It is early in the morning. I have never considered myself a morning person, and yet, I find myself embracing this moment. I notice the subtle morning essence; the way the quiet stretches between moments, and the fresh snow lays undisturbed out my window. The children are happy rediscovering their world of favorite trinkets and I just witnessed a spontaneous hug between brothers. Maybe there is a reason Mr. Stone doesn’t mind waking up with the kids early in the morning. I’m not sure I am ready to switch morning routines quite yet (after all, I do love appreciating the early morning from a warm bed), but I’ll let him sleep for now and just take this morning one sweet moment at a time.

It’s official! It’s Monday and mama’s at work! The holidays have died down and Mr. Stone is done working for the winter and it is my time to work. Work! Work? Who volunteers to work? I do! Mr. Stone could not be happier to be at home with the kids and I am having such a great time hanging out at the library and various cafes’ exploring what my work looks like. I see a regular updated blog, work on my book, networking and research and, of course, time just to think! It’s amazing what happens when you have uninterrupted time to let your brain just think. This is good! Yes, this feels good!

More veggies! We didn’t have a share last week for Christmas but luckily there was one for New Year’s. Can’t think of a better way to celebrate!

I got this recipe from my first CSA I belonged to back in MA. I used to drive 45 minutes just to get my veggies- good thing our car ran off veggie-oil! Tonight I poked through our share and using only one addition (nitrate-free chicken sausage from the co-op. I could have gotten this local but wasn’t prepared enough.) I made the most delicious meal.

I sauteed yellow onion, garlic and leeks in butter until soft and then added chopped sausage, soaked and cooked navy beans, chopped collard greens, a few brusells sprouts and homemade chicken broth from the freezer. A dash of tamari sauce (okay, that is not local) and thirty minutes on a slow simmer to let the flavors marry and I had a nutrient-dense, belly-filling, mouthwatering supper for the family; all the while supporting my local farmers!

Another week and another bountiful box of winter vegetables. I am still in awe and am very grateful to still be basing our meals around these staples. This week we got collards, parsnips, carrots, potatoes, red onions, beets and squash.

Just look how pretty.

I can still scarcely believe it. I live in Central New York and we’ve got a foot and a half of snow AND we get a winter CSA share. Back in our corner of MA I couldn’t even find a summer CSA less than a 45 minute drive and now we can walk to pick up our winter share. (insert me rubbing my eyes in disbelief).

Mr. Stone went and picked up our box today and I was delighted to find a box chuck full of cabbage, radishes, beets, carrots, potatoes, squash, kale and a bag of navy beans all from local farms. We had a dinner party and all I had to do was pick up a few supplemental ingredients from the co-op and our impressive menu was good to go.

Here is what our share looked like in the box, out of the box, and how it made us feel:

Time is just flying around here and I would like to think it’s because we are having so much fun. None the less, it can get a little harrowing for a mama trying to wrap her head around all the things she’d *like* to do for Christmas, plus regular life, plus planning a trip home. Last week I had a few stressful days while I tried to figure out how I would do everything until I had a very sobering phone with my mom, who very wisely said, “You don’t want Christmas to be stressful. You want to enjoy it with the kids.” Thanks mom, it’s so true!

So a few lists later I am feeling pretty good about what I want to do, what I can do and in the meantime Mr. Stone went and picked up the most beautiful Christmas tree!

We also invited a few friends over Friday night and using all the ingredients from our winter CSA share it turned into quite a feast. Pandora.com is keeping our holiday playlist alive and the rental car is booked for next Monday.

Ahhhhh….now where is that eggnog?

My son recently fully weaned and I decided to have a special activity that let us have regular one-on-one time every week. I think this is a good idea at any point and particularly during this time of transition in our relationship. We pick up our CSA share on Wednesdays and shop at the co-op and since he likes both these activities I invited him to come along, emphasizing that this could be our special ritual together. Ten or so weeks later we have a great routine and today while we were singing together in the truck on the way home with groceries and take-out burritos for dinner I realized I love our Wonderful Wednesdays! I am going to highlight some of moments that really make this ritual meaningful for Solshine and me.

I just made my first beef bone broth. We got a soup bone from the farmer’s market and went home to figure this out. I braised the bone, put it in my heavy soup pot with cold water and ACV (apple cider vinegar) and started the simmering process. Mr. Stone simply cannot believe that it is supposed to simmer for at least 24 hours. The smell is stronger than we expected, but I was determined. The next afternoon I started the beef stew. We tried to clean out the fridge with some veggies from the end of the CSA season so we ended up adding parsnips and Solshine had a blast throwing in brussel sprouts right off the stock. It was pretty good, but not perfect. I’ll have to keep tweaking (and convince Mr. Stone that it is normal to simmer bone broth for days on end!)

Solshine even had time for a spontaneous art project! Good way to reuse a disposable coffee cup!

We have been aware of the local food movement for quite a while now. AT one time organic was the highest stamp of approval for our food, but locality is our new prerequisite. Now I am much more insistent that something is local although being local AND contributing to sustainable farming practices is definitely a win-win!

When we sit for a meal we often discuss where the food comes from and lately I have been pleasantly surprised with how much of our food comes from our local region. I was reminding my husband of when we were happy to point out one ingredient that might have been local to a night like tonight where there was only one ingredient that wasn’t! (I confess, it was the celery)

So tonight’s delicious locavore’s delight was a big pot of chicken soup. I bought the chicken whole from the co-op and it was grass-fed and I used veggies leftover from last weeks CSA: some white onions, lots of carrots, daikon radish and celery. (Well, I already admitted the celery wasn’t local.) I ran out a few minutes before dinner and picked up a loaf of freshly baked kalamata olive sourdough bread which we topped with local pastured butter and dipped in our broth. Yum!

This meal is perfect for the whole family because little finger love the soft veggies and mama loves knowing her kiddos are getting nutritious bone broth into their little chubby bodies! The remains of the chicken are simmering on the stove with the ends of the veggies and a little apple cider vinegar so we have broth for another meal later this week.

I’d call tonight a locavore’s success story!