On hiatus until the squirrel bread household is wired for Internet. [Santa, are you reading this?]
For now we prepare for the chaos that is Christmas in Wisconsin with our families. Looking forward to it, especially the trip’s first stop at Iowa Family Christmas and to meeting my mom’s newly adopted horse!
Merry Christmas to all of you. May the holidays overflow with wonderful times, happy thoughts, tasty food and much love.
Many of you have just begun the cooking and preparation in advance of tomorrow’s holiday. I presume some of you have been knee-deep in turkey, stuffing, cranberries, root vegetables and pies for days now.
Not so here. This Thanksgiving marks the beginning of our house move. Or, it should be the beginning, but those thoughtful county inspectors felt we needed more time to bid farewell to the rental.
Meanwhile, we’ve no smoker for our traditional bird and, even if we did, no one in town to share with.
That’s why we are so thankful for dear friends extending an invitation to supper tomorrow. All we have to do is take a drive, offer gifts of wine and marinated olives, sit down and enjoy the cooking of others.
Here’s to a happy Thanksgiving. To all of you. To all our families. To my most caring and adoring husband. I hope it is a holiday filled with delicious food and drink, and connecting with those you love.
This post is to remind us that our house is almost done.
And to let you in.
Appliances this week. Walk-through and closing not far behind. Thanksgiving weekend?
I wonder what will be the first thing we make in our new kitchen…
It amazes me how quickly my mind turns holiday once November arrives. It’s a switch that flips without fail, the same time each year. I look forward to it most because I can begin the list. The list! Not a daily to-do, or things to pick up from the market — a list of gifts for family.
Sure I enjoy receiving gifts, but it really is the giving that gets me going.
The constant in all that giving is the promise of something homemade. And edible. Homemade foods, especially with an eye on nutrition, allow us to eat and feel well. These foods also taste better.
Over the years it’s been dark chocolate bark, roasted and spiced nuts, Marranitos, hand-ground spice blends, butternut squash spätzle, infused salts and sugars, biscotti, coconut macaroons — and granola.
I’m not embarrassed or sorry to say that granola has had several cameos. At least a half dozen over the years. There are just so many ways to interpret. Varying grains. New sweeteners. Nuts and seeds. Unusual spices. The possibilities are endless, and always delicious.
It rained that entire morning in Portland two years ago, but I just had to visit the farmers market. The stalls along Congress artfully stacked with greens, beets, radishes, sunflowers — colors intensified by a grey sky. It was lovely, though numb fingers and wet feet threatened the enjoyment of our last Maine morning.
Clutching coffees we ducked into Two Fat Cats Bakery. Our second visit in two days.
Two Fat Cats is a baker’s bakery, where mixing, assembling and from-scratch baking happens right before your eyes. Part of its cozy charm is that the one-room establishment is tucked down a flight of well-worn stairs in a quaint, old building.
squirrel bread 
