Oh, the cold breezes sweep in, the rain last night has already crusted over into ice and there’s apparently snow on the way (such is Winter life in Maine). It’s grey and the trees are bare, hints of greenery still pretend they have a chance – hopefully they are storing up as much as they can into their sleepy roots in hopes of a cozy hibernation. If it weren’t for a good solid freeze here we wouldn’t have all the things we love, like lilacs, and apples, maple syrup, lupines, coneflowers, milkweed and then all their attractors and supplements. Our seas would be affected, too, and our smelts, Maine shrimp, and even the ever popular lobster would move on to more appropriate watery pastures -it’s a dead giveaway that I am from away since I prefer the Chesapeake Blue Crab to lobster any day.

Don’t get me wrong, I like lobster but it’s not the end-all-be-all that some make it to be, it’s a nice treat every now and again. And from away – like that is a bad thing – if there weren’t people to move around this beautiful planet, how could we inject continuity of the species, or new industry and *gasp* new ideas, let alone mix up the gene pool a bit. Where I am from, we call the same folk flatlanders, which is pretty much what some New Englanders would call us, even though I’m from the mid-Appalachians and the culture is the same as here in Maine, and Josh is from Vermont – go figure. There is no sense to paper borders to me, no sense at all. It’s a shame to blame a fear of change on people instead of the proper and improper use of direct democracy (to which New England holds dear).

Anyway – comfort food is in order when the cold winds blow. And no time better than this damn year (2020 may be over but as another ‘paper border’, we still have sensitive situations that will continue) to find some comfort. With that said, this is not a fancy Macaroni and Cheese dish – but it is a cheesy cozy lowbrow one. It is also not our lovely friend Sophia’s awesome Smack n Cheese which has some sort of magickal faerie dust in it and she uses Cavatappi pasta (corkscrew shaped – to which I just spent 20 minutes on the interwebs trying to find the name for -ha!) which is really quite brilliant because they capture and hold the cheesey goodness that much better.

This has lots of preference options – add veggies like broccoli or cauliflower (parboiled) or herbs (like sage, thyme, or rosemary), bacon, sausage or shredded chicken, and the cheese you like best – cheddar, jack, American (and you can even tailor spices to enhance your cheese, like nutmeg for cheddar, green chili or some ancho with the jack, etc). You can even just make the noodles and roux and eat straight away like an ooey-gooey warm bowl of love or bake into a full casserole. And if you want to make it into a super fancy dish, I won’t judge you if you put lobster in it.

Rock Bottom Mac & Cheese
Serves 4

1 pound dry pasta of choice (I do Elbows but I’m not adverse to mini shells or Orecchiette or Fusilli), cooked per package instructions, al dente
3 Tbsp Butter plus 2 Tbsp to top a casserole if desired
1/4-1/3 cup All-purpose Flour
3 cups Milk
1-2 cups Shredded Cheese (up to you how much cheese you like!)
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 cup Breadcrumbs (optional)

Make a Roux: [If making a full casserole, preheat oven to 350 degrees]. In a heavy bottom Medium pot, melt 3 Tbsp Butter on Medium heat. When melted add 1/4 cup AP Flour and stir until clumpy and dry. Add Milk 1/2 cup at a time, whisk until becomes uniform. Continue adding Milk 1/2 cup at a time until consistency is thick (you are making a thick gravy). Add shredded Cheese a handful at a time, stirring into sauce until thick and still creamy.

Then add cooked pasta: warm together for a few minutes if you are eating immediately or stir in any additions (like spices, herbs, meats, veg), Salt & Pepper to taste, and pour into ovenproof casserole dish (I use a 9×13). Liberally sprinkle on Breadcrumbs, and cut remaining Butter into pats, placing randomly over crumbs.

Bake at 350 degrees, for 20-30 minutes until Breadcrumbs are golden brown (if you are using a clear casserole dish you may also see the pasta and cheese getting golden). Then be gentle with yourself because it is so tempting to eat straight away but it is super hot!! Enjoy ;).

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Apples for love – a perfect cake for any occasion but this occasion happens to be our 24th Anniversary (yes, 24 – really!). We weren’t that young (but still pretty young) which makes us likely older than you thought we were, but we’ve had many lives. We’ve lived many places and have had many adventures (and many adventures to come!). This homestead life of ours is a relatively new endeavor though we have always gravitated to the fringes of sufficient systems – which is to say, we’ve always been a little weird.

We look pretty normal (well, relatively speaking) and I think we lead a pretty ‘normal’ life (almost too normal somedays) but I have little to compare it to – our small enclaves of artist, activist, academic, and appreciators of these things, this is a pretty normal life. But we know the truth – that behind this air of apparent sanity – we are freaks (esp Josh, maybe if you know me, you already think or know I’m weird but he fools you right up to the edge – ha!).

We got married because we thought it would be funny. It wasn’t really a secret, we just didn’t tell anyone. We thought it was the last thing anyone would think of either of us doing. We had only been really dating for about 6 months (I had been living in VT not even a year from NJ) and our ‘dating’ consisted of selling all of our possessions, buying a beat up car and driving from Vermont to New Orleans visiting everyone we knew down the East Coast. It took us a couple of months to get there – we tried to find a place to live but we had spent most of our money on the way (friends wired us money to come back North). We ran out of ideas to avoid Vermont but returned anyway to find a place to live and maybe some jobs. Then we got it in our heads to slip off to the Town Office of Shoreham, VT and persuade them to find a judge to marry us Christmas Eve morning. He was a very kind older man who left his family to give us a short but sweet ceremony (Judge Douglas; later his daughter would be my manager at a retail/gallery job) and then we went to buy dog food for our naughty Malamute/Lab mix who – while we were getting married was happily munching on my favorite blue hat.

I’m not sure about Josh’s direct observations but I know I became a person with him. I was just an idea before, but through all our trials and adventures somehow I became a budding practice, a real person. Believe it or not, I was even a terrible cook when we first met (mmm, crunchy rice casserole) and he was brimming with patience (something I have chipped away at over the years – ha!). But for us, it’s always been about love and happiness (thank you, Reverend Al Green) – if it didn’t fit those parameters, it was time to change. He is the space I call home. He is the place I call love.

May you enjoy all the love that enriches you.

Onto the cake – we’ve been making this cake for about 10 years now from Food52. It’s a bit of a staple (though sometimes I make a different ‘less flour’ version that is a little more dense and just as delicious. I’m definitely one of those people who loves the kind of rye/fig/olive oil/spice flavors in a cake. Renee Erickson makes a stunningly dreamy dark Molasses Spice Cake with pepper and orange zest that is an adventure in itself.) This cake makes a great coffee cake, mature birthday cake, or an everyday give-me-some-cake kind of deal. I prefer a Bundt pan for all cakes, it’s just my thing but a Tube (Angel Food) pan works great, too. The secret is the low and slow cooking.

Apples, love indeed.

Deep South Apple Cake

2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups cooking oil of your choice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 juice of a lemon
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
3 cups peeled and chopped fresh apples
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans (optional)
2 eggs, well beaten

• Preheat oven to 325F (160C) degrees. Grease a tube or Bundt pan and dust with flour.
• Combine sugar, oil, vanilla extract, eggs, lemon juice, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Beat well.
• Mix flour and baking soda then add to the first mixture and beat well.
• Add apples and pecans, if using, and mix well.
• Pour into prepared tube pan.
• Bake 1 ½ hours, until golden on top. Let sit a few minutes, then unmold.
• You can dust the top with a little Confectioner’s Sugar, if desired. This cake is great warm or cold (the next day is super delicious).