photographs and text by Sharon Kitchens

I hope 2014 is already off to a great start for you all! May it be a wonderful year all around, filled with many new successes and of course lots of great food.

After the first storm:

Morning after the ice storm:

This storm – I woke up several times in the night worried about the gals. They were fine all tucked in the barn with plenty of hay, straw, roosts – they puff up and sit close to each other and well..much relief this morning when I found them all happily on their roosts.

Homemade sledding fuel = nothing beats cocoa made w/ milk from a Maine farm, marshmallows made by a friend, cocoa from Treats – a favorite market/sandwich/wine shop of mine up the coast.

Another winter treat – maple latte and bread w/ peanut butter at Arabica in Portland:

Or a drink – this is called a White Noise – made by Andrew Volk at his enchanting Portland Hunt & Alpine Club. I’m so happy he and his lovely wife Briana moved to Maine and opened this spot.

For some leftover holiday wrapping paper is life’s great treat:

I took a cooking class w/ Immigrant Kitchens. We made Mexican Tamales. So yummy and easy! Recipe here.

I am thoroughly enjoying my research for the series I am working on for Taprootmagazine.  My latest trip to Lewiston included visiting with Somali and Congolese families. Somali tea is a treat, an absolute treat!