Sweet Jumps Ahead

My sincerest wishes for each and every one of you that all of your wildest dreams will come true in 2009! 

*Image courtesy of rerevealed.com. 

Hear It And Weep

I'm really loving this right now. Listen on a cold winter's night with something warm to sip and something soft to cuddle.

Yes We Can!

I'm looking for a few good canners. Each book in my series will profile folks who are doing whatever the book topic is about. In this case, it's home canning and preserving. So, if you're a canner, or someone in your family cans, or you have a buddy who's homemade pickles make summer worthwhile, I'd love to connect with them. Either post a comment here, or write me directly at: amadams26@hotmail.com. All it takes is completing a short questionnaire and sending me a good digital photo of your glorious face! Come can with me! (That last sentence seriously deserves strong consideration for "dorkiest blog sentence EVER!" Apologies.)

*Sorry about the hideous quality of the photo. I took it in my quite dark pantry. After, oh, about 18 attempts, this was the best I could capture. You get the gist of what I'm suggesting, though. 

Sunday Splendor

An aromatic welcome.
A mountain of citrus from Glenn's folks in Florida.
Weighted beauties. 
Blueberry is helping me write the next book. 
A new tribal rug from India, since Dexter chewed up the old rug. 

We Come In Peace

The Best of Everything

What a week it's been! We started last Sunday with a 10 course Feast of the Seven Fishes traditional Southern Italian meal at the home of our friend Ric Scalzo (owner and founder of Gaia Herbs). The food and company and overall environs were wonderful and truly appreciated. Then, there was the roof situation, which I'm happy to report has resulted in a grand new roof that imparts to our humble abode a bit of a thatched English cottage look, appropriately enough! 
Then, on Christmas Eve, we headed to the home of our friends Nick and Meredith and their 3 1/2 year old son, Miles. They actually live in a home that I used to live in, which was beautifully constructed from a number of different types of wood over the course of 10 years from timber on the 185 acres where the house is situated. It's truly a magnificent space. 

Nick is of Lithuanian descent and on Christmas Eve, which also happens to be his birthday, he engages in a traditional Lithuanian 12 course meal. The cuisine is variable, depending on what he fancies that year and what Meredith skillfully whips up in the kitchen. Glenn and I contributed a flourless chocolate torte and a bottle of Calvados for Nick. 
A scene from the feasting. We were probably around course 6 at this point. It was delicious, and ridiculously filling. And lots of fun!
Miles decided to leave Santa ham rolls instead of cookies. What can I say? He's an iconoclastic kid with artists for parents! 

Christmas Day didn't go quite as well. I came down with some kind of nasty 24-hour flu. I stayed on my mom's couch while Glenn and Mom slaved away in the kitchen, wondering if the end was near for me. The few bites I was able to enjoy were sublime. 

Thanks to everyone for such abundance and love this week. Now that the feasting is over and the roof no longer quakes from above and all is at peace in my stomach, I'm ready to get back to working on the Canning & Preserving book. 

Oh, I promised to mention some of the handmade items I gifted our families with this year. They included, but aren't limited to: salted caramels, herbed spiced pecans, salted chocolate chip cookies, pear apple ginger marmalade, apple butter and blackberry mint preserves. 

Today my brother Walker and sister Devan share a birthday, turing 24 and 22 respectively. Happy happy to the both a ya's and here's to thoughts of brighter futures ahead for all of us!!

Raindrops Keep Falling On My Bed

We're getting a new roof today. There are 3 men presently ripping off old shingles with glee and abandon, like roofers do. We've needed a new roof for a long, long time, but kept putting it off. Two weeks ago, during a long, hard rain, when we had buckets and towels set out to collect drips that were occurring all over the house, it seemed that we couldn't wait any longer. You try sleeping through a constant drip 12 inches from your bed, when pillows over the head, ambient music, and even ear plugs all fail to quiet the incessant noise. 

And so, here I sit, with 3 days until Christmas, trying to write a chapter for the next book, while the cats and dogs keep giving me looks of distress and bewilderment on account of the stomping and hammering and dump trucks delivering shingles and latino music blaring to give the roofers some solace on a morning with a wind chill of -8. There are cakes and cookies for the family to be baked, fudge-making to be attempted, fires to be stoked, and canning instructions to be written. Just another day in the life.