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)