Quote of the Day: Jamie Oliver
I’m a big Jamie Oliver fan, always have been. I’ve watched most of his cooking shows and his documentary/show about trying to make British State School food healthier. He’s definitely doing his part to make local, sustaineable food popular. I’m currently reading his cookbook/gardening book Jamie at Home: Cook Your Way to the Good Life
“I spent my childhood growing up in a village in Essex and I moved back there three or four years ago with my wife and kids. Like most people these days, with a busy family life and a hectic working schedule, I began to struggle with finding a balance between the two. I seem to have evened things up a bit now, and it’s all thanks to my veg garden, believe it or not. I love spending the odd hour out there, as it really relaxes me. You might think I sound like a complete hippie now, but growing my own veg for these past few years has filled me with such pride, pleasure, and passion. Witnessing changes in the garden through the year, having successes and failures, realizing that certain types of fruit or veg can have certain personalities and you have to work with them in different ways, it’s all just fascinating to me!
The garden has also made me think about food in a different way: about how it grows and what it stands for. To me, growing food at home means eating outside in the garden in the summer at family get-togethers and occasions, or cozying up next to a fire tucking into an amazing comforting stew or soup made with stuff from the garden which you’ve had to go outside and pull up in the rain! It might seem odd, but during the last sixteen years of training and working as a chef, I never thought I would ever grow stuff properly.”
Jamie Oliver: Jamie at Home: Cook Your Way to the Good Life
I’ve really enjoyed reading this book. I like that each chapter has growing how-to’s followed by recipes for those vegetables. Pick it up at your local library and give it a read!
Anyone have any other cookbooks they love and want to recommend?
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Happy 26th Birthday!
Today I’d like to say Happy Birthday to a fellow blogger from my neck of the woods. She has a goat farm in Big Prairie, Ohio, which is right down the road from our family cabin. She raises Mini Nubian Goats and her blog is: I love Nubians, make mine Mini. Join me in wishing a Happy 26th Birthday to Pine Pod Farm!
This isn’t a mini nubian, I don’t even know what kind it is (maybe Pine Pod can tell us). This is a photo from the Wayne County Fair.
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Great Gifts for Gardeners
If you have a gardener in your life that you’re looking for a gift for perhaps a new pair of gardening gloves would be nice. I am a big fan of gardening gloves. I have all different kinds for all different jobs, but I do have one pair that’s kind of a all-purpose glove that I wear all the time. I’ve had them for 3 years and they’re starting to show their age, they’ve developed holes and they longer keep the thistles from pricking my fingers or keep the dirt and water out.
One day while reading a post on May Dreams Gardens I found a pair of gloves I’d like to try. They’re called Ethel Gloves, stylish and functional. I’m not really a glove snob, I usually buy mine at Target and I don’t care what color they are or what they look like as long as they do their task well. However, after these gloves were put through Carol’s Gardening Glove Boot Camp and received high marks, I thought I might give them a try. I really like the signature, gala, and the rendezvous colors, although they almost seem too nice to wear around the garden. So if you’ve got a female gardener you’re looking for a gift for perhaps a pair of Ethel Gloves would be the perfect gift, and for $18 they’re not a bad deal either, especially if they hold up like they say they do.
Anyone else have a specific kind of gardening glove they swear by?
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Christmas in Zoar
Yesterday Mr Chiots and I and some friends headed down to Christmas in Zoar. The whole town is decorated up for the holidays with fresh greens on every fence and every door decorated with wreaths and fruit. Several of the houses are open for touring and they are also decorated up with trees and other decorations. It’s a great way to kick off the holiday season.
We started off the day at our home with a delicious brunch of oatmeal and lemon pancakes with blackberry syrup, local sausage from the farmer’s market, roasted local potatoes and some farm fresh eggs. After filling up we bundled up and headed down to Zoar. It was a cold cold day, 20 feels like 5, BRRRRRRR.
It didn’t feel too cold as we walked around enjoying all the decorations and the beautiful gardens in the winter (I really need to go down there in the summer to walk around). Since the houses were all built in the 1820’s many of them have been restored and have traditional gardens surrounding them. It’s always interesting to see how others decorate their gardens for the winter.
Touring the insides of the homes is also very interesting. Each year there are different houses open, which is nice so it’s not the same each year. Most of them are decorated with vintage feather trees and glass ornaments.
You just can’t beat a day like to that for putting you in the Christmas spirit.
What kinds of things do you like to do to kick off the season?
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I Love the Winter Weather
When it comes to winter, I’m a HUGE fan of the snow. I like lots and lots of snow, big piles of it everywhere. Mr Chiots and I have often said that we need to move an hour north into the snow belt of Ohio so we can get our fill of snow during the winter. We usually have a decent amount of snow here in our area, but when it comes to snow, I think more is better!
We’ve been pretty lucky this winter as far as snow fall goes. For the past 3 weeks the snow has covered the grass most days. On Thursday night we even got a nice dusting to make all my Christmas decorations look even more seasonal!
So what kind of weather do you fancy during the holidays? Snow, sun, cold, warm?
Check out the new poll about what kind of weather you like during the holidays.
