Everything outside my window wears a pure, white cloak. I love looking out at the fresh fallen snow, the way it balances on bare branches, dresses up dirty winter streets and softens everything. I remember the afternoon of my fifth birthday when the first snowflakes of the winter started to fall. I believed, in that sure way only a small child can, that the snow was falling just for me. I wore my favorite dress with pink polka-dots. It was the Mad Men era when little girls wore dresses, even on days it snowed. Nature didn’t guarantee snow would stick where I lived. Usually it was a sloppy mess, soon turning to rain. Only once every few years, did enough pile up that we could go sledding on the hill behind our house. Nothing but the coming of Christmas caused more joy. Now I live where it snows every winter and we measure it in feet, not inches. Oh, it can be a pain, the cold, the shoveling, the dangerous driving. But I have a five-year-old in me that still gazes in wonder. Because it’s beautiful and I know it’s just for me.
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Dug my potatoes just in time to beat the first snowfall. Now to dig out my grand-mother’s recipe for new potatoes and peas in a cream sauce. As a kid I always loved that dish. Earlier this week I celebrated the cold weather, making chicken and dumplings for the first time. I planned to take a picture, but they were gone too fast. The potatoes are an experiment in small space gardening.I planted them in half a whiskey barrel, and piled soil and straw around the plants as they grew. Wire mesh wrapped around the top of the barrel held the soil in place. The whole thing was supposed to have filled with potatoes. The only ones I found were at the roots of the plants, just as if I had planted them in the ground. Not sure why this didn’t work. Anybody? I did get them in a little late and found lots of tiny potatoes. If I try again next year, I’ll start earlier. My begonias survived the snow. Still beautiful. Just so we're clear here. The drink referred to on this blog is Coffee.
Mine, at home, do not look this pretty. But today I was out with my girlfriends. This double mocha latte is courtesy of Kirk at Lindaman's. My husband and I have enjoyed this restaurant since before we were married in 1985. (In the interests of full disclosure, my youngest child is now a dishwasher here. He got the job himself, I had nothing to do with it. Actually, I had never even taken him her to eat.) Possibly my favorite drink here is a caffee corretto known as the Triumvirate. The hot drink contains espresso, bailey's, crème de menthe, kahlua, spiced chocolate and half n half. This is not a joke. A Mexican, an Irishman and a Frenchman walked into a very busy Italian bistro. They proceeded to order what each described as their own country's finest coffee libation. Too busy to accommodate the attention to detail each drink required, the barista mingled three as one. Straight off the menu. I kid you not. Notice the first ingredient is espresso. So, yes. It qualifies as coffee. Outside my window My part of the world is glorious! The weather this first week of November could fool me into thinking it’s early October. It’s sunny, and warm enough to run without sleeves. All I want to do is walk through the neighborhood and look. Look at every single leaf. Run and laugh and gaze with wonder at the blue sky. Does anyone say it better than Edna St Vincent Millay? O world, I cannot hold thee close enough! …Thy woods, this autumn day, …all but cry with colour! …Lord I do fear Thou’st made the world too beautiful this year. One way I enjoy the fruits of summer into the fall is to pick my green tomatoes and bring them inside to ripen. They still have much better flavor than a tomato you buy at the store. My favorite way to eat them is Margarita Pizza. My autumn recipe uses pesto rather than fresh basil. Spread pesto to cover the whole wheat crust. Cover with shredded mozzarella cheese, place slices of tomato on top. I usually make two because I have a teenage son, and I love the leftovers reheated for lunch the next day.
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I'm fascinated to discover little-known history, stories of people and events that provide a new perspective on why and how things happened, new voices that haven't been heard, insight into how the past brought us here today, and how it might guide us to a better future.
I also post here about my books and feature other authors and their books on compelling and important historical topics. Occasionally, I share what makes me happy, pictures of my garden, recipes I've made, events I've attended, people I've met. I'm always happy to hear from readers in the blog comments, by email or social media. Archives
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