Writing to you from Upstate NY

We arrived in upstate NY late Wednesday night, and we got to our rental house Thursday around lunch time.  There are lots of knickknacks, antiques, treasures, and art pieces very low to the ground that are quite intriguing to an 11 month old. Our first order of business was to baby proof one room. That is mostly done, but we are still working to find nooks and crannies to fit all of the stuff we brought with us.

Yesterday we took a break from the child proofing and unpacking to visit the Oneida County Public Market. It was so cold!! I thought maybe we were just wimpy because we were fresh off a plane from Phoenix, AZ, but my sister-in-law visiting from VT also thought it was cold.  It's a great market with 30-35 vendors with lots of choices for meat and vegetables. The vegetable farmers were mostly selling greens because it is so early in the growing season here. It really drove home that we crossed the country and ended up somewhere in a totally different climate. It was 108 the day before we left Phoenix, and yesterday in Utica it was in the 50s. Phoenix is just wrapping up their Spring growing season, and then a new growing season will start in the fall after the worst of the high temps are over (two short growing seasons each year). Around here corn plants are only 4-6 inches tall and the only vegetables that are available are various greens, baby carrots, and baby radishes.

Last night we needed a nice hot dinner to help warm us up, and chose to roast a chicken with herbes de provence and served it with garlicky greens. What a change from the salads we were eating on a regular basis in the Phoenix heat.

Roasted Chicken seasoned with sea salt and herbes de provence. It's a perfect comforting meal for a cold early summer night.