Happy Holidays

Christmas Eve and all is well. We are enjoying a quiet afternoon and it is snowing. Ella is downstairs practicing on her balance beam and Paul is up to something in the kitchen. A few nights ago, we had family over and he made a rich, traditional lasagna with home made pasta and crema voltiada (Peruvian flan) for desert.

Actually, the flan was made for a cultural celebration at El’s school, but since school was cancelled on Friday, so was the celebration. It rained all day (at least at our house) and we never got the huge storm people were panicking about--though my brother, who lives a few miles north and up on a hill, had a drifted-over driveway.

Ah, the beauty of micro-climates on the peninsula.

Rain eventually turned to slush and then finally snow overnight, but it never amounted to much here. 5 inches? Draco drama. Why do winter storms now need names? It snowed, that’s all. And the plows came and pushed it off the streets and we scraped off our cars and threw a few more chunks of wood on the fire.

Crema voltiada

Flan, cherry pie, cookies, cosmopolitans, wine we picked up earlier that day during a sampling with Becky Hemmningsen at The Wine Shop at Hansen's, a delicious baguette and a loaf of sea salt fennel bread from our friends at 9 Bean Rows, venison sausage from the U.P., a variety of cheeses, and a growler of hard cider from Tandem Ciders ... plus the lasagna and salad. Heaven. I always appreciate meals like this one shared with friends and family.

Paul's nephews waiting to roll out fresh pasta for a side dish

After the kitchen was cleaned up and the kids ripped open presents and Skyped with their grandparents, we bundled up and headed outside for a few rounds of flashlight tag. It was a beautiful night: no wind, just the sound of giggles and small boots crunching in the snow.

Observations

It is the 18th of December in Northern Michigan and there are buds, some starting to open, on the lilac tree next to the deck. Our Star Magnolia has buds, too, and just might burst into a display of snow white flowers if this mild weather continues. So many plants are brandishing new growth--lavender, sage, thyme. I can't help but wonder how they will do come spring.

As I poked around the garden this morning, I saw open flowers on the scabiosa and gaillardia, and the California poppy will likely bloom today. Our lawn--what little we keep mowed--is greener, more lush, than it has been the last half of summer. For such a grey time of year, there is vibrant color if one looks closely.

It is a time of limbo--waiting for the snow to come (and inevitably go again) and waiting for the coming and going of the holidays. I page through my favorite seed catalogs to keep myself grounded when the world out there seems punch-drunk, out to lunch and addled. On days like today, when the smell of damp, rich earth overpowers the aroma of the cup of coffee I cradle in my hands, I want to do something physical. I want to dig around the ground, move stones and soil and pull out weeds, but I am held back by my aversion to cold, muddy knees and numb fingers.

So I cozy up in my little office with Blue and Sky (our parakeets) and chip away at a few writing projects. Paul has been digging into our next new culinary adventure. We are anxious and excited, and when it happens--when it moves from existing as an idea being tossed around and articulated by a group of friends into reality--it is going to be just right, Goldilocks.

Suttons Bay Floatilla Update

1,750 kayaks and canoes showed up for the floatilla in Suttons Bay--just 200 shy of the World record--but I am happy to hear that organizers want to give it another go next year. Judging by how difficult it was to cross 22 as we left the marina, Suttons Bay was busy and busy is good news for our local businesses. Part of me cringes when "tourist season" hits our normally quiet peninsula, but part of me gets it and knows that without the yearly influx of visitors, Suttons Bay would be yet one more small town that falls apart at the seams.  And we don't want that ...

One of our favorite shots of the Suttons Bay Floatilla ...
loved the Goldfish with Jaws (or is that a smile?)

  

Suttons Bay Floatilla

El and I walked out to the end of the dock in Suttons Bay today to catch the Floatilla and see how many kayaks and canoes showed up to break the World Record. We got there just before 1:00, and at first glance, it didn't seem like there were that many boats on the water. Organizers were shooting for 2000.

I am not sure what the official count turned out to be, but when the flotilla broke up, the bay turned into a colorful confetti of boats scattering back toward their beaches.

The photo I took of El taking a photo

The photo El took

More boats

The water stops for no one

The past few days have been good for the soul--good for my clan. We have been sleeping to the sound of the river, playing in the river, fishing in the river and sitting in the river. Parts of this river bed are composed of large, perfectly flat pieces of stone, so our camp chairs rest comfortably in about 6 inches of water. Crayfish, frogs and trout. Water stryders. Happy girl, happy dad, happy dogs.

Too many dirty dishes

Too many dirty dishes in the sink for just us two
I said, too many dirty dishes in the sink for just us two ...

Look at this kitchen!
Pots an' pans, ev'rywhere, it's pitiful!

Listening to Tab Benoit and trying to decide whose version of "Dirty Dishes" is better ... Tab's or Albert Collins? I have to say it's Albert Collins. Johnny Nitro, who wrote the song, died last year and there's a good article about him here: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Johnny-Nitro-S-F-blues-guitarist-dies-2475017.php. Too bad I can't seem to find his version of the song on iTunes.

Looking out my backdoor ...

Mi piacciono le verdure

The Chef is in the house!

Just working here in my little office when I started to smell something absolutely wonderful wafting in from the kitchen down the hall ... this is a thing of true beauty for a family who has not dined together at home in months. I am so happy I could jump over the moon--he is back!

schlock·meis·ter

Word of the day that just popped up on my screensaver ... just about fell off my chair!

An absence of plums

Last night, as we were sitting on the patio enjoying a glass of wine, we were suddenly inundated with fruit flies and it got me thinking about about our poor old plum tree which is, aside from its leaves, naked. It is a great tree in many respects--one that hangs over the patio like an overgrown yet somehow graceful umbrella. The fruit it produces is amazingly sweet with a perfect shot of tartness. When Ella was a baby and teething, Paul kept her supplied with plum sauce ice cubes and made lots of plum jam. But this year? Not one plum due to the weirdly warm spring and following frost. I dug through my photos this morning and found this one from last fall:

The fruit was so heavy it caused one third of the tree to split off and it crashed to the ground destroying a good section of our perennial bed. There were so many fruit flies around the patio we could hardly stand to be out there. I pushed plums off the patio with a snow shovel and the plums just kept coming down day after day. The fruit flies multiplied into clouds and started riding into the house on our arms and legs and in our hair.

At that time, we were also experiencing a banner tomato crop--coveted Green Zebras, Cherokees, Sun Sugars, Black Pearls, you name it we probably had it. We had to move all the tomatoes we were picking  outside to the patio table because our kitchen was becoming crazy with fruit flies. But then, another dilemma. Who knew our shepherds would love tomatoes so much?

Mickey's Mixology

Mickey Humpula, who has worked with Chef Paul Carlson for several years (first with us at the Hearth & Vine and then at another restaurant), was featured in the Summer 2012 issue of Edible Grande Traverse in a wonderful article by Patty Lanoue Stearns.  Mickey, as those who know him, is an exceptional person on so many levels: kind, professional and pure pleasure to be around. Cheers, Mickey, to a bright future no matter what you decide to tackle--you know we support you and will always be your biggest fans! Mickey is currently working with Epicure Catering and (hopefully) spending plenty of time outdoors enjoying this gorgeous Leelanau Peninsula summer.

For the online version of the article, click here--it's much easier to read .... plus, you'll be able to see all the great articles this award-winning publication has to offer. A huge thank you to Charlie Wunsch & Barb Tholin at Edible Grande Traverse for including Mickey in this excellent publication!

Click here for the online version of this article

Click here for the online version of this article

Please click here for the online version of "Liquidity: Cocktails a la Leelanau" at Edible Grande Traverse - Celebrating the Foods of Northwest Lower Michigan, and to see what other terrific articles this award-winning local publication has to offer.