Dear friend,
What a delight it is to write you this letter… we’ve spent the past few months with our heads-and-hearts focused on the holidays at hand, haven’t we? Phew.
While I love a good holiday party as much as the next girl (shrimp cocktail and Prosecco for dayzzz…), y’all know me. I’m much more of an every-day-kinda-gal. I’d much rather work to elevate the average Tuesday into something delightful than constantly live waiting for the next special event on the calendar.
I took this truth to heart in this week’s new video — a video in which I focus on elevating the art of every day cooking. It’s a shorter video, and would only take five minutes of your time to watch, and (biased opinion) I think it will actually help to elevate the work many of us have to do in the kitchen anyway.
You know the work: chopping, cleaning, washing, planning, plating, etc.
Don’t tell me beauty doesn’t matter; thems is fightin’ words ‘round here.
Even if you’re just dishing yourself up some yogurt, for the love, let’s make it lovely.
Something to clean to…
I stumbled upon this playlist, curated by “The Hobbit Homemaker” on Spotify. Now that’s a name I can get behind! I bet she makes oat bread, serves dark beer at the table, and lets her husband smoke his pipe indoors….
It’s primarily all instrumental, but I find it to really delight the dark, grey days of this month. Give it a listen and see if it does the same for you.
I’ve got 99 problems and they’re all jars.
My Cooking Community and I have taken on the challenge of tackling our pantry issues every Monday (we call it “Monday Pantry Problems”). By and large, we are a group of homecooks who also delight in growing or gathering some of what we eat. The result is that a lot of us have ended up with shelves of apricot jams and pickled green onions, much to our culinary delight.
The problems arises when the food goes unused and the jars begin to accumulate. Case in point: the 18 gallons sauerkraut that I mentioned in Tuesday’s post. (For the love of all homegrown food, Shaye, do not grow cabbage for sauerkraut this year!).
please don't judge my dirty jars, please and thank you
In an effort to not waste food, many of us are focused on using up our winter stores of food — many of the jars from harvests long past. I’ve set a personal goal of using up (or giving to the chickens if it’s well past its prime) at least one jar per day.
If someone can tell me how to get through 3-gallons of pickled eggplant, I’m all ears…
It’s got me thinking a lot about what will earn a spot in the garden this year, based on what we actually want to eat in preserved form. Top of mind, I’m thinking:
dill relish
tomato passata
giardinera (mixed veg in vinegar brine)
jam
dried herbs
Do you have any personal favorites you insist on preserving each year? I’m thinking of actually going into the season with a plan instead of just winging it like I always do, then feeling guilty when I don’t preserve the bounty in time or don’t eat the preserves after I make them.
So just basically guilt all around.
(Follow me for more life advice.)
In slightly other news, I’ve been working on putting together a “safe” grocery store for our family: filling it with grocery items that do not include the white sugar, potato product, or dairy that various members of our family need to avoid. It can be surprising hard to find the right brands for our needs!
It may be silly, but I love lining up the jars (labels facing out, obv) and picking from the stores as I’m making meals. This way, I don’t have to read labels or fret over additives… it’s just become an odd-delight that I really enjoy. For the homemaker, this is genuine pleasure.
Send help.
Rush not…
There is a family of large woodpeckers that have been spent the winter feasting on the seeds of the Virginia Creeper that winds up our outdoor chimney. From inside, we can sit on the couch, look out the window, and be eye level with them as they pluck the dark, blue berries from the vines. They don’t feast on them in summer, nor do we see them so close to the house.
This is a treat (that is, if you’re becoming a bird-lover in your old age like I am) that is reserved solely for winter. The same woodpeckers return year after year. I’m so fond of their winter presence now that I’ve declared 2026 to be the year of the birdhouse collection.
Current birdhouse count: 0.
Goal by the end of the year: 12.
The darkness, cold, and barrenness of winter is what is driving these woodpeckers to my home. It is the dark giving me this moment with the stars.
Also, if anyone knows anything about birdhouses, I’m all ears. I’m going all in.
Life lately…
I don’t really enjoy leaving home, especially if it’s not on a plane bound for Italy, but I did agree to venture to the coast to visit Stuart’s brother this past weekend. Here’s a few quick snapshots I took of our kids lately. Dangit I love them. I LOVE THEM. (Even though they’re bigger and smellier than I’d prefer.) Georgia was missing because she met up with a local friend instead of hang out with us…. lame…
Still. Moments captured.
My hope is that this letter finds you with your table, and heart, full.
Love,
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