Photo Expedition - Route 22

On Mother's Day, my daughter lets me choose the locale, and we head out on a photo expedition. This means taking a camera along, with plenty of charged batteries, and seeking out beautiful photo opportunities and taking hundreds of shots. It's fun, creative, and helps us look at things a little more closely and with an eye toward framing a great shot.

This year, we decided to head south down scenic Route 22 just over the border in New York. Here's what we found as we meandered along

(NOTE: I can't figure out how to slow down this slide show. If it's running too fast, just hover over it until the control buttons appear, then click Pause. You'll be able to continue playing it when you're ready, or use the arrows to view one photo at a time.):



We had a lovely meal (late lunch, early dinner) at the quaint and cozy Hillsdale Crossroads Diner. It was pleasant inside, with friendly servers, interesting old farm implements hanging from the ceiling, and the requisite aluminum diner backsplash. They serve breakfast all day (hallelujah!), so I had my favorite corned beef hash and poached eggs. My daughter had the special - popcorn shrimp and fries.



After that, we turned around and headed home again...still finding many great shots along the way. And, we still made it home with plenty of time to spare for uploading photos and creating slideshows!

PS - If you head out on one of these rural road trips, be sure to gas up the car ahead of time, pack water bottles and snacks, and bring cash! It can often be quite some time before you can get these items. We ended up needing cash to pay for our meal, as the restaurant didn't take cards, so went to the nearby gas station ATM. It only could dispense ONE $20 bill!
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Lotsa Cooks in the Kitchen

Hurrah - the living room painting was finished in time for Easter, and the furniture moved back into the room. We were quite pleased with the results and had plenty of oohs and ahs from guests.

There will be a before and after post on the remodel coming soon (although I inadvertently deleted the entire before photo folder, and have only a few shots of the original room scattered through other folders). It was a fairly big and time-consuming project, but we're so glad it's done and really like the end result.

Having the living room put back in order also meant the dining room was back to normal so the Easter buffet could be set up as we usually do. (The dining room had served as our temporary living room during this whole process.)

And, as mentioned in the Easter Brunch post, guests were invited to make their own omelets. We simply set out all the ingredients and let them do their thing. Eveyone seemed to like this option quite a bit, and just about everyone made one, kids included (and no mishaps of any kind!).

PS Flipping an omelet is much harder than one might imagine.
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Easter Brunch

We expect to have our usual houseful on Easter (which means I really need to get the living room painting finished!). We always do a brunch; here's this year's menu:

• Mimosas
• Deviled Eggs, Pickles, and Olives
• Glazed Spiral Ham
• Covered Dish Potatoes (made in the crockpot and delishly cheese-y!)
• Omelet Bar (ham, cheese, green onion, red pepper, mushrooms, tomato)
• Biscuits 'n Gravy
• Sunshine Salad (a must at a family event...a variety of fruit, with pastel mini marshmallows and sour cream)
• Mango Cupcakes (served on the pretty tiered Wilton cupcake stand)
• Coffee & Tea (I'm going to serve the coffee Cuban-style, with condensed milk)

This will be our first year with the omelet bar...I'll set out the beaten eggs, the fillings, and a couple of pans, and let people make their own. Last year's egg decorating went very well, so I'm thinking this new interactive omelet-making might be a hit too.
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Happy New Year 2009!

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New Year's Day always makes me think of fresh starts, clean slates, new possibilities, and a feeling of hopefulness.

This feeling is enhanced when I put the calendar for the new year (Susan Branch, natch) up on the wall in the kitchen next to the phone. I'm mesmerized by all of its blank spaces just waiting to be filled in - a Virgo's dream!

I do make resolutions, but I've learned to keep them to only one or two big ones that really matter to me and that I really want to do, and to make them realistic so I can actually achieve them.
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Prepping for New Year's Eve

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Well, we're in the holiday home stretch!

We have our final party tonight...a New Year's Eve Open House. We've invited family, friends and neighbors, and here's the plan:

• An easy spaghetti dinner at 6, with slow-cooked meatballs, salad and homemade garlic bread. I usually make the meatballs in a crockpot, but it's still at someone's house from a party! I'll have to use the stove top - hope they come out right!


• LOTS of board games: DDR, Clue FX (sooooo fun), Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit, Pictionary, Scrabble, Sorry, Jenga, Probe, Boggle, Yahtzee, Battleship. We have different games going on in each room. And, the dining room table is also extended so we can have a game at each end.


• 4,000 Questions: I once found a book called "4,000 Questions for Getting to Know Anyone and Everyone." We LOVE this book and use it often. I put the questions on little slips of paper and leave them out in baskets. Then, anyone can pull out a question to ask anyone else any time. The questions are interesting and usually lead to discovering some interesting tidbit about someone that we didn't previously know - we even discover new things about family members!


• Cheese Fondue with bread cubes, potato chunks, broccoli spears, and apple slices.


• Chocolate Fondue later, with marshmallows, pretzels, pound cake, and orange segments.


• Cupcakes: I was inspired by A Baked Creation blog to make New Year cupcakes - yellow cake with chocolate frosting, and "2009" standing up in the frosting, made from piped white chocolate.

And, of course, we'll have a midnight toast with champagne and sparkling juice as we watch the ball drop in Times Square.

Then, my daughter will have 4 friends sleeping over! And, New Year's Day will be spent cleaning up and getting organized for 2009 (I know...fun, right?).

Putting Away Christmas

Oh, that sad, sad day...when Christmas gets put away...

Yes, this is the weekend officially designated for getting everything "Christmas" put back into old cardboard boxes and stored on the shelves in the basement.

But, I did manage to have my annual viewing of "A Christmas Carol," when I was reminded to keep Christmas in my heart throughout the year, even if it is "put away," which I will sincerely try to do.

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Christmas Dinner Review

Well, everyone liked Christmas Dinner quite a lot, but I tend to be a tough critic when I'm the cook. Here's my review of the recipes and how they turned out:

(PS - photo at right is a random holiday photo of the kitchen - I didn't have any shots of Christmas Dinner to use!)

Roast Pork Loin with Cider & Apples: I added apples to this recipe, even though it didn't call for them - I put them in with the roast 1/2 hour before it was supposed to be done, and we liked the addition very much. Otherwise, I followed the recipe and cooking time, but not the roast internal temp directions, which I think was a mistake, as the meat was good but just a bit dry. Also, the cider burns in the oven! I ended up adding water to stop the burning smell, and this also didn't help the pan drippings taste as great as they might have. Otherwise, not bad.

Potatoes Au Gratin: I've made this before, and it's a very simple but tasty way to have potatoes done a little differently. However, these were a bit dry...not sure why as they usually come out great? I think I should have saved just a bit of the potato water and added it once the potatoes were mashed up.

Sauteed Greens with Garlic: Just a fabulous taste for a vegetable...the browned garlic chips are wonderful with the tangy greens.

Cranberry Pudding with Butter Sauce: Okay - this is to die for! This was definitely the star of the show. The pudding is moist and dense, as steamed puddings are, and not sweet at all. The delectable butter sauce adds the sweetness. This is so moist and dense and delicious that it's really hard to stop eating. If I were making it again, I think I'd reduce the sugar a bit, as none of us are into really sweet desserts, but overall, just a fabulous end to a holiday meal, along with a nice hot cup of tea.

Christmas Dinner

We're trying all new recipes for Christmas Dinner this year (surprise, surprise!). Here's the menu:

Crackers, Cheese & Pepperoni

Cider & Eggnog

Roasted Pork Loin with Rosemary, Apples, & Cider

Potatoes Au Gratin

Sauteed Greens with Garlic

Rolls & Butter

Cranberry Pudding with Butter Sauce

Coffe & Tea

The recipes came from a recent newspaper insert called Relish. Surprisingly, I often find really great recipes in these inserts that I save and use over and over.

(Note: photos in this post are courtesy of Relish.)
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A Christmas Must-Read

If you haven't already read it, I highly recommmend adding "A Cup of Christmas Tea," by Tom Hegg, to your holiday book collection.

I read this every year, as we get very close to Christmas. It's a story about a guy who reluctantly decides to visit his elderly and infirm aunt during the holidays.

As he visits, he remembers all of the things that were once important when he was younger, through his chat with his aunt and the holiday decorations she has everywhere.

My favorite lines from the book, and the ones that usually sets me to crying, are:

We went inside and then before

I knew how to react

Before my eyes and ears and nose

Was Christmas past, alive, intact!

I haven't read it yet this year, but will any moment now, with a warming cup of tea beside the glow of the Christmas tree, as snow falls quietly outside.

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Cookies ala Martha

The Featured Cookie in this year's holiday edition of Martha Stewart is a Chocolate Peppermint Cookie.

I usually try one new cookie every Christmas, which I give as gifts to my neighbors. So, I decided to try this one this year, as it was so pretty!

Here's how it went for me (not too hard, but a bit time consuming...I don't think I would do them again, although they are festive.)

First, I made the chocolate inner wafer (not too difficult - just takes time to chill the dough, roll it, cut it, freeze it, then bake it).

Second, I melted the white chips in a double boiler and crushed the candy canes.

Third, that's me on the right, coating the cookies and sprinkling with candy. The recipe said it made 6 dozen, although I ended up with 5 dozen. Pretty and tasty, and very nice gifts for my good neighbors.

PS - A special thank you to my daughter, the ace action photographer!

Hallmark Ornaments

You know, I can't say that I was ever a dedicated fan of Hallmark, or its ornaments. That is, until one year when I saw one advertised in our local paper that suited either me or my daughter to a tee; I really can't even remember which ornament it was, but I DO recall that the ad is what got me into the store and over to the ornament area.

After that one trip, it was all over for me.I've been hooked on Hallmark Christmas ornaments ever since, and set aside a momentous shopping day to make my pilgrimage to choose the new annual ornament.

Pictured on the right is my absolute favorite, a miniature refrigerator. It's as cute as could be on the outside, with the calendar on the side, a checked dishcloth hanging on the front, and children's artwork and alphabet letters on the door.

But it's the inside that is the real star of the show. First of all, when you open up the bottom of the fridge, the light comes on! (You have to be very careful to close the door snugly or the batteries die and the light goes out; last Christmas all our visitors were looking inside the fridge, and someone must have left it slightly ajar.)

Inside is an entire holiday meal, including a roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, a casserole, jello(!), apple and pumkin pie, egg nog and champagne. There's also milk, cream, and butter, and something that could be jellied cranberry sauce.

Then in the freezer, along with the freezer paper-wrapped bundles, ice cube trays, and ice build-up, is an adorable miniature snowman! He has a black top hat, carrot nose, coal eyes, and a red scarf.

I have other favorites - sometime I'll tell you about my miniature airstream, complete with pull-out canopy!
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Christmas Decorating

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Now that Thanksgiving is past, it's time to decorate the house for Christmas.

This means bringing all of those boxes up from the basement. It's odd - I don't mind bringing them up at all because I'm so excited about setting everything out. But bringing them back down after Christmas is over - that's just not fun.

Some of my favorite decorations are the ones my daughter made in elementary school. I always hang these in the kitchen, where we'll see them every day. The wreath made from her little hand cutouts is just the best.

Then, there are the "interesting" gifts she's given me over the years as a little girl. There's the papier mache Santa, who looks like he's doing the splits after slipping on the ice. And the big Boston Bruins stocking - we're not necessarily Bruins fans, but she liked the big "B" since that's what OUR last name starts with. I treasure these and put them out every year.

One thing I love to do as we put up the Christmas tree is to remember where each ornament came from as I hang it on the tree. If my daughter is in the room, I usually tell her the stories, too. In fact, she's seen me do this so many times, that one Christmas she gave me a scrapbook and called it "Ornament Origins" so I can put a photo and story on each page about each ornament. That way, the stories won't get lost. What a great kid!
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Thanksgiving Day

It's just amazing how long it takes to prepare for Thanksgiving, and just how quickly it's all over!

I'd have to say - I think this was our best one yet. All of the dishes turned out perfectly (brining the turkey is absolutely the way to go), everyone had a leftovers plate to take home, there were no heated political debates, no catastrophes of any kind, and the house was neat and orderly before bedtime. A success in my book.

And, of course, there is so much for all of us to be thankful for. We have jobs and homes, we're healthy, and the country's future is hopeful. I also think my entire family is thankful that I didn't make them do any of the corny table games I usually try - like passing around a basket of interesting questions they have to answer while we dine (it really IS fun, even if they DO groan about it).

Shopping for Thanksgiving Dinner

Well, it looks like we'll have about 14 for Thanksgiving dinner this year.

By now, we've hosted this dinner so many times that it's not really hard at all. And, since the menu doesn't change much, it's that much easier. Here's what we'll be feasting on:

• Sparkling Juices (Apple, Pomegranate)
• Turkey (brined)
• Stuffing (bread, giblets, celery and onion)
• Mashed Potatoes & Gravy
• Rolls & Butter (snowflake rolls)
• Sweet Potato Casserole (yes, with Marshmallows!)
• Vegetable Casseroles (brought by guests)
• Cranberry Sauce (our family's recipe, cooked with chopped orange and walnuts)
• Cranberry Jello (our family's recipe includes diced red delicious apples)
• Pickles (Sweet Midgets) & Olives (Black)
• Pumpkin Pie with Whipped Cream
• Apple Pie with Ice Cream
• Coffe & Tea & Hot Spiced Cider

The photo shows the groceries it will take to feed 14 people. Total cost this year, including pretty napkins and hot cups: $124.60.
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This week will be busy with getting the table extended and set up, bringing chairs up from the basement, baking pies, and other preparations. It's all part of the fun!

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