watching, feeling fall

The morns are meeker than they were,
The nuts are getting brown;
The berry's cheek is plumper,
The rose is out of town.

The maple wears a gayer scarf,
The field a scarlet gown.
Lest I should be old-fashioned,
I'll put a trinket on.

-Emily Dickinson

Found the prickly pears shining in purple after the last rain.

This poem inspired me to realize that my recent desire for a lovely red (&blue or purple or yellow or orange) plaid wool scarf is just my need to counteract the fading color all around me.

...Also, one disadvantage to heating a house by wood stove is burning your finger, while still groggy early in the morning, by touching the inside of the stove when trying to perfectly place in a new a log.

Last night we ate chicken/red chile sauce tacos. And I baked this applesauce cake, which is delicious (earthy, light & spicy), even without the caramel glaze (I just did a simple sugar glaze, poured all over the cake while still warm).

december afternoon

last night baked a gingerbread (cake) recipe that called for a cup of guinness & a cup of molasses. along with a ton of ginger. not only was it the tastiest, it made my house smell delicious.

I shared it with friends & bourbon. and ate it for breakfast too.






















been fighting an urge all weekend, to take a long nap. thinking I could wake up and feel rested, in mind and body. somehow trying to prepare for a new year. closing one book, and opening another.

for the weekends ahead, it will be nothing but holidays.

great things list #14

finding new chocolate chip cookie recipes. or, just reading an article about the wonder of them. and how many ways they can be made. leave it to the New York Times, to make what is really just great when plain & simple, to look possibly decadent & fussily good too.

am not convinced yet to try these, with there two-kinds of flour (cake & bread? hmm, tempting) and long refrigeration period. will definitely substitute my own fancy chocolate. but, haven't ruled it out either. b/c sometimes the power of the cookie, draws you to the fridge. where you pull out the butter, set it on the counter, and know, that in mere hours, it will be time to blend with sugar til light & creamy.

(yes, I skipped great things #13. call me superstitious. go ahead, do it)

new history.

the sugar cookie recipe I've been making since I was a girl (featured below) I'd had believed was my grandmother's. every year my grandma lorene bake these cookies. and we all look forward to snacking on them--as they are practically bite-size covered in colorful sprinkles.

I'd known that my cookies never quiet tasted like hers. but, I reasoned that I just didn't have her touch.

today, while at my mother's snowy farm kitchen, I was going through her folder of loose recipes. and I found Lorene's Sour Cream Christmas Cookies, written in grandma's hand, likely right after mom & dad were married. it is noted on the card, that this recipe came from her mother. it is not the same recipe which I'd been baking all this time.

I asked mom, so, where did this other recipe, that I've been using, come from? and she doesn't remember. but pointed out, it was probably someone's family recipe, maybe just not, ours.

Also, in the folder of recipes, is a picture of me at 11 years. with straight bangs and a few freckles.