Here at Hangman Hill

Christmas began today with walk in the morning sun.  Finding our neighbor Fran on top of his roof cleaning his chimney was a bonus.   Yes, for real – you can’t make up that sort of story.   Apparently Santa couldn’t make it down his Chimney, hence the sweeping. And, if you know Fran, with his shoulder length white hair emerging from his hooded coat, dimpled cheeks and jolly laugh, it was like seeing Santa himself on a rooftop when he bellowed “Merry Christmas”to us both.

While much of our family, including those in Colorado, Montana, Pennsylvania and even those in  North Carolina and England are enjoying snow, it is a green Christmas here in CT.  We opened a few gifts and enjoyed coffee and cake using our new Fiesta dinnerware. The plate features pound cake from Kerry and Brandon, Cranberry bread from Gene and Kathy and Chocolate covered marshmallows from Mark and Jen.  Feliz Navidad!

Merry Christmas!  Time to open those presents…..

In celebration of the solstice and the lunar eclipse we had a candlelight pizza party. The crust was eclipsed by the sauce at 6:52pm.  We have turned the corner to longer days, as the Stephanie Davis song goes “We are turning to the light….”

Just before the ground was fully frozen  we pulled (ok -we tugged) a crop of carrots and harvested the remaining Brussels sprouts.  The low temperatures have rendered these gifts from the earth into tender treats. We have been enjoying them roasted, steams and on salads. Yummmmm!

This morning the options for today’s activity included Christmas shopping at Providence Place or cutting our own Christmas tree at one of the local farms in the driving rain.  Those of you who know us well will guess correctly the decision we made…  It only took a brief break in the raindrops just as we were Providence bound to choose to go Christmas tree hunting.  We were lucky to find Pendleton Hill Tree Farm, only a few miles down the road, was selling trees despite the rain.  We found the best tree ever and enjoyed a cup of coffee with some very friendly neighbors.  We managed to get the tree in the house before the deluge returned.   We are relaxing in front of a decorated tree and hoping we won’t spend the evening with the shop-vac given a current rainfall rate at 2″ per hour.  Let it snow,  let it snow,  let it snow…

At this time of year it is traditional to be thankful for all the good things in our lives.  For us folks at Hangman Hill Road this includes being thankful for one of the best vegetables of the season, brussels sprouts.  Try them roasted, or steamed – the nutty flavor of ‘sprouts is just the best.

We have just harvested the specimens shown above from our garden, and this enables us to combine this blog posting with a seasonal ‘face of produce’.  A similar face appeared in one of our January 2010 blogs, but we say you can’t get too many brussels sprouts!

Happy Thanksgiving

During our stay in Tuscany we came to appreciate pici, a pasta that is best described as “fat spaghetti”.  Pici is usually served with a rich meat sauce made with wild boar meat.   Last Saturday we tried our hand at making pici, quite literally since we don’t have a pasta maker.  Making the dough was very easy; we just spread some flour on the counter,  mixed in eggs and olive oil and kneaded the mixture to a soft dough. Forming the pici into strands was more challenging.  It tasted great though, when with a Bison Red Sauce using garden tomato sauce from HHR gardens.

Now, we have an appreciation for both the old world methods for making pasta and modern pasta makers.

Pici

by Martha Stewart

Ingredients

	4 c All-purpose flour
	5 lg Eggs
	1/4 c Extra-virgin olive oil; plus
	1 ts Extra-virgin olive oil
	Coarse salt
	1/4 c Coarsely-ground cornmeal
	1/4 c Grated Pecorino-Romano

Preparation

Place flour on a clean work surface, forming a well in the center. Add eggs to center of well; beat with a fork. Add 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/2 cup water, and coarse salt. Use your hands to slowly mix the flour into the liquid. When dough forms and comes together, lift it out of the remaining flour on the work surface using a bench scraper. Sift the flour on the work surface; set aside. Knead dough for 2 to 3 minutes, adding a little more flour if necessary to prevent sticking. Brush top of dough with remaining teaspoon olive oil to prevent skin from forming, and cover with an inverted bowl. Let rest for 30 minutes. Sprinkle two baking sheets or platters with cornmeal. Divide dough into eight pieces. Lightly flour a work surface with a little of the reserved flour, and roll out or pat one piece of dough into a rectangle about 1/4-inch thick. Cut dough crosswise into 1/2-inch-wide strips. Transfer dough to a clean surface and, using your hands, roll each strip into a strand of spaghetti. Place on prepared baking sheets or platters. Repeat with remaining dough. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, adding salt. Cook pasta until al dente, 4 to 5 minutes. Drain, and toss with 2 tablespoons cheese. 

Pictures are worth a 1,000 words, possible more on a Monday morning in early November with a forecast for rain and temperatures in the 50’s.  It was supposed to snow in Bozeman, MT today, according to Michael (Sheri’s brother).  We thought we had a few more days of fall before it arrived here!

Our current favorite CD is a tribute to Loretta Lynn by Eilen Jewell.  It’s called “Butcher Holler” after the town in Kentucky where Lynnn was raised.  This YouTube video captures the spirit of it, but the CD is even better.

We hope to be going to see Eilen at our local venue, the Knickerbocker Cafe in Westerly, on Friday November 19th.  Join us there if you can!

Available at Amazon and other fine outlets……