Seattle!

Last week, we spent a few days in Seattle for a small honeymoon. Unable to decide what to do about Europe, this was the easiest way to get away without committing too far (Pittsburgh is now direct to Seattle). It was a small trip, a cold one, but one of the best yet.

Saturday

With so much time, we sat around, waiting for the hours to pass and the coffee to work and the water to thaw in the chicken coop. Antsy, we waited. Nervous to leave the dogs, we stretched our in bed and I laid my hands on the small chest of Elsa, savoring the thick undercoat of her fur before we left.

Beat traffic, through security, we waited. Headphones in, a book to read, nothing to do but enjoy the warmness of our bodies against the canned and recycled air of Alaska flight 199.

Picked up our car (provided by Silvercar by Audi).Got to our hotel, a Sleep Inn in SeaTac. Got fries and a beer to warm u around nine, bed by ten.

Sunday

The favorite for us both. The ferry day. The island day. The tourist day. The cheap coffee day. The diner food day. The Twin Peaks day.

This was my present to Nolan for his birthday, in a way. A day dedicated to the Puget Sound islands to visit the various filming locations of his favorite show, Twin Peaks.

The day started at 8:00 on the ferry dock in Seattle. We’ve never been to one, so the novelty itself was enough to keep us awake that early. Parked the car, tottered on the stairs, we found a window seat and got a quick vending machine coffee. Warmed our hands, watched the skyline fade in the fog of mist and gulls.

Made it to Bainbridge, got breakfast in a grocery store. Walked around, bought the dogs their Christmas presents. Warmed up in a bookstore then froze on the sidewalk again. Walked the main street twice, east to west, drove out to Kiana Lodge to see the log from the first episode of Twin Peaks.

The small towns we passed reminded me of home. Large fields and broken windows. Some trucks in the distance piled up. A farm shop, a mattress store. A vitamin shop next to a Dairy Queen. The magic of the islands were broken by this familiarity, it intensified it —- still beautiful despite the garish reality of commercial space against evergreens.

Made it to our next ferry, sat facing the chopping waves and wheeling gulls. Got the car, pulled out onto the small bridge into Port Townsend. Took the long way around town. Stunned by the Victorian manors, something neither of us thought would be there, in this tiny village in this distant coast.

Got lunch at the tiniest restaurant we could find. Oysters and deviled eggs. Hot tea. Buttered bread. Wine. Sat across from Nolan and fell in love again.

Final stop, down the coast. Drove into the city by dusk. Checked into our room at Hotel Sorrento, upgraded to a suite. Free wine. A dinner at Harvest Vine, a cave of a place - charcuterie and roasted vegetables and more wine.

Fell asleep in the warmth of a long day.

Monday

Woke up to head to Pike Place. Got a pastry from our favorite spot - curried rice for me, mushroom and celery for Nolan. Ate it in a small alcove by the fish vendors. Ass cold on the concrete, hands warmed around the pastry wrapper.

Nolan had a cigarette. I kissed him against the wall, tasting the tobacco, too.

We walked around, tried to warm up. Most shops were closed, but we bought some postcards. Warmed up in a French cafe. Walked downtown, exploring. Using a coupon. Tried to find something at Gucci. No success. Drove out to Snoqualmie, the small town with ties to Twin Peaks.

Ate at the diner where the Double R was shot. Got a BLT and a t-shirt. Checked in at Salish, the mist obscuring the entrance until you’re a foot away. A modern resort, rustic where it counts. We spent 5 hours at the spa. Less photos today, too wrapped up in the beauty we were lucky enough to share together.

My back ached when we were done from the massage. Thirsty, starving, we found a sushi place. Went back and were asleep, the last thing I remember was the shape of Nolan’s shoulder against the firelight.

My Advent Starts Today!

It’s finally here! I’ve got 25 days of highlights for you for my digital advent calendar. I know this is a little different than my normal content, but I think it’s a fun way to stay interactive while the holidays approach. You also get to see a side of me that I don’t get to show much on here (how materialistic I am, haha).

If you want to sign up for my newsletter, you can do so here. Each morning, I’ll send out the next advent. Or you can follow along at your leisure in the link above.

And now off to Seattle for our little “mini-moon”!

My Interview with WoolOvers

Earlier this month, I was asked by my friends at WoolOvers to talk a bit about what life is like on my farm. You can find my interview here. 

I was also given three items to style myself. Find some of those looks below! 

Lascar: A Story of the Maritime Boulevards

For 50 years, Stephen Tennant worked on his “masterpiece” that never was. Charmed by the sea port villages where he holidayed, enamored by the masculine sailors who occupied these towns. What secrets they held, what worlds they saw that laid at the periphery of Tennant’s own aristocratic world and his sublime imagination.

I just finished a biography of Tennant. In his later years, I was struck by the continual presence of Lascar. It was at once a missive and an escape for him. A duty and an excuse. A reason for his reclusiveness but a desire for fame from the outside world. Lascar was as much a mythology to him as it was a gauzy, yet-formed opus to his friends and literary correspondence.

Do you have your own Lascar? A dream that won’t materialize? An excuse, laid out for years, the immateriality of which only propels you further into your imagination? I do. I’m sure this isn’t a characteristic only Mr. Tennant and I share. But it’s one I harken back to often at my desk, dreaming of the could-have-beens and we-will-sees that hang at the edge of my own sublime imagination.

Little Holiday Cakes: Parkin + Fruitcake + Donut

Happily, I’m taking another year off from any work on Thanksgiving. But, I am still itching to bake lately. A warm oven (cracked slightly to heat the house a bit), a sink of dishes, a shared spoon of batter between Nolan and me. That’s the kind of night I enjoy most.

This recipe started out as a practice parkin. I had seen the golden and brown cake on instagram from Alice Naylor-Leyland with her husband Tom. They were hosting a dinner to promote the Yorkshire town of Malton at Claridge’s (Vogue covered it here). I thought, considering I had the ingredients, I’d give it a go.

Baked in cast iron, I found the recipe too sticky. So I adapted it. Forced the parkin into a baked donut mold of a recipe. And added golden raisins for good measure. Thus, these cakes were born. A perfect little pick-me-up that’s treacly enough to sweeten your tooth, while light enough to keep room for turkey.

Holiday Cakes

Makes roughly 6-8 cakes / Prep: 10 minutes ; Bake: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cup AP flour

• 1/3 cup quick oats

• 1 1/2 cup dark brown sugar

• 2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

• 1 teaspoon allspice

• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 large egg + 1 yolk

• 1 cup whole milk

• 1/4 cup molasses

• 2 TB light corn syrup (or honey)

• 3 TB vegetable oil

• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/4 cup strong coffee

• 1/3 cup golden raisins, candied ginger, or any other dried or preserved fruit

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F

2. Grease your pan (I used a Lodge Mini Cake Pan, but you could easily use a muffin tin!)

3. In a large bowl, use a fork and mix together all dry ingredients (except your preserved fruits)

4. In a measuring cup, whisk together all wet ingredients until it’s a deep caramel color)

5. Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients

6. Use a rubber spatula and mix in wet ingredients into dry

7. Divide into your prepared pans

8. Bake for 25 minutes or until top is golden and slightly cracked

9. Allow to cool and enjoy. Can keep for up to a week in an airtight container (and tastes better that way!)

The New Normal: Winter’s Here

I’m told the Farmers Almanac calls for a bad season this year. I believe it. 

We get groceries delivered and they had to cancel, too cold to finish the harvest, they said. No potatoes. No celery. No soup to warm our bones tonight. 

The walks to the chickens are doable in the frigid mornings, but only because I’m distracted by the beauty of our farm. The cardinal-colored shack that’s broken and stark in the patch of trees. The burn pit that spreads motes of ash to the whispering and broken creek bed. The one lone goose who trails behind. The gravel that shatters around my stomping feet.

The icicles that form on the grill of the old Ford we left neglected all Summer. The battery dead and the paint peeling off the door handle.

Icy, Rainy, Tired Days - What I got at the library this week

Yesterday was spent between couches and bed, with brief periods in the barn and in town. Our smallest hen, a tiny barbu d’anvers bantam, seemed a little croaky and may have had a small cold. I stressed all night and as soon as I got up, went to the store for some medicine.

Iced roads, hot gas station coffee and a stop at the French restaurant in the strip mall. I came home to the dogs panting clouds in the sleet and melting boots in the foyer.

We ventured out for pizza. We ventured out for a painting I’ve been eyeing from the antique store. We ventured out to donate some books to the library and to pick up a few books, too.

An hour on the phone with my mom. Three movies with my husband. A slice of pizza shared with the dogs. A Sunday for a Thursday was exactly what I needed before holidays and work and responsibilities get in the way.

And if you’re curious what books I got from the library this week, here you go!

Morning on the Farm: The Chickens' Breakfast

In bed by nine thirty - who have we become? Every day seems to be dragging once it hits 3 o’clock and Nolan and I just sit on the couch, staring at our phones…microwaving dinner…thinking of our upcoming vacation to Seattle, Chicago, and Austin.

But it’s the morning that’s come alive for me. N works more mornings now, so he’s up first. He brews the coffee while he has a cigarette and brings me a cup while I, stumbling for my glasses and alarm, let it cool on the table until my head is raised enough to avoid the coffee dribbling down my pajamas.

He goes to work; I read for an hour.

The dogs, snore and stretch and snuggle their heads into pillows and my thigh. Any way to avoid the sun.

And then I rouse them up. We do the chickens. This morning, I had to carry Murphy to the backdoor. He is stubborn and wouldn’t get up with the others.

In this cold weather, I give the chickens any attempt at warmth that I can. I keep an electric kettle down in the barn for them so I can easily heat water for them throughout the day. I also bought oatmeal, which I mix with any herbs that are still growing in our kitchen garden (this morning, it was basil) and a mix of dried herbs (usually red chili flakes, to help with worming and immunity). Mixed by hand, a reserve for my bantam, I throw the aluminum pan into their coop.

This is a near-daily act of love I use to say, “Thank you” to my flock.

VITA.

Is there a more interesting character than Vita Sackville-West? Pictured here, smoking a cigarette with her dog in the garden of her estate, Sissinghurst.

A prolific author, a famed garden designer, a sexual conquistadora, a smoker, a Lady. So much subversion in one character. Vita seems (to me anyway) to be such a embodiment of pre-War aristocracy, while also being a symptom to its rigors. She was the inspiration for Woolf’s Orlando.
She’s appeared peripherally in the current book I’m reading (Serious Pleasures, a biography on Stephen Tennant by Philip Hoare), but I may just have to go to the library today to find a book where she’s the star.

Back in Action: Fall Soup - Pumpkin, Curry, Apples, and Almonds!

Well! The wedding is over and this week has been a dragging-out of lazy afternoon, laundry, and slouching my way back into the daily routine.

I don’t want to say or write too much about the wedding until we have all of the photos. I want to put the best out first and I’m sure will be sharing many, many, many photos throughout the next few weeks (or months!).

But we’re slowly moving from crisp to cold, the mornings that were foggy two weeks ago now freeze as crystals on the too-shaggy grass that crunches to the barn. The nights are long, the dogs are tired. We went to bed at nine last night, our eyes not adjusted to so little daylight.

And so I want something hearty and warm. Fragrant, smooth, sweet and bitter. I want it all. I get greedy sometimes. So I adapted my old soup recipe for Table Magazine last year with some ingredients I had around the kitchen. Ate two bowls quickly for lunch, a third for dinner.

Shared below, I hope you’ll make it, too.

Curried Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 red onion, roughly chopped

• 1 apple, roughly chopped

• 1/3 cup orange juice

• 4 cups good quality chicken stock

• 3 cups pumpkin puree

• 1 tablespoon salt

• 1 tablespoon pepper

• 3 cloves garlic, diced

• 1/4 cup sliced almonds

• 1/2 cup heavy cream

• 2 tablespoon yellow curry powder

Directions:

1. In a Dutch oven, heat oil and sauté onions and apples until both are softened and browned.

2. Deglaze with juice and allow alcohol to cook out, about 1 minute.

3. Add stock, pumpkin, salt, pepper, garlic, and almonds.

4. Bring soup to a boil, cover and let it continue boiling for 30 minutes.

5. When 30 minutes have elapsed, remove from heat.

6. Using a blender or food processor, pulse soup to desired thickness.

7. Return to Dutch oven and stir in cream and curry.

8. Season with additional salt and pepper, to taste.