WINTER'S BEAUTY

One of the reasons winter is my favorite time of year, and perhaps the topmost reason, is how the starkness of the snow highlights all that it surrounds.  I can't help but gasp at the beauty of each dark, bare tree against the horizon and how each seems to take on an inner life of 'stilled dance'.  I have been trying for years to capture what I feel and what the tree is, in words, and have yet to be able to do so.

In addition, I have a profound love of 'weeds' at all times of year, but especially in the winter.  Whenever I am hiking or skiing I feel overwhelmed by the beauty of each and every weed that is showcased by the surrounding pure white snow.  

There is a grace and a rhythm that each weed displays 

that makes me wonder if this isn't part of their purpose

Again, I fail to capture in words (as well as with my camera) the distinct and stunning beauty in this 'lowly' plant...

...lacy...filigreed...stark...graceful...stately...regal...

Not sure why I find this so beautiful, but I do!

I have yet to encounter a weed in my winter path that has not astounded me!

On another note, the birds are demanding a lot this frigid, sub-zero winter, and I am keeping my bird feeders, all four of them, filled each day...

much to my surprise one day last week as I was driving out of the driveway (our bird feeders are all suspended on our deck) I saw three very fat, very large 'birds' under the deck. 

Three of the four female pheasants that are at the feeder on a daily basis...

My outdoor dog doesn't seem to mind too much, although she might chase them into the nearby bushes when we are about...

Next trip to town I'll purchase some cracked corn and keep that tossed quite freely under the deck.  I feel this a blessing, these lovely, chubby hens.

FOOD AND MUSIC

These cold winter days lend themselves to thinking about warming up the kitchen and cooking up something wonderful.

I have become very fond of semolina gnocchi.  They are so versatile and add so much to any meal.  They are light and fluffy, reminiscent of very good mashed potatoes, but baked until crusty and browned. 

There are so many ways to serve these, but this night I choose to marinate pounded boneless chicken breasts in orange juice, Marsala (cooking wine), some grated orange rind, pinch of nutmeg and cardamon, salt and pepper.  Marinate briefly, as too long, say longer than 30 minutes, causes the chicken to break down too much.  

Dredge the chicken in flour, then in a beaten egg, then in fine bread crumbs.  Saute quickly in olive oil/butter as they cook quite rapidly.  Remove to a warm platter and keep warm while you drain all but about one tbs. of oil from pan.  Add the marinade and some butter, and cook until slightly reduced.

Place a chicken breast over gnocchi, drizzle the sauce over that...

and I added sauteed (olive oil and garlic) french green beans for a really outstanding, easy meal.

On another note, we traveled to Madison on Sunday to take in a Suzuki concert at the Rotunda of the Capitol building.  Iris is in  her first year of Suzuki lessons and spent the weekend with her parents and sister at a workshop for Suzuki students from all over the state.  

Great concentration and focus.  

The concert was wonderful, the music really lovely.  It is difficult to put into words what watching this young girl so devotedly take part and produce lovely music was like for me.  I am so proud of her.

HIKING ALONG THE RIVER

FINALLY!!!  Healed toe, healed 'pulled muscle' and no sub-sub-zero temperatures.  A lazy Sunday afternoon, an impromptu suggestion that we take a short hike along the river.  And according to our normal hiking standards, it was short, only about 1 1/2 hours...but filled with the kind of beauty that abounds here in the Kickapoo Valley.

...the river always looks so beautiful...

Standing here made me recall the days before this land was the Reserve, but only called 'the government' land, and we used to ride horse along this very cliff.

The color contrasts at this time of year are so visceral that one can hardly describe the beauty.

Long view of the river.

...and here, too...

I know the reason winter is my favorite season has to do with the contrast of bareness with the blacks and the whites.  My eyes continually seek the trees, bare and graceful against the snow, as though they are in some kind of ecstatic dance, flinging their limbs in outlandish joy.  My eyes never seem to get enough, and I am never full from seeing.  The trees keep speaking to me, and I want so badly to be able to articulate what they seem to be saying to me.  I have yet to capture it, perhaps one day.  As much as I wish everyone could share this beauty, I am also selfish in a way, and do not wish to so inundate this area that the beauty is lost in  commercialism. 

CHRISTMAS 2013

We celebrated Christmas with my daughter Jonel and family on Monday evening, as their original plan for Christmas was to head to the Twin Cities.  (That was thwarted when all in the Cities were ill.)  

One of the Christmas gifts I made was a life-sized baby doll for Elsa.  I had some trepidations, as I thought Iris, whose own life sized baby doll which I made three years ago, was really quite soiled, might feel slighted, or jealous at best.

We did let her in on the fact that Elsa was getting this (Elsa's wish was for one)

...and you can see that Iris is nothing but excited for her sister to open this gift...

It was really sweet watching Elsa's face upon opening this box, for that matter, Iris', too.

Elsa told me at least five times afterward, "I got my wish."  She decided this doll was a boy, and she named him Thomas Jackson Kiesau Gorrill, new cousin to Daisy Will Mason Kiesau Gorrill.

...the cousins and their mothers..

On Christmas day we headed to Tomah, to Freddie's daughter/family's place.  Opening gifts, a very nice dinner, was followed by outdoor fun.  The Arch's have a beautiful hockey-sized pond right by their place, as well as several acres of wooded land.  It was time for the skates and the skis.  (Jonel and family came for dessert and outdoor activities!!)

...getting ready to ski and skate...

The pond was shoveled off, hockey sticks taken out, and fun was had by all.  It was a lovely Christmas Day.

As the cold has seeped in my thoughts quite naturally turn to comfort food...warming and delicious.  

French Onion soup, adapted from the Moosewood Cookbook...served with homemade croutons and grated cheese.

I subscribe to several cooking magazines, one of which features Italian cooking, La Cucina.  This month's magazine had a recipe for risotto with sausage, marsala wine and onions.

Start by browning 1/2# Mild Italian sausage in a skillet for about 10 minutes.  Add 2/3 cup Marsala wine, and 1/3 c. of thinly sliced onion, along with diced fresh garlic.  Reduce heat and let juices reduce by about half, approximately 25 minutes.

Heat about 5 cups of vegetable broth and keep warm, not boiling. 

Meanwhile, melt 2 tbs. butter in a saucepan.  Add 2/3 c. thinly sliced onion and a bay leaf and cook until onion softens, about 5 minutes.  Add a thinly sliced medium Yukon Gold potato and cook 2 minutes more.  Stir in 1 1/3C cups Arborio rice (Italian rice) and cook until rice is slightly toasted.  Add 1/2 c. broth and cook, stirring constantly until most broth is absorbed.  Continue adding broth in 1/2 cupfuls, stirring all the time, allowing broth to be mostly absorbed before adding more.  Do this until rice is firm to the bite, and most, if not all, of the broth is used.  (I used all the broth.)  Remove Risotto from heat, discard bay leaf, and cover pan for about 5 minutes.

Slice the sausages into thin pieces, but save the juices.

Serve Risotto immediately topped with sausage and juices/onions.  Serve with a fresh salad and crusty garlic bread.

This might seem a bit labor intensive (I didn't think so), but it is worth every bit of prep time.  The flavors are exquisite and unforgettable.  Believe me, it was hard to stop eating this dish.

UPDATE!

Just received the following photos via email and wanted to include them.  The sweaters I knit for the girls

and the babies!!

A LOT OF THIS AND A LOT OF THAT

I know no one out there is waiting with bated breath for my latest post, still, I just wanted to say, like everyone else, I AM BUSY, busy, busy. 

Oh, how I welcome the new snowfall that not only blankets the world with purity, but also brings a stark beauty that is difficult to ignore.  

It has made for evenings of comfort food....

'Jumbata' ...at least that is what my Aunt Bertha used to call a dish that was a jumble of many things.  This is one of our favorite winter meals:  onions, garlic mild Italian sausage sauteed in olive oil and then potatoes and sweet red peppers added to the pot.  The mingling of these flavors is astonishing, served with crusty freshly baked bread....

...and Gypsy soup...adapted from the Moosewood cookbook....spicy and delicious.  Sweet potatoes, red peppers, onions, celery, garlic, chickpeas, paprika, tamari sauce, basil, tarragon....makes for an unusual though extremely wonderful dish...served over basmati rice.

...and then Christmas preparation...the little girls

...painting cards for mama and papa...

helping Nonna make the traditional holiday tea rings

I think I've made about 12 of these, and I use them for gifts to important people in my life, like the mailwoman, the librarian, my masseuse, etc.

And a kind of last minute request for another life sized baby doll.  About three years ago I made one for Iris, and Elsa wondered why she did not have a 'realistic' (her word) doll.  Given a few days until Christmas, I tackled this project...

pattern pieces

(most of this is done by hand, with very little machine sewing)

legs before stuffing with wool roving

The head, pictured here, is actually formed underneath the 'skin layer', shaped by placing heavy duty string in strategic places and pulling thightly

the hair being made

the hair applied...

...and the doll assembled, donning a newly made diaper.  

Not only is this doll actually life-sized, but the arms and legs are movable, too.

Prior to starting this doll, I had embarked on knitting a sweater for the girls with yarn from their sheep, dyed a burgundy

 

one done (by the way this is pretty accurate as to color) button still to be added....

and the other nearly complete

(actually as of now, it is complete and being blocked)

And the need for more cookies presented itself, so here

peppermint candy cookies, made with broken pieces of candy cane.

Am I ready, well not quite.  But I think I am finally catching the holiday spirit.  May you all have a blessed and merry Christmas!!

INSPIRATION

I have been cooking/baking for many years, and still, I am filled with delight each day as I contemplate what I have in the larder and what I can prepare for the evening meal.  I must say that I have been influenced by my father, who was an artist as a cook, and now I am being inspired by another artist chef, Luke Zham, owner and chef at the Driftless Cafe in downtown Viroqua, WI.  You can read the menu here,  http://driftlesscafe.com/.  Reading his daily menu, for me, is like reading a really great book, always looking forward to the next chapter.  I love that he is dedicated to buying local/organic, and the way that he includes the local farm's name in his menu descriptions.  Anyway, Luke has a way of presenting his creations in a 'single' manner....not potatoes here, vegetable, here, etc., but in one grand presentation.  I have been inspired to do the same on several occasions.

My home grown, frozen french green beans, seared with garlic in olive oil....

first fast roasting cashews in a cast iron pan, making a sauce with them, (soy sauce, vinegar and garlic), then sauteing organic bok Choi in peanut oil...

...a homemade semolina flour gnocchi...

and then the layering, first the gnocchi, then the bok choi drizzled with plenty of cashew sauce, and finally topped with the seared green beans.  This meal was absolutely delicious!!!!

I find it a wonderful thing in my life to be inspired by a young chef who has, perhaps, been cooking less than a quarter of the years that I have been cooking.  My father would have loved dining at the Driftless Cafe, as do I.  For me, without a doubt, the best restaurant in the mid-west!!!!!