decemberthirty | Entries tagged with domesticity

Cool and damp today, the weather feels like true spring after the run of early summer days with which we began the week. I have had a type of quiet morning that I really enjoy: puttering around the house by myself, straightening and setting things right as I go, doing some light chores, folding a basket of laundry, refilling the bird feeder... And now I am about to go have a type of afternoon that I don't enjoy: working my way through the pile of grading that must get done before spring break. But before I consign myself to that fate, a couple of photos:

An incredibly mild winter and an early spring mean that my camellia is in bloom about three weeks earlier than it was last year.

Camellia on the windowsill--first cut flower of the year.

Of course I could not resist bringing a blossom inside. I love having flowers in the house and this is the first one this year.

Grey and cool today, with the promise of rain in the afternoon. Promise or threat? We had an intense storm over the weekend; rain fell for hours, cycling back with renewed force after each brief slackening, turning to thunder and lightening in the evening. I was suddenly very aware of the age of this house, as though I could feel the water searching with prying fingers for any crack where it could enter. I don't think I've ever felt so strongly that a house was being put to the test by the weather. We passed the test, mainly--a few drips here and there, but otherwise dry.

After the storm, I washed my kitchen windows, and I love how clear they are now. Even on a grey day I can see the difference. This is the sort of work I've been doing on the house lately: small projects, the sort I can finish in an afternoon. There are bigger project yet to be done, of course, but right now I like the feeling of completion I get from these tasks. Planting pansies in the window boxes, or doing a bit of deep cleaning, or painting a piece of furniture.

( Read more... )

I did a fair amount of cooking while in Philadelphia last weekend, and at one point I found myself thinking about how much I love cooking in the winter. Thick, steamy soups, sweet and starchy root vegetables, everything hot and hearty... With that moment as inspiration, I thought I might gather and post a few of my most favorite things to cook in the winter.

First, a lovely vegetable tart that I came up with last year. This is what I was making when I went into my "I love winter cooking" reverie. This recipe is very flexible. You can use any kind of crust you like (including a frozen, store-bought pie crust, if you want to), and pretty much any mix of vegetables. There's no shortage of butter in my version, but if you want to make it vegan (or a little lighter!) you could certainly replace it with other fats.
( Winter vegetable tart with leeks )

I don't eat meat very often, but when I do, one of my favorite things to do is to roast a whole chicken. I like to do this because, first of all, it's delicious, and secondly because I feel like this is a less wasteful way to eat meat. I can stretch it forever, and once I've finally used up all the meat, I can make stock from the bones and giblets. Plus, it's so easy. For a long time I was intimidated of roasting a whole chicken, but now I can do it with only about 20 minutes of prep.
( Roast chicken with winter vegetables )

This soup is thick and very satisfying. It's a lovely showcase for all of these favorite root vegetables of mine, and is certainly hearty enough to be a meal on its own, or with some good bread. This recipe makes a huge batch, so unless you're feeding a crowd you will have lots of leftovers.
( Rutabaga, carrot, and turnip soup with tomatoes )

I love baking, and I am especially fond of savory baking. This onion galette is very pretty (and delicious!), but it's not the most nutritionally complete meal. The last time I made it, I served it with roasted Brussels sprouts and a green salad, just to make up some of the nutrition that's lacking in the main course.
( Caramelized onion and gruyere galette )

I know I just said that I don't usually eat meat, yet here I am posting another meat recipe. But what could be more perfect for winter than sausage? I also love this soup for the way the cabbage turns so beautifully silky after it's been simmered.
( Cabbage and rutabaga soup with sausage )

What is dinner without dessert? My favorite thing to bake in the winter is spice cake: moist, rich, not too sweet, and perfect when it's right out of the oven. This particular spice cake involves tea, my other winter favorite, so I'm basically guaranteed to like it.
( Chai spice cake )

That turned out to be more recipes than I anticipated--I just kept thinking of more things to add! But the best thing about all of these recipes is that they are easy and most of them are quite inexpensive. Perhaps I will return to this idea and post my favorite things to cook in other seasons too.

What are your favorite things to cook in winter?

It is chilly and sunny today, perfect weather for walking. And I will walk later, but for now I am sitting at my table by the window with a mug of Assam and a plate of apple slices with peanut butter. Sparrows and cardinals dart around the feeder; a pot of chicken stock simmers on the stove. Sometimes, in my eagerness to get back to Ms. E and Philadelphia and home, I forget that there are things I will miss about this little apartment when I leave it in May. My wood paneled bedroom, and this seat next to the window, these solitary weekend mornings that stretch into afternoon.

I finished reading Ann Patchett's Run a few days ago, and my opinion of it has not improved since my last post. It felt like it had been put together hastily, like a few more drafts might have made it a very different book. The characters did not come to life for me--they stayed flat on the page, pinned there by the one or two dominant traits that Patchett used to identify each of them. Tip was studiousness and fishes, Teddy was compassion and Catholicism, etc. Perhaps it's a case of misdirected energy; Patchett spent a lot of time fleshing out backstory for a few of the characters, but the backstory ended up making little or no difference to the novel as whole. Certain secrets were revealed, but learning them didn't change how I felt about the people who had been keeping them, nor did they seem to have an impact on the overall narrative. Worst of all though, was the sense that, in this story about black children adopted by white parents, Patchett seemed unwilling to truly wrestle with the racial implications of her subject matter. Are we supposed to be happy that Kenya ends up being adopted by the Doyles in the end, so that she can enjoy all the advantages that Tip and Teddy have enjoyed? What sort of a solution is that?

And now I am reading two books at once: Olive Kitteridge, Elizabeth Strout's novel-in-stories that won last year's Pulitzer Prize, and The Adirondacks: A History of America's First Wilderness by Paul Schneider. These are both, in different ways, research for the book that I am writing. I've only barely begun the Strout, so it's too soon to have an opinion, but the Schneider is incredibly fascinating! I had planned to just skim a few relevant chapters, but it's so interesting that I'm reading it cover-to-cover, like a novel.

i'm a very very complex person

i try to improve but you see how i worsen

Entries tagged with domesticity

(no subject)

Many small things

Winter food

Saturday morning

Profile