Tapas - Sunday Lunch

A Sunday luncheon party with friends makes for fun nibbling. Making a few tapas platters is the perfect way to let those who are hungry knosh and those who are dieting nibble. Enough said. There's a bit of the decadent and a bit of the conservative here - roasted potatoes with shallots, garlic, rosemary and alioli for dipping, salmon in a roasted red pepper sauce, a cool chicken salad with raisins and pignoli, a platter of black olives and Manchego served with a flatbread bedecked with artichokes, onions, pimientos, and bits of black olive, Spanish Rioja and beers ... and that Coconut Lane Cake for dessert with tea or coffee.

Snap Shot Saturday - Up North

Silent Bob and I took a jaunt this past week Up North ... we drove up through the northern section of New Hampshire ... an area known as The Great North Woods. Towns like Dixville Notch, Colebrook, Stewartstown, Wentworth Location ... all of them isolated and quiet, dot the region. This shot was taken from the rest area along Rt 91 just before coming into New Hampshire from Vermont. The shot looks east toward the Franconia Range of the White Mountains ... Mounts Lafayette, Lincoln, and Liberty are the likely suspects  ... the clouds are spectacular ... yes?

Normally, there is a bustle of outdoor sportsmen at this time of year ... skiers, snowmobile enthusiasts, and winter hikers. This winter has been a bleak one for the North Woods folk, though. There has been very little snow and record warm temperatures.  Hence, the tourists are few and far between ... we had no trouble getting tables in the local diners, finding parking spots at the local sporting goods store or driving into the gas queue at the local pit stop. My heart goes out to the locals, as the economy is slow and it's showing around the towns.

So why, Snapshot Saturday? I found this neat photo share on Debbie's blog , The Friday Friends. Debbie is taking a photography course right now (lucky girl!). She has another blogging friend who hosts a Saturday photo share ... and I thought it would be fun to participate. I DO love taking snapshots!  What about you?


So check out everyone's Saturday Snapshot posts at Alyce's blog at home with books  !

Ryder and Topalian's Edible Communities !

Tracy Ryder and Carole Topalian may be able to make a killer salad or fresh local fish fillet or free-range beef roast, but what they have done even better is to take the idea of regional foods and food communities and meld the technology of communication and advertisement on the Internet to create Edible Communities a publishing company that sells franchises and editorial support to regional entrepreneurs who want to publish regional magazines that support and advertise for local farmers and artisan food projects, local community gardens, and all things that support the locavore movement. Pretty clever, huh? So, a project that started with Edible Ojai blossomed to 64 regional magazines and counting. Not only do they produce hardcopy of these local foodie magazines so that copies can be distributed at farmer's markets, restaurants and through Chambers of Commerce, but they support on-line editions that are freely accessed and archived ... now, THAT'S game-changing!

Just a Little Gift ...

Merry Christmas to all who enter The Spice Garden !

Hint :  Right click the link, open it, and enjoy!

May your winter be filled with beauty  ...

May you find small reminders of Spring's renewal amongst the bluster ...

May you be warm and sheltered ...

May you have enough ...

... and share the extra.

And whatever your faith ...

...may you know love and charity.

Merry Christmas !

Food Bloggers Unplugged ... the persona behind the blog

                 

Dom of Belleau Kitchen is one of the first bloggers that I began following when I first started The Spice Garden … we’ve connected on-line and via email off and on over the past couple years … enough that I have begun considering him to be a more than an mere acquaintance … a friend, a cohort, and a funny and fun addition to my on-line life!
What a guy … he recently gave me the ultimate foodie compliment in telling his blogging world that he’d love to dine at my humble little dining room table … heart a flutter and blushes … thanks dearie! Jump a plane and come visit anytime … just give me time to hit the market for the goods … and bring a good couple bottles of wine to sip with dinner!

Anyway, atop this seriously wonderful compliment came a request to tell a bit about me and The Spice Garden … a blogger’s challenge to let the shade up on just who I am and where my foodie sensibilities lie. The idea behind Food Bloggers Unplugged is to answer a series of questions and then pass the challenge to five other bloggers that have piqued your curiosity … there are certainly many that I’ve discovered. Perhaps that’s the hardest part of this Unplugged challenge … choosing the five with which I’m most intrigued. Anyway … here goes, Dom!

1. What or who inspired you to start a blog?

Two years ago, my daughter, Sara sent me an email telling me that I must start a food blog … “ for realz”, as she punctuated the statement. I had written a Note about soup on my Facebook page and when she read it, she knew I’d love the format of a food blog. She also knew that I needed a creative outlet to channel my energies as I made the transition from the work-a-day world to retirement. She is a wise child, what can I say?

2. Who is your foodie inspiration?

What a loaded question! My family and friends are foodie inspiration because I love to feed them … BUT my brothers, Rich and Jim are my foodie inspirations because they are both such amazing cooks! Jim has an abandon in the kitchen that is truly impassioned and Rich has the meticulous technique of a classically trained chef. They both can put on an incredible spread … and I will lovingly gobble away!

Willow Manor Ball 2011 - Autumn Frolic

Today's a different kind of day in The Spice Garden! It's time to get ready to trip out of the garden gate and head down to the willows by the pond. I have a lazy afternoon ahead, while I wait for this evening and one very special event!

 Tess is hosting her annual Willow Manor Ball - an evening that magically lasts far longer than the traditional seven or eight hours ... let's start by the pond, though. It's there where I'll sit down in the shade and dream up my ball gown, sip some wine and wait for the sun to set.