Grain Store Goodness

The Saturday before Christmas brings with it a unique lunch date that is simply not to be missed....meatballs at Erskine's Grain Store (R.B. Erskine Inc Grain Store to be precise) in Chester, Vermont. Want to know where to find it? Why, Grain Store Road of course! This is the place we get our feed for the chickens and horses and invariably I am the one dispatched to place the order for 150lb of Cracked Corn, 150lb of Layer Pellets and 150lb of Sweet Feed. Naturally the unfailingly lovely gentlemen at Erskine's take pity on me and chivalrously load the car up for me every time.


I realised I was becoming a regular the day that our account papers were sitting out on the desk waiting for me as I walked through the door. They still use a very simple system of paper chits (the filing system above) and it works for them....none of that new fangled computer stuff. Keep it simple! Anyway, back to the meatballs....nestled in among the rows of shovels, mason jars, potting soil and barbed wire are a number of crockpots gently care-taking an array of meat based dishes.


On offer today were Swedish meatballs, meatballs in an Italian-type tomato sauce, chilli made with venison (from Pete Carson, a regular customer, see label on pot below) and bread to mop up the delicious juices. Oh, and a little token "salad" which was basically a crudite platter that rightly got passed over. No need for vegetables in this spread! The owner Mike and his staff made up the meatballs (over 500) the day before from the best meat around, bought from the locally famous Lisai's Market just over the railroad tracks, literally. This day is a thank you to their customers and Erskine's goes all out.

Meatball day is quite the institution around these parts and we have Art Putnam to thank for that. "Put" was a long term employee at Erskine's and is credited with starting the meatball tradition in 1980 (this picture is hung above the coffee station, beside the meatballs so that Put can still take part).

Alongside this meat feast is the addition of some musical accompaniment provided by John Specker (also to be seen at the Peru Fair, among many other local and national events). John plays floor stomping fiddle music that fits perfectly in this setting. He is simply a legend around here.

John sat tucked away among the vegetable seeds and work gloves, but his music filled the place.

John Specker taking a coffee break between songs.

To get a taste of John's supreme talent, have a listen to this....

So there you have it, a taste (literally) of some festive fair from Vermont. Mark your calendars, the Saturday before Christmas every year. Come and hang out for a while, everyone is welcome and the hospitality is second to none. It is Vermont after all...

WEEKLY REMEDIES

This week I am loving bowties...

1. Bianca Print, Matou en Peluche 2. Cosmopolitan Freestyle Bowtie, xo elle 3. Girly Little Blouse, Heidi and Finn Studio

4. Tout Petit Carpet Bag, Mary Kaiser 5. Vintage Necktie Hair Bow, Care Wood 6. Scarlet Convertible Top, Seana Gordon

7. Bear in Glasses Print, Pamela Michelle 8. Bowtie Dog Collar, Pecan Pie Puppies 9. Moustache Bow Tie Shirt, Oh Fiddlesticks

OK, so not all of these picks are technically bowties, but you see where I am coming from! Just a quick note on the subject of bowties. The men in our family are diehard bowtie wearers. Long before it became fashionable for younger men to wear them, my brothers were rocking them and Pops never goes a working day without wearing one. I am not kidding..ever..in my whole life..have I seen him go to work without a bowtie (35 years and counting).

Pops (above) rocking the bowtie off duty too.

I learned to tie a bowtie when I was about 12 or so, kind of an essential skill as far as my mother could see just in case your date hasn't quite tackled it successfully himself. Mutt always had her maternal priorities in order! You see, wearing a clip on, or pre-tied bowtie is UNACCEPTABLE every and any time. If you can't tie it, don't wear it...this includes babies and kids no matter how "cute".

Check out the regular weekly post Fridays are Tie Days by my brother (above) to get a sense of just how much ties mean to the Fox men.

(last two images 10engines, cheers buddy)

K is for Kitchen Gadgets

We are a family of food lovers and major cooks. My Pops always starts the day by wanting to discuss what we should buy/cook for dinner, shopping for each meal as needed. Added to that, all of my siblings (3 brothers and I) have worked in the catering trade for varying amounts of time. I couldn't do a better round up of kitchen essentials/gadgets than my brother, so here are some of his picks from 10engines.
"1. Steel tongs (or space-shuttle-plastic tipped) are the number one next purchase in my book. You can mix, grab hot trays, add a pinch of something from your premixed bowl of herbs... even if you just use them to flip bacon you will be well served.

2. Butcher's apron. Navy, striped, standard issue. Save your shirt from grease.

3. Syrup pourer. Nice touch. Warming the amber nectar is essential.

4. Roasting pan and tray. Cook your own chicken. Nerd alert: was just scoping some pans out. Can't you just picture scraping all the browned fond off the bottom with a bit of wine and finishing the gravy... mmmm.

5. Flour sifter. Great if you have kids "helping".

6. Micro zester. OK not essential for me, but if you like cookies and cakes with lemon this will be.

7. Popover pan. My english granny had the lineage for making great yorkshire pudding (popovers) but infact they were always awfully flat (how big are yours?? oink). The trick is to barely mix the batter atall. Some leave the batter overnight even. Use some dripping from your roast in the pans. And do not, on pain of death, open the oven door to check on them.

8. Pastry scraper. I don't bake so well. Prefer being able to throw things in and change on the go... that does not work for pastry and bread. These things are pretty cool looking though. Scrrrrape all that floury dough up, chop it, move it around with these.
9. Cloth kitchen towels. Use instead of oven gloves (just don't grab a hot pan with a wet towel, the heat goes right through), wipe the rim of plates as you send them out, dry your hands, throw over your oil fire to put it out.... the list goes on.

10. Spatter screen. Stops burger grease spitting all over you and the stove, but lets water vapour out so meat gets color.

11. 2-cup measuring cup. Don't mess around, get the 2-cupper. Ours has the numbers printed on the inside of the glass too so you can read as you fill. Sneaky.

12. Potato peeler. What? Not for peeling potatoes, a peeler essential for making decent twists of lemon.

13. Bone or mother of pearl spoon. Not technically for cooking... almost in "for the man who has everything" territory but these spoons are essential if you like to eat hard boiled eggs. Metal spoons react with the sulphurous egg yolk spoiling the taste don't you know... Egg spoons will have a slightly teardrop shape as well. If you are against the idea of bone, choose a thermo-resin spoon, as from Alessi.

14. Lobster pot. Sure you only use it once or twice a year, but you can pretend you make your own stock... a spigot at the bottom would be handy for that (to drain the stock and leave all the foamy mess).
15. Pepperball. A one handed peppermill anyway. I thought the electric ones were just silly but they are actually v useful. The old Pepperball does the job fine.

16. Pommery mustard. Large grained mustard. Take your vinaigrette to the next level. The old jars had a wax sealed cork, made a huge mess to open. New jars have a plastic stopper, cleaner but not as funky. Seriously, freekin wax chunks went everywhere...

17. Lamsonsharp clam knife. A total classic. At least trrrry to open a few clams. I stick w/ mignonette sauce.

18. SeaScissors. Any sturdy kitchen shears are great, but these are made especially for cutting through lobster shells etc.

19. Steamer. This type is purpose built for asparagus but will also steam ears of corn perfectly and broccoli. May seem a bit excessive but you will buy and cook more asparagus, and enjoy it much more w this thing.

20. A steel. Must have. Really a carving set is almost essential, but everyone has knives... There are many views on sharpening technique, and even though not a huge fan generally, Gordon Ramsay demonstrates a clear, traditional way of sharpening using a steel."

Read the rest of his essentials here...

And for the home cooking enthusiast, check your inventory against this list of kitchen aids.

"Kitchen Aids" Print by Erica Donovan for Keep Calm Gallery

I will just ad an obvious point (to me anyway). Classic cookbooks are a must, I mean you don't need to reinvent the wheel with food but a solid understanding of basic techniques will give you the foundation and confidence to create wonderful food. They don't get much better than Fanny Farmer, Julia Child or The Silver Palate, even if you are just looking for inspiration and like me don't exactly follow recipes. Bon Appetit!

Chocolate for Charity

I was recently asked to contribute my "baking skills" for a fundraiser for a local Southern Vermont non-profit organisation, Neighbourhood Connections, and of course I couldn't say no. The Chocolate Fest was held last night at the Landgrove Inn, Landgrove VT and included local chefs and bakers who turned out to supply all things chocolatey to a mob of chocoholics. I was thinking a dozen cupcakes would do it until I realised I had been given billing for the event and decided I had to up the ante.

The result...mini Red Velvet cupcakes neatly packaged in egg boxes.

Aren't they the cutest?? I can't take credit for the idea, Pops suggested it. We have these boxes for our own free range organic eggs, which were used to make the cupcakes. The only down side was that they were impossible to get out once I had neatly placed them in their little holes. Well, at least they looked and tasted good!

I also baked peanut butter and chocolate fudge cupcakes with hazelnut chocolate frosting, and regular sized Red Velvets. 5 dozen to be precise. The event was a roaring success (I would guess about 300 people attended the chocolate blowout in the end). Without exaggeration, all of my cupcakes were gone in half an hour. WOW, people go crazy for chocolate (and I don't even particularly like the stuff)!

Anyway, the point of telling you all of this is to give a little air time to the fantastic work that Neighbourhood Connections does in our community. The work that these fine people do is vital to the people in our communities who require help, advice and support in all areas of health care. Their missions is to "provide preventive health care, education, and social services with particular emphasis on the those most vulnerable. We are dedicated to excellence in our work to improve the health and quality of life for all."

The organisation's focus is to:

• Help families make choices and reduce health care costs
  through early intervention
• Perform physicals in the schools
• Provide school based education for students, families and staff
• Run wellness programs for seniors
• Bring services closer to home for the ageing population
• Hold Health education workshops
• Run support groups
• Provide outreach to individuals, families and groups
• Assist with access to all State and Federal Social Service Programs
• Provide emergency services

Please take moment to read through the services offered, and feel free to get involved if you are in or near this area (serving Londonderry, S. Londonderry, Weston, Chester, Andover, Windham, Winhall, Jamaica, Landgrove and Peru). They need volunteers, funding and supplies to continue their much needed work and as we all know, every little helps!

Judging by the turn out last night, this is a community that is passionate about supporting those in need and it was awesome to see.

Oh Deer!!

I have a thing for deer. Living in Vermont, you kind of have to love them (or shoot 'em). Anyway, I have already mentioned that Pops has a thing for taxidermy so the house is full of mounted deer parts but I prefer to appreciate this animal in a decidedly less graphic and cuter form. There is no shortage of adorable uses of the deer (more specifically the fawn) image out there to satisfy my love for this animal. More Bambi than Buck.

"Freckle In Summer" Print, Stacey Winters

Buttercup Fawn Plush, Fantastic Toys

Buck Yourself Brooch, Kitschy Galore

"Oh Deer" Fascinator, Pretty Good Things

Green Hearts Deer Pincushion, Rabbit's Moon

The Utterly Unique Little Deer Hat, Zara Carpenter

This hat from Zara Carpenter blew my mind. She is an insanely talented milliner from England, with a beautiful collection on Etsy. Read more about her here.

Father's Day Gifts

With Fathers Day just around the corner, I thought I would put together a little selection of the things I know my father (Pops), and my brother's would like (after all, they are fathers too).

Vintage Sneezy Sheet, The Honey Press

Red Gingham Linen Bow Tie, xo elle

Vintage Bowling Chair, Hindsvik

Antique Spoon Garden Markers, Hammermann

Mini Ball Jar S&P set, 824 Nothing More

Felt State Cushion (Vermont shown, natch), Love California

Leisure Duffel, MüS

Homemade Maple Marshmallows, Whimsy & Spice

Above all, some words of thanks and love are really all that you need to give the father in your life. Not just on the day, but whenever you can.

Happy Father's Day. x

VINTAGE FIND: Roger and the Fox

Lavinia R. Davis was an American author specialising in children's stories and teen novels (as well as a number of adult mysteries). She wrote predominantly in the 1940's to 1950's (40+ books in all) with 2 of her children's stories winning the Caldecott Medal Honor for their illustrations.

One of those award winning books was "Roger and The Fox", illustrated by Hildegard Woodward and published in 1947.

As you can imagine, this book is right up my alley, but the added bonus is that Roger is Pops' name. Isn't it weird how sometimes you can find something that is just too perfect for words? Well, someone else obviously thought so as I imagine this original copy was a gift to him, and I discovered it in his study yesterday.

The story line is as follows...Roger is a six year old boy whose family have moved to the countryside of Connecticut to run a farm. He is referred to as a "city boy" and hates it. Roger is fascinated with the wildlife he is discovering in his new surroundings and when Seth (his father's farm hand) tells him he saw a fox, he is a boy on a mission.

Woodward's illustrations are so beautifully subtle and paired down, using a palate of black graphite with red and blue watercolour to depict Roger's fox tracking adventures through the Fall and Winter seasons. There is a perfect description of walking through leaves in the Fall as making a “fine, dry, corn-popping, pie-eating, cider-drinking, fall sound”. Davis' descriptive language is punchy and captivating.

Once Roger masters the art of skiing, he discovers that he can move around silently, and that way eventually manages to sneak up on the fox and to his delight, and immense pride, he sees TWO!

You can just see the satisfaction he gets from telling Seth! Completely delightful in every way!

DOING A DELIA...

These days, since I ejected myself from a successful career, and a great income to dedicate my time to figuring out a different path and live more frugally (the latter part is just the inevitable result of my actions, not really a goal of mine!) the result is a much more creative lifestyle. That bit I LOVE! One side of this is that I get time to cook, which has always been a passion for me and one that took a back seat while I was devoted to my job.

In our house, there is a freezer full of mostly unidentified animal parts. No vegetarians in our household, or at least not unless you want to starve. Pops gets many gifts of thanks from friends and acquaintances in the form of meat. Hunting season brings bundles of deer parts, plucked game birds and such like left on the doorstep. Currently we have allot of pheasant, so my challenge last week was to decide on a way to prepare one for supper. My go-to is of course Julia Child, and then Fanny Farmer, and more recently the fabulously comprehensive and very French "Je Sais Cuisiner", newly translated into English as "I Know How to Cook" . But for this task, I just had to use a Delia Smith recipe, Pot Roast of Pheasant with Shallots and Caramelised Apples.

I made Roast Root Vegetables with Garlic and Thyme to go with the Pheasant.

Delia Smith is the doyenne of British Cookery. Think Julia Child and you will understand what she means to the British, although I would have to say that she doesn't have a tenth of the character or flair of Mrs Child. Delia is a little too up tight and rigid when it comes to her approach to recipes and cooking, in my view. I always have a tendency to want to tweak recipes and make additions and adaptations as I go along. For this recipe, I ditched the caramelized apple part, as I never was much of a "fruit in savoury dish" fan. Well, I can tell you it was delicious, and the leftovers have been made into a rich soup with the addition of some turnip and leeks. You HAVE to make soup out of the bones and vegetables left from any dish, even if you might ultimately end up feeding it to the chickens, like so often happens in my house. I use soup making kind of as therapy, but the process is often more enjoyable for me than the eating part in the end.

One day I will tell you about Pops' love of "Road Kill" and I may even have one of his favourite recipes for it to share with you!!

HAND WRITTEN NOTES

For a while now it has occurred to me that with the advent of email, the art of letter writing is becoming lost. I for one, write better on the computer than by hand (I think my hand writing is unique and pretty, others close to me think it is illegible) but I am always seduced by the beautiful letterpress notecards and personalised stationary that can be created to reflect your personality, that of the recipient or the event you are writing about.
I love choosing the perfect card for that special person and the thought that goes in to this can in itself be a little gift. So much so, that I have a box full of the most gorgeous unique cards, for every possible occasion. I resolve to commit to the art of letter writing now that I am living in another country from most of my friends. So, with that in mind, I have decided to search out a new batch of cards for imminent use. My personal favourites are the monogrammed notecards for that classic touch, but in updated colours and fonts. Here are my favourite little works of art from the most talented bunch out there. These cards can either make a statement through their design, or serve as a canvas for your own sentiments. Rest assured there really is a card for every one, and every occasion, out there.

Pink Loves Brown...perfect stationary to personalise.

PaPaYa! ...all that glitters! These cards are so unique and sparkly, these pictures cannot do them justice.

And not forgetting Etsy...

Sycamore Street Press

Pistachio Press

Pops has a rule that he writes a note as soon as he comes home from any event, so that he never forgets to send a thank you card. Pre-stamped envelopes also ensure that the cards always get sent. Nifty tip.

I found this cute card set from Lucky Bee Press which could have been designed just for Pops. Snoozing in his armchair or smoking his pipe are two of his favourite things.