Black Eyed Susan's Kitchen

FOOD TRADITIONS

               Oh, the holidays! If ever there was a time of year that we cling tight to our various traditional meals, this is without a doubt that time. Thanksgiving is pretty cut and dry for most of us...no pun intended here. We roast a turkey, stuffed or not, veggies and probably potatoes, and of course there is pie for dessert. Christmas though, well it seems most families are driven by choices based in tradition. Our own traditions come from my husbands Scandinavian roots. Christmas Eve is a smorgasbord of Swedish meatballs, potato salad (always from the same deli near the home they grew up in), and carrot jello (orange jello with grated carrots in it). To these dishes, we have added in, lasagne, roast ham, and other assorted foods changing from year to year and depending on who's house is hosting the event that year. 

                Christmas morning though, we have a more intimate tradition...we stay home. Always. Not negotiable. My husband travels quite a bit for business and this is his week to relax and not run around.

 

The chef in our house tends to find his relaxation in front of the stove ...the Viking working at the Viking as it were. The brunch dish of choice has been Susan Branch's recipe for Eggs Sardou casserole...our kids love this dish.

 

The dish is made of egg yolks, creamed spinach, artichokes, bacon, and cheese. Decadant and delicious, diets be damned for the day, this is how it begins.

Brunch was finished in no time flat, and now on to the rib roast. My personal contribution to the meal will be a tiramisu....yeah, it is that kind of a day...the treadmill will be smokin' tomorrow!!

So, what is your holiday food tradition? Which dish shows up on the table no matter what else is going on? Personally, I would love to try the Italian tradition of the Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve some time...but I have a feeling that it might have to be on a different day...it just doesn't fit into those deeply rooted traditions. Hoping everyone is enjoying their holidays no matter how they are celebrated or what happens to show up on your table!! 

LOST AND FOUND

                After keeping a blog going for more than five years, I meandered down a new street and took a break. Here, in a nutshell is what happened... I traded some of my photography and writing time to re-acquaint myself with my body....I started lifting weights and walking...daily. The results are now apparent, and I have to say that it is pretty cool to be down several sizes and pounds, and up muscle mass on my arms. Why now? I decided that I didn't necessarily want to grow old as gracefully as I once thought. The words kicking and screaming worked their way into my head, so I turned my Ipod up high, put my ear-buds in and started moving. The line from Bob Seeger's song Rock and Roll Never Forgets couldn't be more true and although sweet sixteen has turned 31 a long, long time ago,  it still applies.

                   We flew in to the Asheville North Carolina airport a little before Halloween for a much needed vacation and stayed for a few days in the fantastic little town of Dillsboro.

We stayed at the rustic chalet style Dillsboro Inn which is located next to a most idyllic river

 

and spent one lovely morning getting to know the town and it's amazing craft stores. 

Then, it was off for a ride up the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway. There was something very deja vu about this ride, not that I had ever been here before, but I felt instantly comfortable and enthralled by the scenery.

 

We stopped at almost every available spot so that I could jump out of the car and take pictures.

I just kept thinking that I had been here before, knowing, that it wasn't so.

But boy, those mountains are awesome and a welcome change from the flat land of the Jersey Shore. After Dillsboro, we spent the rest of the week in Asheville.

 

The city is very walkable, and has something for you to look at and be surprised by every step of the way.

Art galleries, vintage and antique stores, fantastic book stores, breweries and wine bars, and restaurants. The night life, bars, and music venues were fantastic too.

There was creativity every step of the way, and it really did get the inspiration flowing. The photo above is a few dresses made from condoms as a fund raiser for Planned Parenthood. Amazing!! 

It really was a fun trip, and although we came home looking forward to one of my favorite holidays, Halloween did not actually happen for us this year.

Hurricane Sandy barreled up the east coast and smacked right into us, and the entire Jersey Shore. It was/is a mess. We lost part of the roof to our house, trees fell on the fences, and the entire veggie garden was wiped out. We had no power for eleven days, toughing it out for the first five and then borrowing a generator for the last six. It was cold and kind of miserable, and we feel like we were so very lucky. You see, just a few miles from us entire communities were wiped out. Homes covered by the sea and when it all pulled back, there was sand and wreckage everywhere. Peoples homes were in bits and pieces....and then my computer decided it had enough and bought the dust as well.

         So, new computer and I am ready to start writing again...and maybe taking more pictures. I will be coming by to visit and catch up, and I am hoping that everyone has been well. Oh, and one last thing...before my computer died, when we had no power in the house, we did have wi-fi thanks to my son the techie, and so I watched the only movie saved on the computer. It was Last of the Mohicans, one of my all time favorites. As I was watching, it ocurred to me that the scenery was so much like the mountains of North Carolina and so, after the movie, when the credits started to roll, sure enough, we read that is where it was filmed!! I had seen those mountains before...many times...at the movies!!

This post is being linked with Little Red House for Mosaic Monday, Smiling Sally for Blue Monday, The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sunday, How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday, and Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday. Hoping to show up with more holiday energy in the next few posts.