Thanksgiving in the Catskills

I felt like I was living in a Robert Frost poem.

Stopping By the Woods on a Snowy Evening was on repeat.

Dinner was at our friends George and Gerry's house.

( and their three Boston Terriers--see Louie, above)

It was an especially nice group of friends and family.

Everybody contributed to the meal.

 There was just the right amount of snow--

enough to be pretty,

but not a bother.

I often find holidays stressful, and have struggled to simplify,

to focus on what matters, enjoy the little things.

Tonight talking to my son about Christmas I said,

Just give me a tree with lights and some hot chocolate and I'm happy.

fresh, local, seasonal

My last visit to the country I spent a considerable time watching ice form.  The creek water is shallow; it tumbles over jumbles of rocks creating small waterfalls, estuaries and coves. The temperature drops, molecules rearrange, and moving water, ice crystals and icicles mingle.

I was sad to read about the disappearance of glaciers at Glacier National Park. It's overwhelming, all of it.

And I keep thinking about this piece by John Lanchester, A Foodie Repents, in the New Yorker discussing, among other things, his Irish mother's spaghetti bolognese, and how she, who was at one time a nun, learned to cook. Also working as a restaurant critic, food trends, and  the politics of food--how the choices we make about food matter at every level. To a point. The point at which we can't feed the world with our seasonal, local free-range choices. 

He writes, "If shopping and cooking really are the most consequential, most political acts in my life, perhaps what that means is that our sense of the political has shrunk too far—shrunk so much that it fits into our recycled-hemp shopping bags. If these tiny acts of consumer choice are the most meaningful actions in our lives, perhaps we aren’t thinking and acting on a sufficiently big scale. Imagine that you die and go to Heaven and stand in front of a jury made up of Thomas Jefferson, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Your task would be to compose yourself, look them in the eye, and say, “I was all about fresh, local, and seasonal.”

So now I'll tell you about the meal that my three boys and lovely daughter-in law cooked. They bought my husband a smoker for his birthday and came to the country to present it to him and cook up a storm. Our new kitchen was put to the test. They made pulled pork (from a Catskills pig), kimchi, pickled scallions, kale (cooked with gobs of Hudson Valley garlic), biscuits, mashed potatoes, and ice cream. A dozen eggs from our friend George's chickens were used. A meal made with love. And as much local food as we could find.

a city weekend

Transitions. Two intense days in Brooklyn, last week, helping 

my youngest finalize his apartment search.

We ate Polish food (and Brazilian and donuts and pizza) walked along the East River,

 investigated the neighborhood (Greenpoint) hung out with my oldest, who also lives in Brooklyn,

walked to Williamsburg, drank beer (well, they did) ate ice cream, and

found a small but charming fourth floor walkup on a street where on summer evenings

the neighbors set up their card tables on the sidewalk and play dominos.

Friends, why was I thinking two blogs was a good idea?

(especially when I'm on Instagram regularly)

Because I'm a Gemini? 

Anyway…

Maybe I should just put it all here. 

Even though I'm more of an Orchards in Space person these days

than a Country Weekend person, this is home for me, in the blog world.

And if I write about some crazy thing that doesn't interest you, you can just skip on past it.

I'll do something with the other space--I'm sure inspiration will come to me,

but I'm not going to divide myself up between here and there…
I am changing to a fresher template. Bear with me, please.
(and if you have any problems with it, leave a note in the comments
or email me: jen (at) country weekend [dot} net

the wedding

Jason and Alexandra got married on Saturday.

It was an amazing, happy day. 

Beautiful, touching and fun.

Before the ceremony I went to the bride's family apartment where she and the bridesmaids got ready. As the mother of three boys it was quite a treat for me to hang out with the girls. There was lots of makeup and pretty shoes. Her parents and grandmother took it all in with me, a bridesmaid's baby made an appearance, there was good pizza and much love.

We went into Central Park, 

across the street from where she grew up, for pictures.  

There was a brief shower just as we were leaving for the ceremony. 

It's good to know that bridesmaid's bouquets can double as umbrellas.

Closeup of the bride's bouquet taken at the reception;

still looking good after a very full day. 
The flowers were done by Fleurish NYC.

My son is a happy man.

They put so much effort into planning the wedding. Everything was personal and meaningful. I don't have pictures of the ceremony, which was at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, a stunning venue with walls of windows overlooking Manhattan, but when I get some I'll show you. Their vows brought both tears and laughter.

The reception was a 13-course dinner at a Chinese banquet hall in Queens, which was great fun. The band played lots of blues and Motown ( my kind of music) and everyone had a wonderful time.

The cakes were made by Molly's Cupcakes. The round one was for the traditional cake cutting ceremony, and then there were three different flavor combination sheet cakes for the guests, a brilliant idea of the bride, who tried every cupcake store in the city before deciding Molly's was the best. They were delicious!

Closeup of some of the decorative flowers. 

They are unique and lovely, both elegant and whimsical,

which also describes the wedding and the couple.

a few more pictures over 

on Instagram. 

flowers in the house

It's such a pleasure to be able to step outside

and pick a few flowers. A few all I need.

I own (far too) many vases and pitchers and jars,

all lovely flower holders

but I keep going back to the same ones.

This pitcher, from my father's family's 

West Virginia farmhouse. 

I remember big farm breakfasts there--

maybe it was used to hold milk?

And this cranberry glass vase

was a gift from my father.

I know I've written about both those things before.

I have family on my mind.

The wedding is less than two weeks away.

I wish my father was here for it, and to get to know Alexandra,

he would have loved her.

Visit Small But Charming for more flowers in the house.

xo, Jen

a country weekend

Ramps (wild leeks) grow rampantly on our property in the Catskills. They've become quite trendy, with several articles already written about them in this spring's NY Times. Last weekend we pulled (oops, I mean harvested) some and cooked a ramps themed dinner. Rather, Bob did, with some help from Luke.   Luke made some fresh farmers cheese, served on slices of bread with ramp jam and pickled ramps. He also grilled ramps to be served with Bob's cream of ramp soup, kale with ramps, ramp risotto, and chicken cooked with, you guessed it, ramps. I drew the line at ramp desserts (having once had a garlic dinner that carried through dessert) so we had fruit cobbler with sour cream ice cream. Then after we'd all (several friends joined us) digested a little and laughed a lot, we passed around the chocolate ice cream Matt made.

What did I do? Stayed out of the kitchen. Visited friends. Read. Took a nap. Set the table. Washed lots and lots of dishes and pots and pans and strainers and blenders and…..

 I hung up one of my paintings, a big step for me, because I am pretty shy about my creative endeavors. But it's a good spot for all those greens, there in the house in the woods.

Keeping company with lilacs, roses and hyacinths, from my Bow Street Flowers trip.
Some people take their pets when they travel. I take my flowers.

sweet things

I am eating my way through Manhattan. My day started with the perfect flaky croissant. A few hours of meandering through Greenwich Village and SoHo led to lunch at Shanghai Cafe in Chinatown. A wander through Little Italy, the Lower East Side and the East Village called for a hot chocolate stop. Dinner was the best mac and cheese ever, at Murray's Cheese Bar, followed by cupcake tasting at Molly's. 

Good thing I did all that walking.

I am in town to dip my toe in the wedding planning for this sweet couple. (Yes, that's my son. No, that's not Manhattan.) Hence the cupcake tasting. This also involves visiting a few florists--such a treat--you know how I feel about flowers.

Snow is blowing, lights are twinkling, and I don't have to shovel.

be cool

 red and green, hot and cool

Brimfield

paint rag

shade

painting

sons

 I've added ice cream to the stay cool repertoire: 

Orange Italian ice (bonus points: it last a long time)

Lemon ice cream (bonus points: local creamery and vitamin c)

Vanilla ice cream with peanut butter mixed in (bonus points: calcium and protein)

All those bonus points negate calories and sugar, right? 

I mean they're practically healthy.

Also, a big bowl of fruit salad every day:
watermelon, peaches, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries.

Hope you find ways to stay cool this weekend.

Jen

shut out the noise

I'm glad there's not a bird in there.

Maybe because of yesterday, this decal jumped out at me as the perfect stocking stuffer. My definition of family is deep and wide. There's room for you in the teepee.

I tend to get stressed out before the holidays. Today I decided I'm having none of it--I'm shutting out the noise and expectations. Life is too short. So if I don't get the Christmas cards done or buy a tree until Christmas Eve, that's okay. (And if you have a good tip on keeping indoor cats happy, I'm listening. It's my first time.)

 I hope you are enjoying a lovely stress-free weekend.

xo,

Jen