Happy New Year, Ruth and Jeff and thank you for all of the beautiful work you’ve shared with us this year! I loved your recap, Ruth, revisiting all of the wonderful travel and stories ....and, food! Again, so sorry for the loss of your beloved brother earlier last year, I’m thinking about you! I’m excited about your upcoming trip to Japan and look forward to hearing all about it. Wishing you all good things in 2023, my friend! 🤗
Thanks for your kind words, Jolene! It’s been quite the year—and now we’re on to a new one, hopefully filled with promise for all of us.
I’m looking forward to reading more exciting tales and vintage recipes from your kitchen in 2023. Wishing you and your family all the very best in the new year.
It was fun to read your retrospective. I have read all your posts except the one about veganism, so will check that out. It’s given me such a lot of pleasure to read your newsletter over the year and I look forward to hearing about your adventures in 2023.
I don’t believe in diets so I have no recommendations in that department, but I am planning to do a bit more exercise. I’ve become a bit sedentary lately (too much reading?) so need to nip that in the bud. On second thoughts, I don’t think I’ll cut down in my reading, just do more walking.
I'm so grateful that you've enjoyed my posts over the past year, Marg, particularly as your blog is a favorite of mine and a great resource for reading (and recipe!) inspiration.
I'm sort of with you when it comes to diets and find that once I call a food regimen a "diet," I'm immediately discouraged. I often take my exercise while listening to a book and, while that's not the same as reading the printed word, it's often very enjoyable, especially if the story is entertaining and the reader is skilled. It might be a good solution if you want to fit in more walking without cutting back on your reading!
Happy New Year to you and yours! I'm very much looking forward to being part of your book club in 2023!
I agree that some new audio books might be the way to go. Do you have any recommendations? I listened to both A Terrible Kindness and A Lesson in Chemistry on audio and they were both fantastic. Have you read Remarkably Bright Creatures? It's getting a lot of good reviews.
Believe it or not, I'm listening to your book club pick, The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry, and enjoying it. I'll probably check out the actual book when it's time to discuss it so that I can mark certain passages that have caught my attention. I've also really liked listening to a number of Louise Penny's Inspector Ganache novels. There have been two narrators over the years, and they're both excellent.
I've listened to a number of other crime series, including books by Michael Connelly, Agatha Christy, Tana French, Dick Francis and Walter Mosley. You can check these out if this genre interests you. I've also listened to classics, from Dickens to Austen, taking particular pleasure in the English narrators. Some audio books have celebrity narrators, which is always kind of fun. You can also do a search for recommended audiobooks in whichever genre interests you.
As I think I told you, I loved A Lesson in Chemistry, but I haven't yet read Remarkably Bright Creatures or A Terrible Kindness. So far, you haven't steered me wrong, so I will probably check out both. If you do come across audio books you like, I'd love to hear about them!
Thanks so much for the recommendations. As I mentioned, I was very nervous about what book to pick for the book club so I thought I'd start with something light (although it does have some serious themes). I hope it's not too light though. I'll be interested to hear what you think. I haven't actually read Remarkably Bright Creatures yet, but I'll definitely post about it when I do.
My favourite genre, apart from literary fiction, is probably dystopian novels. Not everyone's cup of tea I know, but life would be boring if we all liked the same books.
I agree, Marg! Maybe you can help broaden my reading repertoire with some recommendations from the dystopian genre sometime. I’m not sure whether it’s my cup of tea, but I’m willing to give it a try.
Just love your work (and Jeff's!) It's always both pleasant and inspiring, two things we need more of. Wishing you another colorful, delicious, and happy new year!
Thanks, Annette! I always love having you as a reader and, as you know, I really admire your work. 2023 is a blank slate, but hopefully it will be full of good things for all of us! Happy, Happy New Year!🎆
Happy New Year 2023. We thought 2022 was pretty good, since we all got to travel again. I'm looking forward to 2023 and see where it takes you two. Your sunset photo is spectacular! I notice the sailboat called a ketch perfectly positioned in the light and I love the picture of your Aunt Gerda's recipe box. I have my mother's and realize I need to go through it and find the 50s recipes like jello salads!
Thanks, Patricia--and Happy New Year to you and Chris! I’m not surprised that you were able to identify the boat in my sunset shot, avid sailor that you are! I wonder where you guys plan to travel next. It is great to feel free to hit the road and the skies once again! Those recipes boxes are treasure troves! LMK if you do make a jello salad. I never much liked them, but maybe there’s a cool update that would change my mind. 😊
What a wonderful last if the year column. So sorry about your “baby” brother, but what a touching and revealing obituary you wrote I, too, was charged with writing my baby brother’s obit four years ago when a drunken driver changed (destroyed?) our lives on Christmas Day. He was 53, the light of all of our lives, and left behind a 10-year-old son and terminally ill wife who died the following February. Also loved reading about Gerda’s recipe box! Looking forward to reading your column in the New Year. Peace.
Thanks so much, Dale! I’m so sorry about your baby brother too. What a really awful way to lose him and so very sad for his young son. Thanks for reading and commenting on my stories. I see that you write a Substack newsletter too. I will definitely check it out. Wishing you and yours all the best in 2023.
Loved reading about your travels both near and far. And the cookie, pies, and cakes. Oh my! Looking forward to your cooking and travel adventures in 2023. HNY
Thanks for the look-back at your travels and food adventures, Ruth. Looking forward to what you will share in 2023, especially from Japan. A very happy, healthy new year to you and your family! I do so look forward to seeing the Substacks that I began to follow in 2022 appear in my inbox, and you are high on my list.
Your words mean a lot, Vicki, especially as I’m such a big fan of Easel to Table, enjoying your mix of art, recipes and reflections. Wishing you and yours health, joy and continued creative inspiration in 2023.
Happy New Year, Ruth and Jeff and thank you for all of the beautiful work you’ve shared with us this year! I loved your recap, Ruth, revisiting all of the wonderful travel and stories ....and, food! Again, so sorry for the loss of your beloved brother earlier last year, I’m thinking about you! I’m excited about your upcoming trip to Japan and look forward to hearing all about it. Wishing you all good things in 2023, my friend! 🤗
Thanks for your kind words, Jolene! It’s been quite the year—and now we’re on to a new one, hopefully filled with promise for all of us.
I’m looking forward to reading more exciting tales and vintage recipes from your kitchen in 2023. Wishing you and your family all the very best in the new year.
It was fun to read your retrospective. I have read all your posts except the one about veganism, so will check that out. It’s given me such a lot of pleasure to read your newsletter over the year and I look forward to hearing about your adventures in 2023.
I don’t believe in diets so I have no recommendations in that department, but I am planning to do a bit more exercise. I’ve become a bit sedentary lately (too much reading?) so need to nip that in the bud. On second thoughts, I don’t think I’ll cut down in my reading, just do more walking.
I'm so grateful that you've enjoyed my posts over the past year, Marg, particularly as your blog is a favorite of mine and a great resource for reading (and recipe!) inspiration.
I'm sort of with you when it comes to diets and find that once I call a food regimen a "diet," I'm immediately discouraged. I often take my exercise while listening to a book and, while that's not the same as reading the printed word, it's often very enjoyable, especially if the story is entertaining and the reader is skilled. It might be a good solution if you want to fit in more walking without cutting back on your reading!
Happy New Year to you and yours! I'm very much looking forward to being part of your book club in 2023!
I agree that some new audio books might be the way to go. Do you have any recommendations? I listened to both A Terrible Kindness and A Lesson in Chemistry on audio and they were both fantastic. Have you read Remarkably Bright Creatures? It's getting a lot of good reviews.
Believe it or not, I'm listening to your book club pick, The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry, and enjoying it. I'll probably check out the actual book when it's time to discuss it so that I can mark certain passages that have caught my attention. I've also really liked listening to a number of Louise Penny's Inspector Ganache novels. There have been two narrators over the years, and they're both excellent.
I've listened to a number of other crime series, including books by Michael Connelly, Agatha Christy, Tana French, Dick Francis and Walter Mosley. You can check these out if this genre interests you. I've also listened to classics, from Dickens to Austen, taking particular pleasure in the English narrators. Some audio books have celebrity narrators, which is always kind of fun. You can also do a search for recommended audiobooks in whichever genre interests you.
As I think I told you, I loved A Lesson in Chemistry, but I haven't yet read Remarkably Bright Creatures or A Terrible Kindness. So far, you haven't steered me wrong, so I will probably check out both. If you do come across audio books you like, I'd love to hear about them!
Thanks so much for the recommendations. As I mentioned, I was very nervous about what book to pick for the book club so I thought I'd start with something light (although it does have some serious themes). I hope it's not too light though. I'll be interested to hear what you think. I haven't actually read Remarkably Bright Creatures yet, but I'll definitely post about it when I do.
My favourite genre, apart from literary fiction, is probably dystopian novels. Not everyone's cup of tea I know, but life would be boring if we all liked the same books.
I agree, Marg! Maybe you can help broaden my reading repertoire with some recommendations from the dystopian genre sometime. I’m not sure whether it’s my cup of tea, but I’m willing to give it a try.
Love your attitude,
Just love your work (and Jeff's!) It's always both pleasant and inspiring, two things we need more of. Wishing you another colorful, delicious, and happy new year!
Thanks, Annette! I always love having you as a reader and, as you know, I really admire your work. 2023 is a blank slate, but hopefully it will be full of good things for all of us! Happy, Happy New Year!🎆
Happy New Year 2023. We thought 2022 was pretty good, since we all got to travel again. I'm looking forward to 2023 and see where it takes you two. Your sunset photo is spectacular! I notice the sailboat called a ketch perfectly positioned in the light and I love the picture of your Aunt Gerda's recipe box. I have my mother's and realize I need to go through it and find the 50s recipes like jello salads!
Thanks, Patricia--and Happy New Year to you and Chris! I’m not surprised that you were able to identify the boat in my sunset shot, avid sailor that you are! I wonder where you guys plan to travel next. It is great to feel free to hit the road and the skies once again! Those recipes boxes are treasure troves! LMK if you do make a jello salad. I never much liked them, but maybe there’s a cool update that would change my mind. 😊
Happy New Year Ruth, thank you for one year of beautiful writing and friendship. See you to the other side ❤️
Thanks for the same, Sinù! I hope 2023 brings you many good things, but most of all, health and happiness. 💝
What a wonderful last if the year column. So sorry about your “baby” brother, but what a touching and revealing obituary you wrote I, too, was charged with writing my baby brother’s obit four years ago when a drunken driver changed (destroyed?) our lives on Christmas Day. He was 53, the light of all of our lives, and left behind a 10-year-old son and terminally ill wife who died the following February. Also loved reading about Gerda’s recipe box! Looking forward to reading your column in the New Year. Peace.
Thanks so much, Dale! I’m so sorry about your baby brother too. What a really awful way to lose him and so very sad for his young son. Thanks for reading and commenting on my stories. I see that you write a Substack newsletter too. I will definitely check it out. Wishing you and yours all the best in 2023.
Loved reading about your travels both near and far. And the cookie, pies, and cakes. Oh my! Looking forward to your cooking and travel adventures in 2023. HNY
Thanks for being such a loyal reader (and recipe tester), Judy! HNY to you guys too! Rugelach and latkes await you!❤️
Great article as always but that last sunset photo was 👏👏👏
Thanks, Ellen. That sunset was kind of a stunner! The
Thanks for the look-back at your travels and food adventures, Ruth. Looking forward to what you will share in 2023, especially from Japan. A very happy, healthy new year to you and your family! I do so look forward to seeing the Substacks that I began to follow in 2022 appear in my inbox, and you are high on my list.
Your words mean a lot, Vicki, especially as I’m such a big fan of Easel to Table, enjoying your mix of art, recipes and reflections. Wishing you and yours health, joy and continued creative inspiration in 2023.
Great wrap to another amazing year!