My friends, we are in the midst of my very favorite time of year. The months of October through December exhibit the very best in nature, color, smells, tastes, and opportunities for family, giving, and good eating. Despite how it looks from the Apron Archives view, things have been very busy in my kitchen lately. In my life, too.
I adopted a three-year-old grey tuxedo cat from the local shelter, and you know she’s something special because I got her even though 1) she’s not a Siamese, and 2) she’s a she. When it comes to cats, I like boys. I named her Ruby, but like most pets, I rarely call her that. Instead she is Rue, Rue Bones, and Moschka.
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We had a bit of a rough start, and I still wish she wouldn’t chew absolutely everything in sight when I am sleeping in hopes that her gnawing will force me to trudge to the kitchen to feed her (it usually works), but I absolutely love working on something in bed and seeing her curled up and snoozing by my feet, and having her greet me the moment I open the door with her Marge Simpson groan-meow. It was getting a little lonely in my wood-paneled palace.
My job at Yankee has me busy testing recipes for my Homegrown column (did you see my Nov/Dec feature on Kale? Read Kale –The Queen of Greens here!), special cookbook projects, and numerous blogs and web-articles that focus on food. My favorite has been a web series I’ve been writing titled “Holiday Appetizers Through the Decades” where I comb through the Yankee archives and feature one appetizer each week through (you guessed it) each of the decades Yankee has been publishing, meaning I started with the 1930′s. Have a look:
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We also had a lovely family Thanksgiving at my parents’ house in Lowell, which they’ve lived in for a year and a half now, and looks wonderful thanks to lots of renovations and creative decorating.
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My contributions included mushroom sourdough stuffing, challah knot rolls modified from my favorite challah bread recipe, and Italian chocolate clove cookies. Since I stuck to Instagram for most of the evening (follow me if you don’t already!), these photos will look decidedly more grainy hip.
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Sully reaching for the turkey kills me.
I’ve also been busy blogging for Yankee about New England through our “Explore New England” blog.
Recent adventures have included A Visit to Stockbridge and the Norman Rockwell Museum…
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plus a recap of the fattening delicious Mt. Washington Valley Inn to Inn Cookie Tour I went on last year.
It’s nonstop, my friends, and it’s time I started getting better at sharing more of it with you!
Also, there will be a new recipe this week. I promise!
Happy holiday season! XO
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