a

Conjoined twin cookies!

10.20.13b

Neve as Sally.

10.20.13c

Spicy taco dip skull.

10.20.13d

Maddie and Gabi.

10.20.13e

Our friend Keith as Jack Skellington.

10.20.13f

Neve with Jessie: our two Sallys.

10.20.13g

I went with a Dia de los Muertos theme.

10.20.13h

Book Club ladies.

10.20.13i

10.20.13j

Creepy!

10.20.13k

Cute littles!

10.20.13l

Neve and Sarah.

 

10.20.13m

Emily went as Prince Zuko from Avatar, The Last Airbender.

10.20.13n

Elizabeth’s husband Kevin led us all in a rousing game of Mad Scientists vs. Villagers.  The villagers had to discover who the scientists were before they killed off the whole village!

As always we had a great time and the kids wore themselves out (always a good thing!).

It’s sad that October is flying by so quickly, but at least we still have more Halloween fun to come!

Unknown's avatar

What To Do On Drizzly Fall Days

by

Cold, rainy days in the fall used to be my favorite weather, but since I’ve got livestock to care for I am less inclined to enjoy rain.  This year especially!  A nice overcast (but DRY) day is still nice, when you can build a fire and drink tea and do some knitting or reading.

This week has been quite a mix of cold and overcast, and cold and downpours.  While going outside to feed the flock and check on everyone has been an exercise in misery and wetness, inside has been nice and cozy.

The fireplace saw its first use of the year, and we’ve been putting the apples to good use.

10.15.13a

I’ve been peeling giant bowls full of them every day and throwing them in a giant pot with some fresh cider, plenty of cinnamon, brown sugar and cloves.

10.15.13b

I let it cook slowly all day into a nice, dark, spicy applesauce.  I don’t can it, though, because at the very end I throw in a stick of butter.  It ends up tasting like pie.  The kids love it, and I can never keep enough of it ready!  When there does happen to be an excess, I freeze it.

10.15.13c

Speaking of pie, there’s plenty of that going on as well.

10.15.13d

10.15.13e

It’s also the season for roasted chickens and homemade stock.  I like to keep a pot of that simmering all day when it’s crappy out.

10.15.13f

And of the house isn’t full enough of wonderful aromas and things to tempt the tastebuds, why not whip up some butter cookies with frosting?

I got the crow cookie cutter from King Arthur Flour, which is, incidentally, where I got the cookie recipe from as well ( I used vanilla instead of the fiori di sicilia).

10.15.13h

Add some frosting and sprinkles (black sugar sprinkles!) and they’re festive for Halloween!

10.15.13g

I used some mini cookie cutters to make some plain Halloween cookies for snacking as well.

The weather might not be great, but the house smells of chicken stock, cinnamon, apple and butter cookies.  It’s warm by the fire and I’ve got some lovely yarn to play with.  Time to put on Hocus Pocus and settle in.

Unknown's avatar

Apple Picking 2013!

by

We had planned to go apple picking yesterday while our friend Trina was working, but the monsoon-like weather kept us away.

Fortunately, today’s weather was absolutely perfect!  The sun was out but it was only about 70 degrees, which is nice when you’re hiking along the mountaintop hauling heavy bags of fruit!

10.08.13c

I wonder if anyone reads this before they go out and yank apples off the trees?

10.08.13d

10.08.13e

We were lucky we went today; for once our timing worked out and we got to pick our favorites: York, Braeburn, Fuji and Winesap.

10.08.13f

10.08.13g

10.08.13h

10.08.13i

10.08.13j

10.08.13k

Oona filled her bag so full she couldn’t carry it.  She wanted to be sure I burned enough calories to earn my apple cider doughnut afterwards.

10.08.13l

10.08.13m

10.08.13n

10.08.13o

10.08.13q

In the end we hauled home 63 pounds of apples.

10.08.13b

That’s a lot of work for me!  Tomorrow I will start up a giant batch of applesauce.  Maybe some apple butter.  Apple pie.  Apple crisp?  Maybe dehydrate some?  All I know for certain is that it’s going to be all apple things, all week!

Unknown's avatar

Late Summer Treats

by

If the Morning Glories are blooming everywhere,

08.25.13d

and if there’s plenty of fresh basil waiting to be picked and made into pesto….

08.25.13a

AND if that pesto is getting put into homemade ravioli….

08.25.13b

then that must mean my birthday is just around the corner!

08.25.13c

It’s well and truly closing in on my favorite time of year.  Late summer and into fall is a glorious time, and even though I am a proper grown-up now I still do love my birthday.

Thankfully the basil came through the wet summer alright, if far less plentiful than normal.  But there’s enough for pesto to fill little pockets of ravioli, and there’s enough to make some lovely of the cocktails that my friend Lisa introduced me to:

08.25.13e

She muddled a good bunch of fresh basil with some simple syrup and fresh lime juice and shook it up with some lovely gin.

Best late summer cocktail ever, and perfect for an early September birthday!

 

Unknown's avatar

Sewing Camp

by

Since Susan has been staying with us while we work on getting her house packed up we though it would be nice to have a weekend where we could simply enjoy each others’ company and get some crafting done.

Our friend Tanya came up from Roanoke, and our friends Lisa and Erin came in from town.

08.15.13a

08.15.13b

Maddie kept little Marie occupied and happy so Lisa could work on a dress for her.

08.15.13c

08.15.13d

08.15.13e

Creative mess!

08.15.13f

08.15.13g

We had plenty of good food as well, as is to be expected when this particular group gets together!  This was our brunch.  Gluten free crepes with fresh blueberries, maple whipped cream and brown sugar breakfast sausage.

08.15.13h

Tanya made us a delicious burrito dinner with lots of fixings.

We all worked hard on our various sewing projects, but we spent plenty of time chatting and catching up as well.  I’m not sure anyone finished any of the projects they brought, but we all made some good headway on them.

This coming weekend we are having a sale at Susan’s house to clean out all of her stuff.  It will be sad, but good.  She’s moving to a smaller property and focusing on keeping only things that are meaningful to her.

Busy busy busy!

Unknown's avatar

Gardens Gone Haywire

by

So, my gardens.  Not gonna lie.

They look pretty bad this year. I know I say that every year.  Last year it was the bugs.  The year before it was the unrelenting sun and lack of good rains.  This year, it was TOO much rain.

Of course, the last two years I still managed bumper crops of nearly everything I planted.

I knew we were in trouble a few weeks back.  The squash leaves were yellowing at an alarming rate and the soil in the new back garden was staying pretty soggy.  The weeds were growing at such a rate that I could pull them all  and have to do it again almost immediately.

As of today, all of the squash has died with the exception of the cucumbers, which are doing surprisingly well.

The corn has also done well and is starting to tassel:

07.22.13a

The sweet potato vines are also looking well.  The blue, red and yukon potatoes are at status unknown right now.  Probably they are dead.  The above – ground portion was eaten into oblivion by potato beetles.

The basil is faring moderately well.  The tomato plants are all doing well save for the pests that have claimed one of the plants.

07.22.13b

I can tell you one thing that is doing very, very well, though, and it is something I didnt’ even plant.  It came in the form of volunteer seeds in the compost we brought from Susan’s.

07.22.13c

These lovely sunflowers are my consolation prize for my lackluster food growth.

Honestly I could have probably saved a lot of the vegetable plants – at least the ones that were done in by pests.  I just took on too much all at once this season and couldn’t keep up with it all.  Honestly, I have over a thousand square feet of gardens to keep up with.

Lesson accepted, but probably ignored in the future.

For now I am tending to what there is that is salvageable, and planning to put the pigs in the garden this fall to root it all up and fertilize it for next year.

One day I will have a productive, fruitful, successful vegetable patch!

Unknown's avatar

Trying to Find Summer

by

It’s been one heck of a rainy year.  Virginia has always been infamous  for its humidity, but this year takes the cake, as far as I am concerned, with rainfall and moisture in the air.

Not only is this bad news for the animals (wet and humid conditions are just what parasites need to thrive) but it has made it hard for us to really delve into it being, you know, summer.

Rain every day and thunder mean no swimming, no picnicking, no lounging about out on the deck.  No leisurely evenings in the garden.

We’ve had so much rain that one day our bridge to the pasture was completely flooded over and there were rapids.  We had flash flood warnings that lasted for days and days.

We have had a few glorious days since the Solstice, but they have been just that: few.

So now, we are determined to make it feel more like something we can enjoy.  Summer has always been my least favorite season, so I’ve been doing my part to focus on all the good qualities of summer.

Like the food!

07.09.13k

Fresh fruit pies, fresh caprese salad, corn on the cob.  Anything on the grill.  Basil pesto.

My garden is hurting from the rain (the soil never quite dries out, and everything is going yellow), so we have yet to enjoy a fresh garden tomato, but I spied some green balls out there today, so it’s not too far off!

07.09.13i

We’ve also been enjoying the occasional fresh raspberries and wild blackberries.

07.09.13j

The raspberries I planted last year; the wild blackberries are growing all over our property.

On rainy days I’ve been struggling to come up with fun and lazy activities to keep everyone happy.  We play Uno, Scrabble and Mad Libs.  We read easy and fun (in my case, trashy) books.  We paint with watercolors.  We do puzzles.  We eat.

But sometimes, if we are very lucky, we get days where there is no thunder.  When that happens, I get everyone into the pool.  There is no better summer activity, and it wears them out like nothing else.

07.09.13a

07.09.13b

07.09.13c

07.09.13e

07.09.13f

We’re still hoping for summer to have a lovely second act.  In the meantime, we’re making the best of it however we can.