I woke up at 7 am and came downstairs to let Klaus out. I left Marty and Nelly, who had their heads on pillows in the same position breathing softly.
I grabbed a blanket and snuggled with Klaus and wrote a blog post about our dinner party last night. I still have to edit and let my laptop charge.
When the sleepy heads emerged, things got crazy fast since Nelly is always happy to see Klaus and vice versa.
My tiny Halloween corner in the kitchen.
They played while we sipped our tea and coffee. I put on a soft jazz playlist and lit a apple cider candle and began emptying our dishwasher and drying rack from last night.
I wanted a cozy breakfast that sticks with the porridge type food I’ve been craving. I made creamy grits with over easy eggs. It was satisfying and perfect on a chilly morning.
As I am looking out our back room windows, the foliage this years is nothing to write home about. The pounding rain took down a lot of leaves.
Tourists still visited our area for a fall getaway or one of the many weddings this holiday weekend.
Our friends Buzz and Tabetha, new owners of the Arlington Inn, reopened the old Deming Tavern after a complete, much needed, ceiling to floor renovation, opening up the tavern to accommodate more people.
The tavern is beautiful! Tab did a wonderful job sourcing the appropriate time period pieces that makes the place ooze with charm.
They purchased the Arlington Inn last year and have done non stop renovations bringing the neglected Inn back to life.
We were invited to the soft opening which was wonderful! We are so happy to have a place to go to once a week again!
Bottoms up Martin!
My laptop is charged! I’m ready to edit my next blog post! Have a great day guys! The good news for us is the skies are turning blue and the sun is coming out! Yay!
*** I didn’t edit this piece so it’s a case of it is what it is.
The Acorn Spice candle from Mrs. Meyers is lovely!
Hi! I am still here guys just busy during Oktoberfest season and filling orders.
Fall is here and I am enjoying the cooler temps but holy shit, this has been the worst fall allergy season in our area!
A summer of rain and hot humid weather made for a breeding ground of mold and bacteria.
As the leaves are falling, so is all of that nasty shit. 🤧
Fall is also a time when the veil to the other side gets thinner. I’ve been able to journey easily and have learned a few new things to help me on my journey.
I can’t wait to tell you about them, I am sure they will help anyone seeking to calm their mind and worries.
Gotta run, it time to make the spätzle. I’ll catch up with you again very soon!
I’ve lived in the Northeast my entire life, with four definitive seasons. I’ve always loved fall and got married on the sweetest day of the year, the third Saturday in October.
Last week, I felt it coming, and so did Klaus. We both entered grizzly mode this week, always hungry and tired no matter what we did. I have been saying this for decades.
Think about September, the month when we begin to prepare ourselves for winter. People crave pumpkin spice, fuzzy boots, flannel shirts and hoodies, warm, cozy blankets, harvest decor, and warming soup bowls.
I’m guilty of all of it. I got out my mini pumpkins and a small amount of Halloween decor and carefully placed them around the house.
This is our body telling us to prepare for winter, not because we see so much fall shit in every store we go in.
You begin to see comfort food recipes and photos on magazine covers near the checkout areas in grocery stores—those clever bastards.
I am guilty of loving all those things in September; I feel it inside, not because Amazon, TJ Maxx, or Better Homes and Garden magazines convinced me.
The Danish and Norwegian people have been living the Hygge way; it’s the way they can make it through a long, dark, and cold winter.
New Year’s Eve dinner last year at Martin’s place. How beautiful it looked, very Hygge.
The togetherness part of Hygge, I feel as well. Last week, I invited our friends to come for an Oktoberfest dinner party. I need to see my friends not only because I love to entertain, I need to.
In the invitation, I said I wanted to get everyone together to have cocktails or wine while eating some delicious, seasonal food made with love.
Right away, I got texts from our friends telling me they could come. Menu planning started before the invite, but now it was full steam ahead. I already have my shopping list ready. Yay!
Many people think all this fall and winter shit is ridiculous, but say that to any women at Home Goods, they will flatten you instantly, screaming, “Get the hell out of here!”
Do whatever makes you and your family feel warm and cozy—buying everyone new slippers or matching pajamas for Christmas or making Hygge baskets as gifts with items like tea, socks, a book, knitting needles and yarn, hot chocolate. You get it.
I love fall and winter candles, which make me feel the warm fuzzies. I am a person who enjoys good smells; Sam is the same way.
I was bummed that I can no longer burn any old seasonal candles. Their smell makes me cough my head off and gives me a headache. This never happened until my lung issues started.
Candles made with essential oils, as I use in my diffuser, are okay, and they are better for our home environment and my health.
I ordered a couple of fall-scented candles from Mrs. Meyers; winter scents are not available yet. Seasonal scents of candles, soaps, and cleaning products are only available for a limited time. I can’t wait until Iowa Pine is out, my favorite.
I’ve started to crave comfort food and have been freezing servings for two when I make our dinners now. Perfect to pull out of the freezer for quick and easy winter dinners. I feel like a squirrel storing acorns for the winter.
Right now, I’m drinking tea while wearing my fuzzy blush pink robe with a fuzzy blanket on my legs; Nelly is curled up beside me. It’s 44 degrees outside this morning. Hygge.
We eat by candlelight on many nights; I burn scentless pillars all year, but now, I want them in every room since it gets dark so much earlier. The warm glow is so cozy. Hygge.
I am meal planning, which I do on Sundays, choosing mostly cozy and comforting food. I’m eating oatmeal for breakfast since I am craving it big time. Hygge
I’ve picked up my Kindle again and started looking for new books to read this winter. Hygge.
I’ve switched back to two fingers of bourbon as a nightcap and want old-fashioned cocktails instead of margaritas and gin & tonics. Hygge.
I want to bake pumpkin bread, popovers, and scones. I don’t enjoy baking as much as cooking, but there is something about this time of year and the urge to bake. I love the smells from baking when it fills the home. Hygge.
I moved my flannelly-type shirts, sweaters, hoodies, and jeans front and center, tucking my shorts and tank tops behind them. I organized my scarves, hats, and gloves. Hygge.
Before 2017, when Hygge became an international hit, it was an instinctive thing we had been doing all along, just like the Danish and Norwegian people.
Sauerbraten meatballs, buttered spätzle, and maple glazed carrots.
Our presence on social media for our business was practically non-existent this year until a month ago. Depression makes you do many things, like not wanting or caring to do anything. This was me.
When I finally pulled my head out of my ass, I apologized to our followers on Facebook and Instagram for the lack of posts. Then, I got posting like I used to. People love it when we post things on our pages.
Whenever we speak to customers, especially during Oktoberfest season or around the holidays, they tell us how much they love sauerbraten but don’t want to make it.
We tell our customers about sauerbraten meatballs and suggest looking online for a recipe because there are tons of them. What a lame thing to do as a cook and recipe writer. There is no excuse except laziness or lack of motivation on my part. Boo.
Traditional sauerbraten takes three days or so to marinate a beef roast in red wine, vinegar, and spices. Then, it is braised for hours. Finally, a gravy is made.
My recipe for sauerbraten meatballs takes about an hour from start to finish. Now, whenever you have a hankering for sauerbraten, you can make it that same day without all the muss and fuss.
We first heard about sauerbraten meatballs about three years ago. I searched a ton of sauerbraten meatball recipes and didn’t like them. Notice how this always happens?
The problem is that home cooks sometimes write the recipes, and other bloggers copy and paste the same recipe using the same photos. Oh, how I despise that.
I read some recipes from Betty Crocker and other trustworthy sites and combined a little of this and a little of that. I made the meatballs, and they were meh at best.
I decided to try again just in time for Oktoberfest. This time, I went to an authentic sauerbraten recipe and remembered the red wine in the marinade. I have a great palate and the ability to duplicate recipes by taste. That’s how I came up with my sauerbraten meatballs on Saturday.
I tested my recipe and made minor tweaks. I knew exactly what I wanted them to taste like, and finally, I was satisfied. We had them for dinner that night, and they were right on the money and delicious.
My meatballs had the flavor of real sauerbraten, unlike the other recipes that were more like sweet and sour meatballs with a hint of spices.
I typed up my recipe and emailed it to Marty with a photo. He will print and laminate a copy for our farmers market table and put it on our website.
I have a few delicious original Oktoberfest recipes I will share with our customers over the next couple of weeks. I am super inspired to write recipes for our business again, even if they aren’t spätzle recipes but sides and mains.
Next up, my red cabbage recipe, which I served to a bunch of Germans from Germany at an LGB train meet at our house. I’ll tell you about it next week.
Below is my recipe for sauerbraten meatballs in case anyone wants to make them this fall or over the holidays, which is another popular time for people to have sauerbraten.
Guten Appetite! 🇩🇪
Sauerbraten Meatballs
Ingredients
Meatballs
1 1/2 lbs ground beef or meatloaf mix 3/4 cup dried breadcrumbs 2 Tbsp dried onion flakes 1/2 cup milk 1 egg 1 tsp kosher salt 1/4 tsp black pepper 1/4 tsp ground cloves 1/4 tsp ground allspice 1/4 tsp ground ginger 2 Tbsp oil
Gravy
1/4 cup flour or 2 Tbsp potato starch 2 cups beef broth or stock 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar 1/2 red wine 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar 1 bay leaf 3/4 Tbsp ground ginger 1/8 tsp ground cloves 1/8 tsp allspice 1/8 tsp black pepper Kosher salt and pepper to taste.
Directions
In a medium-sized bowl, mix all ingredients thoroughly with your hands. Shape into small meatballs.
Heat canola oil in a large cast iron skillet or nonstick pan. Add a few meatballs at a time to the hot pan. Be careful not to overcrowd the pan. Brown the meatballs on all sides and remove them from the pan.
After removing the meatballs from the pan, sprinkle flour or potato starch over the drippings. Whisk flour or potato starch into the pan drippings, creating a roux. Add a tbsp of butter or canola oil if there aren’t enough pan drippings to make a roux.
Add the beef broth, apple cider vinegar, and red wine to a large measuring cup or bowl. Stir to combine. Whisk the ground ginger, cloves, and allspice into the roux. Cook until the roux is bubbling.
Whisking briskly, add the beef broth, apple cider vinegar, and red wine mixture to the roux. Whisk until smooth, getting rid of any lumps.
Add the brown sugar, black pepper, and bay leaf. Cook until the gravy thickens. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding kosher salt & pepper to taste. Use water or beef broth if the gravy is too thick, 1 Tbsp at a time.
Add the meatballs to the gravy and stir to coat the meatballs thoroughly. On low heat, cook the meatballs for 30 minutes in the gravy, stirring often and gently. Add water or beef broth 1 Tbsp at a time if the gravy becomes too thick.
Remove from pan. Serve with buttered spätzle, noodles, or mashed potatoes.
Enjoy!
Serves 4-6
*** please note in gravy it is 3/4 Tbsp not cup. I edited the recipe. Thanks Dianne. 🤦🏻♀️
Yesterday morning was gorgeous. Crisp, cool, blue skies and bright sunshine. The weather was perfect, even though I love summertime.
We had coffee and tea on our front porch and enjoyed the warm sunshine we were bathed in. It was a healing kind of gentle sunshine, without the heat and humidity that had kept me indoors since I had breathing issues in those conditions.
We were able to cook our breakfast outside. Yay! I prepped all the items we needed, and Marty was going to do the cooking. I set the outdoor table with pretty purple springtime cloth napkins with hydrangeas.
Marty is a good short-order cook and has done it for real. Breakfast was ready in a snap since the flat-top griddle was piping hot.
The menu…Fluffy gf pancakes with strawberry whipped cream, bacon, over-easy eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns finished with green onions.
It was a beautiful, relaxing setting with soft jazz playing in the background. I called Martin from across the street and asked him to join us, and he did! I quickly set another place setting before he walked over.
No Nelly! Off! Hot!
It felt like we were dining in a cute spot with good food and a great atmosphere. Our breakfast was delicious; the hashbrowns were my favorite part of the meal, like any other good Irishman.
After breakfast, I went in to get ready for Barbie, and it was cool enough to blow out my hair and straighten it! This is still a big deal since I am still a Jersey girl through and through. My scalp and hair have been damp all summer; having dry hair was delightful.
I wore pink, of course; I don’t always wear only black anymore. When I came down before I left for the movie, Marty told me I looked good in pink; it did look surprisingly good on me.
I went to see Barbie with my friends David and Arthur from next door at the Deming House. The guys are from DC and purchased their Vermont home a few short years ago.
The good news is they are now living full-time in Vermont since they have retired (well, sort of for David.) We hit it off right away; we love having them as friends and neighbors.
Weirdly enough, after the guys purchased the Deming House, Arthur did a little genealogy and found out the Demings in his lineage were related to the Demings of Arlington, VT! How can that even be, except it was meant to be?
We had to wait 30 minutes for the movie to start since the projector had an issue. While we waited, we talked about what cartoons we watched and the toys we played with when we were little.
I know when I was a kid, I watched a shit ton of tv. David and Arthur did, too; I guess everyone did back then.
I remember running to get a quick bowl of sugar-laden cereal or a Poptart and sitting “too close to the tv,” which would ruin my eyes, especially after staring at the small screen for hours in an Indian leg position or on my back.
We all loved Scobby-doo the best, with a lot of runners-up. For toys, I told them how much I loved my Barbies and played with them until I was 12 or 13.
David and Arthur both played with GI Joes; I am pretty sure David said sometimes he got to play with a friend’s sister’s Barbies. He was pretty knowledgeable about the different Barbies and their names.
Before playing with Barbies, I played with baby dolls and took one of them everywhere. I took care of it until I got tired of the baby, and it landed face down on the car floor. Good thing my mothering skills improved when I had Noah.
I loved those small bottles with the disappearing milk or orange juice. Orange juice for babies? I never second-guessed it back then.
The Barbie movie was really good. It was better than I expected, with many entertaining and funny scenes. We all liked it.
It was a great way to spend my day with people I love having in my small circle of friends, which took my mind off my pulmonary appointment the following day.
Last night, Marty spotted a vast bird way up on a branch of a black locust tree before sunset. We weren’t sure what kind of bird it was, so Marty shared a photo with a group on Facebook called “Happening in Arlington.” Everyone agreed it was an osprey.
An osprey is a type of hawk that is also called a fish hawk since fish makes up this type of hawk’s primary diet. They are found near large bodies of water such as Lake Champlain, lake memphremagog, and the Connecticut River.
The more I thought about it, even though other people have seen other osprey in our area, I knew this was a direct message from my power animal Hawk. He shows up whenever I need him. Marty and I took this as a good sign that put me at ease a bit.
I just returned from my appointment at Dartmouth Hitchcock and am happy to tell you I do not have pulmonary fibrosis. Thank God! I do have interstitial lung disease, but with a game plan in place to monitor it and accepting I will have some breathing issues for the rest of my life, I am ok with it.
Nelly is now 8 1/2 months and is the cutest little sweetheart of a dog. Marty and I feel like the luckiest people since we have the perfect little puppy for us.
Don’t get me wrong, Nelly is still a mischievous little girl and gets herself into trouble often.
The things that she does is hysterical. She loves to carry things from the inside out and outside in. Everything is fair game to her so we had to fix that.
Our house and yard are now super puppy proofed, neat, and organized to keep her out of trouble.
Like all frenchies, they are bred to be companion dogs which go through separation anxiety when their owners are out of the house.
We chose a frenchie not only because they are cute, but I wanted a companion pup. We take her with us whenever we go out for longer than an hour.
When getting a frenchie you have to know and understand they cannot be left alone for more than 3 hours. They suffer from serious separation anxiety.
Nelly loves going places with us. She never makes a peep in the backseat she is harnessed into. She falls asleep as soon as the truck starts to drive.
She never makes a fuss even if we have to get in and out of the truck a lot. She loves people, riding in a shopping cart and she goes crazy over kids.
We weighted Nelly this week and she is 19 lbs. Her frame is still small compared to other female frenchies. She is almost full grown.
Her breeding color is lilac, fawn, and platinum which have blue eyes and a smaller stature. I have looked at other female frenchies in the above breeding color and they are so similar.
This is not Nelly!It looks just like her!
Nelly adores Klaus and vice versa. They love playing and roughhousing. It’s amazing how gentle Klaus is with her especially when playing tug of war with a toy. He lets her win sometimes.
These two love to lay next to each other, something he never did with Otto; they tolerated each other at best.
She has turned Klaus into a gentle giant who by the way has slimmed down to 81 lbs from her keeping him so active. He was in the 90s at some point.
Watching the sunrise with me.
Marty and I look forward to taking Nelly up to bed with us each night. She snuggles in with her head next to ours and sleeps under the covers up to her chin, just like a human.
We wake up every day in that same position after spending the night listening to her snore and smelling the notorious frenchie farts. Lol.
Nelly was the right dog for me at the right time. She is there for me if I am stressed, frustrated, or sad. She really is an emotional support dog when I need her to be.
I finally have my appointment with a pulmonary specialist at Dartmouth Hitchcock on Monday.
I will have a cat scan and a pulmonary function test before my appointment with Dr. Stewart. I am nervous about this appointment.
This summer I am realizing living with lung disease is no joke. The humidity and wildfire smoke have significantly affected me more than the average person. It’s scary actually.
Some days I feel like a champ and others, like today, I’m inside our air-conditioned home still heavy-chested from the humidity. it makes me tired.
We sold our solo stove fire pit since I can’t breathe in any kind of smoke anymore. Since we missed having “campfires” we got a gas one with the money from the old one.
I keep trying to give away my worries about this pulmonary appointment, but it’s been hard to do. I’ve had quite a few anxiety attacks out of nowhere so I know this is deeply embedded inside of me.
Either way the appointment goes, I know I’ll have to deal with it and keep learning to live my life accordingly. It’s weird I am hoping I “just” have lung disease and not anything worse.
Right now, while I am writing this post, I’m resting on the couch with Nelly and boy, is she is letting them rip. 😂
Have a good night guys. I tried out a new recipe earlier today, I’ll let you know what it is and how it came out.
Just an update, after a few brilliant thunderstorms last night, nothing flooded and it has stopped raining. Yay!
During the storms, we sat on the front porch since we both love thunderstorms. Neither of the dogs are afraid of them like poor Otto was.
I was sipping a cocktail when our friend Martin walked over to join us. It was beautiful out with a sunset that was a gorgeous shade of orange pink.
From a distance we could hear thunder and see lightening in the dark sky. The air was cool and refreshing after a swelteringly hot day.
Right now, we are enjoying coffee and tea on the front porch in the sunshine for a bit before we start production, banking and deliveries. Klaus and Nelly are loving it as much as we are.
Thanks for your positive thought and prayers. I rarely ask for such a thing but felt I needed to yesterday.
I am writing this on my phone so I apologize for any grammar mistakes. Happy Friday and seize the day! ☀️
I haven’t had a panic attack for months but when Marty said he needed to make a delivery over Bromley Mountain to a restaurant called Johnny Seesaws over with early. I could feel my anxiety building.
Arlington got very lucky with the last devastating rainfall that destroyed towns 25 minutes away leaving them underwater.
During the storm a few days ago, everyone held their breaths hoping this was not going to be another “Irene,” a storm from a few years ago devastating our area.
I looked at the forecast for the next 24 hours and it’s looks very scary again since water in rivers and streams are already very high.
I just got over the panic attack and while writing this short post.
Please say a little prayer for Vermont today who has been in national news earlier this week regarding the devastation that occurred.
I was convinced to become the Arlington School District’s food service director back in 2005.
I say convinced because others thought I’d be good at it. I never had such a position before, I never even applied for the job. Boom, it happened in a flash.
I said yes because I saw the position as an opportunity to make a difference in our schools and town. I became excited and very nervous.
I wanted to change the school lunch program in a few different ways. I wanted to offer three choices of food to anyone getting lunch; whether they were categorized as free, reduced and full price.
I took away all ala carte items that only kids with money could purchase leaving the free and reduced kids to only have one choice and everyone knew they were poor. Not on my watch.
I also took away desserts every day and saved them for special occasions like it was back in the old days.
I watched too many kids before I took over get the lunch just for the dessert and dumped the rest of the tray.
I wanted to offer a hot lunch, a sandwich, wrap, or panini, and a salad. I made sure that there was something for all kinds of eaters; even the picky ones.
I also wanted to introduce the kids to new and unfamiliar foods to them. I gave them small try-me cups to taste what I was serving, even to the brown baggers who seemed to like that.
Long before farm-to-school lunch in the Northeast, I worked with a local farmer and purchased rejected fruits and vegetables which couldn’t be sold due to their looks.
We turned those ugly ducklings into delicious food and baked goods. Yes, it was more work, but most of my employees were high school students and loved working with me.
I taught the kids what seasonal eating was. When they begged for watermelon in January I told them it was citrus season and offered them many varieties which I could afford through a fresh fruit and veggie grant.
Lastly, I wanted the teachers and staff to order lunch from us. I held events that invited parents and grandparents to the elementary school to eat with their children.
Parents would tell me on Parents Night at a school how they loved hearing about what their child tried for lunch.
Many parents told me they had no idea themselves what a “Three cheese focaccia melt with pesto and tomatoes”’ was but their kid loved it! This made me very happy!
One of the most popular salads was the Waldorf Chicken Salad on greens and a breadstick. Not something you would expect from elementary, middle, and high school students. Teachers adored it too.
When the little ones would ask me what a Waldorf salad was I would explain it like this.
“A long time ago there was a very fancy hotel in New York City called the Waldorf Astoria.”
“Back in 1893, a man named Oscar came up with a new salad for their fancy schmancy restaurant.”
Their eyes got big when I told them theatrically, “The salad you are having tomorrow is the same one that was served to the fancy people eating in the fancy restaurant who were staying at the fancy hotel.”
One boy asked if it was the same salad and if it would be ok to eat, meaning it was from 1893. I told him the one I make is exactly the same but freshly made. He looked relieved.
Red grapes and celery in this version.
Next, I told the kids what was in the salad. The salad had chunks of apples and grapes, which I already know they loved.
I couldn’t add walnuts to the salad due to the no nuts policy. I omitted telling them about the celery, it only takes one little thing to make a child turn their nose up to something.
The salad also had chicken for the needed protein and a special dressing. They nodded their heads and said they would sign up for it the next day. Yay!
Green grapes and sugared walnuts in this version.
Whenever I make Waldorf salad with or without chicken, I think of how lucky I was to feed those kids new and exciting food.
Now those kids are adults and parents. Whenever I see them they tell me how they missed my cooking. ☺️
What an awesome thing to be able to open their eyes to trying new things they never wouldn’t have as an opportunity to.
I wonder if they are doing that with their own kids?
