"Snowflakes whisper neath my window, covering trees, misty lights, velvet breeze round my doorstep, gently softly silent snowfall." Ruth Thornhill

Here is the view from my front door.
I'm glad we have enough wood to get us through this storm. Below that you see Our Lady Of The Snow.

In the wee hours of the morning while the world was still dark, Dennis and I began our day working together in the kitchen. By the light of five candles, he washed dishes while I made what we have now named Candlelight Key Lime Pie. As I squeezed the juice from the limes I thought about how much sunlight they must have absorbed in whatever tropical local they grew. I envisioned that we would all get enough sunlight and vitamin C from eating this pie to ward off colds and flu.

As this is the first day of winter, I did not want to turn on any lights. It felt important that we wait to greet the sun and work without artificial light.
Dennis really wanted to see how much snow we had gotten over night, so he turned on the light outside. I tried not to look, but could not help myself. We got a lot of snow, at least a foot, and it was beautiful to watch it falling in the dark.

It is our custom to feed the birds on the first day of winter. This year we filled the hollowed out shells of the limes from the pie with a peanut butter bird seed mixture, adding some Matzo crackers to the mix. Dennis skewered the limes and hung them throughout the yard.

We got so much snow that they canceled church.
I found this upsetting because I rarely get to attend a service and was looking forward to today, a Sunday when I neither have to work or teach Religous Education.
Harrison was elated to hear that church was cancelled. He was supposed to be in the Festival of Lights Pageant today at both the 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. services. He dreaded the thought. He was to play a person in the crowd, and he was to play a candle. He thought this was quite lame. Candles don't even get a costume, they just stand there, bodies perfectly still, holding their hands clasped above their heads and swaying their arms to indicate the flickering flame.

I thought this sounded cool, but I am lame. Harrison hates going to church and he hates Religious Education, but even more than the service and RE, he hates being a candle. At ten, he is not old enough to be with the really cool kids, but he is not happy being with the little kids. He is certainly not happy being a candle.

Snowball fights are much more fun than church.
Eden decorated cookies all morning and I made sea salt caramels from the recipe in the latest edition of my favorite magazine, Mary Jane's Farm.

I have never made candy before, and being over confident, I doubled the recipe. I had no idea how much the milk and sugar mixture would expand as it was transformed from innocent dairy products into an evil vat of dangerous molten lava.

It scared the bejeezus out of me as it bubbled all the way up to the top of the pot and climbed over the edges, so I stood there holding the candy thermometer in one hand while stirring furiously with the other and shouting out sing song soprano curses of terror at the entire operation, my pitch getting higher and higher the faster I stirred "holyshitholyshitholyshitmuthashitshitshit
itsgoingovertheedgeshitshitshtishit!"
I was trying to turn down the heat then turn up the heat then wondering if there was not some container somewhere within reach I could just somehow transfer half of the mixture into. Then I remembered that earlier in the morning we had tossed the pot holders into the washing machine, which was a really absurd thing to do.

It was a terrifying culinary adventure.
What was once just sugar and milk had taken on a life of its own, and it wanted to kill me.
And it was taking a long time. The evil death juice stayed at 225 degrees for about 25 excruciating minutes of frantic insanity before finally making the leap to 245 just as I was about to toss the whole evil mess. I really would have tossed the whole thing, if I had a place to move it or pour it. I was really afraid of it.

I had to get it to 245 degrees before I could stop stirring, remove it from the heat and add the vanilla. I was a nervous wreck as I poured this scalding goo into the parchment lined dishes, terrified that I was going to splash it onto me or Violet or one of the kids. Violet of course had to lay at my feet no matter how much I screamed at her and kicked and the kids were trying to be helpful, but Eden was in a trance-like state as she first backed away, then was drawn in close by the spectacle of this bubbly vat of sugar. I just knew that at any moment one of us was going to be covered in exploding caramel goo and then our skin would peel off and we would suffer in great agony on the way to the burn unit.

Thankfully, none of that happened and the caramel, after cooling a few hours, is delicious. I think our most serious injury might be if Dennis loses a filling chewing on it, but after cooling, the once evil stuff has taken on a new form. It became a slab of fresh, soft, chewy, buttery deliciousness. The sea salt lightly sprinkled on top makes it just right. Maybe the salt purified it.

I won't be making caramel again, at least not for a very long time, and only if I have an exorcist on hand to assist if need be during the production.

"Red red wine you really know how find love, Your kind of love like a blessing from above." Neil Diamond, Bob Marley, UB40

There are several emails in my box asking me to post the Biden Beef Stew recipe from my President-Elect's Cabinet Collection. Yes, that's right. I have not forgotten this little project. As our President-Elect fills his cabinet, I raid my pantry and create a dish named in honor of a member of our incoming staff.

Now that I am working, I don't get to watch CNN during the day (or to cook) but I still plan to pull out Pinky Tuscadero, my trusty pink crock pot, and whip up a stew now and then. I'm a little behind on the President-Elect's cabinetry, but I don't think I'll be naming anything after Chicago politicians any time soon.

So here's one for the crockpot, named for Joe Biden but inspired by Office of Strategic Services agent and Culinary Queen, Julia Child. This recipe is no state secret, in fact it is quite similar to Julia's well known recipe for Boef Bourguignon. The Grand Dame of the Kitchen herself suggests it be served with buttered peas. I like frozen peas, warmed in a colander in the sink under running hot water, lightly tossed in butter and a tiny amount of grated lemon peel.

Although traditionally served with boiled potatoes, my family prefers this dish served with egg noodles. It could also be wildly good over brown rice.

For this recipe, use an inexpensive piece of beef as it will cook long and slow and become tender.

If you do not have a crock pot, you can cook this in a heavy casserole dish or dutch oven at 325 for about three hours.
So here's how you make it:

Season about 2 tablespoons of flour with salt, pepper and garlic.

Cut 2 to 3 pounds of beef into stew sized chunks, about two inches square, and dredge them in the flour.

Heat a skillet (I prefer cast iron) and when it is hot, add some olive oil, or a couple of slices of bacon if the use of bacon does not offend you. If using bacon, render it crisp and remove from the pan and set aside. You may need to add some olive oil to the bacon fat to get enough to brown the beef.

Add the seasoned floured beef to the skillet and brown well on all sides.

Remove from skillet and add this to the crock pot.

Mix two tablespoons of tomato paste in 3 cups of beef stock until incorporated.
Add this to the crock pot.
Add to that some Red Red Wine.
"How much red wine?" you ask.
It's up to you-ou ou ou.
I couldn't help myself. Sing along with me. Red red wine you make me feel so fine, feel so fine all of de time.

Add 3 Cups of red wine, I generally use Beaujolais although any red wine will work.
Add to this 3 cloves of fresh garlic, a bay leaf, and some thyme.
Cook this on low all day long.

Now for the really yummy part - as if a vat of well seasoned beef in wine is not yummy enough -
In the skillet where you browned your beef, melt about a Tablespoon or two of butter in a table spoon or two of olive oil. Add to that a bag of frozen little white onions. Allow them to caramelize, adding a little beef broth as they cook, and shaking the pan to roll them around until you have a beautiful brown batch of onions.

Then, do the same thing with some nice quartered mushrooms, cooking them in butter and oil until they are gorgeous and brown. Shake the frying pan to keep them rolling around in their lovely brownness. This is my favorite part.

Reserve the onions and mushrooms on the side. Reheat before serving. You might want to plate the entire stew and add them around the edges, or you can stir them right into the stew.

To thicken sauces, I keep in my refrigerator a mixture of equal amounts of butter and flour.
When the stew is done cooking, if it seems to need thickening, I pull off a little knob of this flour/butter mixture and stir it in. I let that cook until the butter melts and distributes the flour, and then I give it a little time for the flour to cook. This is especially useful when making gravy as there will be no lumps.

I have been known to brown the beef the night before and mix the liquid ingredients in a separate container and put them in the refrigerator over night, then marry them in the crock pot the following morning. I've also been known to plug it in at night before I go to bed so it can cook while I sleep, but Dennis finds it confusing to smell supper while he is sleeping and wakes up disoriented at about 3 a.m., and a little freaked out. Now if the bread machine is going while he is asleep and he wakes up to that delightful smell, it makes him warm and happy and loving all day.

So, I think I'll put on a loaf of whole wheat bread and go to bed now.
Give the Biden Beef Stew a try. You will love it. It's my favorite dish to serve at parties.
Now what recipe should I post next? Barackaroni and Cheese or Hilary Clinton's I Could Have Chosen To Stay Home and Bake Cookies Cookies. I'm still offended by that quote from her. I found her so disturbing when she said that, I threw away all my hairbands as a political statement.

"Baby it's cold outside."

It was a happy Thanksgiving.

















The kids cuddled up on the couch and watched the Macy's parade, and played and laughed and got along so well it was like they were babies again. It was good.












After watching the parade, Harrison went outside and helped his father stack wood on the front porch so that we don't have to walk far in the snow to get it. They have now stacked two cords.
After stacking wood we all took a walk together while the turkey was in the oven. It was so nice to be in the brisk air and to smell peoples' fires and see the pastures while it is still Autumn. When we returned to our house we got a wonderful treat. There was a huge flock of blue birds in the trees in our side yard. They were vibrant blue with red chests and when they flew en mass from one tree to the other it was this burst of beautiful brightness in the brown-grey landscape that is November. It was incredible.
























After our walk, Eden made a nice apple pie and helped with dinner. It is nice working with her in the kitchen.

Dennis came in from outside and we drank too many cocktails while waiting for the turkey to be ready to carve, and we got silly and had fun and laughed too hard and then enjoyed dinner.

For some reason I mashed a bunch of potatoes. My family does not eat potatoes.

I don't know why Blogger has decided to go all funky on the formatting.

I have not had time to blog since I went back to work. It has been a huge adjustment for all of us and my husband and kids are doing a great job of keeping things running here at home.

Maybe I'll be able to catch up on things soon. I have several unfinished posts in my draft box, and I have to get some photos of the house up for Sharon. Eden is in the school play and on the basketball team so everyday is a running from place to place, mostly for Dennis as my work schedule keeps me from much of these things that have been my job all these years.

I have been trying to carve out a few hours to get her to the mall for a haircut and to buy some sneakers with ankle support for basketball, but she is burning the candle at both ends as it is and it has been impossible to find two hours to sneak away with her. So much to be done, so little time.

Oh. And Christmas. That still has to happen too.

Here's wishing you all a peaceful season.