photographic study | late autumn in black and white

late autumn in black and white... Nature's palette gets pretty monotoned this time of year. As we head into December, the earth basks in hues of copper, caramel, and chocolate with the occasional punctuation of birch and pine.

During the spring and summer, it is easy to find a wide variety of nature to photograph. As winter approaches, nature's canvas is staying rather still and quiet in its manner of change. The leaves bury the nature below and above are barren branches, yet there is still this quiet beauty all around.

daily photo | petals

november 28, 2009 | petals

recipe | sugar cookies

a classic cookie... The very simple sugar cookie has always been a favorite of mine. Sometimes when you make something so traditional, it is actually takes a bit of time to try out recipe after recipe until you find the perfect fit for your taste buds. Normally I wing it on all my cooking, but when it comes to baking, I rely on my trusted resources to guide the way. This time of year, I always break out my old issues of Fine Cooking and Cook's Illustrated to thumb through for good holiday recipes.

This sugar cookie recipe comes courtesy of Cook's Illustrated. If you are looking for chewy, delicate tasting, sugar cookies, this is the recipe for you.

Sugar Cookies

2 cups all purpose flour


1/2 t baking powder


1/4 t salt
2 sticks butter, softened but still sorta firm


1 c. granulated sugar, plus 1/2 c. for rolling the dough


1 T. light brown sugar


1 large egg


1 1/2 t. vanilla

Preheat oven 375º. Whisk flour, baking powder, salt. Cream butter and 1 c. sugar until light and fluffy (*please note that this is where the trick to this recipe is... cream too long and your cookies will be flat, too short and they will be grainy. 3 minutes on medium speed should be just right). Add vanilla and egg. Beat about 30 secs until just combined. Add dry ingredients, beat until just mixed. Roll 1 1/2 tbsp of dough in ball and roll in remaining sugar. Space 2"-2 1/2" apart. Butter bottom of cup and slightly flatten tops of dough ball about 3/8"- 1/2" thick. Bake 15 minutes, switching cookie sheets halfway through.

daily photo | flower

november 27, 2009 | it's raining out, so here is a flower from yesterday's bouquet

living | paper hats and christmas crackers

a new tradition is born... I hope each of you had a lovely Thanks giving yesterday. We had a wonderful holiday. All the pre-prep in the days prior allowed for a very relaxing, enjoyable day full of good food and family.

My favorite memory of the day was everyone sitting around the table wearing vibrantly colored paper hats. My mother-in-law had brought Christmas crackers and placed them above everyone's place setting. When we all gathered at the table, we each snapped the cracker, donned the enclosed paper hats and shared in the fun delights that we hidden inside like the fortune telling fish, marbles, and a miniature bowling set. Then we all went around and read the jokes that we tucked inside along with the toy. It was a totally unexpected and completely fun addition to the holiday table. We are definitely going to add those into our Thanksgiving and Christmas traditions.

thanksgiving grace

happy Thanksgiving... Thanksgiving has been my favorite holiday for quite some time. It is such a simple, wonderful time. One filled without commercialism and consumer craziness. For me, it really is what a holiday should be... the gathering of friends and family over good food and drink, simply sharing in each other's company.

This year, I give my greatest thanks to my beautiful family. I am also very grateful for the food on our table, not just on Thanksgiving, but everyday. It is never out of mind how fortunate we are to have this and I send my support and heart to everyone who could use a little more on their table. And finally, I am thankful for the lovely community of people whom I have had the good grace to meet through this blog. What started pretty much as a way to record the nature around me has flourished into these random acts of kindness that people have written my way each day. Thank you to each of you. I enjoy meeting so many kindred spirits and I send the warmest of holiday wishes from my family to yours. Happy Thanksgiving!

recipe | shallot and herb butter

savory butter... Thanksgiving Eve has arrived and with that waves the green flag of preparation for the big day. A holiday staple is my shallot and herb butter. I'm fortunate to be using my shallots from the garden along with some garden sage and parsley. I make up a batch and halved. I set aside one of the halves to be toss with the roasted brussel sprouts, broccoli, and green beans. The other half I use to stuff gently under the skin of the turkey. The result is moist meat that bursts with fresh herb flavor. You can always make a batch ahead and freeze for whenever the need may call.

Shallot & Herb Butter

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

1/2c finely diced shallots

1/4c white wine

herbs of your preference, finely chopped (I used sage, parsley, thyme, and garlic)

cracked black pepper

Place a tablespoon of butter into a saucepan and saute the shallots until opaque. Add the wine and continue to saute until all the wine is absorbed by the shallots. Set aside and cool to room temperature. Mash the softened sticks of butter in a bowl. Add in the shallots, herbs, and pepper and mix well. Scoop into a piece of wax paper and shape into desired shape. Place in refrigerator to harden or freeze to store.

from my window | American witch hazel

mystery solved... yea! today I finally figured out my mystery tree (or more appropriately, bush). I was psyched to find one full flower left, so it made identification much easier. Drumroll please... it is American witch hazel! Woo hoo. I'm excited to have it in our woods. Cool witch hazel fun fact, Native Americans used American witch hazel as a diving rod (finding underground sources of water). You can also use its bark and twigs and make an astringent. Now that I've recognized one, I wonder how many other bushes we might have around our yard.

recipe | stuffing bread, part two

stuffing bread update... As mentioned in the Stuffing Bread post, I cut the loaf into cubes and baked at 250º for 45-60 minutes, giving the cubes of bread a toss every 15 minutes. The result is shown above. Completely dried bread cubes ready to be made into stuffing. On Thanksgiving morning, I will cook up some sausage and onions and toss that into my stuffing mixture (which has been moistened with chicken stock and butter). I'll also toss in a handful of toasted, chopped hazelnuts or walnuts just to add that flavor treat. Two days to go!

daily photo | raspberry branch

november 23, 2009 | raspberry branch

recipe | stuffing bread

stuffing bread... Last year I put aside my bag of Pepperidge Farm stuffing (which mind you, I still adore) and reached for my trusted King Arthur Cookbook to test my hand at their Stuffing Bread recipe. The result was sheer pleasure in both taste and texture. The coolest part about this bread is that you can either use it as stuffing for the Thanksgiving Day table OR slice it as you would sandwich bread and use it to make the most delicious leftover turkey sandwiches ever!

This year, I've made two loafs. One for my regular stuffing, and the other for leftover sandwiches. To make the stuffing, cut the loaf it into small cubes and lightly toast it in the oven to allow it to dry completely. Once it is all dried, use it just like any regular kind of stuffing.

Stuffing Bread

makes one loaf

3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour


1 1/2 teaspoons salt


2 teaspoons sugar


3 tablespoons vegetable oil


1/4 cup yellow cornmeal


1/4 cup potato flour OR 1/2 cup potato flakes


2 tablespoons Baker's Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk
2 teaspoons instant yeast


1/4 cup midget sunflower seeds


1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds


2 teaspoons Bell's Seasoning OR 2 teaspoons ground sage


1 tablespoon King Arthur Whole-Grain Bread Improver


1 1/4 cups water

Combine all of the ingredients and mix and knead till cohesive and smooth. Allow the dough to rise in a covered bowl for 1 hour. 

Bread Machine Method: Put all of the ingredients into the bucket of your bread machine. Program for dough or manual, and press Start. Check the dough after about 15 minutes; it should be smooth-looking. If not, adjust the consistency with additional flour or water. Allow the machine to complete its cycle.

Shape the dough into a log, and place it in a lightly greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan. Set the loaf aside to rise, covered, for about 45 minutes, or until it's crowned about 1 inch over the rim of the pan.

Bake the bread in a preheated 350°F oven for about 35 minutes, or until it's golden brown and the interior of the loaf registers 190°F on an instant-read thermometer. Remove it from the oven, and cool on a wire rack.

daily photo | seed head

november 22, 2009 | seed head

recipe | cranberry sauce

never use canned again... Growing up, one of my Thanksgiving Day duties was to use the can opener and open both ends of the jelled cranberry sauce and tap lightly until this ruby red jelled log plopped onto the plate below. Then I'd oh, so, decoratively cut this log into little half moon slices. And each Thanksgiving, only my mother would take a slice of the wiggly condiment.

Making your own cranberry sauce from scratch is so quick and easy I can't imagine every turning to the canned variety again. Plus, the taste!! The sweet, tangy, inviting taste will completely complement your turkey. This year's sauce will even be tastier because the cranberries have come from Ricker Hill, a farm a few towns over in Turner.

Cranberry Sauce

1c sugar

1c orange juice

12oz. cranberries

Mix the sugar and orange juice together in a saucepan and bring to a gentle boil, dissolving the sugar. Add the cranberries and simmer for nine minutes. Here's where your personal taste will come into play. If you like whole cranberry style sauce, only stir the sauce a few times, being gentle to not break the cranberries. If you like it smooth and puree-like, sift the mixture through a strainer to remove the skins. Or keep as is and serve it homestyle with the cranberries smooshed, but still left in their entirety in the sauce.

This will keep in the refrigerator for one week.

recipe | overnight french toast

baked splendor... A few years ago I started the tradition of baked french toast for Thanksgiving breakfast. This incredibly delicious and indulgent delight is the perfect breakfast solution for the busy Thanksgiving Day chef. Simply prep this dish the night before and come the morning, all you have to do is place in the oven to bake. It really is so easy and there is no clean-up other than the baking dish. The other great part is that this breakfast really holds you until the turkey graces the table.

This recipe comes from the 1890 Williams House Bed & Breakfast located in the Hot Springs National Park in Arizona.

Overnight French Toast

(yields 4-8 servings)

1 loaf French bread

4 eggs

2 c milk

1t cinnamon

4 T vanilla extract

1/2 c sugar

3T butter

topping:

1/4 c brown sugar

1/4 c butter, softened

1/4 c oatmeal

1/2 t cinnamon

1/4 c chopped pecans

Prepare large 10 x 15-inch baking dish lightly with coating spray. Cut bread into 1 1/2" slices. Place slices in pan. Combine eggs, milk, cinnamon, vanilla, and sugar. Pour egg mixture over bread slices. Flip over each slice after eggs are partially absorbed. When all the mixture is absorbed, top each slice with a thin slice of butter. Wrap pan tightly with plastic wrap and freeze 8-10 hours.

For crumb topping, combine all ingredients. To bake, preheat oven to 500º. Bake 15 minutes. Remove pan from oven, flip pieces over. Add crumb topping and return to bake additional 10 minutes.

daily photo | wildflower

november 21. 2009 | these leaves of red stand out amongst all the browns & golds of autumn

recipe | wine biscuits

edible bliss... I fell smitten with wine biscuits two years ago. I had never heard of them prior to a trip to Pineland Farms one weekend when I bought a bag of American Vintage Wine Biscuits in Chianti, Oregano and Crushed Red Pepper. After one bite, I knew it was pure love. So I set off to make my own. It took a couple of tries before I had tweaked the ingredients to my personal perfection and mastered my hand at rolling out the dough to the correct thickness. Wine biscuits can be made with either white or red wine, but I prefer a red and the zesty of Chianti adds a great tang.

wine biscuits

(approximately 28-32 biscuits)

2 1/2c flour

4-5 T sugar

1 t kosher salt

2 t baking powder

2 t cracked black pepper

cayenne pepper to taste

1/2 c chianti (or wine of your choice)

1/4 c vegetable oil (I often use olive oil as well, but then again, I use olive oil all the time)

In one bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl and set aside. Whisk together the wine and oil and slowly add into the dry ingredients. Mix until a smooth dough forms. Refrigerate the dough for at least one hour.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Lightly flour a rolling surface. Roll out the dough to 1/3" thickness. Cut into any shape desired or use cookie cutters. I usually just cut into 1.5" x 2" rectangles. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on rack.

daily photo | wildflower seedpods

november 17, 2009 | wildflower seed pods

garden | sow wildflowers in snow

sow wildflowers in the snow... I collected the seeds from my phlox, mallow and dianthus this fall and was wondering if it was too late to sow some of the seeds. Turns out, its not. In this past Sunday's Maine Gardener, Tom Atwell writes of sowing your wildflower seeds right after the first snow for hopes of great meadows the following summer. In a nutshell, you sow your seeds over already prepped soil (so prep your garden beds in the fall for ease of planting in the spring.) After the first snowfall, go out and sprinkle the seeds on top of the snow. As the winter progresses, your garden soil will crack and heave, naturally planting the wildflower seed to its ideal depth. Come spring, you'll be greeted with the beginnings of a beautiful wildflower meadow.

daily photo | rudbeckia

november 16, 2009 | rudbeckia

living | prepping for thanksgiving

Less than two weeks away... Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I just love the whole ritual of delighting in a slowly cooked feast with good friends and family. I'll be hosting the feastivities this year and I cannot wait!

Mind you, this changes slightly on a daily basis, but right now I'm seeing the main meal come together as such: herb-brined, slow roasted turkey stuffed with a sausage, cippolini and almond stuffing and served with roasted brussels sprouts and pancetta, and buttermilk smashed potatoes.

I'm going to keep the table settings pretty organic and easy. Everyone will have a mix and match place setting of random cloth napkins, dishes and silverware that I have collected over the years. I'll incorporate our plethora of gourds into place cards and centerpieces.

Rather than flowers, I'll snipped some dried tips of our corn stalks and place in some pewter pieces. We keep it pretty mellow with a nice slow graze throughout the day that culminates into our Thanksgiving ritual of dessert in the family room while watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.