Happy Christmas

My barn friends decorated L's stall for Christmas with this little tree and red berries. I thought it was rather sweet.

25 December 2014
Shotgun season on deer closed almost 2 weeks ago and just Wednesday afternoon while I was out running I heard shots in the woods. It's still black powder season until the end of the year but these were shotgun shots.

Most people are serious and responsible. But it only takes one.

Rainy Days

Well. After several days of steady rain it's time for a....

Mudbath!
Most horses love mud baths but she just brings it to a whole other level. It took some doing to clean her up after that.

My summer project

I enjoy martinis. Martinis pair *really* well with food. All kinds of cuisine, all kinds of food.

That's a bowl of olives. On the right
For as long as I've enjoyed martinis my gin of choice has always been...

Bombay Sapphire
I never thought about it much. My very first martini was a Bombay Sapphire martini. I'd been told it made the best martini and I'd seen the snobby people order it.

Then last spring I unexpectedly...ran out of Bombay Sapphire! But there, in the back of the bottom shelf was a bottle of...Gordon's Gin. I made my martini...with Gordon's.. and...much to my surprise...made the best martini *ever*. So I decided over the summertime I'd try different gins and...eventually...different vermouths. I wanted to make up my own mind. See if my own experience would give me a preference. I'd already tried a Tanqueray martini and while Tanqueray is my favorite for gin and tonic I think it makes an awful martini.

My method was not at all comprehensive, scientific or thorough. I didn't do blind tasting. I just mixed up a martini over the weekend with different mainstream gins and thought about whether I liked it or not.

My Findings The best martini?

A Gordon's martini
I thought Gordon's Gin also made a perfectly good gin and tonic.

Second best martini? Surprise!

The Plymouth martini
Why is that a surprise? Plymouth Gin is a distilled gin. It's not a London Dry Gin. By the way. Distilled gin makes an absolutely *awful* gin and tonic.

Then came...

Beefeater
I rated the Beefeater martini right along with Bombay Sapphire. It makes a perfectly good martini.

I even tried a Hendrick's martini.

The gimmick here is the cucumber garnish
I thought the Hendrick's martini was just awful.

Vermouth
There are lots of vermouths! I had no idea.

Now, Julia Child had some disparaging comments about an American made vermouth. She never said what vermouth that was but I hunted around most people guess it was Gallo. I've never tried it. I don't plan on it.

I've heard that your dry vermouth is every bit as important as your gin. It's an ingredient. A main ingredient. I've heard people say they can tell if the vermouth hasn't been kept refrigerated. Or been left on the counter a day too long.

I tried Dolin. I tried Noilly Prat. I tried Stock. I tried Martini and Rossi. I tried fresh. I tried refrigerated. I tried stuff that had sat on the counter for 6 weeks.

I found absolutely no difference with the vermouth I used. I typically mix a one part vermouth to 6 or 7 parts gin martini. The vermouth is essential but the gin dominates the cocktail. I'm not saying there aren't people who can tell the difference. Their palates are just *far* better than mine.

Lastly, the presentation. You have to have a martini in a martini glass. Period. Full stop. It just wouldn't be right to have a martini in say, a water glass. I have several different glasses to suit my moods. I've had some really nice ones I've broken. I even have lexan martini glasses I use outside.

Occasionally I like a lemon twist in my martini. Mostly on a searing hot summer day. Generally I prefer olives. Sometimes in a side bowl. At least 3. As a matter of fact sometimes I snack on olives I keep in the refrigerator. In a jar. In a martini.

Edited to add: The glass *has* to be chilled. And of course, you stir a martini. With ice. Never shake. Actually, it should be stirred when mixed in a glass container. And swirled when mixed in plastic or stainless steel.

Contrast

Our first snow this year was 2 November.

This didn't amount to much
But this did! We had some real snow the day before Thanksgiving..

26 November
And of course, the dazzling colors we had this fall are gone. I find the contrast is very striking.

7 December
It's all so...plain and...well, brown.

This time of year, with all the foliage gone, it's easy to see why the barn is such a madhouse of furious activity all summer long. Nests!

A Robin's nest
Not just a few. There are nests *everywhere* in the brush. Really. Hundreds of them! We have tons of Robins...Blue Jays..Goldfinches. Orioles. In the spring I leave piles of horse hair outside for the birds. They use the hair in their nests. The most fascinating one of all is the Baltimore Oriole. We have lots of Baltimore Orioles. They make bag shaped nests that hang from branches very high in the tree tops. The nests always blow down sooner or later and it's quite amazing the way they use the different kinds of hair. Most of the nest is made from tail hair. It hangs using tail hair. The net like outer tail hair is lined with body hair. And the very softest hair lines the bottom of the nest. They're almost always 100% horse hair!

Of course there are also Crows. And hawks. And owls. And Killdeer. Tons of Killdeer.

Even Carolina Wrens.

Carolina Wren's nest
We've had a year round population of Goldfinches for many years now. As long as I can remember. This year they've all gone and I see...replaced..by..Purple Finches! I saw them yesterday while riding L. Dozens and dozens of Purple Finches. I don't know what that's all about. They're very pretty birds and much more timid than the Goldfinches.

Brilliant Folage

This year the fall foliage has been positively brilliant. Stunning barely begins to describe it. We've had a dry summer this year and apparently that's stressed the trees. Here, I was on my way to get some corn when I passed this yard and I just had to stop.

Millis Massachusetts, 19 October
Everywhere you look this season. The trees just glowed.

I took a day off last week.

The view from my living room window 17 October
Every time I think of moving I look out my window and decide no, no, don't think so. I've been here 24 years now and the view never gets tired.

I walked my neighborhood...

This is just to the left of my driveway

Just a roofline

And a side street

The oil company down the end of the block
This went on for a couple of weeks. One of my neighbors said the trees looked like they were on fire. I really just can't ever remember colors this vibrant.

Of course there are other reflections of the season.

Gathering broccoli and cauliflower

A really big buck has been roaming the barn property
He's looking for girls. It's mating season.

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I have a really funny L story.

Here, this field by our barn.

There's a woodchuck out there. We're *very* careful to watch for chuck holes. I know where they are and we stay way clear. So one afternoon this woodchuck comes crawling up the tree line. Now L has no problem with animals. She sees the chuck and thinks nothing of it. But the chuck sees her and races to his hole and disappears. Well. L has *never* seen anyone disappear right before her eyes! She snapped her head and did a double take. She stopped and looked at me over her shoulder and I swear she was thinking "WHOA! Did you see *that*?!". And if that wasn't funny enough as we moved along she kept nervously looking at the spot where the woodchuck disappeared. It was quite hilarious. She really is tons of fun.

Cookies!

Well I am just positively tickled.

You see, I don't really bake. I make brownies out of a box. Cupcakes from a mix. I made a cake once. I made Tollhouse cookies once. I think baking can be a little "fussy" sometimes. I always have a mess left when I bake. But mostly? I live alone - I cook for one. I'm quite good at that. Baking for one? That's a challenge. It's not like I'm going to eat a couple of dozen cookies while they're still fresh!

I like fresh baked things as much as the next guy. Maybe more so. But I mostly go without. Oh, the bakery has perfectly good things but for some reason cookies just have to be fresh and homemade. I can't recall buying a really good cookie. Ever. Couple of months ago I had a serious itching for oatmeal cookies. I love oatmeal cookies. I hadn't had a good oatmeal cookie in ages. And I recalled reading how people have formed their dough into cookies, frozen and bagged them to bake off a couple at a time on demand. So I decided I'd try that.

Frozen oatmeal cookie dough
I used this recipe. I used 100% whole wheat flour.

And...they bake beautifully!

Baked (from frozen) oatmeal cookies
So yesterday I did the same with peanut butter cookies. I haven't had peanut butter cookies since I was a kid.

Peanut butter cookies
I used the Simply Recipes recipe. I used 100% whole wheat flour. Yes I use 100% whole wheat flour in *everything*. Bread. Pizza. White sauce. Breading. Chowders. The one and only thing I've found that whole wheat flour doesn't work with is a baguette. Use whole wheat flour. It's good for you.

I also spun about a tablespoon of plain dry roasted unsalted peanuts in a spice grinder and added the powdery peanuts to the mix.

And they baked beautifully!

This is the "chewy" baking method

This is the recommended baking method
Both baking methods made awesome cookies. Very peanutty!

So here's what you do.

Put parchment paper on a half sheet pan and put it in the freezer. Make your cookie dough. Form cookies on to the frozen half sheet pan and put it in the freezer. The cookies will freeze quickly enough. When the cookies are frozen, bag them and keep them in the freezer.

Then you can just bake off the frozen cookies whenever you want a fresh cookie. Bake them frozen. Follow the recommended baking temperature and time, you don't need to compensate for the frozen dough.

I don't imagine this will work for lemon squares or cupcakes but it works really well with cookies.

Polo?

It's time for Polo in the Country!

I swear I don't know where the summer went. Summer 2014 has been one of the very best I can recall. I don't think we've had a steady soaking rain in daylight since sometime around the 4th of July. Day after day the sun has been out and it's been mostly dry and breezy and, hard as it is to believe, not a single thunderstorm.

And here it is time for polo!

Every year the Norfolk Hunt Club has a polo match out on their steeplechase grounds to raise funds for the preservation of recreational space in the neighboring communities. Always eager to share their passion for equestrian pursuits of all kinds they're really a nice bunch of people.

Rules?
There are lots of rules in polo but they're not hard to learn and you don't have to know them all to enjoy a match. Knowing the Rule of the Line is the only one you need to know to understand what's going on out on the field.

The action on the field is occasionally *very* close by!

Yes. It *really* is this close!
We always have a good time at the match and it's fun to watch skilled riders on well trained ponies. And it was a beautiful day. Some polo trivia. Did you know a regulation size polo field is just under 10 acres?!

And here. This was such a treat! How often do you get to see a Grand Prix level equestrian warming up out in the countryside on a beautiful day? The half time show was given by Dave Thind and his record breaking stallion White Star.

Dave is very personable and engaging. It was a lot of fun to visit while he was warming up.

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And...in keeping with the social even of the season...

No...this wasn't our table!