Silver Linings

I know I can be kind of a Polyanna girl. But this morning? Our car was frozen to the driveway like it was in one of those Crazy Glue commercials from the 70s with that guy's construction helmet cemented to a pylon, and so we walked to school. And in the woods, it was as if the trees had been encased in glass. I have never seen anything quite like it, everything glittering and silver like we were in a magic forest inside a fairy tale. And on the way Ben invited a game called "Light Stepper" where you tried to tread softly to keep yourself atop the crust of snow--and of course the kids could do it, because they are as weightless and agile as cats or angels, while their father and I clomped through up to our knees. An ice storm is so treacherous and just so breathtakingly beautiful.

And so it is, right? Many of you have heard of the Wondertime ending by now, and I can't tell you how much your support means to me. Thank you for your words here, and there, and your thoughts--it's such a gift. I am, like my fellow Wondertime folks, heartbroken and worried and overjoyed to have been a part of something so lovely. These are hard times for so many people, but buoyant ones too. Our Dogwood is encased in ice, and yet the spring buds are there already, glittering like glass beads, shining with promise.

God. Sorry. I am such a wreck.

Meanwhile: tamale pie! It's over at family.com, right here, where my food column will continue live a full and rich life. Please visit.

Take care! Drive carefully! Stay warm.

xo Catherine

p.s. I forgot to mention that I have a short piece in this month's Redbook magazine. About romance. Because you know how romantic I am.

A Long Time Coming

Don't worry, I haven't gone all unromantic on you. I was going to post a photo of the ballroom dancing (oh those smiles I could look at for the rest of my life!) or, to be funny, of the helicopter taking off (see ya!) or of the crowd in joyful tears, like we all were yesterday. But then, today, there is this--and this is what it's all about. We are so blessed.

Meanwhile, for a culinary non sequitur, there is borscht. Here. Plus, there are many more soup recipes in the February issue of Wondertime. Boy was my family eating a lot of soup while we were testing those: "What's for dinner?" was our favorite joke.

Love to you and yours.

xo

New Recipes

Gosh, I'm sorry I haven't written here in so long! I've been really, really busy.


But I do have two new recipes up at wondertime--one for corn chowder and one for a puffy oven pancake. They're both here.

There's something a little funky going on at family.com, where you can only see the two most recent recipes. But the whole archive is still up at wondertime, here.

Check in this week if you can--about what recipes you've tried, what's working, what you'd like to see more of. (First I wrote "more or less of," but then I worried that I was really courting your irritation with, say, photos of my kids in their pajamas or my various exhortations about salt.) And post over at wondertime if you're able. I'm always grateful for that.

I hope you're all settling happily into what feels like the "real" winter to me--that stretch after the holidays when it is all about the snow and the ice and the bright blue sky. Soon we'll smash our gingerbread houses with a hammer: a ritual that marks the official end of something here. (Our sanity, maybe?)

xo Catherine