Celeriac Pancakes

When vacation comes around there is a part of me that becomes more domesticated.  I start cooking more, scrap booking, being all crafty and, this break, even knitting.  I decide to try things that I may have been wanting to try , and sometimes it turns out OK, or I bomb miserably.  This is a case where I bombed miserably. 

For weeks at the farmers market I have been looking at the celeriac (celery root) and thinking I should make celeriac pancakes (kind of like latkes).  I decided to pick up a few celeriac roots and set aside a morning to make them.  This is where I should include the part about not really reading the recipe before I set out on this adventure.  Had I done that, I would have realized just how time consuming this venture was going to be. 

Once vacation started, Little Man and I slept in and then happily awoke to make our breakfast and set out for the adventures of the day; or so we thought.  Once Little Man realized the first task was to use the cheese grater on the potatoes and celeriac, he quickly bailed on me and headed to his room to hang out with his Lego's.  He has used the cheese grater before and knows he does not like it.  About halfway though the recipe, I decided to halve the recipe, since the grating was taking so long and an hour after starting, I had my onions chopped, potatoes and celeriac grated and was ready to begin cooking.  That is when I read the next direction... let sit in cheese cloth draining for 45 minutes.  Of course I wanted none of this at this point.  I was hungry and was determined to eat soon! What is a girl to do?  Squeezes the things out by hand right?  Bad idea by the way.  We'll talk about that in a few minutes.

When I finally had everything in the bowl and ready to cook (an hour and a half after starting), I scooped everything into the frying pan.  Here is where things got interesting.  You see, all the excess liquid made it really hard to make these things crispy.  They were a little slimy, and I didn't want to eat them, let along feed them to my child.  This of course is when Little Man came bounding out of his room , ready to eat.  I gave him a taste and we quickly decided that toast would be a better option.  So much for the domestic goddess. 



Ducks In the Winter

After two weeks of completed refusal to step outside; at 39 degrees the ducks finally decided it was warm enough to wander out (the chickens are still wimps).

Lavender Sugar Scrub

I found a recipe on Pinterest for a peppermint sugar scrub that looked so incredibly easy, and decided to make it for Christmas gifts.  Because I have a cousin who likes lavender, I swapped out the peppermint essential oil for lavender instead.  The whole process took me maybe 10 minutes and the gift was done.  All I had to do was add 2 cups of sugar, 1 cup of sunflower oil, 1 cup of salt and a few drops of essential oil to a bowl, mix, and pack into jars. Easy as pie, unlike most of the things I find on Pinterest. 

Winter Birds

A few years ago my son's pre-school class learned about birds that stay here for the winter.  Since that point, he has been obsessed with chickadees, cardinals, bluebirds, and any other bird he sees hanging around in the winter time.  Thankfully, my mother gave me a birdseed birdhouse for Christmas, so that when my Lego-obsessed son did not want to get some fresh air, I had something to entice him outside.  The deal was, all he had to do was help me hang it up.  Once outside, we found tracks that the birds had left around some of my plants and saw a cardinal flying through the brush.  Little Man forgot all about the Legos and we were able to entertain ourselves for about an hour before going back inside for hot chocolate. Thank goodness for the birds who stick around in the winter, otherwise Little Man would have spent the entire day sitting on the living room floor. 

Needed a Second Opinion

Last weekend I traveled to the Farmers' Market and stumbled upon one of the chevre (goat cheese) vendors.  This particular vendor had several unusual flavored cheeses, and I sampled a few and managed to get stuck on the one below.  The truth is that I was just not sure about it.  Did I like it, or was it just too odd for even my taste?  After careful consideration; I decided that we would have several people at our house over the course of the next few days and needed a second opinion.  My guest willingly became guinea pigs, and the with the exception of my son and husband, everyone decided that they liked the cheese(Your son and husband think those people were just being polite).  So what kind of cheese was it?  Rosemary-lavender chevre. I told you it was interesting. 

My Real Motive

I have everyone fooled into thinking the reason I take Little Man to Laughing Moon Chocolates each year, is for the joy of creating his own candy cane.  For the Christmas nostalgia of watching the sugary goodness turn into something amazing. 

 Honestly it is all about the chocolate. 

 This year I chose a lavender, peppermint, raspberry and coconut truffle (not so sure about the lavender one). They were carefully packed into a nice little box for my enjoyment, and this time I did actually stretch them out over three days, although it was really hard. So the next time you see that happy little man making his candy canes, know the real truth; it is all about the chocolate. 

Ice Storm

Santa Run (in a small town)

I grew up in a small town in northern New Hampshire where not much happens, but we had fun.  Recently my mother wanted to know if I would come home to do a 5k run/walk for Toys for Tots where the entrance fee was an unwrapped toy and a Santa costume.  After convincing a few friends to join me, I agreed to run on a day where the little weather tracker on my phone was reading 1 degree Fahrenheit.   

While I grew up in this small town and know the 5K loop well, I have been away for a while and most of the runs I have done are extremely well organized.  In our rag tag group of 50-75 runners/walkers dressed up like elves and Santas the girl stood in the back of her truck, thanked us for coming and told us to have fun.  After a few minutes of staring at each other, I started to run with a few friends and started my watch, so I would have a time(there was no official timer).  Others eventually followed and everyone was off.  After about a mile my feet began to thaw, my lungs began to adjust to the cold; I was able to enjoy running through the neighborhoods that I had grown up in, some of which I have not been in for 15 years.  It was fun and the lady standing by the cone at the end handed me a candy cane.  A good day was had by all. 

Bug Webs

I wore my bug webs for the first time and several people have asked how they were.  Here is the official update:  I ran on a day where the roads and trails had ice but not a whole lot of snow.  On the roads the back of my foot slid a little and it took a bit more work to run in them.  I did pull them off for a bit and realized that it was really icy and the webs were working pretty well.  On the trails they were wonderful and I was glad I had them on.  So there it is. Now I just need to try them in the snow to see how it goes. 

Best Gift Ever

While this may seem cliche, the best gifts really are the ones that are handmade and from the heart.  One of my all time favorite gifts is a blanket some very amazing cross-country girls made for me several years ago.  The ones I have kept tabs on are now amazing young women.  Not only was the blanket made by some wonderful young ladies, it is a gift that continues to be a blessing in my life.  The blanket is now referred to as the cuddle blanket (amazingly enough it is still soft and fluffy) and throughout the winter you can find myself and Little Man cuddled up, watching a movie, reading a book, or hiding under the fort we just created with it.  The memories continue and the blanket will always be one of my favorite gifts. 

Independent Bookseller

I know you have heard this rant before from so many other people, but independent booksellers are the best! We have one not that far from us that has little kid events, comes to my son's school and holds events in the community.  This weekend it was "Meet the Grinch".  Actually, it was look at the Grinch from afar, and when you get into the parking lot announce you actually do want your picture with the Grinch, only to get back inside and find out he just went on a 15 minute break.  Oh well, we were able to listen to the story being read, hang out and drink hot chocolate with a friend Little Man has not seen for a while, and walk away with a Grinch Bingo card, which I love because it encourages growing your heart 3 sizes by doing good deeds throughout the month.  I love our local independent book seller!

Woman On Her Own At The Farmers Marker

My dear husband made a grave mistake and let me go to the Farmers Market without him.  When my husband goes, he goes with a plan; vegetables, meat and something for lunch.  When I go, there is not a single plan on my mind.  While this does lead to a much more enjoyable experience (I am not on a mission to find all the items on my list),  it does lead to a much more interesting assortment of food.  Once Little Man and I had leisurely enjoyed some Pakistani food and ginger-pear cider, we scoped out the dessert vendors, Mommy tasted wine and ended up with two bottles to bring home and we picked up some nut butter for Daddy.  Not really dinner material, but food/drink that will make life a lot more enjoyable later.  Next time I think Andy is going with me to the Farmers Market again. 

Christmas Tree In The Dark

Every year we purchase a tree from one of the local tree farms (White's Tree Farm) a few miles from our house.  In the past few years, because we want the tree as soon as possible, and the sun sets very early, this adventure has been done in the dark; this year was no exception.  Growing up, my father and I would often cut our own tree.  Most of the time it was from my grandparents farm and buried under a foot of snow.  Now that we have a child, cutting our own tree is a tradition that we have upheld. 

 This tradition does have its problems though, as we try to purchase the tree as close to Thanksgiving as possible, and some years we are traveling at that holiday, leaving us with the weekday to purchase our tree.  Given the lack of daylight hours in December, this often means walking around the tree farm with flashlights, looking for the perfect tree.  My theory is that we are at a tree farm where they raise trees specifically for this purpose; how bad could any of them be?  Once we drag the tree to the tree shaking station, Little Man and I head inside for hot chocolate, while Daddy straps the tree to the car.  Once it is secured on the roof, we head home to see what the tree actually looks like in the light.  So far, we have done well and the tradition of finding the tree in the dark will continue fir a few more years.  ("Fir" a few more years? Is that an intentional Christmas tree pun? -editor)



No More KFC for Me

The last time my father was in town he dropped off a bin of chicken manure (as if we don't have enough) for my gardens.  The plan was to put it on the garden when we put the garden beds to rest for winter.  Prior to us doing this the bin resided in the shed.  When we put the beds to rest this, Andy pointed out that the shed smelled like a KFC restaurant.  I will never eat at KFC again!

Only at My House

Only at my house can you find a freshly laid egg on a pumpkin.

Father and Son

Every night Little Man eagerly bounds in the house wanting to play chess with his dad.  Every night Daddy humbly accepts the invitation. 

Lunch at The Farmers Market

Due to the purchase of some Christmas gifts I can not disclose all that we bought this past weekend at the Farmers Market.  What I can tell you is; the Samosa Man has been missing for the past few weeks, and Little Man was forced to choose something different to eat for lunch.  He did not stray far, and choose something similar to a samosa from the man selling food from Pakistan.  It was spicier than a samosa and Little Man scarfed it down and told me he loved it more than a samosa.  However, while I was buying an enchilada from another vendor, the Samosa Man walked by and stopped to talk to Little Man for a little bit.  He will be back at the next farmers market, as he has been making renovations to the building he makes the famed samosas in, and Little Man is happy to have him back. Sorry man-with-other-samosa-like dish; nothing will deter Little Man's love for his samosas. 

 

In addition to this, after we bought a few items; Little Man insisted we stop at the elderberry cider vendor.  Since it was a bit warmer, Little Man bought a strawberry-rhubarb soda.  While it is just carbonated water with a fruit syrup, Little Man left with a smug little look on his face.  When we got back to the car he happily announced "You told me I could never have soda, but I am drinking it now." Keep dreaming Little Man........

Life Is Not Always Easy

A little over a month ago we noticed we had a broody duck.  We had not planned on trying to hatch any ducklings going into the winter, but figured we would let nature run its course.  Almost a week ago the ducklings began to hatch.  The first one hatched sickly looking and did not make it more than a few hours (there would be another later on in the week who would follow the same path), three more hatched, one of which was trampled by the older ducks, one wandered outside and was victim to the cold.  We have one little duckling who is still hanging in; we'll cross our fingers that he makes it...

Farewell Fall

We woke this morning to snow on the ground.  It is not the first snow of the season, but it is the first snow that actually stuck to the ground.  With that, we say farewell to an amazing Fall.  Farewell to wonderful weather, farewell to beautiful colors, farewell to sweet fall smells and strolling though the forest with the crunching leaves beneath our feet. The snow has come and fall has ended.   

 

The Things We Do

Carrots are one of those foods that you can actually leave in the ground all winter.  The problem with this; you need a special tool to get them out of the frozen ground in the winter.  While they do taste significantly better as the cold sets in, I decided to wait as long as possible (I am not a patient person) to dig whatever we had left in the ground up for the winter.  I have been removing some for dinners as we have needed them.  Tonight was one of those nights.

 

Tonight my patience wore off and I decided to dig up everything that was left.  Now there are a few problems with this: 1. Daylight Savings time ended last weekend. 2. I am still coaching cross-country.  3. We have a family of skunks living in the back yard.  All this equates to me jumping out of my car the minute I drove into the yard, grabbing the hoe and violently hacking at the ground in the dark about as quickly as I could, still in my cross-country clothing.  Do you have that picture in your head?...good because it is probably exactly how you are picturing it. 

 

In the end, I had a bucket full of carrots (yes, our carrots are purple-they are much better than the orange ones). 

Bring On Winter

Typically at the end of cross-country season the coaches receive a small basket of crackers and cheese or a gift card.  Not this year.  This year, I received an amazing spa basket to keep myself refreshed all winter and a gift card to a sporting goods(running, skiing, biking) store.  I have been wanting to go to this particular store for a few winter running items, but have not had the time because of cross-country. I am glad I waited.

 This past weekend, I combined the gift card with another I received from a race I did in September and headed out.  Upon arrival at the store, I found out there was a major sale going on and suddenly became like a kid in a candy store.  I now have a funky new running hat made by a Middleberry College cross-country skier, new winter running pants and Icebugs (studs you strap to your shoes in snowy weather).  I am psyched and can not wait to bust out on the first major snow day of the year. 

Winter Farmer's Market has Returned!

Happiness, in our house, is when the Burlington Winters Farmers Market returns.  Don't get me wrong, I love the local summer one, but we actually set money aside specifically for the winter one.  We quickly ventured though the market to find our favorite vendors (Little Man was slightly disappointed when we could not find the Samosa Man).  We hunted down the nut butter woman and Andy made Little Man and I promise it would last more than a week. We tried out a few new vendors (mommy sampled some new wine). Then we wandered home with goodies in hand.  The end of a successful trip. 

Monthly Update: November

October was a long month full of ups and downs.  Let's start with downs and get them out of the way so we can move on to the fun stuff. 

 

To start with; running was a major low for me. I had to take three weeks off due to an injury and I am slowly attempting to work my way back.  So far, it is turning out to be a long recovery process. I am still hopeful that by December I will be back in the swing of things. Of course, that leads me into my next point of accountability.  Despite not being able to run for a big chunk of cross-country season, I have lost almost 10lbs purely from not eating sweets all season.  While I am glad for the weight loss, it snapped me into the reality of just how much sugar I had been consuming prior to cross-county season, and I am a bit worried about what is going to happen when the season is over; especially because one of my cross-country moms is going to make me a tray of sweet stuff at the end of the season to make up for all the goodies I have been turning down. 

 

Now on to the highlights of the month.  The two challenges I actually wanted to do this summer yielded wonderful results.  Little Man and I completed our Adventure Challenge for the State Parks and have two new season's passes for next year.  Then...drum roll please....the Sizzling Summer Challenge I did though my insurance with only one grand prize winner turned out to be a huge success.  Mid-winter, when the temperature is at its coldest, we will he heading to Jay Peak for the weekend and chilling (Really? You used the word "chilling"?)  in the Pump House Water Park, pretending we  live in a warmer climate. 

There you have it, my November update with all of its highs and lows. 



For Grandma

As you may have noticed, apples are a major theme in our lives during the Fall.  We live in a great place for apples and, more importantly, cider doughnuts.  Little Man has a favorite location, which also happens to be Grandma's favorite cider doughnut place as well.  So this one is for you Grandma, we went, we watched them press cider, and then we watched each freshly made doughnut make its way down the little doughnut making conveyor belt and right into a nice little to-go bag.  Sorry Grandma, the bag did not even make it past the picnic table out front.  You'll just have to come visit next Fall. 

Making Cider

We have this beautiful apple tree in front of our house.  Every year it yields beautiful apple blossoms and a ton of apples that attract the deer to our yard(feeding the deer is not a positive aspect; they eat my plants).  A few weeks ago, one of the women in our church who is a homesteader pointed out that, while the apples on our tree are not pretty, they are in fact edible and would make great cider.  This Sunday, she dropped a really big hint and pointed out that their cider press is up and running, and we really should take advantage of it.  So as the rain cleared this afternoon, the family headed out to our little tree, thinking we might fill a bucket of apples and take it over to their house. 

 We filled far more then one bucket and that is not including all of the drops that went to the compost pile because the chipmunks and worms had gotten to them.

 With our freshly picked apples loaded into the back of the car, mother and son headed to the cider press (Daddy stayed behind to make apple bread from the apples he set aside from the tree).  Before leaving, we had washed all of the apples in the tub and upon arrival we found that we should have waited since there was a nice washing station set up right next to the press.  Oh well, live and learn.  Little Man quickly started to grind the apples into the bucket; a task he was quickly distracted from by the swing set behind him. 

 Once mommy had enough chopped up apples in the bucket and ready to go, Little Man suddenly sparked interest in the task at hand again as the cider was pressed out of the bucket and poured into the jar below.  Of course, his true motives quickly surfaced as he asked for a drink of the freshly pressed cider.  Once thoroughly satisfied, he went back to exploring the play structure,while Mommy pressed well over two gallons of cider into jars (I actually left a trash bag full of apples for the family who's press we were using, because I could not fathom what I would do with all the freshly pressed cider). 

Upon our arrival back at home, we warmed some cider up and sipped on mugs of hot apple cider while staring out the window at the tree it had come from.  Daddy, on the other hand, was carefully investigating the pictures as he planned out how he would build a cider press for the back yard now that we know the beautiful tree out front can be used for more than its pretty flowers and deer food.  

Apple Sauce

When life gives you apples; make applesauce.  For years people have been telling me how easy apple sauce it, so this year I gave it a tray.  I filled the crock pot with apples, added a little water, a little sugar(not needed, but still tasted good) and let it simmer for a few hours. It was tasty and Little Man and I had a tasty addition to breakfast for the week.  I may not add the sugar next time, since it tasted more like apple pie then apple sauce, but it was still wonderful, and a great way to use some of our apples. 

Some Times It Is The Simple Things

We are blessed such an incredible group of friends.  Even on days when I feel run down and want to just curl up on the sofa, they manage to get us out of the house for a beautiful afternoon of apple picking at one of the local orchards.

S'mores

The fire pit in the backyard is by far one of our best purchases.  We have shared many memories with each other, and with friends chatting into the night.  On a recent Saturday evening, we used it for a s'mores party with some wonderful friends.  The best part was how easy the clean up is when everything has to go outside.  Everything comes out on a tray; everything comes back in on a tray. Perfect! We get to enjoy the backyard with friends, and when we are done; we can walk inside and relax and reminisce about sitting around the fire on a wonderful starlit night, while the kids enjoy their s'mores.  Thus, so many wonderful ways to enjoy the backyard with friends. 

With Love From Vermont

I am continually looking for ways to teach Little Man to value the lives of others.  I have found that it can be hard when you have a 5 year old.  There are many volunteer organizations that will not let you bring younger children - for many reasons.  Last year, however, we came across Feed My Starving Children and found so many different ways to incorporate giving and serving into our lives.  In addition to the rice box on our kitchen table that spare change goes into, they hold several fundraisers that incorporate ways to serve the local community as well as Feed My Starving Children.  In the end, it all culminates with one big amazing event; the Mobile Pack. 

 A Mobile Pack is one big incredible day where hundreds of volunteers come together to package food that will be sent around the world; in our case Haiti.  For two-hour shifts people come and package food that will eventually fill a container that will be shipped off to children in need.  Because we helped organize the event last year, we came back to help set up this year.  For Little Man, it was 3 hours of setting up and 2 hours of packing.  He did amazing (even though he did lose all motivation the last 30 minutes of our packing session).  This year for our packing session we were even able to convince 3 other families with kids ages 5-8 to join us.  It was a wonderful day, and I would highly recommend it to any parent looking for ways to teach their child the value of serving others. 

Really!

I am pretty sure my family has set out to undermine my weight loss plan.  I have been doing pretty good on the "no sweets" thing.  My cross-country team knows, my co-workers know and while there has been every opportunity to binge on sweets, I have resisted.  We have been eating healthier and it has paid off.  I only have 3.5 pounds left to lose to work towards my Halloween goal (a little more towards my ultimate goal).  As you can see, I have been doing great. The boys, however, have set out to test my will at every turn (nope. We love Mommy and we love sweets. Just being ourselves!).  Today for example, we had a lovely afternoon of apple picking.  Perfect weather, wonderful crisp red apples.  Then............

The boys stop at the doughnut cart on the way out.  Two dozen mini-doughnuts (maple and cinnamon) (Okay, when I placed my order for two dozen and the doughnut guy looked a little scared, I realized that two dozen might have been a little piggy...but they're soooo good!).  I had to sit there sipping my cider, pretending not to notice the two monkeys scarfing down fresh doughnuts.(Fresh, hot, just rolled in sugar and dipped into maple glaze...yummy!)  I resisted, but I have to admit six more weeks of this seems like a really long time.  I might just have to stay away from the boys for the next six weeks.  

On a running note, I am not going to make my running goals for now.  I am currently starting my second week of a three week break.  I hit the point where I could no longer run through my injury and decided to cross-train for a few weeks.  It really stinks.  

End of Summer

End of summer colors in my garden.

Thank Goodness For Family

This year our garden has been less then stellar.  It flooded at least twice, seeds were washed away, nutrients along with it.  Blight and some really funky mold hit.  The deer spent the first part of the summer eating it. In the end I pretty much just gave up.  Thankfully my dad still takes care of me and brought a surplus of vegetables from his garden over this weekend.  We now have beets, corn, potatoes, summer squash, beans, butternut squash and a ton of cucumbers.  Thank goodness for fathers who can actually garden. Now if I could just get some of that to rub off on me.