A Few of My Favorite Things...

Here's an old photo that I just found in the archives of a Radiohead show I went to see with my friend Jill. The stage was very cool - long metal tubes extending from the ceiling almost all the way down to the floor. Thom Yorke was dancing around the stage in, from our distance, what looked like red pyjamas or stirrup pants! What a show... from the ethereal, haunting sounds of Yorke's voice to the cultish glow on the audience to the stage-hands performing high-wire acts on the overhead beams!

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With sore calves and hungry bellies, we spent Sunday in a more indulgent fashion. We rolled up to a great breakfast joint Kismet - a local, vegan-friendly hangout with just five or six environmental cement tabletops, fliers promoting CSA lotteries for families in need, and a sensational menu filled with root vegetables, raw-milk cheddar, and an abundance of vivid wheatgrass! Afterwards, we wandered around sunny Montpelier, raising eyebrows at the real estate prices, ducking into an art museum, and stopping at Gesine's Confectionary for this gourmet cup of cappucino. It turns out Gesine happens to be Sandra Bullock's sister, but it's very brushed under the rug - not a mention in the whole bakery. And when I took out my camera, they freaked a little. I've never been mistaken for the paparazzi before...

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Wasn't this worth waiting for?

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On our first day arriving, this unfairly fit couple put us to work! We were dropped at the base of a mountain in Stowe and forced by temptation of fresh Vermont apples to the summit! The good news is we made it; the better news is that we didn't lose Eden. Quite the opposite, actually. Although it was markedly colder at the top of the climb, we were rewarded with an astonishing view of the tops of millions of trees turned gold and the sun just starting to burn pinks and purples into the sky. And the best news of all is that we undid all of our great work by stopping for cider doughnuts on the way home. That's exercise I can work with.

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This past weekend we went to Vermont to spend some time with my great friend Hilary and her husband Noah in their brand new hideaway. If you call early 1900s brand new, that is!  One of the many highlights of the visit was witnessing (on the late end, of course) Hilary up early in the morning making an apple pie with this amazing apple peeler. I have never seen its equal in apple-peeling technology! It's essentially a vice with a lever that you turn to make the apple spin as a lightly rested peeling blade rests against the ouside layer and pulls off the waxy skin in ribbons. To be honest, I wasn't sure what would be more beautiful: the photo of the mechanism or the delicious pile of ribbons in its wake. You can also just make out, at the top right of this shot, the cores that are conveniently also left behind in this process. As the vice clamps, the core is cut out of the apple, enabling the spinning movement and removing the pips. Yes, that's what they're called.

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My dad is my culinary hero. Just look how fast he works!  But seriously, the color and depth of flavor he brings to his dinners is inspiring, and his consistency unachievable in my personal experience! I blame it on my need to experiment with everything and never be satisfied cooking the same dish twice. But my dad would argue that the dish never is the same twice even if you attempt the same recipe over and over again. In fact, he prides himself on being the kind of cook who can use whatever's in the fridge to dish up a quality meal. The amazing thing is, he always does.

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Another great thing we did when we had our parents up was antiquing. Actually, I think that's maybe too glamorous a term for it - we were essentially wandering around sheds brushing the dust off old things in Essex, but it's always fun to pick up a "find" on the cheap, and Jason's mom got a great pair of old figure skates for her holiday display, so it was a success! In the yard area of one of the shops, I spotted this enormous old shipping rope - hard to imagine trying to tie something like this - and it reminded me of a gigantic python, all coiled around itself and about 4 or 5 inches in diameter. I am sharing this because I love the texure of this shot - who would have guessed there were so many greens to find in a piece of old, weathered rope?

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Oh, the last fleeting days of summer! I have spent so much time tracking the pre-election debates that I've hardly had time to write and illustrate! This photo was snapped just a few short weeks ago at a weekend retreat to the shore with both sets of our parents - and here's a bowl of clams (I can still appreciate the beauty, even though I don't partake) that Jason's dad whipped up for a Sunday lunch. I wonder if we'll be able to afford clams in a few weeks... But summer has slunk away again, and now we're thick into the fall (pictures to come). Thinking about it now, as I'm wrapped up in whatever blankets and slippers I can find, I even miss the humidity.

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