Heading Toward December

Yesterday felt like winter: icy and cold and dark.  When Cairo and I returned from our walk on the beach, wet and chilled, I baked a batch of Dorset Scones and made a big cup of dark roast coffee and hunkered down for the rest of the morning, working on some needle punched stuff, reading blogs, looking at catalogs.  I am actually looking forward to decorating for Christmas this year.  The past few years, I couldn't be bothered after the long fall season of show after show, but this year I am gung ho.  Maybe its because Clara is coming home for the week.  Whatever the reason, it feels good.

We had a glorious Thanksgiving here in Greenport.  The weather was spectacular.  I cooked for two days solid, but it paid off.  I raced out to the Candyman in Orient Thanksgiving morning to get chocolate turkeys for the place cards.  Our friend Dennis, who stayed with us after Sandy knocked out his electric, joined us for dinner, bringing my favorite bubbly rose from Croteaux Vineyards.  The Osinskis, our neighbors who own Widows Hole Oysters, came with an endless bag of the best oysters ever and a still-warm lemon meringue pie made by their 14-year-old daughter. I roasted a 17 plus pound turkey, adapting an Americas Test Kitchen technique, starting the turkey out breast side down with salt pork layered along its back and flipped it half way through.  I had dry brined it with a mixture of ground fennel, herbes de Provence and orange zest.  I baked wild rice from the Ojibwa reservation at Odena, Wisconsin, that my in-laws sent to us, and made Brussel sprouts with bacon.  Pete roasted his home-grown parsnips and carrots and made fresh cranberry relish.  He also made delicious little rolls that we served with herb butter.  Our salad: Martha Stewart's Winter Spinach Salad -- so good. I didn't forget the stuffing (yes, I cook it in the bird!) and gravy and pumpkin pie.  I also made some adorable and delicious Cranberry Hand Pies from the Thanksgiving issue of Bon Appetit.  The recipe made 40, and we were too full to eat many, so I sent everyone home with some.  We sat and ate and talked from 1 o'clock in the afternoon until 8 o'clock at night.  Thankfully, politics didn't come up until the end . . .  

Friday dawned sunny and bright and I headed up to the Naugles barn at Hallockville to help out at the Country Parlor Holiday Home Sale, my last sale of the year. (Hurrah!)  I spent the morning sliding open and closed the barn door -- you'd be amazed at how many people tried to pull it open like a regular door.  My right bicep got a good workout.  As always, the barn looked great, thanks to Barbara's talent at creating attractive vignettes.  

I went home and napped for two hours and later went to bed at 9:30!  I was exhausted after three days of going non-stop -- didn't feel rested until Sunday . . . . Now it is back to work -- I have to get some things in my etsy shop: The Paisley Studio.  Give me some time to catch up, then come and visit!