Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Falling


Fall is here.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Love Shackle

lodi, ny-- Perhaps you've noticed the picture of The Unknown Blogger, sitting on her deck, taking in the westward view.

You may think she has it made.

But no.

Shucking corn, shelling lima beans, straining butternut, tasting wine, skipping stones, shaping gnocchi and beating egg and flour until silky pasta emerges... these activities are but the tip of the iceberg.

My girl has been working the land. She is on the chain gang (self imposed). Was there ever one who appreciated hard labor as much as she? Yes, and they were pioneers.

Do you see why she is perfect for me?

10/18/07

Monday, October 8, 2007

Apple of My Eye

all around the finger lakes-- As our good friend Gillian Welch sings:

Peaches in the summertime/
Apples in the fall/
If I can't have you all the time/
I don't want none at all

We have experienced peaches in the summertime, which means it is now time for apples here in upstate New York. You may be thinking: "Eh, apples." But that is because you, like me, were trained to skip over the waxy, mealy apples in the produce section. Now I say: "Yum! Apples!"

When K's and my parents were here, we all piled into the cars and headed over to a U-Pick orchard on Stillwell Road. We loved the variety here (we had previously picked at a place-- good apples-- but only three kinds). Here we could pick Courtlands, McIntosh, Empire, Crispins, Honeycrisps, Macouns (pretty! purple!), and some others that I am forgetting. With some many hands, we loaded up our bushel box pretty quickly and headed back to Caywood Station (but not before setting off my car alarm in the orchard-- awesome. Greenhorn Alert!) where Karen whipped up a Julia Child*-inspired crust and tucked our apples inside. I used to say "Eh, apple pie." Now I say: "YUM! Apple pie!"

Since Karen had some dough leftover from her first apple pie (despite having made a pie and two adorable tartlets), she whipped up another pie last night. YUM! Apple pie! In true Almanzo style, we breakfasted on pie and coffee, before heading off to the fields for a little back breaking labor. (More on that later). I plan to soon make an applesauce cake with the applesauce we made last night. Oh, Karen has also made an apple coffee cake.

Pie, cake, applesauce, these are but a few of the reasons Karen is the apple of my eye!

10/8/07

Friday, October 5, 2007

Random Sightings of the Day

outside our bedroom window--

-Swirl of migrating birds in the field

rt 96N toward trumansburg--

-Two stickers on a bumper in Ithaca:
1) Ithaca is Gangsta [ed note: It's not]
2) I'd rather be spooning

-Hot air balloon over fiery sunset on Seneca Lake

10/5/07

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Birthday, Bubbly, and Bob


caywood station--Here's one thing we couldn't do if we lived in L.A.: Celebrate Karen's dad's 70th birthday in the rustic warmth of Caywood Station! A whole gaggle of Bob's loved ones converged upon the Finger Lake's region for the event: Ann (Karen's mom and chief party planner), Robin (Karen's sister and chief toastmaster), Jim (Karen's brother-in-law and all-around Renaissance man), Jake (Karen's nephew and well-rounded scholar/athlete), Emma (K's niece and head tap dancer), JoAnn (cakemaker extraordinaire), Pat and Jim (expert canners and wine makers), Emily (famous for many things, but eternally beloved for her famous Buffalo Wing Dip, Sarah and Fred Vergamini (beloved friends and Finger Lakes natives), Amy, Jay, and Lucy (wonderful neighbors who you've undoubtedly grown fond of though their own blog).

Food was eaten, drinks were drunk, dances were tapped, and toasts were toasted. There wasn't a dry eye in the house after Sis's touching tribute to my wonderful Dad. We had a fine time celebrating Dad's so far 70 grand years, and look forward to the many adventures yet to come.

9/15/07