Snowing again? That's ok - just bake something.

As snow falls harder here on my landbase that is a mere mile from the ocean, I think back on the snowless mountains I visited last weekend in New York and have to laugh. I didn't plant my bulbs before all the snow started, and now I wish I had as the snow would have held them happily in stasis till warmer weather arrived to stay.

So today, in addition to shoveling more snow, I'm baking breads (flavored whites and a loaf of banana because, banana) and making cranberry sauce to go with the turkey for dinner.

Days like this, full of icy wind and a sky that matches the color of my little grey Bug are for bright dishes and loud flavors.

I still have sage from my garden, and thyme, so tonight will be herb stuffed turkey breast, orange cranberry sauce, and almond cornbread. Yes, it's mini-Thanksgiving. Why? Well, simple really. I love those flavors. The scent of oranges and cranberries and brown butter mixed with herbs cooling through my kitchen laced with the already present aroma of baking bread....

My beloved will have an atrocious drive home, I know it. He's 45 minutes away from our house on a good day with light traffic.  Right now? well... nope. big, BIG nope.

these are loaves I baked back in January.

So I bake. I fill the house with scents that will welcome him before I even have a chance to hug him. This is my magic. It's common magic to be sure - but it's magic. Have you ever looked at the face of someone who just smelled something that relaxes their whole body? There's a smile there that is indescribable. And it makes you smile. Then everyone's smiling and it's wonderful.

That's magic.

That's being a kitchen witch - it's the little things, but they're the important things.

So in this time of dusty snow and dove grey skies, don't neglect your hearth. Bake, cook, brew... bring warmth to your hearth and it will flow to the whole house.