Snowy New Year

This kind of says it all! Only in Maine - not sure where this was taken but I saw it on the news last night. Click on the picture for a closer look, and check out the sign behind it - snowmobile crossing on a main street! That's like a "you know you're in Maine when..." thing! It's been snowing since "last year", and we rang in 2010 with a 3-day snowstorm. Hard to measure with all the blowing and drifting but out on the back deck it looked like about 18" or so. Luckily it was fairly light stuff, not too tough to shovel, which is good. We're hoping to see a peek of sunshine towards the end of the day, but as I look out the window I still see snowflakes drifting down. It's prettiest when the trees are coated with fresh snow so it's nice to look at. The road crews should have plenty of time to get the roads in shape for tomorrow morning's trek back to work after the last long holiday weekend of the year.





Although we hate to, it'll be time to take the Christmas trees down soon. We usually wait until after "Old Christmas Day" or Epiphanny, January 6th. These are two of my favorite glass ornaments, very Maine-y, my red lobster and seagull. My husband and I each have our own decorated Christmas trees. Mine is always a real tree with all my glass ornaments that I've collected over the years, his is a little kid's dream with ornaments from Peanuts, Looney Tunes and all sorts of cartoon characters - artificial and pre-lit with multi-colored lights. I'm an all-white light purist! So it's good that we can have the decorations we love the most and can enjoy each other's holiday creations!



This snowy weekend has just begged for comfort food - chicken pot pie from scratch New Year's Day and Yankee Pot Roast Saturday night - oh, so yummy and good for the soul! It's a recipe I adapted from one I found in Cooking Light magazine (my favorite!), October 2007 and I make it often in fall and winter. I hope you enjoy it!


Yankee Pot Roast

Olive oil
About a 2-lb. boneless chuck roast, trimmed
1 cup chopped onion
4 cups fat-free, less-sodium College Inn beef broth
1 tbsp whole-grain Dijon mustard
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp dried sage (or Bell's Seasoning left over from Thanksgiving)
2 bay leaves
1 small turnip, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 medium Russet potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
About 4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch slices

Pre-heat over to 300 degrees.

Heat about a tsp olive oil in a large oven-safe Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown the roast on all sides, about 8 minutes. Remove from pan to a plate. Add a little more olive oil if needed and saute the onion about 5 minutes or until they begin to brown. Add the broth, scraping pan to loosen the brown bits from browning the meat and onion. Reduce heat; add mustard, spices and bay leaves then return the roast to the pot. Bring to a simmer.

Cover and bake at 300 for 1-1/2 hours. Add the carrot and turnip and continue to bake, covered, another hour. Add potato and bake another 30 minutes or until the roast and vegetables are very tender. Remove bay leaves.

You can also add parsnip or rutabaga, or any other root vegetables you prefer. Wonderful the next day! Add some crusty bread or homemade corn bread and call the family to dinner!

Enjoy and stay warm and cozy! I'm off to finish drawing out a couple of new hooked rug projects. More on those soon.