A belated holiday review

My apologies for being so long absent with nary a word or picture of the holiday festivities around these here parts. And as I face "breaking up Christmas" around the house, here are a few images and notes about our holidays.


Bells on the doors to add a little jingle to the days.

My mother's milk-glass sleigh takes pride of place on the Dining Room table.

The annual Christmas Amaryllis from my sister-in-law takes up a post on the bookshelf to begin its glorious growing process, hopefully to grace us with lush red blooms by Valentine's Day.

Our little Christmas tree with a strange menagerie.

Some images of the evergreen garland we hang around the living room door frame to display our Christmas and Winter Solstice ornaments.




A few more little corners from around the house.


Our stockings hung on the banister with care. (For that was the tradition in my house growing up)



Three lovely cross-stitched santas from a bell-pull my mother made that graces our front door.


I hope yours was merry and bright and full of joy and the light of good friends and family.

My review of the Shared Harvest Winter CSA

I put a review up at Localharvest for the Shared Harvest Winter CSA. It has been such an important addition to our local food sources. And it is a valuable local resource that we'd like to see continuing to flourish and grow.


Farley and Zeke checking out the first share.

Here are a few photos of some of the delicious produce and food we've made from our shares.


Some baked egg custard and acorn squash steaming away in the oven.


A lunch of winter minestrone, multigrain home made crackers and fresh fromage blanc.


Kale and carmelized onion pizza with sourdough wholewheat crust.


Three sisters stew in our magic soup pot.


A French apple tart made with a yogurt and fresh egg custard and sliced Macoun apples.

Today, while a fresh pot of soup simmers in the red soup pot, I'll be reviewing last years calendar for planting and harvesting dates. I'll be looking up the first signs of rhubarb and asparagus from last year, looking through what we planted and harvested and feeling great about the local farms and resources we've found to fill some of the gaps in our home-grown produce. Thanks to folks like Gretta Anderson from Shared Harvest CSA, Jennifer Hashley from Pete & Jen's Backyard Birds and Kristin Nicholas and Mark Duprey from Leydon Glen Lamb, we're staying much closer to our local foodshed and feeling the rewards!