The stack of trees never really went up like everyone expected because of the damp branches, but every once in a while a tree or two would dry out and catch fire.

Trevor stood as close as the Fire Department would let him, which was very close. We only felt the ice crack once.

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Green Pea Soup & Cheddar Paninni was another Everyday Food hit at dinner. This recipe is a good way to upgrade the usual busy weeknight soup and sandwiches meal. The soup is bright, fresh and lemony -- even with frozen peas in the middle of winter. And from now on I'm calling grilled cheese sandwiches "panini" to give them an air of elegance that they don't otherwise have.

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Our lake was deep and wide enough to have waves.

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The water was icy, the wind was frigid and the boat had a hissing leak, but we made a valiant attempt to go boating on Lake Liloia.

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Question: When 20 inches of snowfall on a four-acre field suddenly melts during a weekend warm up, where does the water go?

Answer: Nowhere.

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We like warm laundry.

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Dude, this cow next door is, like, always staring at me. Creeps me out, man.

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Living in the country, far from stores and services, you have to adapt your tastes to suit a rural location. If you like movies, you sign up for DVDs by mail. If you like shopping, you order online. If you like pizza, you buy a pizza stone and learn how to throw dough.

I love Indian food. So today, I give you, homemade paneer...



It really was the easiest recipe ever. Boil whole milk, add lemon juice, strain out the whey and press the curds. Done.



Now if I can only learn how to make naan, we'll never need to eat out again.

*Caveat: With the price of a gallon of milk surpassing a bar of platinum, in some areas it may be more cost-effective to buy frozen paneer from an Indian-food store and keep it on hand. (I'm thinking about buying a cow...)

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Cats can't speak for themselves, so sometimes you have to give them a little help.

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From the snowy north country.

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The snow-covered ice surface of Lake Champlain at North Hero.
Illuminated by a bonfire on the ice.

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Gone is the stained wallpaper, the sagging ceiling, the dust-clogged cast iron heaters along every wall. The left-side door (where Dad is standing) has been widened and the right-side door (through which you can see one of the many stoves in residence when we bought the house) has been sealed up to create an L-shaped kitchen, instead of a work area that's broken up by a six-foot opening.

Where there was once presumably a large hanging picture, there is a pass-through to make the living room and kitchen feel more connected. We replaced the warped floor and ratty blue carpeting with new hardwood that continues into the kitchen. You can just make out the refinished white staircase on the left.

Living in apartments and condos, we have small, portable paintings and wall-hangings. Time for a few larger pieces that fill the space better.

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I found a new restaurant on the island called The Treasured Cheese. You might not have noticed it on your drive along Main Street. Their signage is quite small... and taped to my kitchen wall.



As you can see, an ID is required for a "1st class luxury dinner." The menu for said dinner changes nightly. On Thursday it included an artichoke dip appetizer, egg noodles with tomato sauce, baked potato wedges, and caramelized bananas for dessert. On Saturday it was baked brie on bread, chicken cordon bleu, and butterscotch pudding.

The dining area is open to the kitchen, so customers are invited to not only watch the chef, but to interact with him and -- in some cases -- take heavy things out of the oven and offer cooking directions. But the chef is very serious about his work. If you start to take over the cooking, he'll shoo you back to the candlelit table.

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The yearly event of sending Christmas cards is a sport unto itself. There's a tremendous amount of work involved -- writing the list, buying the cards, writing them out with personal messages, addressing, stamping, mailing. And... if you make your own missives, you might as well start the process in January of the year before.

How about some recognition for the people who got hand cramps after writing out 200 "Happy Holidays!" message. Or for those who resorted to sticking on three postcard stamps because they ran out of first class postage. Here are some of the best cards from this year:

Best Homemade - Juvenile



This is Trevor's card which he made out of a potato stamp, an eraser and a Sharpie.

Best Homemade - Adult

This card was so well-crafted that it was days before we realized it was homemade. I expect to see this crafter demonstrating her techniques on the Martha Stewart Show any day now.

Most Nostalgic

This card is a photo of the Rutgers Gardens in full bloom. Dave lived there during college one year. I remember doing homework at his kitchen table listening to moustrap after mousetrap snap shut. How is it we have fewer mice here in rural Vermont than at the Gardens, in the middle of New Jersey?

Best Photo

The Best Photo category is a tough one. There are so many adorable children who arrive in the mail every December. Drooling babies, grinning toddlers, toothless middle-graders... and always at least one teenager with his Sunday clothes and a grudging half-smile. But this card screamed just two words... "Help me."

Dave's Pick

Singing frogs -- they couldn't lose!

Tara's Pick

I love the colors and the artwork style. So many holiday cards are electric red and green -- the pastel blues, browns and greens on this card were a refreshing change.

Congratulations to the winners -- see you next year!

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It was a quick visit, we essentially took the subway from Madison Square Garden, got out and saw the tree (and the crowds) then went back underground and got into the car. I think Trevor was more enthralled by the subway system than by the big tree itself.

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We woke up yesterday to six inches of snow and a two-hour school delay. You can't let that much snow go to waste! Our land is flat-cleared farmland, so not much chance of sledding. We made sugar-on-snow instead... just like they did in the Little House books.

We boiled the maple syrup, using a candy thermometer to ensure we got it to 235-degrees.



He looks bored, but he's actually concentrating.



We poured the boiling syrup immediately onto cold, packed snow. Clean snow only, please!



It comes off chewy... like taffy... and oh so mapley sweet.

In other snow-related news, all the white stuff fell on a day when Dave is traveling, so I got to take a crack at using the tractor plow to clear the driveway. It was much faster than shoveling, but not without pitfalls: tractors that mysteriously won't start, icy ruts that trap tires, and snow so high that the plow won't budge.

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If you think I don't notice you throttling back my DVDs, you are wrong. Watch it. Unlike Jack, I can quit you.

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We took off that sticky runner on the stairs, refinished the wood and put down a carpeted runner. The handrail and posts are the refinished originals (a couple awaiting their coat of white paint), but the balusters are new since so many of the old ones were mysteriously missing.

The heater traversing the wall has been rerouted and there's a helpful light fixture instead of a burned-in image of a cross. The original window still needs refinishing, but it cleverly hidden by the new curtains. Now I need some good ideas for a large piece of art for the huge expanse of the two-story stairwell, which looks a little bare without the heater, wallpaper and wood paneling.

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The floor is level and carpeted, the walls and ceiling are insulated and there's lots and lots of stuff out there now.

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