Author: SaraTaft

In the short shadows…of the waning sun…

here we are, at the shortest day, the longest night, of the year.  The winter solstice.  That pivotal moment in the year when the sun appears to pause in it’s diminishing journey before changing it’s path toward it’s utmost strength at the summer solstice… still months away.   Leaving us, in the northern hemisphere,  in the darkest part of the year. Commonly called mid-winter or yule,  in the northern hemisphere; the winter solstice marks the  onset of longer days (with more daylight) and shortening nights (less darkness).

This time of the year can be challenging for some folks.  Those who feel the lack of sunlight and being in the great outdoors.  It is difficult, with snow, ice and cold temperatures; to feel like picnicking this time of the year.  Difficult, but not impossible.

Bonfires and celebrations abound at the time of winter solstice.  There are many Celtic traditions surrounding this yearly event.  Stonehenge, in England and Newgrange, in Ireland,  both appear to have been strategically aligned to coincide with the winter solstice.  Many pagan rites and celebrations are upheld.  Greek mythology tells many fables.

Yule is a twelve day midwinter celebration for German and Scandinavian folk, and many in the northern hemisphere.   Christmas trees, wreaths and yule logs are just a few of the customs of these yule traditions.  Hence, the twelve days of Christmas.

These few words depict, in a very minute part, the ideas, beliefs and traditions of winter solstice.  We all have our own.  And, I think I can safely speak for most of us;  that the passing of the longest night of the year, following the shortest day of light of the year, is like a long winded sigh.  Together with the cold and snow that typically keep company with the winter solstice; the lack of sunlight can feel debilitating.  We want to hide under the duvet and if we do emerge from under it, we want to stay in our pajamas all day with a really good book in hand.

Knowing the longest night has passed and daylight will increase (no matter how minutely) gives hopeful comfort to the soul.  Each day, through the  seconds, adding up to minutes, the increase of light mounts, and before we know it; the summer solstice is here.

But for now, on this, the longest night of the year, traditions and customs pulse like a heartbeat.  They live, they dance, they warm the air in stead of the sun. They provide a brief respite from the cold that wraps us in the shawl of the long winter ahead.

Time appears to stand still, silently meditating, barely breathing; on the cusp of Christmas and a New Year.

Take a few moments, in this glorious season of winter, to let your heart beat in time to the elements of nature.  Watch snow flakes fall and really hear their silent decent on the earth.  Take a look at icicles.  Water, the life giving liquid element, frozen by the frigid air in which they, the icicles, are preserved.  Each with it’s own miraculously molded identity.

Sit for a long while, unhindered by things you “must” do and watch birds feed diligently for survival at feeders full of sunflower seeds and suet. Occasionally a red fox or a bobcat might be seen crouching, stalking, hunting; for the squirrels foraging for seeds on the ground below the feeders.

All of life, in all of it’s glorious forms, striving toward another day.  Another few moments of light, in the heartbeats of existence.  Enjoy this solstice time of year.  Take a cue from the sun and pause for a moment, or a few,  on the cusp of another year, to truly see and live the MANY BLESSINGS…we have been given.

A very Merry Christmas to you all.  

 

Time.  Oxford’s definition of time is:  1  “indefinite continued progress of existence, events, etc., in past, present and future, regarded as a whole”.

Tradition.  Oxford’s definition of tradition is:  1  “A custom, opinion or belief, handed down to posterity.”

Time and tradition.  Both fill  portions of our lives in countless ways.  Day after day, moment to moment,  time is of the essence.  Traditions are carved out of time.  Handed down from generation to generation, traditions are precious memories of moments in time.  Memories past and memories to come.  Saturated with meaning, punctuated with joy and delight.  New traditions are being born every day…through moments in time.

As the quote above, written in my father’s handwriting, states…”We do not remember days; we remember moments.”  (Annon.)

Speaking from my own memories, I can agree that this quote holds true.  An entire day, filled with various events and conversations, bits and pieces, like those of a jigsaw puzzle; rearrange and scatter randomly in our memory banks. We cannot possibly store them all.  The most precious, meaningful moments, the ones our minds and hearts choose to keep, are placed in our archive of safekeeping.

I know, beyond any doubt; time was precious to my father.  After he died, my mother, sister and I discovered countless envelopes filled with quotes my father had saved;  regarding time.  Some of the quotes were in his handwriting, many he had copied from books or newspapers, others he clipped from various sources.  Time.  He clearly took the time to clip and save these vignettes of time.

I kept a few of the clipped or copied quotes.  The ones that spoke to me. The ones my father had copied in his handwriting, are the ones I have put into collages and gifted to my mother and my sister.  I have three hanging in my house as well.  Gracing the walls with memories and meaning, a small glimpse into the soul of a man who held time and traditions tight in his heart.

Time spent with family, whether keeping traditions or creating new ones, is  priceless.  Precious moments in time.  If you are fortunate, as I am, to come from a family whose tree is anchored by deep roots,  cultivated with tradition; you are blessed indeed.

If that is not the case, its never too late…there is, if you choose to make it; time.  Openings in the vast expanse of time,  to make those moments remembered; in the days and years ahead of you.  Holidays are a wonderful place to begin traditions.  Designated chunks of time,  set aside each calendar year, that give the gift of memory making moments.  The time for traditions to begin and thrive, must be set aside amid the chaotic atmosphere of the holidays.  Over the years, traditions  become automatic.  A given.  Non negotiable, revered, honored time.

This year, on our traditional Christmas tree cutting day, our oldest son Matthew, his wife Aleah,  and Bill and I, talked about how fast ten years have flown from the day in 2007, they initiated this delightful tradition with us.  Matthew and Aleah approached us after Thanksgiving that year, 2007, the year they were married; and asked if we would like to go with them to a local tree farm near them in CT, to get our Christmas trees.  Bill and I were thrilled with the idea and a tradition was born that day.  Ten years of going together to wander the tree farm in search of our “perfect” Christmas trees.  The first five years it was four of us searching for and cutting our trees.  The past five years have included their son, our grandson, Evan.

Born mid November of 2012, he was an infant, swaddled in a pouch, on his first trip through the fields of Christmas trees.  It was a bitter cold, snow dusted day.  This year he hopped and skipped ahead of us on the muddy, matted, grass road through the rows of fir trees. He was singing songs about Santa and would stop occasionally to look at the trees, then turn to us and announce that he wanted a “dinosaur tree” this year.  “A BIG dinosaur tree.”  Sunny and warm, we lingered, taking our time deciding on just the right tree.  Evan got his BIG dinosaur tree!!!

In his green dinosaur boots and his bright blue jacket, he zigzagged through the rows of fir trees and sang, and somewhere, in his 5 year old memory archive, I have to believe;  are stored moments of that recent day.  Moments of that ten year old tradition are indelibly etched in my memory archive.  For sure.

He, and I, will not remember the entire day so much as we will remember moments from it.  As years go by, his mind will put more memories into safekeeping.  He is young still, and tho we all have memories of time from our early youth, all is not remembered.

I can not put into words how much this tradition means to me.  I feel much the same about time and traditions as my father did.  Both my parents were born into families steeped in family and tradition.  The ones they have passed on and the new ones Bill and I have  created with our children, and now our grandchildren; are wrapped in and around my heart and mind with ribbons bright, held fast with the warmth and love of family.

Our growing, blended family does it’s best to honor past traditions from each branch of every tree in our expanding forest of extended family.  And, we do a great job…sharing, compromising, blending and enjoying the moments. Holidays are times we try to fit as many moments as we can into a very limited amount of time.  The holiDAY  itself is a much sought after day.  So much to do, so little time.  Twenty four hours in a day.  One thousand, four hundred forty moments, in a day.

We (Bill and I) have decided it is more important for all of us to be together for a relaxing, enjoyable stretch of time, on a day or evening during the expanse of the season; than to try to force it all into a very limited amount of the holiDAY .  That being said, we have come to the conclusion that it is easier for us all to get together a day or so before, or just after, the big day.  We plan it so no one has to rush off, soon after arriving, to be somewhere else, then somewhere else, then somewhere else…

In short, we are attempting to cultivate a new family Christmas tradition and tho it might not work every year, for everyone in our expanding family, it is good and we do our best to make it happen.  It is relaxing, enjoyable, and generous in memory making moments in time.  Gifts of the season that are wrapped in precious, irreplaceable, time.

As for the annual Christmas tree day with Evan and his parent’s, I will long remember moments from years past and the added moments from this year.  The happily sung Santa songs, the green dinosaur boots filled with skipping feet on long legs,  the bright blue eyes of a delighted 5 year old boy searching rows of fir trees for his “BIG dinosaur tree”.  Yes indeed, tho his parent’s had the final say in the tree, I will remember the moments when, as his father and grandfather carried both trees out of the field, he ran alongside yelling…”faster, faster, faster…” !  That little boy in the green dinosaur boots can RUN!!!

MANY Blessings…

 

Today has been a seasonal November day here in our patch of New England.  The wind stretched it’s invisible, frigid fingers, in and around the bare trees in our woods, and I watched them twist and bend; at the mercy of winter’s encroaching will.  Icy fingers, wielding a wand of frosty temperatures and formidable gusts.

Despite the bright sun in a blue, blue sky, I felt the full, windy, force of the season; when I went out for a brief spell with the dogs.  Their short hair offers no protection from the wind and cold, so we didn’t linger in the sun filled “back forty”.

Its the end of November.  Daylight dwindles by 4:30 and the birds, that have pecked and pulled seeds from the feeders all day; are seeking roosting for the night ahead.

As much as I love summer, particularly the gardens, their fruits and vegetable offerings so plentiful;  I love this time of year just as much.  The gifts from the garden are still feeding our bodies and souls.  I just put the very last of black knight cherry tomatoes in a salad last weekend!  The warm Indian Summer extended the harvest this year.  Root vegetables are some of late summer’s gifts.

Years ago, when we were feeding our young, growing family, I planted a much larger vegetable garden.  I grew all of the typical vegetables and fruits, tomatoes, two varieties of zucchini, summer squash, pole and bush beans.  Plentiful all…delicious fresh from the garden.  Nothing compares to picking them fresh and still warm from the sun, minutes before eating them.

In those long ago vegetable gardens I also planted root vegetables; carrots, parsnips, beets. One year we planted potatoes, the potato bugs discouraged me from doing that again!   Potatoes are easy and inexpensive enough to buy.

I don’t plant the root vegetables these days.  I am blessed to have a year round organic farm market a few miles down the road.  I can purchase them locally, which helps to keep small businesses thriving and free’s my limited garden space for the vegetables that are undeniably BEST fresh from the garden.  A win, win for us all.  Shop locally… if and whenever you can.

So, I go a bit down the road to get root vegetables of the most delectable kind.  Sweet, crunchy, vitamin and mineral saturated roots.  There are many ways to incorporate these colorful roots into meals.   This winter salad is one of my favorites…I’m fairly sure I’m not the first to create this kind of salad, but this is my version, and its a keeper for my family.  In fact, I made it for a family gathering this past weekend, and my daughter-in-law Gina, asked me to… “please, please, put it on your blog soon”!  So, here it is.

Winter Salad

You will need:

2 large unpeeled carrots, grated with the large opening of your grater

1 cup of thinly sliced celery, including celery leaves…the more leaves the better

1 large, cored, unpeeled apple, diced into chunks

1 small shallot, thinly sliced

1 package of prepared, steamed, vacuum packed beets found in the vegetable aisle at most markets…( I love the ones I get at Trader Joe’s).  Dice the beets into chunks.

dried thyme, salt and pepper,

Avocado oil, and white fig infused balsamic vinegar (see photo below)

4 oz crumbled feta

OPTIONAL:

1/2 cup of  roasted walnut or pecan pieces

endive or radicchio, rough chopped

Get out your cutting board and your sharpest knife.  Get to work thinly slicing and dicing.  The thin slices here, of the celery and shallot in particular, make this salad, in my opinion, that much more delicious.  Something about those thin slices.  Chunk the apple and the beets into small chunks.  (refer to photos)

Once you have gotten the root vegetables, apple, celery and shallot in a large bowl, add salt and pepper to taste.  Sprinkle about a half teaspoon of dried thyme over the mixture.  Mix all the ingredients together then drizzle about 3 TB of avocado oil and 1 to 2 TB of fig infused white balsamic vinegar over the mixture.   Mix well, then add 4 oz. of crumbled feta cheese.

Get out a spoon and give the salad a taste test.   Adjust the taste to your liking.  If there is too much balsamic vinegar add a bit more avocado oil.  If there isn’t enough balsamic vinegar, add a bit more.  Drizzle gently, mix well, and give it another taste test.  Also, keep in mind, feta cheese is salty in itself, so you might want to omit adding salt before you add the feta. Adjust to taste.

If you are using roasted walnuts or pecans, add them just before serving.  Stir them into the salad well and feel free to add raisins, chopped figs, different cheeses…experiment and make this salad your own kind of keeper.

Enjoy this salad throughout the long, dark and chilly winter months.  It is a salad that goes with every meal, and, as there is no lettuce (to wilt) in it, it is just as good left over for lunch the next day.

Many Blessings…

 

The countdown to Christmas has begun!

We just finished the last of the Thanksgiving turkey, its battered carcass evidence of its juicy, tender deliciousness.  The pies are gone and my envelope of Christmas cookie recipes is out for its annual run.

Every year, before Thanksgiving, I scrutinize holiday magazines, and cruise Pinterest, searching for new  Christmas cookie recipes.  I LOVE baking Christmas cookies.  Over the years I have baked thousands. One year I baked a dozen different kinds.  I doubled each recipe.  I gave 75 % of them away to friends, family, loved ones.  It has become a tradition for me, the baker, and for the recipients, who, (I’ve come to learn) await their festively wrapped arrival.

For me, it is a gift of sweetness that heralds the season in many wonderful ways.  A tradition handed down through many generations in my family.  My mother Joan, has always been, and still is, a Christmas cookie baker.  She has a certain few she makes and gives as gifts to loved ones.  Gifts from the heart.

I have narrowed my cookie list down considerably, mostly because I no longer have my boys at home, their noses sniffing out all those cookies, their stomachs honing in on the tins I stored them in.  Tightly wrapped, I  kept them frozen in the woodshed; nature’s freezer.  I do the very same thing now.  I put storage bags in the tins first, fill them with completely cooled cookies, seal them tight; and put them in the garage, natures freezer.  Of course, sneaking into the cold garage, in the middle of the night,  to get a few that are calling to me,  is a problem.  I’m the thief now!

My mother and I have started making wreaths for friends, family, ourselves. The house smells of pine.  Ribbons, wire, greens, wreath forms…the basement floor is covered with the necessary” ingredients” for making our joyous wreaths.

We got a bit more creative this year.  We made two small moss wreaths, with  moss collected from our woods.  We hung them without bows for Thanksgiving.  I have since added a Christmas bow.  We will hang them on our back doors to enjoy all through the season.

Making our traditional wreaths from pine and various greens, is the best. Trying something new is fun and different.   As much as I search, year after year, for new Christmas cookie recipes,  as with our traditional wreaths,  I find myself going back to the time tried and true favorite recipes I and my family love.  I have a few special ones, written in the handwriting of loved ones.  These are some of the ones I make year after year.  Those written by loved ones past are tangible, heartwarming evidence, of generations of holiday joy .  The handwriting, the butter smears, the creased and torn edges of the recipe cards…memories made long ago, revisited year after year.

One of the first Christmas cookies my mother makes are winter gingersnaps.  My father loved ginger.  He loved these cookies.  It is still one of my favorites.  I know it is a favorite of my son Andrew.  I can still see him, years ago, with about 2 dozen of these cookies on a plate in front of him, a big glass of milk in his hand.  In about five minutes they were gone…

These cookies have a splendid snap.  A crisp crunch with a ginger infused, creased, sugar crystal coarseness.  In short, they are a crunchy, delectable delight.  About the size of a half dollar when baked, they are just the right size for nibbling, one after another, after another…  A plate of them nearby as you wrap gifts, write cards, make wreaths.  Its a good thing this recipe makes roughly 200 cookies.

The amount seems overwhelming, when thinking of rolling 200 marble sized balls…but…don’t be alarmed.  When mom and I get together and get going it doesn’t take long.  The house smells fabulous, warm and inviting.  And…you won’t be sorry.  These really are the cookie herald of the season.  After you are done eating your irresistible share, packaging some for gift giving, and your husband or children have sampled a few hand fulls… you will find 200 cookies have disappeared !!!

Whether you make these cookies by yourself or with someone else, enjoy the experience to the fullest.  With a glass of eggnog, a bit of holiday “cheer”, some holiday music playing…your Christmas tree twinkling and glittering; sit for a moment with a hand full of these crisp gingersnaps and soak in the warmth and the joys of winter.

MANY BLESSINGS…

Each year, for as many years back into my childhood as I can remember, my mother, her sisters, and other family members and friends that wished to join us, gathered together just after Thanksgiving; to make wreaths.  We continue this tradition still.  Some years its a small gathering, but always, there are young ones, learning the timeless skill of wreath making, from the older generations, as I did many years ago…

The first step to wreath making, done days prior to Thanksgiving, found us ( my mother, my sisters, me, and perhaps my aunt Alice who lived close by), venturing out into family owned woods not far from our home in Connecticut, to collect greens.  Clipping branches of hemlock, pine and spruce was the easy part.  We carried clippers (the handles painted bright red or orange so we could locate them if we set them down in the woods) and empty feed or bird seed bags to put  the greens in as we gathered them.

Running pine, princess pine and stag-horn fern were more troublesome  to procure.  They needed to be coerced from the forest floor in which they grew… green tops appearing above the earth from endless tangles of vines buried just beneath the leaf layer.  We had to locate the vines, best accomplished with bare fingers, hook them and give them a persuasive tug.  If it had snowed or the ground had frozen, this became quite the challenge.  It was a personal contest for me to see how much running pine  I could pull, following its crooked path,  before the vine would snap.

Mittens, while warmer than gloves, were useless.  We really needed to have use of all our digits and our thumbs to pull the greens from the reluctant earth, and since the day was usually cold (and sometimes wet), this meant our hands and fingers froze.  Dirt and debris collected under our brittle, blue fingernails and pine pitch cemented it there.  Warm boots and coats were necessary but cumbersome, there were times it was so cold it felt we weren’t  wearing them.  November weather in New England…so predictably unpredictable.

Once our bag(s) were full of greens, we had to find our way back to where we had dropped them in the woods; to collect them.  Hauling them out to the car was an adventure.  If we had several, as was often the case (we made a LOT of wreaths), we needed to make a few trips.  The trick was to haul as many bags full of greens as our backs and shoulders could carry, and our hands (frozen to the bone) could grasp.  The bags were slippery and off balance.  HA!!!  Those WERE the days…my back was younger, my hands not arthritic…

Now, that was just the beginning.   All of those hard won greens, once hauled home,  needed to be clipped to size, or as in the case of running pine and stag-horn fern, stripped from the vines they grew on;  put in separate piles; then loosely back into the bags to be stored in a cool spot.  This seemingly endless, but splendidly festive pine scented task, was done ahead of time to help the wreath making party  proceed smoothly…akin to  assembly line production.

Alas, my mother, and other ( wisely frugal) family members who participated in this tradition, did NOT go out and buy the handy wire wreath forms that can be bought today.  NO.  We formed our own circled forms from wire clothes hangers.  Have you ever wrestled with a wire clothes hanger?  It wasn’t meant to be re-formed into a circle!  Trust me.

Twine or wire was used for wrapping the bundles of mixed greens onto the rounded coat hangers.  I daresay, some of those hangers AND the wire or twine that was used, got employed for more than one wreath.  I can still see those humble, circular formed hangers, stripped of dried and yellowed greens, long after Christmas;  hanging bare in the woodshed until they were called upon again, to be wrapped  in fresh greens for a new season.  (I think some of the hangers are still being used today!!!)  The wire or twine (and occasionally a bow) previously used was wound in a neat ball or around a small piece of wood and dangling from the hanger, to be used again.  “Waste not, want not.”  I heard that often growing up. There is a lot of truth to that saying.

Ahhhhhhhhhh…wreath making, thankfully, blessedly, is still a family tradition.  Some time this week, Bill will go out and cut hemlock.   I will go out and clip white pine and spruce boughs from our woods.  I will cut laurel branches too, they add smooth texture and brighter green to the wreaths.  I’ll clip a bit of boxwood as well.  I don’t disturb the running pine or the princess pine, nor the stag-horn fern. They are not as prolific as they were years ago and in our woods, tho there are many lush patches, we want to protect their growth.

I have several branches of winter berry cut and ready to add for a pop of red and with Thanksgiving days away, I have located the wire forms, (yes, I buy them, but reuse them year after year) twine, clippers and gloves needed for the festive, family tradition of wreath making.  My mother, younger sister, my daughters in law and I will be gathered in our warm basement right after Thanksgiving.  A huge pile of trimmed hemlock will be used as a base layer for each bunch of greens assembled to make each wreath.  An occasional sprig of white pine or spruce, laurel or winter berry, will be added to the top of each bunch of hemlock before it is placed on the wreath frame, layered over the previous bunch and secured by wrapping with twine.

So, your first step is a walk in the woods on a search for evergreens.  If you don’t have woods, perhaps a family member, friend or neighbor does.  Please don’t trespass…that could get you into trouble.  I’ve been known to pick up stray small boughs on the sides of our country roads.  Usually they have blown down from storms or strong wind and they work just fine for wreaths.

It is important to store the clipped or gathered greens in open plastic bags in a cool garage, basement or out building.  Do not pack the bags too tightly.  They need to have space and stay cool until you plan to use them or they will get matted and moldy.  If you store them in a heated place, they will dry out.  Cover them with a tarp if you store them outside.  Otherwise, if it snows or rains and then freezes, it becomes impossible to separate them when you are ready to use them.

When you are ready to make your wreath(s), gather the bags of greens and pine boughs together, lay a tarp or and old sheet or blanket out on your work surface and start clipping.  One type of green at a time, clip the boughs into small sprays about the width  and length of your open hand from mid wrist to fingertips.  (See photo below for a guide.) Avoid  using the thick ends of branches.  Anything thicker than a straw will be awkward to use.  Also, you WANT the natural spray of the evergreens…that makes a full and feathery finished wreath.

Once all your greens are clipped, put them in separate piles and get ready to go.  Get your tools together.  An apron or towel for your lap, your wreath frame, wire or twine (I prefer wire to twine, twine can break easily as you need to wrap the bundles onto the frame tightly) good clippers, gloves (your preference here) a cup of tea or coffee or a glass of wine.  Leftover pie from Thanksgiving is good too !  Perhaps some holiday music.

Gather your family, friends, neighbors; for a wreath making party.  Sitting around a tarp loaded with piles of pine infused greens, at a table or on the protected floor, begin by attaching the beginning of the wire or twine securely to the wreath frame.  Do not cut this.  You will need a long length and its easier to wind it from the roll.  Be sure to leave a tail of about 6 inches to tie off the last bunch when your wreath is complete.   I try to tie the tail to a small bit of wood or a branch end from the greens.  This helps me locate it when I get to the end and am ready to tie off.  Otherwise, it can easily be lost among the greens.

 

Making sure your greens are face up, (see photo above…the sprig on the left is face down, the right sprig is face up) which makes the bunches lay flat and be as uniform as possible, create your bunches.

Beginning with a base of hemlock, layer the sprigs, stem ends together, (refer to photo above) until you have about 4 or 5 sprigs of hemlock. Then, for a final bit of texture and color add a sprig of laurel, white pine, boxwood,(seen here in bunch on the bottom right), winter berry and/or other greens you may prefer.  As you create the bunches, keep in mind that you need to keep them all roughly the same thickness.  This ensures your wreath won’t be out of balance.

Placing the bunches, one at a time, along the wreath frame, wrap them tightly around the frame with your wire or twine.  This is why I like to use the basket type wreath frames.  The bunches nestle into that frame nicely making the wrapping easier.  Keeping the wrap tight, layer the bunches over each other…my rule of thumb here is to cover the branch ends from the previous bunch with the spray ends of the next bunch.  The closer you layer the bunches, the fatter your wreath will be.  Be careful to stay uniform with the layering for an even thickness of your wreath.

Continue layering bunches of greens along the wreath frame, moving in the same direction.  I find left handed folks move counter clockwise, right handed folks go clockwise.  Do what is comfortable for you.

When you get close to the end, you may need to trim the branch ends of your bunches as the space in the frame gets smaller.  Your last bunch needs to be tucked (branch end first) under the very first bunch you placed on the wreath frame.  This is tricky, but go slow and you will accomplish it nicely.  Once you tightly wrap the last bunch with your wire or twine, find the tail end and tie off.  If the tie off is long enough to make a loop for hanging, do so.  Otherwise, make a loop with extra wire or twine.  Attach it where you like on the wreath frame and then…have fun finishing off your wreath with a big, red, holiday bow, a few pine cones, holly sprigs; or nothing at all.  Keep it natural, dress it up with bells, ornaments, candy canes…do it your way.

Hang your wreath outside and enjoy its gifts of the season.  You made it, you created its beauty, you are now a wreath maker.  No matter if you just assembled the bunches of greens, did the wrapping or both.  I hope however you contributed to the gathering you will continue with the tradition and enjoy it to the fullest year after year.  Make sure you have an older generation of wreath makers, teaching the ways of bunching and wrapping, to a younger generation. This is what ensures some of the handmade magic of the season, a long, joyous life.

If you plan on hanging your wreath between an inside door and a storm door, keep in mind it will dry out faster.  Particularly if it gets day long sun.  I recommend keeping your wreath out in the air.  It will last longer.

As always…Many Blessings…

 

­It’s cold tonight, here in the Berkshires.   Sixteen bone chilling degrees!   The wind is howling relentlessly.  It’s a flannel sheets and down comforter kind of cold. The dogs are nestled in bed with us and I have to say, they are foot warming, happily snoring, HOT dogs!!! They know how and when to enjoy life to the fullest.

The weekend is upon us.  It calls for a recipe for respite, from our hurried , harried lives.  It calls for a hefty dose of slowing down.

Mix well, at a leisurely pace, moments of gazing out windows to watch children (or dogs) play, birds at feeders, or a river flowing.  Do this, while still in your pyjamas, sipping your second cup of coffee or tea.  Do not look at the clock.

Add slowly, throughout the day, several minutes of laughter.  Add an hour or two of good reading nestled in a warm, comfortable place.

Combine these leisurely activities with good food, shared in great company, or in quiet solitude.

A nap or two during the lingering light of the afternoon is optional, but be sure to add a good nights sleep (a minimum of 8 hours) as it is vital for this recipe to be enjoyed to the fullest.

Once well rested, begin again the following day, at the same leisurely pace, to ensure the best results.  Feel free to try different ingredients as long as they are added at an unhurried pace.  Life is too short and far too precious to race through every waking moment.

Many Blessings…

Despite the full sun, flaming in a bright blue sky, it is barely 23 degrees here, at the house, on a hill, in the woods.  A forbidding wind is punching feckless, frigid blasts through our region, and the wind chill is pummeling the temperature dangerously lower.

We have yet to hang the bird feeders, which we typically do closer to Thanksgiving.  I think we need to get them up now…the birds are searching for life saving seeds.

Our short haired dogs are not lingering today, out on their usual walkabouts…they go slow, hesitant out,  furious, fast in !  The warmth of our hugelhaus,  (hill house) is a comfort for which I am so grateful.  Made warmer by the oven going today…surprise!

Today,  I’m baking apple bread, and, my own recipe for pumpkin bread.  Two of our favorite fall delectable edibles. It’s difficult for me to choose which one I like best.  Moist apple chunks and crunchy walnuts mingle with cinnamon and nutmeg in the apple bread.  Smooth pumpkin and big chunks of pecans are blended with molasses, ginger and allspice for a moist pumpkin bread that I have (I believe) perfected for fall feasting.

When I see fields of pumpkins ripening, during my travels, I start to think on harvest time and all of its goodness.  Pumpkins are renowned for the Jack O’ Lantern joy they spread at Halloween.  The ever elusive “Great Pumpkin”  grows in a pumpkin patch somewhere yet to be found…the thrill of the search makes its elusiveness  irresistibly enticing.  Roasted pumpkin seeds are an extra treat.

Smaller sugar pumpkins deliver the gift of their deep orange, sweet, somewhat nutty flavored flesh, which, when cooked and pureed, is used to make pies, cakes and breads (to name a few goodies it can be used for); infused with a dose of vitamin A.

Warm from the oven, this pumpkin bread, spread with sweet butter, is hard to beat.  It’s not difficult to go back for another slice…and another…and…  It is wholesome enough to have for breakfast, just sweet enough for a lunch dessert (topped with ice cream) and even better for a midnight snack when you just need something to nosh in the middle of the night; when the wind, howling like a banshee and rattling the windows, is keeping you awake.

Hugelhaus Pumpkin Bread

Grease two 9×5 loaf pans and set aside.  Pre heat your oven to 350 degrees.

Into a large mixing bowl put:

1  15 oz can of prepared pumpkin

4 eggs

1 cup grape seed or canola oil (I use grape seed in all my baking)

1/3 cup water

1/3 cup pure golden molasses (Mother Hubbard)

Mix all ingredients above until well mixed and creamy, scraping the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula at least once to make sure all is well blended.

Add to the ingredients in the mixing bowl:

1 cup light brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

Beat in the sugar until just mixed then add:

3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup quick cooking oats

1 teas sea salt

1 heaping teas ground ginger

1 scant teas ground allspice

1  1/2 cups pecan chunks

Blend until all the dry ingredients are just mixed in and then, using a spatula, mix by hand until you are sure the batter is evenly blended.  This step is important.

Evenly spread the batter into the two greased loaf pans you have set aside.  Place them in the oven for about an hour (check to see if they are done baking after 55 minutes.  If the loaves need more time,  continue baking at 5 minute increments until a knife blade inserted in the middle of the loaves comes out clean).  Remove from the oven and cool on a cooling rack for about 15 minutes.  Gently remove the loaves from the pans and cool completely before storing.  This bread freezes well.

If you are planning on enjoying some of this wonderful bread warm, by all means…slice off a thick piece, smother it with butter (or not…it is rich and moist all by itself) and enjoy it to the fullest.   Add a cup of Chai (or your favorite) tea with milk, and go sit in the rocker by the picture window and watch the birds at the feeders.

I hope you enjoy this bread as much as we do.

Many Blessings…

 

 

Today has been a classic New England November day.  Raw cold, damp with a consistent drizzling rain,  bare trees stripped of leaves outlined against a gloomy, grey sky.  The end of daylight savings last weekend creates a mental gloom that will hang on until after the winter solstice, when each day thereafter will bring a bit more daylight into our hemisphere.

Cold weather survival mode kicks in and we are ready for it.  Our wood pile is heftier this year after we ran short last winter from the prolonged bitter cold.  It’s always anyones guess how much extra, beyond the usual amount, will be needed for those of us who burn wood for heat during the long New England winter months.

Long sleeved shirts and warm sweaters are stacked on the closet shelves and boots, hats, gloves and heavy coats are waiting in the mud room.  Ahhhhhhh…New England.  All the extremes of the four seasons in a glorious year.  Mountains, lakes, deep valleys and ocean.  So much is alive here in this far north eastern utopia.  So much available, season to season.  If the area calls you, draws you…live in it. But know you will need well honed survival skills.

Like warm apple crisp.  On a day like this, the smell of baking apples and the warmth flowing from the oven, make the gloomy day outside bearable.  Apples, cinnamon and nutmeg with a flour, almond meal and butter crumble topping is about as humbly affluent as you can get.  Add vanilla ice cream, or a drizzle of heavy cream, and your palatable wealth will multiply magnificently.

So, today I have a Cassoulet in the slow cooker, bread dough rising and apple crisp in the oven.  And…NO.  I’m not always this organized and on top of things.  But it sure is nice to know that for today…if just for today…I am.  And I don’t have to think about the outside tasks still waiting to be done…I’m going to stay inside where it’s warm, and deeply inhale the aroma of soul satisfying food cooking.  As I type this, it is snowing.  Light, intermittent flakes of snow.  Welcome New England November.

Apple Crisp

Peel, core and slice or dice 6 cups of apples.  I use Cortland or Empire…they bake down well under the crumb topping.  Use what you like for apples…no rules here.

In a large mixing bowl, mix the prepared apples with 2 TB of light brown sugar, about 2 teas of ground cinnamon and 1/2 teas of ground nutmeg and 2 TB of flour.   Let the apple and dry ingredients sit on the counter while you mix the crumb topping.

In a mixing bowl, mix together 1 cup of flour, 1/2 cup of almond meal, 1/4 cup of light brown sugar and 1/2 cup of diced cold butter. Add a dash of salt and blend until the butter and dry ingredients form pea sized chunks.  Drizzle a small amount of grape seed or canola oil into the mixture until it starts to bind together (drizzle slowly and do not add too much…perhaps a TB or so).  Do not over mix…you want this to be crumbly.

Place the apple mixture in a baking dish that is deep enough to hold the apples and still have room for the crumb topping.  Drizzle 2 TB of water over the top of the apple mixture.  Top the apple mixture with the crumb topping and bake in a 350 degree oven for about an hour or until the apples start bubbling up around the outer edges of the dish and the crumb topping is light brown.

Let this magnificent dessert cool until warm or room temperature, your preference, and serve in bowls with vanilla ice cream or heavy cream and a big spoon.  Enjoy every little bit…and feel free to lick the bowl.  My grandchildren do…in this house its considered a compliment !!!

Many Blessings…

 

 

A few years ago, I made the personal decision to eliminate red meat from my diet, for health reasons, as well as the fact that suddenly, I became allergic to beef.  No warning, no heads up;  just the fact that the symptoms of allergy were unmistakable and could not be ignored.  I have other food allergies so this really didn’t surprise me.  Cranberries, watermelon, raw walnuts.  Go figure.

Shortly after the beef allergy discovery, I decided to drastically reduce my consumption of most meat.  Occasionally, I eat chicken, turkey or fish.  I’ve become primarily vegetarian, and it suits me, and my metabolism, just fine.

However, in lieu of this, I have to make sure I get enough protein in my diet. There are other folks out there, besides vegetarians and vegans, who need to make sure of that as well.  For instance, people who have had gastric bypass surgery.   It is vital they get enough protein in their daily diet.  It has to become a way of life, a habitual process of healthy eating.  With a bit of research, and consulting with your Dr.(s) and/or nutritionist,  it isn’t  difficult to do.

Quinoa, (KEEN-wah) was a standard ingredient in the diets of the ancient Incas and is considered a complete protein, as it contains all eight of the essential amino acids.  Tiny, cream colored beads of grain, similar to rice yet taking half the time to cook, quinoa has, in my opinion, a slightly nutty flavor. When cooked with spices, herbs and other ingredients, it absorbs the flavors and becomes a delectable addition to many dishes.

I add quinoa to soups, stews, pasta dishes, and salads.  There are many ways of enjoying this super grain, and I have a lot of fun experimenting and trying different combinations.  I have yet to use quinoa flour, but I will.  When I do, I will share the results.  Until then, here is one of my favorite ways to take advantage of quinoa’s healthy, delicious, protein filled goodness, and to use up leftovers at the same time.

I always cook more quinoa than I need for the simple reason that I use it in a lot of meals.  It stores well, and cooking more than I plan to use saves time when I am using it more than once during the week.  It freezes well too.

When cooked, it expands to four times its tiny uncooked size.  Follow the cooking directions on the package.

In this particular recipe, I used up leftover roasted butternut squash, russet potatoes and Vidalia onion I had made for dinner a previous night. Roasted with butter, salt, pepper, and a bit of dried thyme, the blend was perfect for mixing with quinoa for these cakes.  I had about 1 1/2 cups of this leftover roasted squash/potato/onion blend.  I cooked a cup of quinoa (which is 2 cups cooked) and after it cooled I added it to the squash, potato, and onion blend. ( I don’t use a food processor to mix the ingredients…I like the smashed squash and potato mixture to be chunky so I mix by hand. ( I think this texture allows the cakes to hold together better during baking.)

So, at this point I have roughly 1 1/2 cups of leftover squash, potato, onion blend and 2 cups of cooked quinoa.  Use what ever amount of leftover veggie mix you have available, you can’t mess this up.  This is a wonderful way (in my opinion) to create something different every time you make it. Different leftovers create different quinoa cakes each time.  Garlic mashed, steamed carrots and beets, mashed butternut or sweet potato…anything goes and exact measurements are not vital.

I put my leftover blend and the cooked quinoa into a large mixing bowl. Once I stirred it up a bit, I added a cup of ricotta cheese,  2 TB of finely grated Parmesan, more salt and pepper and a few cloves of leftover roasted garlic I had in the fridge.  I stirred this all up well and decided it needed more dried thyme so I added another teaspoon or so of that and as it was a bit too moist for my liking I added a 1/4 cup of plain panko.  If your mixture is too moist to hold its shape when forming into cakes, you will need to add a bit of plain panko or bread crumbs until it is firm enough to hold its shape.  No exact measurements here.  Use your best cooking sense.

Put a cup of plain panko in a pie plate along with 2 TB of flour and 1 TB of grated Parmesan cheese.  Mix those three ingredients together well and then form your quinoa cakes into roughly one cup sized cakes.  Then, roll each cake in the panko mixture until well coated all around.   Set the quinoa cakes aside on a plate while you get out your baking pan.  Set your oven to 400 degrees.   Drizzle enough extra virgin olive oil over the bottom of the pan to coat.  Place each quinoa cake into the pan and press down a bit so the cakes are a bit flatter.  Then. drizzle the tops of each with a bit more evoo.  Shake a bit of paprika over the tops of each quinoa cake.

Place the pan in the 400 degree oven and set the timer for 25 minutes. When the timer goes off take the pan out of the oven and carefully, using a flat, firm spatula, turn the cakes over.  Here, in this picture, (above) I added some sliced green tomatoes to the pan once I turned the cakes over.  I used up the leftover panko, Parmesan cheese and flour mixture on the green tomato slices, and put them in the pan alongside and between the quinoa cakes.   After you have turned the cakes over and added the tomatoes to the pan (or not), drizzle a bit more evoo over the tops of the cakes.  Put the pan back in the oven and bake for another 25 minutes.

This is simplicity, really…at its best.  These quinoa cakes are delicious any way you make them.  With any leftover potato mixture, squash blend, carrot and/or cooked or roasted root vegetable combo…your call.  Try it…any which way you like.  Be sure to add a binder ie: cheeses, panko or breadcrumbs, white beans.  I shy away from egg, but that is just my preference.  Use it if you like.

Different herbs and spices make a difference too.  I love a bit of curry, cumin, Turkish spice mix.  Experiment and let your creative, culinary imagination, take over.

Feta, asiago, mozzarella cheese…I could go on and on and on…but I won’t. You need to get busy in your kitchen!

Quinoa is available in most large supermarkets.  It isn’t difficult to find.  It’s typically in the rice and grain aisle.  Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, my favorite local, Guido’s Fresh Market.

Have fun…and try it.  I’m sure you will like it.

Many Blessings…

1. The heavy wind and rain we received here in western Massachusetts over the last few days, brutally tore through the trees.  Branches are down and colored leaves are strewn like confetti, covering the ground.  I think late autumn is hunkering down and the outside temperature is down as well. Seasonal sweater, and comfort food inducing weather is upon us.

The gifts of warm days and nights stretched far into fall this year, extending the bounty from my gardens, leaving me with outside work still to do. The vegetable garden has at last surrendered to frost, and is waiting to be cleared and mulched.   My perennial flower bed is tired and ready for sleep. Garlic needs to be planted for next year’s harvest.

The next good, dry day, I will work outside.  I won’t have time to spend in my kitchen preparing a wholesome dinner.  This white bean and sausage casserole is one of my go to meals for just that kind of busy day.  It is so simple to put together and letting the slow cooker do the cooking makes it simpler still.

Cassoulet,  (ka-soo-LAY)  is a delicious casserole type dish from the Languedoc region of France.  Filled with white beans and meat, or different meats, (typically duck, pork, sausages…) it is cooked in a covered dish and simmered for a long period of time.  The long simmer enables the flavors to blend in the most delectable harmony.

Different regions of France have their own variations of this satisfying cassoulet. This recipe is my version.  From the USA.  Simmered in a slow cooker all day, it is ready for me to top with breadcrumbs and shaved Parmesan cheese, to crisp in the oven; in time for dinner.  I add a salad or green vegetable, and a loaf of warm bread just out of the oven; for a well rounded and thoroughly enjoyable meal.

I know some folks, and a lot of children, aren’t fans of casserole type dishes. The sausage in my version is a sweet chicken or turkey sausage and everyone enjoys it.  My grandchildren might not want the rest of the ingredients on their plates, but the sausage chunks are always gobbled up.

I have yet to hear any complaints from non casserole eating adults…this dish disappears.

Coming home after a long work day, (or in from a day of work in the garden) to the smell of this casserole simmering in my slow cooker, is one of the incomparable joys of home cooking.  If you double the ingredients, there will be enough left for another meal or a couple of work day lunches.  A single recipe will serve 4 to 6 adults nicely.  But don’t count on leftovers.

This is simple, wholesome, heart, soul, and belly warming fare.  It is also a great way to use up leftover cooked meat.  In this particular mix, this time around, I used leftover turkey meatloaf making it a win, win meal.

White Bean and Sausage Casserole

Get your slow cooker out of it’s resting place.  I have two.  A four quart and an eight quart, with removable crocks.  The removable crocks are my preference.  I can take the crock out and finish cooking the meal in the oven when required. If yours doesn’t have a removable crock, you can easily move the contents from the slow cooker to a casserole dish for crisping the bread crumb topping in the oven, as this recipe requires; so don’t go buy a new slow cooker if you don’t have to.

The ingredients here are enough for my four quart slow cooker (for 4 to 6 adults).  I use my eight quart one when I’m doubling the recipe.

You will need:

One 14 1/2 oz can of great northern beans (rinsed well)

One 14 1/2 oz can of fire roasted diced tomatoes, and one can full of water

One large Vidalia onion, diced

Four or five cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

One cup of carrots diced into 1/2 inch chunks

Two cups of butternut squash, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch chunks

One quarter cup white wine or vermouth (red if you are using beef)

Two teas of dried thyme leaves

Two teas Herbs de Provence

Freshly ground salt and pepper to taste (about a 1/4 teas each)

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

For breadcrumb or panko topping:

1 cup plain panko (or homemade breadcrumbs)

1 TB finely grated Parmesan cheese

A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

1 pound (more or less) of diced, leftover turkey meatloaf (which I used here) or, leftover chicken chunks, (removed from the bone), turkey, pork; any of these alone or in combination will do.  Or use beef, your call.

If you are not using already cooked, leftover meat, use five to six links of sweet turkey or chicken sausage, squeezed out of the casing and into the pot in medium chunks.  You will want to add the uncooked sausage ( or what ever uncooked meat you are planning to use) to the slow cooker after a few hours of simmering the veggies.  If you are not going to be home to do this, (and sometimes I’m not) this is where the sausage is really handy.  You can add it once you get home and it cooks and blends nicely into the casserole while you prep the rest of your meal.  Within an hour, it is ready.

To your preheated to high temperature slow cooker, add all the above ingredients through the salt and pepper, and stir well.  Let the mixture simmer for several hours on high.  After 5 or 6 hours, turn the slow cooker to low temperature.  If you are leaving the house for the day, (longer than 8 hours) put the slow cooker on low and give the contents a stir before you leave.

After simmering for several hours, add the crumbled feta cheese.  Stir it in well.  Let it all simmer for a few more minutes. Then, cover the magnificent scented casserole with the bread crumb topping, or panko, and grate about a tablespoon of Parmesan cheese on top.  Drizzle it with a bit of extra virgin olive oil and put the crock or casserole dish into a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until the bread topping is browned and crisp.

We may not be serving and enjoying this meal in Provence, done authentically to their different regions.  Yet if we add a bottle of French wine, light a few candles, get out the cloth napkins and the Tuscan pottery; using our imaginations, we can come as close as possible.

Like having a mini vacation around our own tables.  Add the secret ingredient and nothing on earth compares.  Can’t get much better than that.

Many Blessings…from a house, on a hill, in the woods.