ICICLES IN THE SHOWER
Tag: Home
HONEY, WE HAVE IGNITION
Finding the perfect fire starter for the wood stove or outdoor grilling has been a challenge. Paper burns too quickly and usually with insufficient heat to do the job, plus it can quickly clog everything and then simply smolder.
Small twigs occupy a lot of storage space, at least during winter. You want to keep them dry, by all means.
Corrugated cardboard leaves a lot of papery ash – nothing you want flying up into the food on the rack.
And so on.
Maybe it was by accident I discovered that using cardboard tubes – those found in toilet paper and paper towels – works much better. Plus, you can crush a few and insert them inside another for extra oomph. They’re firm enough to allow air to circulate while the fire’s starting. And they’re easy to store.
You never do know quite what’s going to turn up in the Barn, do you?
WINTER BLOOMING
SIMPLY DECKED OUT
OUR HOLLY
GINGERBREAD LIGHTHOUSE
While I’ve never gotten wrapped up in my wife’s fascination with gingerbread houses, my contrarian nature has embraced the idea of making an annual gingerbread LIGHT house, and here’s one result .
For the recipe and the templates, especially if you want to go for fancier results, check out this story, recipe, and assembly directions. (It’s not the only gingerbread lighthouse at Coastal Living, by the way, in case you’re really adventurous.)
The model was based on the Whaleback Light just downriver from us, so I feel it’s an extra special touch. And the gummy lobsters and gummy sharks, along with the candy rocks for the lighthouse wall, were purchased from Yummies just beyond the Kittery Outlet stores. That can be a destination for Maine visitors all in its own.
PREPARING FOR THE TREE
Although we don’t bring the Yule tree indoors until Christmas Eve, baking and decorating the gingerbread cookies that will adorn its branches can be done days ahead.
BRUSSELS SPROUTS & LETTUCE (INCLUDING UNDER PLASTIC)
Some vegetables turn sweeter if you leave them in the garden after the first hard frost. The Brussels sprouts and kale are good examples.
My wife’s best friend and I are the ones who love the miniature cabbages, and that’s led to a tradition at our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, regardless of whether we’re all sitting down to eat at their place or ours. Yes, like me, she’s especially fond of the sprouts, any way they’re served. So here’s looking ahead, with anticipation.
BRUSSELS SPROUTS ETC.
out in the garden, I use an ax to dig out Brussels sprouts
from under two feet of snow
for Christmas dinner
and maybe some kale
to boot
poem copyright 2014 by Jnana Hodson
BUTTERY BARN WINDOW
AUTUMN RAINS AND LAKE ERNIE
After a particularly heavy rain, a small pond forms in the bottom corner of the side of our lot we call the Swamp, over by the far neighbor’s driveway. When we first moved in, that meant Ernie, a retired pipe-fitter who’d built the tidy house and large garage a half-century earlier.
Somehow, we dubbed the puddle Lake Ernie and learned to watch it as a warning. Whenever Lake Ernie appeared, I needed to check on the cellar – make sure the sump pump was working.
Soon now, the ground will freeze and likely become snow covered. It comes as a relief, at least until the melting, when I have to start checking the cellar. Especially if heavy rains melt the snowpack.
Jnana's Red Barn 