Gehring Road

comfort

New Year's Day Cherry Pie... it was as good as it looks...

Rob is away for work.  It is January in New England.  Yesterday we had the last of two different storms in twenty-four hours roll through.  This morning's (second solo) snow removal was accompanied by an angry North wind.  I couldn't help thinking, as I cleared the driveway and dodged that mean wind, that it would be impossibly wonderful to curl up in the house in front of the fire and forget the snow, forget the need to leave the house at all... with a piece of Rob's cherry pie.  Comfort. The cherry pie Rob made for New Year's day at my parents' is long gone, but apparently not forgotten... feast your eyes...

... that filling goodness was piping hot when the picture was snapped.  If I didn't need my fingers for work, I would have gladly suffered the third degree burns to taste it when it surfaced from the oven. So good.  What's not good... the weather. This is the punishing time of year when the wind blown snow that one is currently shoveling takes aim at the few inches of exposed skin and just pummels... that brings out the complainer in me.  I look to creature comforts... oh pie, how we miss you... to get through. Rob's Cherry Pie was a recipe from our favorite Cook's Illustrated. In the meantime, we wait patiently for our pie maker to make his way home, watch episodes of Pushing Daisies on Netflix (watching shows in part about pies might be torture, but so is shoveling so it's in season) while taking pictures of the most beautiful snow... from inside the house... 

... Kylie (who has been glued to my side since she saw Rob leave the house - suitcase in hand) and I wish you a very comfort filled weekend, and a lovely start to the week! I'm off to sew some, and rest my aching back... I'm lift-from-the-knees challenged. 

i love mondays :: chowdah

This weekend the weather changed just a bit and we had our first frost... a clear sign that soup needed to be made. Around here, soup is synonymous with chowder, pronounced "chowdah" if you really want to get it right. We journeyed off to our local Whole Foods because we absolutely love the fish they stock and were shocked to find the check-out lady prefers Manhattan Clam Chowder... "I'm from New Jersey" she explained, ahhh, we understood perfectly. 

We used (of course we did) a recipe from Cook's Illustrated, which called for 7 lbs of clams, a bit of cream, flour, parsley and thyme. This wasn't one of those really involved recipes, so it cooked up really quickly, a lovely recipe indeed. The broth was absolutely amazing and though Rob will probably add another tablespoon of flour to make it thicker next time we make this (soon, I tell you)... the chowder was so authentically New England and oh, so delicious. There are reasons these photos are so close, I was tempted to face plant into this gorgeous bowl, the smells were fantastic. A little sourdough bread, some oyster crackers and dinner was a welcome sight for this bronchitis sufferer (such is the season). Anyway, feast your eyes if you're not in the vicinity to feast with us... Happy Monday. 

harvesting

  

  

    

    

    

    

    

We ventured off to Wright's Farm, a little orchard right down the road from us today (if you're lucky enough to live near this lovely little corner of New England, visit! The dried flowers are something to see...) picking the beginnings of our apple harvest.  A bit early indeed.  As were the pumpkins and gourds that we contemplated buying... soon.  Instead we're making tomato soup for dinner and possibly to can... and dreaming of the apple sauce, pie filling, and jam that will be made to keep us through the long winter. I've been thinking of doing a little post on our methods while canning.  I love your questions, thanks for asking how we go about things! Can't wait to share. The weather has taken a bit of a turn, just a bit... bright blue skies and just the hint of fall... I love this time of year.  

weekending

Julia Child once said, "Some people like to paint pictures, or do gardening, or build a boat in the basement. Other people get a tremendous pleasure out of the kitchen, because cooking is just as creative and imaginative an activity as drawing, or wood carving, or music."  My sweet and wonderful guy made croissants today... they were simply perfection. Light, warm from the oven, buttery layers that were melt in your mouth delicious. Rob spent the morning perfecting and working through the stages of the dough, getting it just right. This incredibly talented man I tell you, how lucky am I... he loves our garden, can build just about anything in the basement and incorporates as much love into the foods he creates for our little family as he does butter. Lucky I tell you... truly loved and lucky. I wish you a happy and love filled (if not croissant filled) weekend.  

back in the saddle again...

 ...Can I tell you I made biscuits? From scratch... biscuits... and a big mess... 

Well hello there strangers... I must sincerely apologize for my absolute abandonment of this blog over the past few weeks.  I have been under-the-weather in an annoying sinus, sleep for hours kind of way and just about the only thing I've really wanted to do is cook.  And prowl for fabric, but I'll keep that for another post.  

So let's catch up... the cooking.  Here at our house Rob cooks most of our meals, I acquire the others. I used to cook, I vaguely remember actually liking to cook but when you have a chef as inspired (or motivated) as my guy, you don't argue... you keep quiet and do the dishes.  Rob's work schedule has picked up in recent weeks and I've been feeling the need to take some of the cooking load.  I've been inspired by some of the culinary adventures here, here and here at the blogs I've come to love. First up was Ina Garten's Chicken Stew with Biscuits, really, really tasty.  We added mushrooms, and I made the biggest mess the kitchen on Gehring Road has ever seen... 

 

...seriously...but it was oh, so tasty.  And an hour clean up (we are dishwasher-less) is a small price to pay for comfort food of epic proportions.  I was able to bring some to my ailing Great Aunt Tootsie (how has Aunt Tootsie not made the blog yet?) who has a houseguest (my mother) and they loved this dish as much as we did.  Oh, and did I tell you I made biscuits? 

I also purchased Ree Drummand's The Pionner Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl and made her lasagna.  The meat-sauce recipe for this is also really tasty, and I didn't take pictures of the finished product... we were eating, you understand.  This lasagna was cooked on a night that Rob had an especially bad day at work, and I was oh so glad to be at the dinner helm.  

 

Rob thinks I bought the book for the lovely pictures of cowboys... I didn't, but will be turning to this book for many other dinners in the future, the lasagna was full of flavor and easy... and I had time to clean the dishes while cooking... and yes, it does seem that Ree is an accidental country girl after my own heart.  

It feels very good to return to this space... I feel a bit recharged, and as vacation is upon us, I'm hoping to extend that feeling into this week.  The plan is organization, sewing, and hopefully sharing with you some of our experiences along the way.  I hope you have some time this weekend, this week or very soon to do the things you love the most.  Happy Valentine's Day to all... and especially my partner in crime dishwashing all things who makes it feel like Valentine's everyday - even the nasty bad ones. 

window in :: 9

  

I loved this dinner... roasted tomato, mushroom, spinach and poached egg on toast.  Recipe adapted from the latest edition of Real Simple. This fantastic dinner has been a bright spot in an "every time I leave the house bad things happen" and an "am I really going to do this for thirty more years?" kind of week.  Here's to bright spots: perfectly poached eggs and this smile.  

window in :: 6

 My tongue is red.  They were delicious. 

window in :: 1

Dessert made for New Year's Eve dinner... later became New Year's Day's lunch... am anticipating this lovely for New Year's Day's dinner dessert and the possibility of not being able to button my pants in the not so distant future.  

christmas wrap up 4... we're published!

 

 

 I'm wrapping up our Christmas well... wrap up, with my very favorite gift given to our loved ones this year.  Filled with recipes, stories and pictures from our life here on Gehring Road, our Tastebook was so much fun to put together and the perfect meaningful gift to give to our families and friends. 

 

 

We loved this gift, and can't wait to add to it.  If you would like to friend us at Tastebook feel free to email me... you will have instant access to our recipes and loved treats. 

I'll be a bit quiet here over the next few weeks, preparations for a return to work and school will be filling my days, to be followed by our exam weeks.  This little blog will be turning into a photo journal for the time being... so, with much appreciation for the visitors who come to this little space, check in on us and support my little venture,  I wish you all the very happiest of New Years... celebrate, enjoy, visit and rest during this happy season.  
      

christmas wrap up 2... eat your way through

 Rob's Triple Chocolate Cookies, recipe from Cook's Illustrated

 This Christmas/Solstice season was extremely cold and stormy here in the North East, and I think someone took cues from the weather when planning our menu.  Rob made some amazing and comforting treats this holiday season, triple chocolate cookies (with espresso) that were sinful I tell you.  If I had more time to contemplate eating, I'm quite sure I would have eaten them... all of them.  The cookies go out each year to people we really love, thanks to our Food Saver... you're welcome ones we love. 

Besides the cookies, Rob made Sticky Buns for Christmas Eve morning... they were heaven.  

Rob also made green bean casserole, steaks, a Prime Rib, crispy potatoes, pork roast and mushroom risotto over the course of the past few days of entertaining.  I can't tell you how amazing the food was and how much our guests appreciated the calm that is Rob in the kitchen.  

Tomorrow I'll share some of the recipes from our holiday merry making. They're collected together in one place and I've been so wanting to share our favorite Christmas present with you.  Until then, enjoy the week!