Kristen's Watercolor

When Kristen said she was going to go outside to paint, I think I imagined something like this:

Well, it turns out the girl is a master watercolorist.  She painted this incredible rendering of the house in one sitting:

Best of all, she gave it to us to keep.  It is getting framed and will be displayed proudly.  It's lovely having talented friends.

Pepper project

Andy's parents brought up bushels -- literally! -- of produce from a farm in Florida.  The overwhelming majority of this produce was peppers.  Very hot peppers.  Hundreds and hundreds of Scotch bonnets, habaneros, and other assorted, blistering peppers.  We were faced with a dilemma.  What does one do with a lifetime supply of peppers, all mere days away from shriveling up and rotting?  We decided to make pepper relish.  Having never done this before we kind of winged it, so I can't really provide a recipe.  I can tell you we diced many peppers (note to self: next time wear gloves), some onions, used plenty of vinegar and plenty of sugar.  Well, the result was pretty damn good!  

Soon it became clear that we were facing another dilemma.  How do you use somewhere near a gallon of pepper relish before it goes bad?  There were only two options: start eating pepper relish for every meal or figure out some way to preserve it.  So we purchased canning supplies and followed the directions very closely (kind of a delicate process, actually).  We anxiously awaited the "pop" that tells you the vacuum seal has formed.  The minutes felt like hours, but finally every last jar popped.  We breathed a sigh of relief.  Waste not, want not.

Ballyvolane House

We had the pleasure of staying at The Ballyvolane House when we were in Ireland last summer, and it's served as a constant source of inspiration ever since.

The catalogue-ready Green Family runs the house with a blend of casual friendliness and classic formality (and they make it all seem so effortless).  The interior design echos this ethos perfectly -- especially the living room. It's the platonic ideal of a country house living room, though these photos don't do it justice

The newest addition to the Green family was this adorable terrier puppy named Dumpling.  Dumpling is extremely friendly, and here we captured what seemed to be her first encounter with a cow.

As is the tradition, all the guests eat dinner at the same table, and the food is incredible.  It gives new meaning to the term "locally sourced."  There is a giant and perfectly organized walled garden (tirelessly tended to by proprietress Jenny Green's father) where everything comes from.  Oh, and as evidenced by the photo above, there is a large cow pasture right across the road.  

Breakfast includes an amazing array of house-stewed fruit.  It served as inspiration for this bowl of stewed fruit Jon put together for New Years Day.  Andy is extremely proud of this photo.