Snow Day

This is my kind of snow day.

Gently sifting white confetti.

Tranquil.

Peaceful.

Made from scratch beef stock.

Liquid love.

Simmering.

Its warm aroma fills our little home.

I'm content.

And more blessed than a woman has a right to be.

"If you surrender completely to the moments 

as they pass, you live more richly those moments."

-- Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Sharing with Rurality Blog Hop and Friday's Fences

Rural Thursday - Where Homestead Foodies Go to Eat

"I don't like food that's too carefully arranged; it makes me think that the chef is spending too much time arranging and not enough time cooking. If I wanted a picture I'd buy a painting."
-- Andy Rooney 

Welcome to the Thursday edition of Eating Out. No, no. That's not right. I'm joining Rural Thursday today and that means I need to post something about our rural homestead. Only there's nothing much happening that I haven't already blogged about. But wait! I re-read the Rural Thursday rules and they say I can blog about "anything and everything that embraces living the simple life." So, I figure I can post about the simple pleasure of eating at the Meadow Mountain Cafe in Allenspark, Colorado. 

I've written here several times about Meadow Mountain, but I've never showed interior photos because. . .well. . .I never had any to show. But now I do. Recently Dennis and I drove the 16 miles from our home to have lunch there and the owner graciously allowed me to photograph the interior during an unusually slow time. I'm excited to take you on a tour of this wonderful rustic cafe that serves up some of the best fresh everything-made-from-scratch-including-the-bread cooking in the area. Delicious omelettes, fabulous pancackes (my favorite is the blueberry), incredible hamburgers, scrumptious soups and desserts to die for (just to name a few tempting items.).

Walk through the front door of this vintage cabin and the first thing you see is pine paneling and the work of local artists. That's my husband's painting of Jim Creek in the center. He gave the print to Roxie, the owner, several years ago. 

"Jim Creek" by Dennis Reinke

Indoor seating accommodates about 22 people: a table for six, 3 tables for four and  4 stools at the counter. In the summertime there's additional seating on the front porch, but there's usually a line waiting to get in. 
The food is just that good!

But here's the thing that makes Meadow Mountain Cafe unique -- at least in my book. Customers who have unoccupied seats at their table invite new arrivals to join them. Dennis and I do it all the time and others have welcomed us to their table, too. It's the friendliest, most hospitable restaurant atmosphere I've ever encountered, and we have met some very special people this way. 

A splendid pot-bellied stove warms the cafe and adds a homey touch. 

Carousel horses and other figurines offer whimsy. As does the salt & pepper collection.

And the restroom door.

The daily specials are hand-written on a chalkboard. (Love the artwork.)

I am in love with the spotless Meadow Mountain Cafe kitchen. 

That's Roxie's son Joe doing the cooking. 

The inside of the front door acts as a community bulletin board.

So there you have it: the marvelous Meadow Mountain Cafe. I have some fun exterior shots of the cafe, but they're for another day. If you get out this way, be sure to put Meadow Mountain on your must visit list. Just for the record, I received no compensation for this write up. We just love the food, the service, the patrons and the great family that works so hard to make eating here such a treat.


What's going on in your rural world?


Nancy
Rural Thursday links up some of the best rural and simple living blogs on the net. Check it out.

Oranges, Hard Candy and a Simple Homestead Christmas

But Ma asked if they were sure the stockings were empty.  Then they put their hands down inside them, to make sure.  And in the very toe of each stocking was a shining bright, new penny! They had never even thought of such a thing as having a penny.  Think of having a whole penny for your very own.  Think of having a cup and a cake and a stick of candy and a penny. There never had been such a Christmas. —Little House on the Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1935)  

Laura's words remind me of a conversation I had with my mother years ago. I was five or six at the time. We were sitting at the kitchen table in the old farmhouse, sorting through a box of Christmas cards. Mom held up a card with a beautiful poinsettia on the front. "What do you think of this one for Aunt Ella?" 

I looked at the card and smiled. "She'll like that one. She loves flowers." I pulled out a card and studied the face of a radiant angel. "I think the Webers would like this one."

Mom nodded. "Me, too."

Visions of Santa loading up the sleigh with my Christmas presents danced through my head, as we gathered cards for the rest of the people on mom's list. "When you were a little girl, Mommy, what did you get for Christmas?"

She looked up from her work and stared at me for a moment. "Oh. . .we got an orange. And a piece of hard candy."

My jaw fell to my chest. She couldn't be serious. "That's all?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Were you bad or somethin'?"

She laughed. "No. That's just the way it was in those days."

I thought Santa had been pretty stingy in those days. But later I learned that my mother's experience was the norm for previous generations. Especially in large families like hers. They lived within their means -- even at Christmas -- and their means weren't much. 

For a long time I felt sorry for my mom and her siblings. Sorry that they didn't have a real Christmas. But not any longer. Now I think they were the blessed ones; the ones who had the real Christmas. A simple Christmas. I envy them.

Maybe that's one reason why "A Christmas Carol" is my favorite Christmas movie. The contented way in which the Cratchits celebrate their meager Christmas appeals to me.

Keeping Christmas simple in a culture that believes more is more, instead of less is more, isn't easy. But downsizing to a 624 sq. ft. cabin has definitely twisted my arm into submission to a simpler Christmas decorating style. There just isn't room to display a lot of stuff, much less store it, so that simplifies decking the halls.

This year we're focusing on simple live decorations, like this poinsettia.

And these red carnations for the dining table.

We may just have the tiniest live Christmas tree in Estes Park. My plan is to repot it as it grows and reuse it in the coming years until it's too big for indoors and just right for planting outdoors.

Dennis's painting "Taos Peace Rally" has a Christmas theme. The lamp post is decorated with greenery and a red bow. The cross is a reminder of the real reason for celebrating Christmas.

"For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; 

And the government will rest on His shoulders; 

And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 

There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, 

On the throne of David and over his kingdom, 

To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness 

From then on and forevermore. 

The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this."

Isaiah 9:6-7

I'm happy we're keeping our homestead Christmas simple. Now all we need is a few oranges and some hard candy.

Nancy

The Joy of Little Things

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things."-- Robert  Brault

It's Palisades peach time again in Colorado and my tastes buds are doing the happy dance. There's only one thing better than a luscious, juicy, fresh peach, and that's a second luscious, juicy, fresh peach.

Little things always seem to rev my motor more than big things. Today has been filled with the pleasure of little things.

A young buck in our back yard early this morning. . .

Watching the horses from my kitchen window while the coffee brews. . .

A visit from our resident wildflower-eating bunny. . .

The American flag Dennis hangs on our barn every morning (yes, we're hopeless patriots). . .

Geraniums in my window. . .

I enjoy spending time with friends. We've invited a couple of artist friends over for a cookout tonight. We'll share a simple meal and conversation. Mostly we'll talk about little things.

"I am beginning to learn it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all."

-- Laura Ingalls Wilder

Nancy

Simple Pleasures

It's hard to beat simple pleasures. Even as a little girl on an Illinois farm, I enjoyed the simple things in life.  Of course, we didn't know they were simple things then. It's just the way we and all our neighbors lived. One of my fondest memories is summer days spent on our screened porch with the summer edition of My Weekly Reader. What bliss to stretch out on the quilt-covered sofa and devour the little periodical from front to back between sips of real lemonade, made from fresh lemons and simple syrup; not that powdered junk in a can that everyone calls lemonade these days.  

Here's a recipe for made-from-scratch lemonade from the Simple Recipes website that's pretty close to my mom's:


Perfect Lemonade

1 cup sugar (can reduce to 3/4 cup)
1 cup water (for the simple syrup)
1 cup lemon juice
3 to 4 cups cold water (to dilute)


1 Make simple syrup by heating the sugar and water in a small saucepan until the sugar is dissolved completely.
2 While the sugar is dissolving, use a juicer to extract the juice from 4 to 6 lemons, enough for one cup of juice.
3 Add the juice and the sugar water to a pitcher. Add 3 to 4 cups of cold water, more or less to the desired strength. Refrigerate 30 to 40 minutes. If the lemonade is a little sweet for your taste, add a little more straight lemon juice to it.
Serve with ice, sliced lemons.
Serves 6.

In the category of simple pleasures, a Thursday drive to Pinewood with the intent to photograph poppies did not disappoint.  Not only did Dennis and I get some outstanding shots, but we also made a new friend named Joyce. She came by with her two dogs while we were snapping photos of poppies along the edge of her property. "Hi," she said, "you're welcome to go in back of my house to take photographs. There are some beautiful poppies there."  We said "yes" to her gracious offer faster than you can say "poppy pics" and discovered a treasure of natural beauty.  I asked Joyce if I could photograph her and the pups for my blog and she agreed.  She's a beautiful person.

The first chapter of my book can now be viewed on my blog. See the new page with the book title "Breakfast at the Aurora Borealis". Currently I'm working on Chapter Seven.

Have a great Fourth of July and remember to thank God for your freedom, and all those who served in the armed forces to protect it. -- NR