Getting Into the Holiday Spirit
Back in Ohio, Mr Chiots and I always attending Christmas in Zoar to kick off our holiday season. We just missed the celebration, it was this past weekend. Instead, we attended the holiday open house at Montpelier the Henry Knox Museum. Our neighbor was playing bells during the open house, so we enjoyed listening to her bell choir as well.
We’ll be looking for a few more holiday activities to attend up here in Maine (so if you live up and have any recommendations let us know).
Do you attend any local holiday celebrations to get into the spirit of the season?
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Cultivate Simple 56: Stew 5.0
Cultivate Simple, a podcast where we discuss trying to live a more simple, mindful life! This week we talk about our vacation and the things we did. It’s a stew episode so there is a bit of everything mixed in.
Books of the Week
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 59:00 — 41.2MB)
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Quote of the Day: Jessica Prentice
In the rush to industrialize our food system, tradition has not only been ignored, it has been actively shunned. We make the assumption that the new thing is the better thing, indicating progress and vision, and that the old thing is obsolete. But vision, to be healthy, must be balanced by tradition. Unfortunately our country neglects tradition.
Jessica Prentice – Full Moon Feast: Food and the Hunger for Connection
I was thinking about this quote as I was talking to my grandma about her childhood last week. She said they raised 8-9 hogs each year and butchered them in the winter to help feed the 8 kids in the family. We chatted about how we butchered our own hogs a few weeks ago right on our place.
Growing and raising your own food is definitely a way to connect with tradition. For most of history our ancestors have had a hands on connection with their food. Not only in the cultivation of it but in the processing of it as well. If you can’t grow your own vegetable or raise your own meat, I’d highly recommend connecting with a small local farm that does. Even going out to the farm to see the vegetables in the garden and animals in the field will help connect you with your food heritage.
Learning to make food from scratch is also a way to connect with tradition. One of my favorite things to make is bread, whenever I knead bread I think about the millions of women around the world that are kneading bread now and the billions that have done it throughout the ages. Such a simple act that transcends culture and time.
What kind of food do you feel most connects you with the past?
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Homeward Bound
Last week we packed everyone up in the car and headed to Ohio to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas. Lucy and Tara both went along, though with two large dogs in our small car we had to get a trailer to haul all of our clothing & supplies in.
Today we’re headed back to Maine with a car full of dogs and a trailer full of gear and venison.
Any holiday traveling last week or in December?
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Friday Favorite: Brown Paper
When I was in 2nd grade, we took kraft paper and crumpled it up over and over again to make faux suede. With this suede we made vests. Ever since then I’ve loved kraft paper and have used it for wrapping gifts.
Whenever I get a package that uses brown kraft paper as the packing material I save it in my wrapping stash. Brown paper bags of all shapes & sizes are saved as well. I love that this paper can be used throughout the year, no need to keep holiday, birthday and other wrapping around.
I also have a box filled with scraps from ribbon, these add a bit of beauty to the humble brown paper. Sometimes I make tags, other times I buy them. I love the simplicity of this paper!
Do you wrap gifts simply or do you like to go all out with your wrapping?
