There’s nothing like a three-day weekend. Hope your weekend, whatever length, was wonderful.

(As always, you can click the photos to view them with more detail in my Flickr stream.)

Mike and I enjoyed an awesome date night last night (before a very big day today), taking part in a Sunday Supper put together by some very cool folks in town. You can check them out on Facebook, here, and as always, you can click my photos to view them with more detail in my Flickr stream. Huge thanks to E, A, S, and guest chef S for a wonderful meal and a lovely evening.

You guys. Seriously… you’re the best.

Thank you for your kind words, your good thoughts, your patience, your encouragement. It means so much. Thank you.

(As always, you can click the photos to view them with more detail in my Flickr stream.)

(As always, click the photos to view them with more detail in my Flickr stream.)

So here’s what we did with our Thanksgiving leftovers – what about you?

(As always, click the photos to view them with more detail in my Flickr stream.)

Things have been quiet in this little corner of the Internet, but there has been plenty of cooking happening in our kitchen. I’ve skewed pretty heavily toward comfort food dinners of late, despite, or perhaps because of, my long workdays and the fact that a stubborn bug I thought I’d conquered has come back with a vengeance. The dishes that appeal to me these days are the culinary equivalent of a big chunky sweater, a fleece blanket, a roaring fire sending forth the earthy aroma of woodsmoke, something to force the chill from my bones and warm me to my toes. Braises and stews, creamy starchy sides, our enameled cast iron cookware has gotten a workout.

I wrote up a spin on Mario Batali’s “cacciatore” ages ago, and with a Pat’s Pastured Poulet Rouge in our fridge, one of many goodies we brought home from Saturday’s Wintertime Farmers’ Market, I decided a do-over was in order. There’s a bit of prep involved at the start, breaking down the bird, browning it in batches, soaking dried mushrooms and sautéing fresh, building layers of flavor in your pot, but once everything is in the oven with its parchment cap in place, you can kick back with a Negroni and enjoy the aromas wafting your way. Served over a creamy parmesan polenta, this is comfort food of the highest order.

You can get my recipe at food52.

It’s been a long short week, so I hope you’ll forgive the lack of posts. I hope to have more to talk about here soon.

(As always, click the photos to view them with more detail in my Flickr stream.)

(As always, click the photos to view them with more detail in my Flickr stream.)