Missing Willow Farm

I finally got around to making our crushed pepper blend, using Joe’s Round, Joe’s Long, Red Carribean Habaneros and Ghost Peppers that we grew ourselves and dried in our food dehydrator.  It’s crazy spicy and you don’t want to be anywhere inside our house on pepper flake day(!)  A few years back I gave some to one of the chefs who is a customer of ours.  Her husband is also a chef and decided to crust a steak with those flakes he found in the pantry while she was away on business.  He called and asked her if she was trying to kill him.  Ha!

This dried fruit and citrus zest mixture was stewed with spiced rum then went into a homemade fruitcake recipe I found on foodnetwork.com.  I’ve been spritzing the cake with brandy every few days.   It smells divine!

Brian finally spent the Lowes gift cards he’s been saving on supplies for his new shop.  The steps are now finished and he built a workbench from the double vanity we removed from our master bathroom a few years back.  After he runs electricity to it, he’ll add lighting both inside and out.  Then the fun can begin.

Our hens excitedly greet me at the barn door every morning, wanting to see if I brought them any kitchen scraps.  I’m such a rock star in chicken land!   It’s hard to believe most of them were tiny chicks just a few months ago.

I was able to photograph Lizzie eating, thus standing still for a change.   I think she has about 20 pounds on Jack now, and is probably only half of her full adult weight.  She slobbers all over us when we go to feed her which means overalls only for chores.  She’s still adorable.

It’s really pretty here, my favorite time of year.  The trees across our pond are showing off.  We’re expecting snowflakes on Saturday, which would be amazing this early.

Happy birthday to my sweetheart husband!  Breakfast request was egg and cheese croissant sandwich with Benton’s bacon.   Dinner tonight will consist of lobster, crab cakes and caesar salad with a chocolate and caramel dipped apple for dessert.  Birthdays are delicious.

The luggage is stowed away and we’ve started winterizing our garden.  I guess vacation is really over.  *sigh*  I’ve gone through all of our photos and here are my favorite views, all but one is from our balcony.  The ocean is beautiful.

Four of our 19 days of vacation were actually spent on solid ground.  We visited Bruges, Normandy, Southampton and Windsor Castle.  Our visit to Southampton included a trip to the SeaCity Museum which has a huge exhibit dedicated to the Titanic, which sailed from there.  The second to the last photo shows the crowd that came to see us off in Cherbourg, France.  Our tour guide said the local radio programs were covering our arrival in minute detail.  Folks on the QM2 are having dinner right now!  The last photo shows the crowd that came to see us off in Southampton.  LOL!

Food aboard the Queen Mary 2 is amazing.  We didn’t take our camera to dinner every evening but caught a few courses.  Can you tell we were impressed by the desserts?  I had my first baked alaska ever.  I think I have a cookbook from the 1970’s with the recipe and may have to make it over the holidays this year.  The last two photos are from a galley kitchen tour that was so interesting we attended it both times it was offered.  The ship carries 2600 passengers and almost always sails completely full so there are a lot of meals to prepare.  They do a wonderful job.