favorite books o' 2009: the brief, wondrous life of oscar wao, on chesil beach--ian mcewan, out stealing horses, all passions spent-- vita sackville-west, netherland--josheph o'neill, martin sloane--michael redhill, island--alistair mccleod, extremely loud, incredibly close--jsf, train to lisbon, the river why, home-marilyn robinson, poet of the appetites--joan reardon, toss of a lemon--padma viswanathan, the all of it--jeanette hainen, white tiger--aravind adiga, mercy-- tony morrison

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post tday meanderings-- walk in the arroyo of chris and char's childhoods, a failed attempt to paint a wall (complete with two holes and a centipede), road trip up to Taos and Questa, through Red River to Eagle Nest Lake, over to Cimarron-- picnic by the side of an ice crusted rio--and back again, fantastic mr. fox--nessa most content with the musical accompaniment, and food worthy of the cold, drizzly day--peep of snow this morning-- turkey and rice stew, mashed potato, pepper and cheese dish, banana bread and hard cider. laundry tumbling and clouding the windows.

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nessa eating yogurt & beans in a blue spackled enamel bowl, with a spoon of grandfather's, in the wooden chair from the ruiz girls. hot tea in a red mug. chris asleep upstairs, turkey brining on the hob. blessings indeed.

feast

two recent ones -- red lentils and wild rice pilaf, beets in balsamic and honey, crisped onions, fresh spinach, unbrined crumble chevre, sweet potato fries, pomegranate seeds, red wine and port with denise & davey -- roasted butternut squash with oil and garlic in corn crepes, black beans, fresh red and yellow bell peppers with matt jackson. delights.

jane campion's bright star is almost perfect-- every frame textured and delectable.

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feast

end of csa box soup-- bit of olive oil, butter or both, casi carmelize the onions, add garlic and leeks, add potatoes, small cubes, carrots and turnips, thin slices, cook down a bit more. add broth of any flavor. bring to boil. let simmer for...twenty or thirty minutes. puree in blender in small batches, mixing and matching. add homemade croutons (bits of stale bread, coated in olive oil, broiled for a ny minute) and grated swiss cheese.

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few things have given me such delight this fall as parsing pomegranates-- beehives of bleeding jewels

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la bel

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The quarter penny light of half evening. That phrase kept wandering through ma tete last week. It is a warm, warm wonderful november-- and the temperature belies the date, though the winter light tells no lies-- coldly golden, crisp, the quarter penny half light of a month and a half past autumn equinox.