Kate over at Centsational Girl is having a where-do-you-blog party.  How fun!

I’m one of those have-laptop-will-travel sorts of bloggers, and post from Uncommon Grounds Cafe in Saugatuck, or Chicago’s Cultural Center, or one of my corner coffee shops.

But this is my favorite place to write.

It’s the sunroom at Pinecone Meadow Farm.  The room is switched around a little now - the table faces the garden, and the view is much better since I replaced the circa 1970s sliders with chic French doors and framed them with crisp cotton curtains.  And I moved the flowers.

Another favorite place is the back yard.

Although that’s risky because I’m frequently distracted by the garden and lovely breeze.  But it’s a great place to contemplate my gardening posts, or to think about what’s for dinner.

And sometimes I blog at the Chicago loft.

Instead of a lake breeze, the distraction there is of the four-legged variety.  As with the farmhouse sunroom, this is an older photo of my glass-topped iron desk.

The setting is the same, but Dexter, the handsome orange boy with the v-neck sweater and oversized personality, went to cat heaven a few months ago.  Fiona still stretches out to help me work.

Photos compliments of Janine MacLachlan, www.RusticKitchen.com.  All rights reserved. If you enjoy this post, please consider subscribing to my newsletter, or my feed. Or let’s tweet!

Photographs compliments of Janine MacLachlan, www.RusticKitchen.com.  All rights reserved. If you enjoy this post, please consider subscribing to my newsletter, or my feed. Or let’s tweet!

Photographs of farm pictures at the National Gallery of Art in DC, including The Red Schoolhouse by Winslow Homer and Cape Cod Evening by Edward Hopper, compliments of Janine MacLachlan, who traveled to Washington to review grants for the Farmers Market Promotion Program, and discovered farm life was everywhere.

All rights reserved. If you enjoy this post, please consider subscribing to my newsletter, or my feed. Or tweet with me!

Photo compliments of Janine MacLachlan, www.RusticKitchen.com.  All rights reserved.

Photos from strolling Geneva, Illinois courtesy of Janine MacLachlan.  All rights reserved.

Today’s post is all about gratitude.  Yes, a little tardy for Thanksgiving, but this is the everlasting kind of gratitude that has no season.  My appreciation today goes out to a few people who’ve supported my creative endeavors by helping to underwrite my farmers market research expenses.

To augment this post, I couldn’t resist including this picture of Dexter, who appears to think he’s sitting under a hair dryer.  Because one thing I’m always grateful for is the constant amusement provided by my cats Fiona and C.K. Dexter Haven.  Seriously, I think Dexter might be hinting for me to turn up the heat.    But I digress. . .

I’m sure you can imagine how lovely it feels to be on the receiving end of such an outpouring of enthusiasm for my book about farmers markets.

It’s particularly rewarding now, as I chain myself to the desk to write.  This solitary phase is a big challenge after the exuberant feeling of field tripping across the heartland, meeting all those colorful new friends.  So it’s great to remember all the people who are rooting for me, whether they contributed or not.

A lovin’ spoonful of thanks

• A heartfelt thanks to Jessi of To Kiss The Cook, who is truly a kindred spirit.  She has deep affection for good food and devoted pets, and writes clever posts about picking paint colors.
• And to another friend, the charming Danielle, mom to Dylan and Max, also known as Foodmomiac and loyal caretaker of Friday, a lovely grey pooch.
• And to Sharyn of Still Life With Whisk, who lives and writes in Alabama but shares my love of Michigan.  When I first happened on her blog I saw she was on staff at Auburn University, and then noticed she had all kinds of links to my favorites places in Fennville, where Pinecone Meadow Farm is located. I can’t wait to invite her to lunch on her next visit.

Maybe I can invite Sharyn, Jessi and Danielle for a lovely lunch in the corn crib once the weather improves, since right now it’s snowed in.  And we’ll have to include Dan of Fruitslinger, who slings his fruit about four miles south of the Meadow, and who originally turned me on to the Kickstarter  concept.

Today my thanks goes out to fellow bloggers, but there are more people to thank, so stay tuned.

And because I’ve been writing more than cooking, here are a couple chocolate indulgences from previous seasons:

Last December:  chocolate turnovers

December 2007:  chocolate hazelnut gelato

Photos compliments of Janine MacLachlan, www.RusticKitchen.com.  All rights reserved.

Do you carry a notebook with you?

I’m not sure when I first started keeping a notebook in my bag, but even when the clever smartphones came out I stuck with paper, to capture important thoughts, like grocery items and random things that keep straying from my to do list.

Not-so-gentle reminders to make that hair appointment for crying out loud (when it’s underlined AND asterisked I know I mean business).

Recipes to post, blogs to check out, my blood pressure from doctor visits. The usual.

After measuring windows for the fifth time, I finally jotted the dimensions in my notebook so that the next time I found myself in a home store, I would know the bloody dimensions for the Roman shades once and for all. Because sometimes it helps to have information on your person rather than at home on the laptop. Especially when passing a fabulous store with exactly the right fabric.

It was a gift from my friend Rose

I don’t remember many notebooks before this one, maybe a few with striped covers.  This one makes a statement, in keeping with my philosophy that friends will buy more witty gifts than we choose for ourselves.  The cover map is handy to show people where my Uruguayan husband is from, since surprisingly few people know Uruguay is in between Brazil and Argentina on the east coast of South America.  (It’s the tiny pink country in the lower right of the picture above.)

The elastic band keeps it closed, even with a pencil marking the most recent page. There’s a pocket in the back for my Free Egg Card from Songbird Acres where I buy farm eggs sometimes. And other torn-out bits from magazines listing skin care recommendations.

I’m getting ready to retire this notebook. There are only a few blank pages left. I’m feeling oddly sentimental, even though this is not one of those journals with treasured thoughts.

My notebook’s a sturdy little thing, I realize, because the first entry was in early 2008, and it’s showing very little wear. For two years, this book has been in my bag, reminding me to call about insulating the house, find out who in the Upper Peninsula grows thimbleberries and that it takes about 50 gallons of maple sap to make one gallon of maple syrup. Try Gilead Café on my next visit to Toronto. A few stock tips from Dave.

I’m not sure why I’m getting misty about a notebook. The feeling reminds me that I used to be a little sad on Christmas because my old toys might feel slighted because new toys were competing for my attention.  I think it has something to do about constant companionship.

I found a new notebook, which balances the wistfulness of saying goodbye to two years of everyday nothing-special note taking. It’s spiffy and red with the monuments of Paris on the front. An elastic band to keep it closed and a pocket for my egg club card. I found it at a charming shop in Stillwater, Minnesota during my farmers market road trip.

It should be ready for new lists right around the start of 2010.  I finally made the hair appointment, but I’m guessing I’ll have to transfer the window measurements.

Photos compliments of Janine MacLachlan, www.RusticKitchen.com. All rights reserved.

Photo of North Tomah cranberries by Janine MacLachlan, www.RusticKitchen.com.  All rights reserved.

There’s a website called EatAtTheFarmhouse.com.

I couldn’t agree more.

It’s rare that one comes across a gem of a restaurant, where the menu makes you want to come back every day for a week, where stellar farms are listed on the blackboard, and where lunch will set you back about twelve dollars.

Yup.  Twelve dollars for a delicious, farm-to-table lunch.  Like the website says, eat at The Farmhouse.

About a year ago, chef/owner Michael Foust was surfing and cheffing in Hawaii.  A family matter called him home to KC, where he thought he’d be competing with every restaurant in town for foods from area growers and producers.

Not so.  Even though he’s a relative newcomer to the Kansas City restaurant scene,  he’s at the forefront of the farm-to-table philosophy in Kansas City where he’s built relationships with a number of producers.  He’s even gone so far as to buy a pig from a farm whose genetics he appreciates, then transfer the the piglet (in a cat carrier) to a farm whose no-grain feeding philosophy matches his own.  I can’t wait to hear what he makes.

One of those serendipitous discoveries

In my book research I’ve been visiting farmers markets (at least until the outdoor season officially ended last week.  But I also want to find out what else is happening in local food, so I reached out to Jasper Mirabelle of Jasper’s and Slow Food Kansas City who told me I should eat at The Farmhouse.

I made my way to Kansas City, navigated the twists and turns to an old part of downtown not too far from its City Market.  I found rock star parking (always unexpected when one lives in Chicago), sat down at the bar, spotted the pulled pork sliders at the place beside me, and said “I’ll have what he’s having.”  With rosemary aioIi, cabbage apple slaw and pickled red onion.  I was not disappointed.

Chef Michael came out to talk to me and even gave me a tour of the kitchen and sent me off with an apple. Like I said, we should all eat at The Farmhouse.

If you enjoy this post, please consider subscribing to my newsletter, or my feed.  Photos compliments of Janine MacLachlan, www.RusticKitchen.com.  All rights reserved.

And if you enjoy reading about local food and small farms, consider pledging a few dollars to my Kickstarter project to offset travel expenses for my upcoming book Seasonal Markets of the Heartland.

Consider subscribing to my newsletter, or my feed if you enjoy this post.  Photos from the Downtown Des Moines Farmers Market compliments of Janine MacLachlan, www.RusticKitchen.com.  All rights reserved.