Food is pretty much what we do here at Chez Winter. I grew up in a "foody" family; my Mom studied with some of the best chefs in the world, including Julia Child and James Beard. My Dad is a fabulous cook in his own right, too, so it is only natural that that all that food love filtered on down through the generations.
Mister was a willing protoge from day one, and gotta say, I'm a good cook myself, but he is a great one. I taught him everything I know, but being the competitive guy he is, he just had to one up me! Nothing, of course, makes me happier, since the dirty little secret in our household is that he does most of the the everyday cooking, and we eat like kings. Have I ever mentioned that John makes ALL our breads--from sandwich loaves to baguettes, bagels, round loaves, tortillas, muffins, biscuits, rolls, etc. We source various wheat flours from non-GMO mills; there is a fabulous one in Logan, Utah that we have visited a few times, not to mention Bob's Red Mill in a Portland suburb. I suspect we're the only folks in the neighborhood with a hundred pounds of flour in food-safe buckets in the garage!
We have to credit our oldest daughter, Leah, though, with bringing the idea of eating local home from college to us. She went to University of Portland, and eating local is huge there. It really is the yummiest way to eat, since if you buy local, your food is always fresh, and often, organic. We support local farms through CSA shares, and of course Leah and Scott have a garden on their little farm that supplies us with so many delicious foods...from beets to eggplant to fennel, squashes and pumpkins of all varieties, plus the usual foods like carrots, tomatoes, chilis, peppers, and radishes. Be still my heart.
Currently, I contribute things like cultured butter (I use buttermilk bacteria to culture the cream, and then churn it up after it has set for 24 hours), regular and greek yogurt, and occasionally, fresh cream cheese, goat cheese, and other soft cheeses to our food table.
You can imagine what our Thanksgiving table looks like! This year, I'm in charge of the homemade cranberry sauce, some carrots with vinegar and oregano (an Italian recipe from Marcella Hazan--delicious cold, warm, or hot), and I'll help with the stuffing and turkey/gravy. John is in charge of the turkey (he made three loaves of bread for stuffing and has it cubed and toasted in bread bags, ready to go), along with the homemade dinner rolls. He also made a crust for the pecan pie Sarah is bringing, along with a green salad. Leah and Scott are bringing pumpkin pie along with mashed root veggies--potatoes/parsnips/garlic (all home grown).
Obviously, we'll be jogging around the block both before and after the feast.
All this food talk can only lead to one thing...the December scent of the month--Blessings.
Welcome the warmth of home, family gatherings, and holiday traditions with Blessings, a classic blend of aromatic spices: ground nutmeg and clove, cinnamon bark, sandalwood, and amber.
Have you ever grated a fresh nutmeg seed? (if not, you owe it to yourself to track one down and try it....Penzey's is one source) It is the most heavenly scent ever! Scentsy has captured the scent of freshly grated nutmeg along with some subtle clove, all mellowed out with just the barest touch of sandalwood (not sure I'm getting the amber, but, it is probably part of that mellow feel I get from this). It reminds me a little of the old fashioned spice drops--you know, the real spice ones, not the icky sweet ones you get most of the time nowadays. Yeah, the ones we walked 10 miles uphill both ways in the snow to get back in ye goode old days...
Blessings has gotten some weird reviews on the Scentsy consultant forum, with some consultants describing it as "Vicks" or "turpentine", or "campophenic". All of those descriptions made me wonder if we're smelling the same scent. To me, Blessings, IS the scent of the holidays--both Thanksgiving and Christmas--when the house is filled with the delicious scent of all those holiday yummies we love to cook and eat. All I can figure is...maybe those folks don't cook with fresh ingredients? I dunno.
Blessings is my most-loved scent to come along in a very long time (although Very Snowy Spruce made me do a happy dance, too).
I give it a very solid 10 in all departments.
And speaking of Blessings,
Where ever you are this Thanksgiving, may it be filled with the Blessing of family, friends, and joyful celebration. As always, just a reminder that I don't "do" Black Friday, because I think the holidays are about spending time with loved ones, and being grateful for what we have, not focusing on getting more more more of the stuff we really don't need! There will be plenty of time to shop between Thanksgiving and Christmas (or Hanukkah) , so take a little time to relax and enjoy the long weekend.
Whatever YOUR traditions are, be safe, be joyful, be grateful, be BLESSED.
PS: Our latest Blessing is the news that Grandchild #3 will be debuting in June 2015. Yay for sweet angel grandbabies!!!
