A year in photos

Posted on 26 January 2012
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So, last year I did the 365 project, taking one photo a day throughout the entire year.  It was a difficult year to say the least, with the loss of my sister-in-law and my grandfather. But, there were a bunch of incredible things too – a two week trip across Europe with my husband, a week in Scotland, an incredible weekend with a lovely bunch of gals in Rhinebeck for the New York Sheep and Wool Festival, teaching a sock knitting class. And throughout all of that, there was photography. I’m putting the slideshow of all the images, in order, at the bottom, but here are my top three of the year from that set.

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27 January 2011
26/365
From about 6am this morning. The snow had stopped and everything was still so quiet for being in Manhattan. There was an occasional scrape of a plow, but the usual car honks and police/fire sirens were completely missing.

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13 September 2011
254/365
Stonehaven, Scotland

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9 November 2011
311/365
Tree in Ft. Lauderdale, FL

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Red Velvet Victorian Photo Album

Posted on 17 November 2011
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Now there’s a title, right?  I couldn’t believe that in 30 years, no one had seen or heard about this album that contains images of family members dating from the 1890s.  My grandfather passed away this summer, and we went out earlier this Fall to help grandma do some cleaning and to spend time chatting and whatnot.  Grandma brought out the album that she had found while organizing grandpa’s computer room.  It’s covered in worn red velvet with a mirror sewn into the cover, and is closed with a metal latch.  For being over 100 years old, it’s in pretty good condition.

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I’m willing to bet it hasn’t been opened much, and it’s a real shame that so few of the photos are dated or labelled. Great Grandma had passed the album along to grandpa and now it’s come home with me. I decided to scan in all the photos in hopes that maybe someone, somewhere might recognize a few and help me solve some of the mysteries inside the album – we were able to identify a few photos from the other trunk (not joking, great-great grandma’s old steamer trunk that came with her from England was home to ALL THE PHOTOS) full of photos. Great grandma had gone through and put names on the back of some which was really pretty helpful. I’ve included the backs to the photos when there was something on the back, and some of the designs are really gorgeous.  The photos are all arranged on the page in the order they appear in the album and I’m sure there’s something to the order of the photos.  If you can help identify or date any of the photos, please leave a comment. Click on through for the photos! (Warning, VERY graphics heavy below the cut)

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One Local Summer 2011 – Week 23

Posted on 17 November 2011
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We had to quick throw together a meal before another trip (short one to Fort Lauderdale, FL for husband’s work), so I found all the vegetables in the fridge, and threw in a whole bunch of stuff.  Beets, goat cheese, onions, bison bacon, and fennel all went inside the easy crust (2 cup flour, 2/3 cup yogurt) and VOILA!  Dinner.  There are still leftovers in the fridge, and I love how the beets turned everything insdie a pretty shade of red.

Bacon and Beet Galette:
Whole Wheat Pastry Flour – Mill at Anselma
Goat’s Milk Yogurt – Shellbark Hollow Farm
Chevre – Shellbark Hollow Farm
Beets – Jack’s Farm
Onion – Hoagland Farm
Fennel – Charlestown Cooperative Farm 
Bison Bacon – Backyard Bison
Non Local – Olive Oil, salt

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One Local Summer 2011 – Week 22

Posted on 3 November 2011
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This is one of my favorite meals that the husband makes. We weren’t sure if it could be done locally, but once we sat down and figured it out, it was SUPER easy to find (almost) all the ingredients. This is a Steak and Ale pie, a traditional British meal that’s a great way to warm up on a chilly day. It’s basically a chicken pot pie, but with beef and beer and mushrooms instead of the chicken and vegetables. The beer we used was a homebrew made with a pound of Pennsylvania Maple Syrup from Miller’s maple, so even though the grain used in the beer is not local, it’s at least more local than other beers we could’ve used. The only other exception is the pepper and a little bit of oil. The leftovers are already gone, that’s just how good it is.  We’re not sure at this point where the original recipe came from since ours has been heavily modified (bison instead of beef, etc), but this recipe is pretty close.  We made the ‘beef’ broth this time using a stew bone from the bison vendor with a few vegetables thrown in the pot for flavor – worked out PERFECTLY and was super delicious, not to mention very low in sodium.

Steak and Ale Pie
Bison Sirloin – Backyard Bison
Crimini Mushrooms – Oley Valley Mushrooms
Eggs – Mountain View Organics
Flour – Mill at Anselma
Onion – Hoagland Farms
Garlic – Jack’s Farm
Sage – Jack’s Farm
Milk – Camphill Village – Kimberton Hills Dairy
Smoked Sea Salt – Pureblend Teas
Non Local – Pepper, Olive Oil, Maple Porter Beer

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One Local Summer 2011 – Week 21

Posted on 1 November 2011
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This week, the husband is back home and cooking!  He made chicken wings (from our favorite local chicken vendor) the night prior which involves boiling the wings and then finishing them to crispy perfection on the grill.  But that’s not what this post is about.  The broth left behind from boiling the wings is perfect for soup!  Add in some carrots, celery, onions, sage, garlic, cilantro, sausage, and turnips, let simmer for a while, and VOILA!  SOUP!  It’s gotten colder, and I just love soup season, mostly because the husband is such a fantastic soup chef.

Sausage and Vegetable Soup:
Italian Turkey Sausage – Mountain View Organics
Smoked Pork Sausage – Countrytime Farm
Carrots – North Star Orchards
Garlic – Jack’s Farm
Celery – North Star Orchards
Sage – Jack’s Farm
Cilantro – Jack’s Farm
Turnips – Jack’s Farm
Potatoes – Jack’s Farm
Onions – Hoagland Farm
Smoked Sea Salt – Pureblend Tea
Chicken Broth – Mountain View Organics (from chicken wings)
Bread – St. Peter’s Bakery
Wine – Sand Castle Winery 

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Eurotrip 2011 – Amsterdam

Posted on 23 October 2011
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Rome > Siena > Florence > Venice > Munich > Brussels > Amsterdam

 

March 26.  We caught the train from Brussels to Amsterdam at 9am, and arrived around noon.  It was a relatively short trip, and we found our B&B pretty easily via the tram.  Hans at the RAI Bed and Breakfast checked us in and we headed back out to the downtown area for some lunch.  We ended up finding a place that had Dutch food which was proving to be hard to find since typical Dutch food is comfort food and really only made at home.  We headed out to the Heineken Brewery/museum afterwards and found it to be a complete waste of time and money.  They don’t do any brewing on site anymore, and the whole thing is one long, drawn out Heineken advertisement filled with drunk or nearly drunk obnoxious tourists.  Random side bit, the cashier who took our money was actually from the area where we live now!  The brewery site did make for pretty pictures (to the right) but it was a big disappointment especially for the 15 Euro per person cost that included two beers.  We walked back to the hotel later that evening, after walking around and taking in Amsterdam and were passed by a group of people marching in solidarity for the victims of the tsunami in Japan (bottom photo, right). DSC_7451

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March 27.  Got up and Hans made us breakfast and we chatted for a while.  It’s one of the nice things about staying at a smaller B&B, and I’m glad our last hotel-keeper was SO friendly and accomodating.  We decided to rent the two bikes he had, but they turned out to not be all that great, and we turned out not to really be able to handle the hordes of skilled bicyclists on the streets.  The most we get to ride at home is on trails and such, not in busy traffic.  Plus, the seats weren’t quite securely fastened and wrenched themselves free and wiggled around more than was comfortable.  Oh well, it was worth a try.  Tried to go to the Van Gogh museum, but the line was around the block even at 10am.  Walked around and made it to lunch with a fellow knitter who ran a bit of an errand for me (it was for Wollmeise and she was going anyway, and I still love her to bits for offering!).  Had a great time chatting with her!  We found out about a proper brewery (you know, one that actually makes beer and isn’t just a building that used to make beer) that was next to a windmill.  Well two birds, one stone, right?  The Brouwerij ‘t IJ was FANTASTIC.  We really just went for the tour, but ended up hanging out all afternoon enjoying the beer and cheese and sausage.  The brewer was trained in Belgium, so the beers were mostly Belgian and were all absolutely knock-you-over amazing.  So, my advice?  Skip Heineken, GO TO THE IJ!  Also?  Check out the prices on the wall in the bottom photo – you can’t beat that with a stick.  We wandered around for a while, checking out some of the little shops, trying to see if they made wooden shoes in Doug’s size (they did!  Size 14 US!), and eventually wandered back to the B&B. DSC_7486

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March 28.  We signed up for the countryside Mike’s Bike tour.  I’m really glad we did this because we were both getting tired of the touristyness of the downtown/old city area.  We made a little stop at the Albert Cuyp Market just to check it out (and, we were out and running VERY early for the bike tour).  Having not found a stroopwafel, we headed onwards.  The bike tour was four hours long and took us out of the city, to a windmill, and then to a farm where they made cheese and wooden shoes.  They showed us the cheese making process and then the wooden shoe making process which was all done by machine using a template.  There was a fair bit of hand finishing involved from the sanding and then painting and decoration, but they said it made no sense to make them exclusively by hand anymore since they’re shoes.  You wear them in the garden and get them muddy.  They are also pretty darn comfortable for being made of wood.  After that we headed deeper into the countryside, checked out the system to control flooding in the city (those Dutch, they’re pretty brilliant that way), rode through some parks, and really learned a lot of history and backround detail about Amsterdam.  HIGHLY recommended.  We were completely beat but managed to find dinner and then head back to pack for an early early flight.  Hans (our B&B owner) was kind enough to offer us a great deal on a ride to the airport which we got to with time to spare. DSC_7518

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Slideshow of photos from Amsterdam

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One Local Summer 2011 – Week 20

Posted on 21 October 2011
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This one I REALLY knocked out of the park. I mean, REALLY REALLY. Fennel isn’t a popular vegetable in our home mostly due to the husband’s hatred of all things anise/licorice. Since he was away, I figured I had a chance to give it a try.  I stumbled across a recipe for roasted fennel and potatoes, but I only had sweet potatoes from the farmer’s market, so I figured hey, starch is starch, right?  Well it was amazing.  The sweet potatoes roasted with the fennel covered for 30 minutes at 400F in the oven, covered in some olive oil, salt, garlic, and pepper.  Then the browned sausage was laid on top and left uncovered for another 30 minutes.  The amazing way these flavors worked together has made it a staple, and what really surprised me was that the anisey flavor of the fennel really disappeared in the baking process.  Needless to say, the leftovers didn’t last for very long, and I’m making this combination a staple for future recipes!

Sweet Potato, Fennel, and Sausage Bake:
Sweet Potatoes – Jack’s Farm
Fennel – Jack’s Farm
Garlic Turkey Sausage – Mountain View Organics
Garlic – Jack’s Farm
Non Local – Salt, pepper, Olive Oil

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One Local Summer 2011 – Week 19

Posted on 19 October 2011
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Here’s where I admit that we were away for two weeks and I’m not going to catch up and make up those two lost weeks.  I love doing this project, but it was starting to feel like a bit of a chore, and that’s the last thing I want to happen.  So, since we weren’t even in the country, I’m going to call those two weeks lost, and just go from there!  It’s finally getting to be fall and all of my favorite vegetables are out – all the squash and pumpkin I could possibly ever have!  This meal was a crock pot meal and consisted of a pork shoulder purchased at the Anselma Farmer’s market from a vendor whose name escapes me now, Onions, homebrew beer for the liquid in the crock pot, and pumpkin layered on top.  It came out LOVELY and was just the perfect meal for a rainy day.

Pork and Pumpkin:
Pork  - Anselma farmer’s market
Onion – Smith’s Produce
Pumpkin – Smith’s Produce
Non local – Beer, salt, pepper

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One Local Summer 2011 – Week 18

Posted on 2 October 2011
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This one was pretty simple. We were getting ready for vacation and I had little time to get something together, so I went with what I’d already stashed in the freezer. The pasta was made a while back and frozen, the sausage was frozen as well, and the peppers and tomatoes came from the garden. Pretty simple, but it counts as local, and even super local considering the maybe 100ft walk from the house to the garden.

Pasta with Peppers and Tomatoes:
Whole Wheat Pastry Flour – Mill at Anselma
Peppers – My Garden
Tomatoes – My Garden
Chicken Sausage – Mountain View Poultry
Non Local – Olive Oil

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One Local Summer 2011 – Week 17

Posted on 8 September 2011
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Gnocchi!  This was my first time ever making gnocchi, and I think we did alright!  It was pretty simple – boil about 1lb potatoes for an hour, or until tender, then rice or mash or make them smooshy and non-lumpy as best as possible, add about a cup of flour, shape, dust with flour, and then boil until they float.  Husband worked up the sauce from our own tomatoes canned this year, a load of peppers from the garden (SO MANY PEPPERS THIS YEAR), an onion, and some Ground Bison.  This is really my idea of comfort food, and it fit the bill.  Most of the ingredients came from a farm stand we passed on the way home from a trip to Lancaster, and I neglected to get the name of the farm.  Suffice to say, they weren’t shipped in from California, but from just a county away.

Gnocchi with Bison Sauce:
Whole Wheat Pastry Flour – Mill at Anselma
Potatoes – Lancaster Farm Stand
Bison – Backyard Bison
Tomato sauce – My Garden
Onion – Lancaster Farm Stand
Non Local – Spices, Salt, Pepper

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