a winter's table

A month ago (ahem. whistle, whistle.... oh! Alright! At Christmas-time.... =P), we had several weeks of company for dinner. The friends and family kept rolling in - a wave of fun that lasted well into the beginning of January! This year, however, I didn't feel like setting a very rich Christmas table but, having had snowflakes on the brain since we had seen some of  Snowflake Bentley's photos* in November and being inspired by this and the general ambiance that was on my winter Pinterest board, I set simply a wintry themed table. It was basically blue and white, lacey, with evergreens instead of flowers and a splash of Swedish style. For two weeks, I just kept washing and resetting and enjoying the table. I have to confess that the last luncheon I enjoyed at it was a very light chicken waldorf salad with greens. Anyway, I thought that I would just quickly share it with you before winter is long gone - in my dreams, anyway.  My thoughts started turning towards color and spring when I flipped the calendar page to February. Time to get organized and order seeds for the garden! =D

By the way, lest any of you feel sorry for me after my last post... 'my ship came in' in regards to Christmas gifts in January. Our little financial bottleneck popped open in a lovely way and I was caught in a flood of very happy gifts - things that I had been hoping and waiting a long, long time for. Some of them including, a new hood over the stove, Photoshop, new boots and warm socks (it's true!) and a punch ladle. All that I can say is that I seriously 'cleaned up' this year! ;-)

By the way.... if you're interested in some artsy takes on the table (heh, heh! =D), I, also, posted about it here. =]

(pssst! There's the punch ladle!)

...and, when I do the dishes, this is what I see out of the window over my sink!

Have I ever mentioned how good life is?

xo

* Snowflake Bentley, a Vermonter no less, was the first person to ever photograph a snowflake. He was the one that discovered that no two are alike. Tom and I saw some of his photos and sketches at the Fairbanks museum in St. Johnsbury, this past Autumn.

It isn't autumn till...???

There is so much happening outside these days. It seems to change hourly and, every day, I've been having to adjust the blog post that's been forming in my mind. At this point, I can't keep up - Autumn is in full swing and is unbelievably beautiful! So, if you don't mind.... ;-) I'd love to share a bit of what I saw this past week, as the season shifted from summer into fall.

The wild aster has been prolific, this year - making for beautiful and wispy swaths in the hedgerows outside and pretty bouquets inside.

It's just so hard to believe that it was only a week ago that we hayed our field. Usually, this is a summer occupation and is done on the most brutally hot days of August but, this year, it was quite late. Perhaps, this is part of the reason that, only a week ago, it still felt like summer - although you can see that the woods had started tinging yellow.

 

On the morning that the picture of the haying was taken, we looked out the window to see the first frost - white on the winnowed rows of cut grass.  Happily, though, it wasn't down in the garden or around the house. Usually, the full moon brings a frost but, this time, it was cloudy and raining - hiding the harvest moon from us and keeping the frost at bay. So, we still have tomatoes and herbs growing and the flowers are still spluttering along.

...and, 'mom' and 'great grandma' (aka, Tom's mom and his grandmother), up the hill, 'next door' - who are bird feeders extraordinaire - have, now, surpassed themselves. They've welcomed Canada Geese, hummingbirds, ducks, deer and all manner of songbirds who all make pilgrimages to these generous women but....

Every morning, since August, a flock of about sixteen or seventeen turkeys has made its way across our field to go and have breakfast at mom's feeders. Even though we see them all the time - way off in the fields -  these crafty birds are extremely suspicious and it's hard to get even this near. (Unless, of course, you come upon a whole, long, non-stop row of them crossing the road. Then, one just has to settle in and enjoy the comic show of one after the other popping out of the bushes.) It's just simply very fun to see them this closely every morning - they've become part of our morning routine! Then, to top it all off, there is one turkey who loves to come down and peer at the dogs through the fence!!! It's the funniest thing!

The three daffy noodles...

...and, one last thing...

I think that another reason that it still seemed like summer a week ago is because of the drought. Even though the weather had been chilly... without those September rains, it doesn't feel like the season has broken or changed. But, happily, Tom (fearless leader) took the scout troop camping and sure as sure can be - when the scouts go camping - we get rain! (Honestly!!! They could have saved my garden a hundred times over if they had just gotten out a few more times, this year!)

You think I'm joking, don't you!?! HA!

So, Tom and Lliam and David went off to camp overnight and it poured rain and I felt that this called for a heart (and bone) warming casserole to come back to. (Avert your eyes if you're a vegetarian because...) I made a Connecticut-style Cassoulet - made with pork, smoked sausage and chicken. It's just one of those extremely fun and homey things to cook. It takes all day and I just love the simmering pot of ribs, herbs and beans.

My dining room table is still temporarily taken over with my latest photographic venture - selling prints; so, we cozied into the warm kitchen - my parents had just arrived from California for their annual, three week, autumnal visit and we tucked in to the cheery meal while the rain still came down in buckets outside....

(The bouquet from the night before - picked from my vegetable and herb boxes - glowing on the windowsill....)

...and, for the most part, it's raining still....

Cozy autumn is upon us!!!

xo

Sharing a Meal

I am always filled with admiration for those of you who, not only have wonderful adventures, but have the time after it all to blog about it. At the moment, I'm caught in an avalanche of exciting things that I want to share and it's those very things making me too busy to have the moment to settle down to put the posts together. Life is just too ridiculously good! Anyway, my parents were out for three weeks and we had adventures galore. Then, the moment they left, it was out to tend the garden..... and, well, I've hardly come indoors, since. I can't wait to share about the beautiful orchid that I bought myself as an early birthday present and the air plant (it's the most curious thing). There have been dinner parties - museums and art centers - roses blooming - visits to the nurseries for plants - inspiration - Oh, just lots of shtuff going on!

Well, today, finally, I wanted to share what happened on Mother's day (yes, three weeks ago...)

My darling sister and I have figured out a beautiful thing! She cooks the gourmet meal and I set the table and clean the house. It's very fun entertaining but with half the work. Clever, eh? =D

There she is.....

On the menu was:

~ amuse bouche: herbed goat cheese in a rosemary, cracker crumb crust and fig jam.

~ spring greens with a lemon and honey vinaigrette with grilled salmon, orange slices and almond slivers that were roasted in a truffle oil and seasoned with chipotle.

~ crepes filled with sauteed spinach and mushrooms with a mornay sauce.

~ we cleansed our palates with lemon sorbet.

~ Rib eye (that had been cooked the French way ;-) - wrapped in bacon) with a Madeira reduction with glazed carrots (heaven!!!) and whipped potato.

and for dessert....

~ tranchetto

I had had the idea to use lots of crystal and glass on the table with some soft and simple flowers and, well, ..... I kind of got carried away. We dined in a sparkling forest of crystal. It shimmered in the afternoon sun and came alive with the candlelight, as dusk fell.

Then, on my parents last evening here, we were discussing having fish with an herb butter for their last meal, when my sister remembered.... she forgot the tarragon and parsley butter on the meat - gasp and drat!!!  It was a quietly muted and rainy evening - we lit the candles again - half of us had fish and the other half, rib eye, again. Two wonderfully wonderful and leisurely dinners that included lots of laughter and extremely pleasant conversation.

It's a wonderful thing to share a meal together!

xo