Root Down

When I’m stressed out, I buy books.

And so, on the day before my surgery, I found myself in the cookbook section of the Strand.

I was looking for a copy of Nigel Slater’s Appetite to give as a going away present to an aspiring home cook, but what I was finding was a mountain of books I wanted.  There was I Know How to Cook, Momofuku and Ad Hoc at Home; Jim Lahey‘s new bread book, Judith Jones‘ treatise on the pleasures of cooking for one, the surreal world of Heston Blumenthal and no Nigel.

So, I grabbed a classic Jamie Oliver tome for my co-worker, and, just for good measure, The Veselka Cookbook (complete with a recipe for my beloved Christmas borscht!) and for absolutely no reason (other than I’m a sucker for puffy book covers), Stephane Reynaud’s French Feasts for me.

On Friday, Isaac made us a beautiful pureed cauliflower soup while I lazed on the couch, trying to purge the anesthesia from my body as quickly as possible.  By Saturday morning, I was ready to get up and go again (I think they give you something when you have surgery to make you feel energetic and happy the day after), so we wandered down to the Tucker Square greenmarket.

The plan was to roast the last of the wee tiny beets and bitty little carrots from the garden, but we needed to supplement them with something.  So I grabbed a butternut squash, an acorn squash, a bouquet of sage, rosemary and thyme and a smoked duck breast.

Here’s where I divulge to you an embarrassing secret:

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Macro

Recently my mom told me that one of her friends likes visiting this site when she is stressed out.  She especially likes the macro shots. She finds them calming.

Well, I’m feeling a little stressed right now.  Last week we had a third round of very deep layoffs at work and my uncle died. On Friday I’m having surgery, again.

So, I decided to go out into the backyard to see if taking macro shots could calm me down. And you know what? It worked.

So thanks Patty!  I hope these shots bring you the same degree of placidity in viewing them that they gave me in taking them.

White Bridge Road

The map of Columbia County is littered with little roads that are public, and yet, ostensibly private, like Spangler Road.  And they’re perfect for walking.

We found another one last weekend, White Bridge Road, about three-quarters of a mile down Route 13 from the ridiculously picturesque hamlet of Old Chatham.

To get there you pass a spooky old graveyard and a mysterious little building set into the hill, filled with water that I think was maybe at one time a spring house (does anyone know?).

Spangler Road

Isaac and I took a walk down Spangler Road on Saturday.

We had seen on a map that it cut a handy transverse between two main roads with flimsy shoulders and had a “Bridge Out” warning.  Roads with bridges incapable of carrying cars generally make for good walking.

Little did we know that Spangler Road is the prettiest road in the whole world.  It passes a very well-manicured horse farm populated with lots of curious horses and a few silly dogs.  And then you go around a curve and you come to this:

Around The Backyard

Fall is definitely upon us.

This weekend I pulled the eggplants and summer squash out of the garden.

Isaac raked.

I filled the birdfeeders.

We bought bulbs.

The air smelled good and fall-y and was loud with migrating geese.

I can’t wait to make stew.