Thursday, December 31, 2009

Since Then

Not much to report other than boys and I hauled more wood, some serious sledding was had at North Country Community College, and...@PK Arrived! He flew into Lake Clear/Saranac Lake airport which is always a treat. 8 people total on plane and flying into a snowy, windy, airstrip. I met a nice guy, "Bob" who will drive you or pick you up anywhere in the Adirondacks and beyond. Email me if you need his contact info.

We then trekked over to our neighbors Tim and Shelly LaPorte who run Balanced Bodywork massage in Lake Placid. They have a "satellite office" across from their house and we are lucky enough to live across the street.... Shelly came over after to meet Rex, our former family cat who now lives with my ex. Between his travel schedule (and cat ambivalence) and Clarke's burgeoning cat allergy, we hope Rex will be adopted and can live happily in the ADK with Tim, Shelly, and their cat, Darius. One look at Darius and I am a bit worried he will not readily give up his perch as king cat. Fingers Crossed. The fateful Meeting of the Fur is this evening...after a few cocktails.

We had a huge EatnMeet dinner last night with the Hamiltons, Williams, PK and Juli/Mike. Yes, we took up the whole restaurant. We brought great wine, the boys had fancy soda and we chatted and dined for 2 hrs. Highlights: Sweet potato, pumpkin seed empanada with spicy green sauce, Maryland crab cake, Winterhawk (e.g. Dave and Joanne!) turkey pot pie. The boys relished, more than they should have, eating the turkeys that taunted them all summer.

After that Clarke and I dominated Oscar and @PK in Pictionary and we called it a night. I am about to rouse the troops for cleaning and shopping purposes to ready for our NYE gig tonight.

Monday, December 28, 2009

Um...About Perfect

So 8 hrs later, we arrived in Saranac Lake from NYC last Wednesdsay. I sort of relish the hellacious city traffic because it makes that first relaxing day so obviously antithetical to our citylife. I gainly stayed awake till around 1am finishing wrapping which is a Williams First. No more Christmas Eve wrapping hell. Christmas Eve, Oscar and I woke up and set a world shopping record at Price Chopper. Oy. Then, we all took naps, and went to Christmas Eve mass at St. Bernard. As I tweeted, the priest literally stopped in the middle of the communion line to ask Clarke if he was a skateboarder. I think Clarke's hair freaked him out. His hair freaks me out. (Note to self, keep repeating "Pick Your Battles.")
Then we had some boy-friendly appetizers and treats. I made Clarke the classic Spanish shrimp dish with sherry, garlic, red pepper and olive oil. We had lamb balls (quick made-up recipe: ground lamb, rosemary, garlic, lemon zest, bread crumbs, egg, salt. Mush, make a ball, bake..till done), baked potatoes with fixins', and good bread and cheese (thank you Park Slope Coop). We played board games and read our two Christmas books. Hilariously, the tradition continues to evolve, as Clarke started "Twas the Night Before Christmas" in the voice of Gogol Bordello, an eastern European, folk-punk (?) band. Oscar then asked that I take over and do my french accent. Bizarre and hilarious. I once again, cried at Polar Express- not sure why. The boys opened their one present from me, not Santa. Always pajamas. They love it and it makes me ridiculously happy.

Christmas was super low key. Oscar slept until 7am. Another Williams First. Hooray for Civility. We decided not to ski and were very happy to play outside and read etc. The boys were so gracious and happy with everything they received. They still love reading the Christmas tags and the various characters who dropped off presents. Clarke started downloading free books for his Iphone and is into old sci-fi and horror. He's already read about 4 Edgar Allen Poe (in lieu of his 55 geometry proofs he needs to complete this week).

We skied on Saturday - slushy, warm and no crowds. Yesterday we laid low and then went to see Sherlock Holmes. I was "eh", boys loved. My classic chic review is that I hated the violence - Sherlock Holmes a thug?- but love love loved Robert Downey and Jude Law - and the acting was good too....(thank you. I'll be here all week. Tip your waiters.) Today, Oscar and I skied our brains out. Clarke stayed in to sleep and finish homework and rightfully was pretty mad at himself for missing today. Crazy snow fall, crazy crowds and my legs are still wobbly.

I am in the process of hauling all the firewood that was dropped in a heap on our lawn into our wood shed. Bad timing and late. We are clearly not locals. Duh.

Our only issue so far is this pesky carbon monoxide poisoning threat. We had a new chimney built for our woodstove and ever since, each fire triggers the alarm. NOT. GOOD. I've tried messing with the type of wood, the settings of the woodstove, keeping door open/closed, to no avail. So tomorrow, with temps in the zeros, we will have no fire. Bill our trusty neighbor and caretaker will be over in the afternoon to check it out, but right now, i'm feeeeling sorta sleeeeepy. OK, Not funny. Sorry. No one feels sick. Fire extinguished. Minor issue I am sure. Anyone have ideas? Mr. Small Pines? MR. SMALL PINES?!

That's a few highlights so far. Tomorrow, my guests begin to arrive. The wonderful Juli (seriously, check out her organization -web still in beta- and prepare to be amazed) and Mike from Milwaukee are traveling both to see us and for their 10th wedding anniversary. Therefore, although the boys are very good at harmonizing romantic tunes, they will be staying at the Porcupine Lodge. I must say, I've never stayed and don't know well but looks lovely. Anyone have an opinion?

New Year's Eve we are having a wee get-together. Mostly a few neighbors. I will try to post some pix of the debauchery. I keep taking pictures, but it's the same thing: pretty trees, snow covered boys, fires, wine. That sums it up.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow

I keep saying "once I get through this insane, hectic day, tomorrow will ease up and I can start to enjoy the holidays." Midnight on Dec. 22 and I've decided I am going to scale back on some to-dos or I will end up on Jan. 3rd, exhausted and regretful. So who cares if i scrimp on some cooking and maybe the presents won't be wrapped with matching ribbons. I may not get to the co-op for fancy cheese, and I may just bring my dirty laundry to the barn with me. I do have some work to do for my new job but I can handle in the days after Christmas. I have 10 rare straight days with my wonderful boys and a few days with dear friends at my favorite place in the world.

And that, my friends, is the beauty of turning 40. A little perspective.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Meringue Pavlova (As Promised)

Note: this is directly from my friend and I have not given it a try.

Meringue Pavlova
- for one piece. (I double this and make two)
4 egg whites
half teaspoon cream of tartar
8oz sugar
1 teaspoon of corn starch


Preheat oven to 350. Grease baking sheet and line with parchment paper. Draw an 8-9in circle on paper. In a bowl, whisk the egg white and cream of tartar until stiff. Whisk in the sugar, 2 tbsp at a time. Continue whisking until the mixture is thick, shiny and billowy. Fold in the cornflour. Spoon onto the baking sheet, following the circle you made. Make a dip in the centre (or a peak for the top meringue, if making a sandwich) and swirl the edges. Place on the middle shelf of the oven and turn the heat to 275. Cook for 1 hour then turn off the oven, leaving the pavlova in there for several hours. Remove and place on a plate (preferably the serving plate, as the meringue often crumbles and breaks easily).
To make filling, lots of choices: whip half a pint of heavy cream and pile between slices and/or on top, then add chocolate shavings, raspberries, whatever. Mix choc powder into cream. Or for our favorite,
Chestnut cream filling
:
1 pint heavy cream
2oz sugar (plus more if needed)
Tin of Minerve chestnut cream (creme de marrons) - you can get it NOW on sale at Wholefoods; I don't see it the rest of the year. It's about $8 a tin. It's delicious as is, with plain yoghurt, or in this recipe. Be SURE to get the vanilla/sugar flavored chestnut cream NOT the puree, which is savory and very disappointing if you try to put it in this recipe, which I once did!
Divide about 1/4 pint cream from rest, whip, and then whisk with 1/2 or more tin of chestnut cream, and 2oz sugar. I suggest whipping the cream first. I had a problem with a drippy cake this year, as some of our kind guests pointed out.
Whip rest of the cream separately, adding 2 tbsp sugar if you like.
Place chestnut cream in center of bottom meringue, and surround with plain whipped cream so it doesn't show till you cut the pavlova.
Add top layer of meringue then pile high with yet more whipped cream, and decorate with tacky plastic Santa or your preference of seasonal whimsy. Or lots of chocolate.
Eat! (preferably all in one sitting, though it's good the next day too.)

Meringues can be kept for up to a week if stored in dry airtight conditions. Filling has to be added on the day.
Useful tips: Make sure bowl, beater and hands are dry.
Separate eggs when cold, bring whites to room temp.
Add sugar very slowly to egg whites.
Beat till shiny and stiff, not dry.
Don't try to cook extra meringue on the bottom of the oven, as I did this year (?!). It will burn and stink out your apartment.

Next Two Weeks

NYC Goals: Presents shipped to family, boys presents' wrapped, house left organized and sparkling, fridge clean, 2010 budget made, menu planned for the week, specialty foods purchased and packed, freelance work complete, cookies baked, laundry finished, dry cleaning dropped off, teacher meetings finished, bills paid and then the reward: 12 Days at the Barn.

Barn Goals: Fall asleep while reading on couch, develop shaker's wrist from too many board games, an early morning snow shoe, ski till my legs shake, red wine, soup.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Holidays and City

A few quick things that were great about this weekend.
  1. Unsilent Night: A symphonic walk through the Village with 200 (?) strangers, carrying boom boxes. It's becoming quite popular; this was the first year there was a police escort. Look for it in your city. This year, it was made more hilarious because it fell on the same day as Santacon, guaranteeing we'd run into the requisite "Drunk Santa" "Chain-Smoking Santa" "Lecherous Santa" etc. etc.
  2. British Cooking: That's riiiight. Boys and I went to annual party of friends from England and she always makes this really amazing dessert. I've just emailed her because I've decided it has to be put into the repertoire and it's perfect for the holidays. Count this as a teaser because I will post whole recipe, if given permission. It's a meringue with some sort of chestnut cream. (She also serves loads of fantastic champagne on a Sunday afternoon.)
  3. Babies! Once per month, I work at a shelter for homeless, pregnant/newly mom'd teens and there is not an altruistic thing about it. All day I snuggle with these adorable little bundles. If you are looking for a worthy charitable donation for the holidays, this is definitely one I can endorse. These women/girls are given a furnished studio from their third trimester till the baby is one year old. They are given support, training, and resources to get them back on their feet and they are given many rules and responsibilities too. They are expected to get their GED and the staff helps place them in work. It's such a warm environment and such a change from the typical shelter scenario for these women and their babies. You can see that they have a chance.
So there you have it: Symphonies, champagne, and babies. A Christmas Trifecta!

Monday, December 7, 2009

Short, Sweet

Barn this weekend was fantastic. Friday, we didn't get out of the city until almost 7pm, the boys were packed in an economy car with about 850,000 loads of laundry, and they lived to tell, although things got a bit hairy. They had managed not to kill each other for most of the drive but when we got off the highway at exit 30, a huge fight erupted. They went back and forth for 10 minutes until I employed what I have now trademarked as "Open Window Conflict Resolution". (note: I will be hosting a $500 per hour workshop for parents in spring). After starting to lose it myself, I cranked down all four windows. Imagine the bracing ADK air at midnight. The boys sort of shrieked and then I screamed, and I quote. "I am cranky enough and crazy enough to drive with these down until we get home, unless, I hear two boys apologizing and yelling 'I love my brother.' They could barely do it because they were laughing so hard. Finally, victory and the rest of the 45 minutes, they were back to best friends, united in their conviction that their mother was the craziest of all mothers. We arrived around 12:30am. Saturday morning, I let the boys sleep and went to get early breakfast and pick up a few groceries. After pancakes, we bundled up and went to Moody Tree Farm. Ten minutes later, we had found a gorgeous 7 ft. Frasier Fir at a good price. Usually, I'm pretty picky and take my time but the great guy helping us showed us a tree he was going to get but it was too big for his ceiling. Who could argue with the personal pick of the tree farm dude? I picked up some boughs and wreaths... and a few homemade cookies. Then, the boys found the Texas Longhorns, some pretty intimidating looking cattle on the premises. We ran about, grabbed a few more cookies and were back home in half an hour. A new record.

After that, it was football, hot chocolate, homework, and some house-organizing and furniture re-arranging. Of course, we also visited our neighbors at Soaring Hawk farm, saying hello to the fantastic chickens and adorable ducks and noting the mysterious absence of the turkeys :-) Before we knew it, the day was done and EatNMeet was calling. The restaurant was busy (yay!) so we waited a bit more than usual but we had some wine and soda and just chatted. Secretly, I like the wait. Then, it was steamed shrimp, sausage, burgers, and sweet potato fries, and rice and peas, and risotto, and.... Delicious.

After dinner, we put up the tree, the ornaments, the music, the candles and the boys ASKED if they could go to bed. Reason #776 that I love the Adirondacks.

Next day, the boys took on leaf clean-up (just in time), DVD/Cd organization and I finished the ridiculous amount of laundry I had hauled. We took out our ski boots and clothes and did assessment of what fit. Why must they grow so aggressively?! Then, it was decorating finishing touches: a wreath outside, some roping, candles everywhere and we were on our way back. We stopped at Cedar Run in Keene for sandwiches and made it back to Brooklyn in 5 hours flat! Always worth it, even for the short weekend. Our next trip will probably be for our 10 day Christmas retreat!