Snake Walk

Yesterday was gloriously warm...in the 70's and breezy. Neil and I ended up driving north to Gansevoort for a cheeseburger and a hike to look for the Eastern Hog Nosed snake. Rebecca led us around Mud Pond, pointing out all the beaver activity, blossoming plants and snake habitat. It's refreshing to be the non-leader on a hike for me. I always end up gaining a new perspective. Here are a few photos from the hike...purple Hepatica blooming in the leaves, someone's cache of snail shells, the power line that snakes like to sun themselves under, and a beaver chew. We met back in Saratoga for glasses of wine and Greek food. What a wonderful day!

Colorful Colorado

This time a week ago I was waking up in a Hyatt in downtown Denver to similar, sunshiny weather...ready to begin a day celebrating the wedding of our dear friends Ross and Rory. I never thought I'd say this, but I really miss my short, hectic stint of traveling life!

We began our trip on a rainy Wednesday, electing to fly out of Newark because of the continuous flight availability. We took our time and Neil napped and noone felt rushed and everything went perfectly, except we missed our flight. I still dont know how we managed that one. Oddly enough, the next flight to Denver was just an hour later. I really wanted time to have a nice glass of wine before we boarded, but it was not to be...we were rushed again and the last to board our second flight. Too relaxed? Maybe. (Because taking your entire stroller apart barefoot in a crowded airport while holding an 18 pound sack of potatoes is just like a fucking spa treatment, I'll tell ya what). Anyway, we made it, our company on the flight was a sympathetic mom of three and Neil mostly bounced and played.

We got to Denver later in the evening than we had hoped and by the time we sorted through the luggage and the rental car and the air train and all that, it was dark. We drove north out of the city and picked up a few local beers and (don't judge it was the only place around) Jack in the Box, and wound our way up and up into the cavernous mountains until we reached Crags Lodge in Estes Park. We succeeded in keeping Neil asleep while we settled down to relax in our little suite. Colin poured two wine glasses of Yeti and we sank deep into the sofa. I think we lasted for twenty minutes of "party" before slinking into bed. Woohoo!

We woke to a wonderful mountain view the next morning. We could see straight across the valley to the Stanley Hotel (made famous by The Shining)...clouds wove through the twin owls, an uncommon sight according to the lodge caretakers. Neil practiced his climbing and crawling as we showered/hosed off the travel stink in the incredibly temperamental old tub. We lounged downstairs in the rustic living room and flipped through the historic lodge pictures before hitting the road for Rocky Mountain National Park.

I've never really experienced mountain weather before and dang if it isn't temperamental too! It changes from nice to naughty in a few seconds time. We three drove as far as we could on Trail Ridge Road, through snow and thunder and hail. We could only go as far as Rainbow Curve, and we couldn't see the largest mountains, but it was still wild and beautiful. Bull Elk grazed near the road and Ponderosa Pines kept watch above them. We descended and drove through the valley bottom, the moraine, where everything was still snow laden and iced in. Soon, it was time to head back to civility to catch a Yankees game with 25 of our friends.

The ever changing weather, of course, had different plans for us. As we drove towards the city limits, thunderstorms blew through and doused the game. We made the decision to enjoy a low key afternoon in our hotel instead, sipping on Lupulin and making dinner arrangements. After a small walk, we cozied up at the Mountain Sun pub for some lovely food and even lovelier beverages, the best of which was The hummingbird braggot ale.
I remember thinking how friendly everyone in Denver is, and how laid back the fashion choices are. I would fit right in here, if I wasn't truthfully taken aback by the friendliness. It's a peculiar feeling to realize you are somewhat put off by genuinely nice people. I've spent too much time here in New York.

We enjoyed breakfast at Jelly the next morning, just a jog from both the Ogden and the Fillmore...shared a flight of savory doughnuts and filled up on coffee before our final hotel move. Although the festivities were just starting to hum, everything flowed and felt very relaxing. I met a friend to get a manicure and waited out another storm Ina clothing store while Colin watched Neil with friends. We spent the evening at a bistro reconnecting with loved ones and enjoying little bites of goodness. Our group of friends is so used to traveling and meeting each other in new locations...none of it was awkward. I love the feeling of picking up where you left off with a friend. It's even better in a room filled with old acquaintances. Neil loved being passed around into the arms of beautiful women. He passed the trial party with flying colors.

We enjoyed Denver Omelettes at the Delectable Egg on wedding day. Colin had to begin his groomsman duties at noon, so Neil and I took a walk, napped, and got ready alone. It really was peaceful and seemed like a nice break in the monotony of daily life. Before we knew it, wedding time was upon us. Neil donned his knickers, suspenders and bowtie before we picked up a couple of ladies for the mile drive to the governor's mansion. Upon arriving, another thunderstorm surrounded the outdoor space. Guests were whisked inside for a cocktail to wait out the weather. The skies soon cleared, and we filtered back to our seats to watch Ross and Rory, two old friends, genuinely in love, join hands for their next life journey. I remember getting tearful at the fact that this group of friends has been through the absolute worst of times and the best of times together, like an invisible safety net that materializes during life's most important moments. Neil said DADADA!!!! Man and wife.

Dinner and drinks and dancing...baby Neil sailed through it all. I'll always remember the look of joy he had on his face as he bounced around the dance floor. He is a true party animal. He crashed when we got back to the hotel, and I relaxed with a glass of wine while Colin bade farewell to our friends at the Peaks Lounge. It was a beautiful and fun-filled evening...surprisingly not stressful. I'm ever thankful for Neil's easy going spirit.

My first Mother's Day started with huevos rancheros at the Denver Diner. It could have been a terrible idea, but it was not. The clouds had cleared and you could see the largest of the mountains...or as Colin calls them...white caps. I'm pretty those are waves. We traveled all day and ate a late dinner at Bacchus in New Paltz before slogging home. It wasn't the most relaxing of days, but I truly enjoyed traveling with my two guys. And Neil said his first "mama"!

So there you have it. I am so grateful for the opportunity to visit someplace new, hug old friends, share quiet moments with my son, and have conversations with my husband. This trip was incredible.

Bits of Brooklyn

Nine Month Update

Neil had his 9 month appointment yesterday and he is just as happy and healthy as can be at 17 lbs 12oz and 26.5". His pediatrician remarked on how close he his to walking (even though he won't crawl a lick!)...and mama thinks she can wait a few more months for that milestone, thank you very much!

Neil has learned to clap his hand recently and is pulling up to standing and even cruising around on the furniture. In the evenings we have been sitting out on the front porch and chatting with passers by. N just loves dogs, so the neighbors' new puppy Boomer is a real hit. Every time he gets close Neil giggles and squeals in utter delight. It really is nice to be able to come home and plop outside on a blanket in the backyard rather than sit in the living room. Other Neil stuff: a touch of shyness around strangers, still waking up at night, eating solids about twice a day (pickles, olives, yogurt, hummus and bread are recent favorites), saying a lot of DA DA, passing off objects and taking them with him when he stands, bouncing (always), rolling around, rapidly outgrowing clothes...

I've been in the garden finally...it seems like this winter has been very long. The snap peas are sown, as are the first succession of lettuce, spinach and radishes. I'm am totally over paying for lettuce, so I'm hoping it does well this year. I also planted a lot of Swiss chard and some nasturtiums and a Clematis vine that I'm hoping will climb up the big telephone pole/clothes line post in the back. My potatoes and onions will arrive in the mail soon!

Today we're heading down to NJ to spend some time with the family before enjoying a much needed date to see a show at Brooklyn Bowl. I'm hoping Neil doesn't put up much of a fuss while we're getting our ya yas out. I'm ready for a little adultishness!!

Transitions

Things have really picked up around here lately. Colin has seen some changes in his work, and April is crazy for environmentalists in general. The weather has been less than awesome save for a few days of warmth. We saw a heavy snow a few weeks back and even yesterday we were faced with freezing rain. It dripped and half solidified on the magnolia branches and I was forced to remember the devastating late frost of last year...the one that killed our magnolia blossoms and most of New York's apple harvest with one swift cold bite. It's been a long winter here and I am welcoming any and all change, slow and sure as it is. The gardens are still mostly water logged, but I do have lettuce and spinach planted, and the catnip and chives are showing up to the game. Colin's grandpa gave me some plants that I hastily threw in the ground late last fall, and they are coming back up as well. The ground is warming, the frogs are peeping, and I can see the light. This morning I took an hour long riding lesson from one of Neil's caregivers. It included grooming and tacking up and a total reacquaintance with the saddle. On top of a very expensive and fancy Dutch warmblood named Ace. We walked and trotted and snuggled and lounged, but mostly we worked on transitions. Planting heels, closing hands, staying grounded and remaining focused to facilitate and absorb change.

It was the perfect metaphor to meet this April's needs.

It's been a while!

We just got back from an afternoon of maple sugaring and small farm fun. And yes I'm sipping syrup out of a mason jar while typing this! March is mud and snow, but it's also tree tapping, sap boiling, sweet, sticky goodness here in upstate NY. Maple Weekend is in full effect up here and the sap is flowing steadily. I really want to get back into maple sugaring after being on hiatus since I've moved to Saratoga. The park has some enormous maples in its southern property that seem like they'd be perfect for tapping. In the meantime, I decided to visit a couple of sugar shacks and check out their operations. Yesterday Neil and I went to Up Yonda Farm in Bolton Landing. Their operation is so cool, because its on this giant steep hill, and the sap just runs down via gravity. Today we visited Sugar Oak farms, run by a man and his 13 year old son. They tap trees
As far away as Hebron and bring the sap back to their suburban homestead in Malta via pick up truck...the Sap Wagon. His set up was so small and cool...the lesson that I took away from the visit was that there are really no good excuses for not doing what it is you wish to do. If you don't have trees to tap, borrow your neighbors' maples. Trade them for your famous syrup. Travel far and wide. Don't give up hope if you don't own your hardwoods. You can run a successful sugarbush right next to a major highway in a development! Happy Maple Weekend! On to St. Pat's!

Potato Plans

The ground is all ice and mud and chicken crap around here.  Last night we got some snow turned rain, and it froze in the early morning hours, making every damn surface slick as shit.  Still, my mind has already made the turn home towards spring.  The days are lengthening as we chase the weekends like dogs do their tails. The goldfinches and cardinals are getting chatty, and the squirrels are stuffing their cheeks with leaves instead of nuts.  My windows are filled with a warm glow in the evening rather than a stark bright white and blue landscape.  Such is February, brutal yet filled with promise.  I'm not yet impatient to work the ground, but excited to start dreaming up garden plans again. It is a quiet time to write down priorities, think up new endeavors, ruminate on last year's failures and decide on the young year's garden projects. New this year: Homegrown potatoes.

In the past I have grown potatoes in a sandy community garden (epic fail) and a garden within a state park (one huge success, one huge bonk).  This year I am looking to grow them within the boundaries of our backyard.  Since I have Neil, it would prove pretty difficult to try to grow anything anywhere other than home.  So I came across the idea of a potato tower on Pinterest, and it excited me that I could try to grow the tasty tubers without compromising prime real estate in my back garden. Check it out:

 

The whole process can be found here...I already have all the supplies necessary lying around in the garage barn.  You take some galvanized wire and secure it in a two-three foot wide circle.  Then you line the inside of the wire with straw (I buy my straw bales at Thorofeed near the track for $4), add a foot of compost and your first layer of potatoes.  Layer it up like a dip and plant whatever you'd like on top.  Perhaps some flowers, nasturtiums? would look nice up there. Or maybe some basil?  The potato leaves will grow through the straw outside the container, kind of like those strawberry planters you see around Father's Day.  The potatoes are ready when their leaves yellow and die in early fall. Then you are free to tip over the whole deal and harvest them. 

 

Sounds like a decent idea to me, and well...if you're going to make a potato tower, why not double the pleasure?  I went a little crazy and decided to order two different kinds of potatoes from the Maine Potato Lady.  We use potatoes a variety of ways at our house...baked, mashed and roasted being the most common.  This year I chose to grow Kennebec (baked/mashed) and Red Maria (roasted, potato salad, etc).

 

  Red Maria is described in the Maine Potato Lady's catalog: Finally, we have a beautiful name for "NY 129", a late-season red potato developed by the cornell breeding program.  I've grown this variety in my trials several times and was always impressed with the yield and uniformity of these large, round tubers.  Bright red skin is lightly textured and holds color well in storage.  Here is a picture from Cornell:

 

 

 

Kennebec: Released by the USDA in 1948, Kennebec is still one of the top ten varieties grown in Maine.  And no wonder!  It's very dependable under most growing condidtions, with high yields of large, white-fleshed tubers.  You can cook Kennebec any way, boil, mash or bake-and enjoy a superb meal every time.  Excellent storage.  Loads of white flowers cover this large plant.

 

courtesy of the Maine Potato Lady

 

So there you have it.  I had the opportunity to choose from early, mid and late season potatoes, so I chose the latter two in case we have a shit spring.  The Kennebec potatoes will mature in 70-90 days, and the Red Marias will take a few weeks longer. I plan on getting them into their towers in early May, as I don't really have to depend on the earth and sun to warm up this soil. Things I still need to consider include how to keep Doug from using them as a marking post...bird netting?, where to put them, and how to secure them from gusty thunderstorms (I'm thinking a tpost here).

 

Oh yeah, and what to do with my cherry on top: 100 sets of Stuttgarter onions.

 

Kid in a candy store I tell ya.

 

 



Not that I ever sleep ever...

Tastes Like Burning

Last night Colin and I planned a cute night in. Seeing as we were in Florida this time last year, we decided to make some Islamorada sandwiches and Key Lime pie. I suppose we were having a little too much fun with our whiskey and wine, because the next thing you know, our oven was on fire, complete with flames coming out of the door. It's safe to say we burnt our buns...I threw the flaming pan outside and covered it with a wet towel (see below).

Well, apparently this looked pretty appetizing to dear old Doug dog. I wasn't aware that he ate the charcoal brick in its entirety until I woke up at 5am...not to baby squalls, but to that panic inducing bleh...bleh...bleh bleh bleh bleh BLAAAAAAAA...

The fact that his puke was black was a dead giveaway.

I love dogs.

Carrot Ginger Soup for Sickies

This past month has seen its fair share of sniffles, coughs and underweatherness in our home.  I'm going to blame the germ fest that is every daycare (I'm assuming) in January, February, March  winter.  Every kid's got some kind of level of sneezles lately.  And then they pass it on to mama and daddy dearest.  I was fortunate to escape most of the maladies so far, but Colin was not as lucky.  One of my go-to sniff-buster recipes is carrot ginger soup from the original Moosewood cookbook.  I add a bunch of cayenne to make our noses run and heat up our bodies, but this is totally optional.   Tastes amazing either way.





Carrot Ginger Soup

2lbs of carrots (they come in 2lb bags!) scrubbed and chopped into 2" pieces
4c of stock (I make my own, and I will tell you how: dump a bunch of shit in a pot and let it go all night)
1 potato peeled and cut into 2" pieces
1 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 inch of fresh ginger peeled and grated and/or (I do and) 1 T ground ginger
3/4 c sour cream
as much cayenne as you want and can handle, or none at all!

Put the carrots, potato and stock into a sauce pan.  Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 15-20 minutes, until the vegetables are soft.  Turn off and let it cool.

Sautee the onion, garlic and ginger in a little butter until onions are translucent.  Turn off and let cool.

When everything is room temperature, put it into a blender and puree.  Add the puree back to the sauce pot.  Over low heat add sour cream, ground ginger and cayenne and stir until warmed through.  (You can make the first part ahead and add the sour cream when you are ready to eat if you are so inclined).  Top with a dollop of sour cream and a little fresh parsley and serve with warm bread.

Pair this meal with a cuddle under a soft blanket and you have yourself one comforting evening!

Head tilts

Oh you wanted a recipe?

Salt Dough Ornaments

2c flour
1c warm water
1c salt

Take off your rings and mix this together. Add a little more flour until it doesn't stick to your hands. Roll it out, maybe 1/4" thick. Cut with a cookie cutter. If you are making handprints, squish those baby fingers in there and make a perfect circle with a pint glass.

Bake at 200F for three hours. Flip halfway through.

Paint with acrylic paint. Did I mention that your baby won't die if he ingests acrylic paint? Poison Control told me so back in November.

Twenty Six Valentines

Neil and I...well let's face it....Neil...was invited to a Valentine's Day party this coming Wednesday. Everyone in the group needs a baby cuddle and Neil is their fix. I tried to make sure no one would make Valentines for an infant, but I couldn't guarantee it and didn't want to seem like a schmuck. I didn't want to be the only one coming to the cabin empty handed. So, this afternoon I sat down and made 26 personalized salt dough heart ornaments. And you know what? The kids will probably be pissed that they can't eat them! Whatever. One of my friends stopped over in the middle of all this and I glowered while uttering "Welcome to mother fucking craft day..." She pretty much backed away slowly and ran for the hills. What can I say? I never was one for making Valentines. Just ask my mother.