Homestead Rosemary Caramel, A Thanksgiving Treat
Rosemary Caramel needs to be salted still and sliced.
The cold has begun to scream and bite. Today, there was the gloom of snow. Dare I say it felt a bit like the sky was constipated. Heavy with a load of snow, grey from the misery of holding it in. The air was frigid, and slightly windy. Even my small dog wanted to rush back into the house when the four of us took our daily constitutional. The leaves didn’t make a sound because they are gone now. No longer colorfully festive, they litter the ground like forgotten waste. The winter silence is beginning to set in without the rustling of the leaves. Soon it will be Christmas… In only a few days the Christmas decorations will come out, and the tree will come in. The carols will begin to be sung, and the bright lights will light up the deep New England winter silent darkness.
But, before all that can happen another festival will hit in only a few days. Thanksgiving. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I did the first of the cooking for it today. Tomorrow, I will pick up the giant fresh turkey we ordered from another local farm, I will go see Pete, in the morning and get home hopefully before 2 pm. At which time the cooking will become all consuming. There will be cinnamon corn bread to make. Triple vanilla cookies, an apple pie, Finnish carrot casserole (my husband’s favorite,) and then the rest will arrive Thursday with our guests.
Our guests, will drive an hour and 15 minutes to Wildflower, all the way from Newburyport MA, right on the coast up at the northern most point of the state. They will travel inland, to our little colonial farm house. Bringing with them, a few little things to cook when they arrive, as well as already made salad and a few other things that make up a proper and traditional Thanksgiving Dinner.
They will find themselves greeted with salted rosemary caramels made by me right here on the farm, and some very nice hot spiced cider. For grandma, there will be some nice chamomile tea. The table will be set up if not fully set already by the time they arrive. And soon, the light outside will fade… And the bird will smell delicious roasting in the oven. When it is ready to come out, the food will be set out decoratively and our meal will begin.
I am super excited about the holidays. I am also in love with this new caramel. It is going to become a B&B staple I think… The idea for it came from a book we are reading in book club about a little inn where there is mention of this being set out for guests. I really don’t mind borrowing this from the book and making it a tradition here at Wildflower for our guests. It is sooooo good!
Enjoy your holidays everyone!
Thank you for reading
Amanda of Wildflower Farm
Tags: airbnb, B&B, candy making, Central MA, Christmas treat, cooking, farm, farm blog, farm wife, farm wife blog, farming, farmstead, food, homemade candy, homestead, homestead blog, homestead candy, homestead farm, homestead wife, homestead wife blog, homesteader, homesteading, homesteading New England, housewife, housewife blog, inn keeper, inn keeper's blog, inn keeping, making caramel, new england, new england homesteading, old fashioned caramel, Rosemary, Rosemary Caramel, Rosemary ideas, salted rosemary caramel, self sufficiency homesteading, self sufficient, self sufficient homestead, simple living, simpler way of life, stay home wife, stay home wife's blog, thanksgiving, travel, wildflower farm, Winter candy, winter flavors
Wildflower Farm, is a small New England homestead, B&B and AirBnB, in the Baystate. We came out here 7 years ago, when we returned from the better part of 10 years as peripatetic aristotelian nomads, for my husband's post docs. Upon our return, we had a plan. We had a lovely home. Everything was so clear. Then, I got sick. Things I used to eat all the time during our travels elsewhere in the world and even here before I left almost 10 years earlier made me ill. It took a couple trips to the ER and a trip to specialist... It became clear, something had changed in the way food is processed in this country since last I lived here. Some off label things was inevitably going to be my demise.
My husband and I looked around to see the clear path we were on, had exploded in front of us. We decided we had to create a new path for ourselves. We put children on hold. We found a small piece of land with a house we loved in a rural suburb in a right to farm area. I began researching how to do it ourselves. Grow it ourselves, make it ourselves, survive on our own as much as possible. We bought the property, and began plotting a new course. One that didn't involve off label chemicals. Closer to nature, with a lot more DIY, gardens, and animals for the products they provide. We created a life we loved though it hasn't always been easy and has of course come with compromise with each other, and even with ourselves.
Our family thought we had lost our minds. What were we doing leaving the city? We had no idea how hard this would be. They thought we would be back in 6 months. That was over 7 years ago, now. We have been making it work. They were not wrong, it isn't easy. But has anything worth doing ever been easy? And for us, avoiding as much store bought food as possible was simply necessary so I could live given how sick I was getting.
Then Covid hit.... We were lucky to have this place. It has allowed us a lot less need for public use territories which has kept us a lot safer and spared us much of the risk others face daily. This place, has given us a privilege through this of great meaning to us. To be of use in a difficult time. We have been able to help friends family and even strangers in need when things couldn't be found on store shelves. Or money was tight due to not working, rent being due and a child at home, or some other draining situation. We are so very grateful to have been able to not be helpless like so much of society through this miserable time. Our families, got used to it some time ago, us being out here. They made peace with it the day there was no bread and they had to ask me for some. Or when fresh vegies were rotten due to supply chain issues but they could find plenty in my garden.
Wildflower Farm, was a place I dreamed of. One of those sweet pastoral dreams a city dweller grows up knowing will never come true, that became unavoidable when I became ill. I never expected to get to do this. I never thought I had what it takes to make this work. I have learned pacing myself is important, compromise is critical, hard work never ends, burn out is real so breaks are just a necessary evil.
We are not fully self sufficient, but we work hard in that direction as we create a new path through life for ourselves, always reaching to do even more ourselves and to get closer to the ideal we envision. We are however far more self sufficient than many in this world. 7 years in, we continue to learn and grow in this homesteading lifestyle. We welcome comments and advice and ideas and questions.
We welcome visitors from all over to our home with strict covid policies in place. We spend our time learning to live all over again in a more environmental and sustainable way though even there we are far from perfect always learning and growing doing better as we know better.
This little homestead farm is a magical place named for the New England wildflowers that grow all around. A place where a physicist, watches the night sky on clear nights with the aide of mirror and glass, and a woman, works endlessly in the gardens, the kitchen, and a variety of projects to create and to keep a very unique life style running and functioning. Wildflower Farm, has become so much more than simply a piece of land we can grow a few vegetables on. The longer I spend here, the more alive the land seems, the more I learn about it's function and the more meaning it has. My place in the universe and the next steps on our new path become ever more clear.
We welcome you on this journey with us.
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