Earlier in the week it snowed these little tiny snowballs.

Not hail, but actual little snowballs.

I thought it was pretty cool. Of course as soon as I tried to scoop some up, they immediately began melting in my hands.

A few days later we had more significant snow.

Being distracted with other things, I forgot to have a bowl of maple-syrup drizzled snow, as I always do after the first noteworthy storm. By the time I realized it, the window of fresh snowfall was missed and what was left was kind of yucky. But a neighbor just informed me we are supposed to get some Big Snow this weekend, so there will be other opportunities. I’m poised and ready this time.

Speaking of syrup, over the past couple of weeks I made some Apple Cider Syrup and have been pouring it over the usual Sunday morning Dutch Baby breakfast. It came out pretty good and is about halfway gone now. Basically, take a half-gallon of apple cider in a large, low pan and simmer it down until it evaporates enough to become syrupy. I will say it is times like these where the old woodstove is wistfully missed, where you could just let it do its simmering thing while the house was being heated.

You can throw a little bundle of spices wrapped in cheesecloth in with the simmering cider, but I just added a cinnamon stick to it and felt that was sufficient. It boils down to a small jar, but it has a tang to it, and a little goes a long way. Apparently you can do this with regular apple juice or pear juice too. Perhaps other juices would also work, but I haven’t experimented. It came out pretty good – I think I might break with tradition and try pouring some over the next fresh snow and see how that goes over.

In other kitchen discoveries, I was going to make a recipe using some scallions that had been sitting in the refrigerator, but found they were past their prime. Somewhere in the back of my mind I recalled recently reading where you can snip off the tops down to the bulbs, put the root bulbs in a glass of water, and a new crop of scallions will grow. So I did that. Well, all I can say is “yowza!” Within the first day they were already making significant tops, and within three or four days I had a new bunch of scallions! It happened so fast it was almost freaky. I’m wondering if it is a one-time deal or if you can do this over and over again. Kind of reminds me of those little projects we used to do as kids, growing a carrot plant from a cut top. Except this is way better.

On the subject of things that grow (or not), The Urban Porch is adorned with pots of dead plants. I probably should remove them.

I had a Thunbergia plant that was gorgeous over the summer and was doing okay even after I brought it inside…for a while. Now its condition is pathetic. I don’t have the space, or the light, and am getting into my Planticide Mode (see Planticide 11/30/22 or Black Thumb 2/11/11 for more of this phenomenon). Before tossing it, I decided to put it on our local Buy Nothing group in hope that someone might want to perform a rescue. A kind plant-loving soul has actually offered to try and save it.

We continue to close in on the holiday season, and all the emotions, highs and lows that accompany it for so many of us. Indeed, sometimes it feels like we are all doing a balancing act through this life.

Rifts and reconciliations. Joys and sorrows. Gain and loss. Upholding or letting go of traditions. Changes from the usual plans. Hellos and goodbyes.

And a glimpse of good things to come….

Speaking of good things to come, a fantastic gift of chocolate arrived in the mail!

The neighbors have dressed their fence dinosaur in holiday garb.

Rudi is back in his best winter sweater that was knitted just for him.

I have a recipe sitting here for Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread Cookies. This particular version also contains chunks of white chocolate. It’s a ridiculous fact that I dislike baking (as opposed to cooking) and am especially frustrated and unskilled when it comes to making cookies, and yet I can’t resist saving these recipes and occasionally trying them, with mixed results. My cookie-making friends are not local, so I guess it’s up to me.

The holiday season is usually filled with all sorts of emotions and memories, some traumas and dramas, and also cheerful and wonderful traditions. Only into the second week of December, the earliest sunset has occurred, the Winter Solstice is soon to come, and the days will begin to get longer, which always feels hopeful. We are closing into the end of the year, the old passing, the new coming in. It seems the wheel keeps turning faster and faster.

I think tomorrow I might remove the dead plants from The Urban Porch, maybe hang something festive on the front door. And perhaps try my hand at those cookies.

~*~