My New Year Began in Maine

As my fellow cafe members know, I got stuck in Maine when my car broke down. A friend said it sounded like the plot of a Hallmark movie. Alas, it was not so pleasant.

But there were some highlights, like getting to spend an extra week with my daughter. She and I made a collard greens and black-eyed peas recipe for New Year's Day. It was so simple that I wanted to share.
Note: this is adapted from a recipe she found online.

First we sautéed some red onion and garlic. To that we added vegetable stock (not too much - maybe 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup). Once that had simmered a bit, I added a mix of greens - some julienned collard greens and one of those packaged mixes of greens including kale, spinach, beet greens, etc. Simmer for a few additional minutes, spritz with some lemon juice and serve. We served then with some warmed up black-eyes peas, but this was so tasty that it would make a great side for anything.

You can see we made my favorite sweet potatoes with maple syrup, pecans and pomegranate seeds.

I thought I'd share some of my pretty Maine photos.

The Christmas tree in downtown Portland.

I loved this house. It's hard to see from the photo, but each of the front windows had a gorgeous tree lit with golden white lights, and each window had a candle.

This was the storm that was supposed to give us 1 - 3 inches and then turn to rain. We ended up with over a foot. Treacherous driving, but it was so pretty.

And then there was this - the snow that greeted me on my first day back at work.

Happy New Year, everyone. I hope 2020 brings you bountiful blessings.


Today would have been my mother's birthday if she hadn't passed last March. I'd appreciate a prayer for Joan if you have a minute today.

Winter Lights and Salad

I goofed.

This post was supposed to go up last week, but I lost track of my days. I'm chalking it up to the 10 hour drive home from Maine on Sunday. I felt like I lost a day.

So, anyway....

I spent Thanksgiving in Maine. Honestly, we weren't sure how to spend our first Thanksgiving without my husband. Our daughters felt strongly about being together, but my Maine daughter's schedule didn't allow for her to fly home.
So daughter number one, her cat, and my dog, made the trek north.

Someone was excited.

The last time I spent Thanksgiving in Maine, we nearly died in a snowstorm, but woke to a winter wonderland.

These wild turkeys came out to play once the holiday was safely over!

This time, the snow fell the day before, but I awoke to this on Thanksgiving morning.

It's a little hard to see, but I loved the scarecrows steering the boat.

As Ruthy and Jan can attest (and Kav too!), it gets cold up north in the winter.

Portland, Maine has a tradition to combat the dreariness. They light the city up.

I love the idea. I'm a little less enthralled by the colors. Call me a traditionalist. The brightness is supposed to dispel the darkness of winter.

I'm a fan of white lights so this was a little over the top for me, but if it keeps people happy, then I'm all for it.

This is the work of a local artist.

We got to see the tree-lighting ceremony. Everyone sang along to the carols despite the cold.

It wasn't a traditional Thanksgiving, but it was just what we needed this year.

On to food - I've been eating tons of this salad. The blanched kale has a hearty winter feel. It's honey mustard chicken, toasted sunflower seeds, sliced beets, pomegranate arils, croutons on a base of kale. It's my go-to meal at the end of a long work day.

Hope you have something good to eat too.

And just like that...November turned white

Last week I was claiming that November was yellow.

What a difference a day makes.

On Wednesday, snow arrived.

Someone called Fenway a fox, but he was really more moose-like.

Wishing you all a blessed Thanksgiving with the chance to spend time with family.