Happy Winter Solstice 2014!

On this darkest day of the year, we embrace the new season. Here's to eating dinner by candlelight, slowing down, and gaining strength to hit the ground running in Spring. Happy First Day of Winter!

from the {Little Barn Kitchen}

 a peek at what I've been cooking and we've been eating/drinking...

{Drinks}

 stinging nettle tea combined with a bit of honey

 

{Main Meals}

venison, homegrown potatoes, cooked (local) apples, and (local) tomato slices

  

pumpkin risotto with leftover venison, sheep's milk cheese, and peas

  

pork burger (local), mashed (local) potatoes, green beans, 

homemade with (local apples) applesauce, and homemade bread

 

(local) lettuce, (local) apples, (local) bacon, pecans, and olive oil 

 

{Snacks}

gluten free Chex Mix

 

 beautiful (local) apples turned into applesauce

 peanut butter cookies

{Gratitude} Lately

Every day I look around in amazement at all the 

beautiful, yet simple, things that I'm so thankful for.

Lately I've been grateful for...

 rooftop adventures and brave little boys

 

 cool kids

 

 two parades in one weekend

 Monday afternoon rituals

 little ones making connections all on their own

 

and second floor library shenanigans 

Our 2014 Christmas Tree

We have a full size Christmas tree this year! 

It's the first time in two years.

We cut it down from our own yard. 

We even bought a few new ornaments.  

It's not the prettiest, and it was a little painful to decorate, but we kind of love it.

Gobble, Our Thanksgiving Turkey

I made a couple of secret resolutions at the beginning of the year. I kept them to myself because I wasn't sure if they were even possible to fulfill. I wanted to move to a homestead in the country and I wanted to raise a turkey for our Thanksgiving meal. As you know, we made the move to the country. We also bought a few week-old turkeys at the beginning of the summer. All of our turkeys had names. We nurtured, enjoyed, and loved them until the day before Thanksgiving. Gobble, a bourbon red, was the turkey we chose for our Thanksgiving meal.

We did the harvesting and processing ourselves. It was cold. It was messy. The whole process took a while. Taking the life of an animal will always feel uncomfortable and it should be.

For the past few years we have known where our Thanksgiving turkey was coming from, but this year, that place was just outside our back door.

from the {Little Barn Kitchen}

If you have been following the story of our family, you know that we made a huge shift in the way we eat a few years ago. I have documented those changes, and we have settled into a completely gluten-free and mostly dairy free diet for our family. I get questions often about what we eat, and at first I didn't want to write about it in this new space, but so many have asked. 

(I'll have to take more photos of what we eat in the future.)

The big change this year was our shift from buying mostly local foods to actually raising some of our own! It's what we want to do and the reason we made the move to the country. We did still have a CSA share from Rough Draft Farmstead, and we still purchase our meat (in bulk) locally, but we might not have to do that much longer. We have BIG plans for next year! 

So here's a look into our kitchen and at some of the things I cook and we eat...

{persimmon jelly}

(We have a persimmon tree.)

  

{gluten free bread}

{gluten free short bread cookies}
(These were pretty, but didn't taste too great.)

{rosemary, blackberry ginger ale}

{stove-top popcorn}

{potato soup}

(made with coconut milk and sheep's milk cheese)

{gluten free apple pie}

{Gratitude} Lately

Every day I look around in amazement at all the 

beautiful, yet simple, things that I'm so thankful for.

Lately I've been grateful for...

afternoons splitting and stacking wood as a family

 

quaint, little polling places and the freedom to vote 

 

 leaf piles with Nana

 

a decorated mantle

 and for new haircuts that also provide others with hair