Happy Christmas

Just one more day left in the kitchen. With many things that still need to be finished...

But I did a lot of prep yesterday so hopefully things will go smoothly. Except for the minor kitchen emergency that happend 30 seconds ago. I turned on my candied grapefruit peels to reheat them so I could sugar them, and burned them to a very smokey crisp. And now every door and window in the house is open, desperately trying to air the place out. Le sigh.




Stock for my chestnut soup. It's so pretty, stock. I can't help but take pictures.




Chestnuts with the recipe. I haven't made this for years but it's soooo delicious and festive. I'll be sure to post the recipe before New Years in case someone is looking for a decadent treat for the eve.




Persimmon puree for pudding. Again, unbelievably delicious if you've never had it. The pudding, not the puree.

And then I stepped outside for a moment, to grab some herbs and survey the yard before we leave. And look what I found! This is probably only exciting to me, but...




Millet! Sprouting up everywhere the chicken house has been. They're messy eaters those chickens, but now we have lovely grain plants coming up around the yard.




Mysterious squash that won't quit growing




More squash that's been harvested and needs to be brought inside and consumed.





And succulents, who are much happier in the shade with reliable rain, it turns out.

Happy last few days of 2009. I'll be around a bit before New Years, since they don't exactly allow pregnant people on the ski slopes. Mountainy posts to follow. With the chestnut soup recipe.