Sunday morning during muzzleloader season (Dec 5th), I spend half a day up in the mountains during a light snow in about 20 degrees. I am on top of a ridge that overlooks a small hollow where many deer like to hole up during winter.
This is earlier, in November. This is the road coming down off of our mountain, about halfway down. Tom saw a mother bear and two cubs in this spot during last year's deer season.
These are the summer pastures looking down towards the two ponds. The Randall Linebacks spend the summer months up here.
You can see a small doe between the trees -- the photo was taken from my treestand. This doe spent 45 minutes grazing right under my nose, never realizing I was watching.
The lower pasture taken from my treestand at sunset.
A shot from last winter at a neighboring farm. This is the best spot in our area for rabbit hunting which is all about a long winter's walk with a dog and a couple of friends. It's nice to get back to a fireplace and a simple dinner at the end of the day.
This is shot from the top of one of the ridges not too far from our farm, about a 45 minute hike up in the mountains. Beautiful back country and totally wild.
Another shot from just down the ridge, a few hundred yards from the photo above. In the mist and November light, these trees have a greenish hue. The fall is a much prettier time in the woods than the summer (at least I think so!).
This is one of our wild apple trees -- it produced wonderful, sweet apples this year which the deer are also enjoying.
Christopher Kimball Blog 
Wow Chris, these are great shots!! I’ve spent so much time in your great State growing up there’s nothing like it especially during the Fall and Winter seasons. Thanks for sharing the beauty!
Incredible shots. I’d love to see more. Thanks for taking time to share them.
Spent some time in my younger days tramping through VT. Now I just watch it on TV. But your pics bring back some memories of past deer camps.
Hi Cris, nice website! I have another I would like to share also: sistertosister.web.officelive.com
Gorgeous scenery. I could sit out there for hours justing taking in the beauty. Thanks for sharing.
The “wildness” of your own wilderness is spectacular. Loved the rabbit quote and reminded me of my Mom trying to smoke out a rabbit in a hollow log. Smoke being the operative word, the rabbit took off with her beret upon his escape from the other end of the log.
I really look forward to your pictures. I was brought up in the country in western Massachusetts and now live in the City of Boston. Brings back the wonderful memories country life.
Thanks for sharing these wonderful pictures. Life truly is full of simple pleasures. I had the pleasure of living in Vermont and it is an amazing place. Thanks for the memories that these pictures bring back. Enjoy each day!
I really enjoy your pictures. When I was a very young I use to Vacation in Maine so this does bring back alot of memoreies. I really loved the fall and winters in Maine. A peaceful time of the year.
Loved the pictures – Truly enjoy the letters from
Vermont.
As a native of the Lowcountry (Charleston SC), I had very little chance to visit New England. My surfer husband and I chased a hurricane to Nova Scotia and fell in love. We are now restoring a 250 year old cottage close to the waves. Your stories and photos remind me so much of the mountains (as we flat landers call them, wild apple trees and beautiful scenery. I enjoy your letters, they take me to our other life for a moment. I have been exploring the website, as a former chef I’ve been enjoying your kitchen comraderie. Thanks so much.
I really love and appreciate these photoshoots that really show the depth of character and beauty New England has.
Reading your letters,is akin to returning to my small hometown in Kansas, it is fun, funny, and a wonderful way to start the day. Thank you!
I look forward to your letters and pictures, I would love to visit Vermont someday! I grew up in wonderful South Jersey and now live outside of Lancaster Pa and it is really beautiful here also. Hopefully I can get my husband out of York County sometime, around here that is hard to do. Thank you for sharing.
HI CHRIS,
I ENJOY YOUR NEWSLETTERS AND SEEING THE PICTURES YOU POST. I ALWAYS WATCH THE SHOW ON PBS AND ALSO ENJOY THOSE VERY MUCH. WE HAVE A HOME IN THE NORTH GEORGIA MOUNTAINS AND THE PICTURES YOU SEND MAKE ME THINK OF OUR SCENERY AND THE BEARS AND DEER. I CAN RELATE TO HOW MUCH YOU ENJOY LIVING THERE. GOD BLESS YOU IN THE NEW YEAR WITH MANY MORE SPECIAL TIMES WITH FAMILY AND FEIENDS.
Your letters are my only connection to New Eng. which I have visited rarely. I started loving your recipes but now I love your photos even more.Envy you your farm, hills, mts, etc Am a watercolorist so your photos inspire me.
I, too, am loving the great photos. It so reminds me of my 9 years spent in Maine. Beautiful! I look forward to seeing many more. Thanks, Chris.
I look forward to the ‘letter from Vermont’ every so often – love your folksy way of telling happenings and stories. We have cooked many, many of your recipes and many are our favorite repeats (roasted red potatoes, upside-down apple slice cake, etc.). I have a question related to the show (which my husband and I LOVE to watch) – The question: As to those milling about in the kitchen as you, Bridgette and Julia prepare a delicious concoction – are they REALLY working/cooking or is that “for show”? And…is that really a kitchen in an actual house or is it a TV set/stage. Thanks ATK and best wishes to all for a great 2011.
Thanks Chris. I appreciate your pictures and thoughts. I just read 23 Psalm. Thinking about rest, restoration, and the intricate balance between work, rest, and play. These pictures are another whisper of this important balance. Blanketed in good thoughts of serenity, God’s creation, stillness, physical activity, good simple food and friends!
We have a second home in the Northeast Kingdom and always look forward to going there from Massachusetts – yes, we are Flatlanders. I have truly become a great fan of the test kitchen and look forward to receiving the Cook’s Magazine. Happy New Year.
I have subscription to your mag. I buy your cookbooks from time to time. Why don’t you offer a free sub to your web for members of good standing? I really love the letters/articles on the life of a vermonter and family man, I am currently unemployed since 2007,I have 2 degrees and cannot find a job (fl is really bad off) due this status I cannot afford the web membership price. Please consider this request. Thank you for your time. By the way I also catch your show from time to time on the web. (we are on hd antenna as cable is too costly.
Also. Do you have an index of your mag?
I have all issues since 2002.
We had access to a ski lodge in Chester, a lot farther south and enjoyed many of the sights you described in your latest letter.As for the anti-hunters, many states,because deer are overpopulating the food supply, are extending hunting seasons or reestablishing them.Keep up the very enjoyable letters.
I am so jealous of your beautiful property. I hunt in Door County in Wisconsin, but ecen that doesn’t compare to what you have. Thanks for sending your letter and pictures to me.
Dear Chris,
I have never been to Vermont and your pictures are terrific. Saw you on “This Old House” Think you could eat everything and not get fat. Enjoy the winter there. I am in the Buffalo area and we are having a great Winter so far. The major part of the snow has avoided North of the NY State Thruway. God bless
My ancestors were from Vermont, so these pictures make me wonder – did my g-g-g-grandfather walk through these woods!
I love your program. Your recipes help me create good meals for my family. I do have two questions. My diet is gluten free for medical reasons. I also follow a Kosher diet, no pork or shellfish, etc., “don’t milk your beef”, etc. You referred to a Kosher chicken, but this is the only reference I have heard on this subject. Do you have either gluten free or Kosher recipes? Do you ever conduct taste tests on either gluten free products (pasta, flour replacements, baked goods, etc.) or Kosher foods? Thank you. Katherine (maiden name Vaughn also spelled Vaughan)
Love the pictures. Wish things would stay that way
Thanks so much for your letter and the beautiful pictures. Beautiful country. Having lived all my life along the Gulf Coast of Texas, which is flatter than a pancake, I love your pictures of the rolling countryside and the changing seasons. Your letters and pictures give me a totally different view of life, as we very seldom have freezes, much less snow! In fact, when it snows down here, it’s a holiday! We always say people down here don’t know how to drive in the rain, much less the snow! Your shows are wonderful, and on Saturdays you’ll find me in front of the TV from 10:00 am to 11:00 am watching both, as they are back to back. Thanks again, and keep up the good work!
To say my husband & I love your shows are an understatement. Your farm is beautiful and glad you have shared your pictures. Love your entire staff and how all of you are blessed to work together. Have a wonderful New Year and look forward to your new shows and recipes. judy & glenn
Chris,
The photos are great, although they make me soooo jealous. Stuck here in the Midwest, everything old is “Victorian”. So I decided long ago that every vacation I could talk him into it we would head East. Then a stroke of luck our son married a native of NH and last spring with the coming of their first child they decided to move back to Concord. Now every time we return we take a different route through NY and VT and NH. The countryside is something I will never tie of. I look forward to you letters. Reminds me of listening to a relative or neighbor. Thanks again.
Chris,
You are an outstanding writer – I get your Cooks’ Illustrated and have purchased many of your cookbooks. I always look forward to your page in the front of Cooks’ every issue! Here at Nesco we produce and sell a lot of food dehydrators and try to convert more consumers to this great way of providing healthy snacks for their kids, preserving food and making jerky! Gourmet jerky making is catching on even in NYC. Has Cooks’ ever considered doing a story on making your own jerky – it’s one of the most popular snack foods in America, and store bought jerky by the pound is the price of lobster! You can make better jerky yourself with a dehydrator and save money at the same time. Keep up the great work Chris!
Chris,what beautiful country you live in,I was lucky enough to see the ocean for the first time in my life last year,I could not believe the beauty in it.I love your cooking show and all the ladies on it…I watch on demand all the time just to see a new show.God bless you and your family and thank you so much Joanne
Lovely pics; what a beautiful area of our country. Thanks for sharing!
Boy do I miss New England. I’m a relocated Damn Yankee living in California. I must admit that I don’t miss shoveling snow, but desperately miss the beauty of autumn.
I have mixed emotions about your hunting. I understand the cycle of nature, but it’s just so “in your face” when you see the photo of you and the deer. I’m not a vegetarian, so what can I say!
Happy New Year to you and your family!
Beautiful!! Your mountain looks like ours in Kentucky! We have lots of hills and mountains, especially in Eastern Kentucky. Your snowy hills are similiar to ours here, and we have the rabbits, foxes, deer and wild turkey. You are so blessed to live where you can enjoy wildlife and country living! Thank you for sharing – I always enjoy your stories!
Chris,
I have always enjoyed your cooking shows, a cookbook that my wife purchased a while back, and the down home, honest to goodness, of both your cooking, the types of food cooked.
Wonderful pictures of the seasonal changes and gorgeous country side in Vermont. I appreciate the fact that you hunt, fish and love nature as much as I. Keep it real my friend!
Thanks for sharing Your photo’s with all of Us and Your Recipes for Venison. I look forward to more on Your website!
Chris,
The farm pics are great, wish I could spend some time up your way in the winter. In reference to your pic with the buck, it sometimes surprises me on how ignorant some people are these days. Where do these people who complained think meat comes from, other than the supermarket (& they usually don’t sell venison)? If they don’t want to see you with meat for the table then they should get the newsletter.
Good Hunting!!
Mark
Chris, Hold your head up! We hunters need to be proud of what we do and what we supply to our families[organicly grown, free ranging meat]. I love to hunt and make sausage. jeff
Chris- that is one expensive book you recommended- $150 for a used paperback copy in good condition. Not in the Minuteman Library network in the Boston burbs.
I enjoy our cooking magazine and all the stories of Vermont life. In my younger days I had a wish to live in Vermont but now in my older days I live in the Pacific Northwest.
I enjoy your cooking magazine and also the stories of life in Vermont. In my younger days I had a desire to live in Vermont but now in my older days I live in the Pacific Northwest
I love your newsletter especially your last one about the deer. I lived over 50 years in California moved to Iowa and love the four seasons. I protect my fruit trees with stockings full of hair. My baby trees have deer prints but they do not attack my trees. My backyard faces a corn field so they come down from the wooded areas. Your pictures are especially wonderful and I look forward to your newsletter and recipes. Mary
Chris, these are awesome pictures-thanks so much! Born and raised in the great state of PA-miss it. Some of the pics look like my Uncle Johns’ property. Thank you for another great year and I hope you have a wonderful New Year! I will be deer hunting with a good friend of mine, Danny next year. Take care and God Bless and Happy New Year!
John
I do miss the sights up there, but I sure don’t miss the snow!!!! Bad enough right now we have 50 degree weather here in Florida, where the deer are about the size of German Shepherds.
Letter from Vermont continues to be my favorite junk email. Chris, you are the John Boy Walton of Vermont(and surely you have a trace of the South in you). Cook’s Country/America’s Test Kitchen is the best cooking show in all of TV Land. Santa gave me the cookbook — can’t wait to try out some recipes. Even the gumbo looks authentic. Joyeaux Noel et Bonne Annee!
At a ripe ol’ 72 years of age, I still marvel at the differences between my state (NH) and Vermont. Hubby and I spend lots of (summer) time in Vermont (love those bluegrass festivals!!!), as well as time at our own Atlantic coast. We can always tell, without road signs, when we have crossed the state line into lovely Vermont.
CHRIS,
I AM ALSO A HUNTER, AND THE PROBLEM WITH MOST NON-HUNTERS IS THAT THEY ARE UNDER THE IMPRESSION THAT HUNTERS JUST SHOOT AND CHOP OFF THE HEAD FOR A TROPHY.
I AM REMINDED OF WHAT SARAH PALAN HAS SAID “I EAT THEREFORE I HUNT.”
THE MAJORITY OF THE NAY SAYERS WILL EAT A HAMBURGER OR FRIED CHICKEN AND NOT GIVE A WHIT ABOUT WHERE THE MEAT CAME FROM………
JERRY
feliz navidad y año nuevo!!!
todas las palabras muy lindas, y muy buenos deseos, pero, decir, maldita vida yanqui en california, es algo, que no se debe dejar pasar por alto, si no te gusta, vete y no maldigas, alli todo el mundo es bien venido y todos tienen igual trato, siempre que se cumpla con la ley, estas trabajando y viviendo y aun te quejas, a eso, en mi pais se le llama”mal agadecido”.
correccion, quise decir, mal “agradecido”.
Where is the doe?
These pictures were wonderful to see. I spent lots of time in Vermont when we lived in Maine. My husband use to travel there for his work and that was one place that I loved to go to. Thanks for sharing.
You speak fondly of the writings of Gordon MacQuarrie, but I am more interested in the published works of Christopher Kimball. Your short stories are always entertaining. They just draw the reader in! In the near future, please consider spending some time putting together a collection of YOUR work.
I just finished reading your latest “Letter from vermont” and I was struck by your mention of responses to the previous letter and the comments about the picture of you and your deer. It reminded me of a cocktail party I attended some years ago where I was having a conversation with someone about deer hunting and was verbally attacked by a non hunter. I responded by telling her about watching deer starve to death in an area near where I work that is zoned against hunting and the DEC being unable to help due to the lack of funds at the time. Her rsponse to me was “Thats natures way” and that “all hunters should be shot”. I didnt know how to respond. As the years go by I have thought about that incident at the cocktail party and I have come to realise that not responding was the best thing that I could have done, because the other people aroud me were appalled not only by her remarks but by the vehemence with which she deoiverd them. We are not gong to change some peoples minds but if we can convince a few that proper conservation is the best way to approach hunting then we will all be ok.
Thanks for your time and keep the letters coming I find them to be educational and entertaining.
The photos are just GREAT! They are like medicine. Thank you so much for sending them. We need to have more people go back to the basics of this country; home cooking and family gatherings. I look forward to all of your messages and good cooking. Let me take a moment to wish you and your family a Happy, Healthy, and Safe New Year.
Marilyn Brown
I enjoy your blog so much. I was brought up in Northern NY & had vacations in The Aderondack Mts. Now enjoy visiting my daughter’s family in the mountains of TN. They live at Tellico Plains right at the beginning of the Cherahala Skyway. I love the mountains.
A lovely area. WE live in upstate New York so we appreciate some of our scenery also. We live near Lake Ontario and spend a lot of summer on its shores. Also nottoo far from the Adirondacks. My husband was in the A.F. WE were stationed at the canadian border at Loring A.F.B. Beautiful country also. Thank you for the pictures and letters. Charlotte Clark
I believe your husband was my shop cheif many years ago! We called him buck and I was little buck. My name is Boyd Brown and I rememeber him harassing me because your daughter brought in Valentine cookies and mine was a heart.
I’ve enjoyed Christopher’s writing and pictures for a long time. All Cook’s products are staples in my cooking library. Thank you, Chris!
Ardis
I totally look forward to your Vermont letters. I think it is so cool that you can still talk about the real things in life, like hunting, cooking, etc. I hope you keep these letters coming for many years to come. Happy New Year!
Thanks for these gorgeous VT pix, Chris! I love your newsletter & look fwd to it. I had a friend in VT & finally got up there a yr ago & I loved it. It’s a whole different world.
My maiden name was Kimball and though I am now a western New Yorker, I was born and raised in northern Vermont. The beauty of that area is unmatched.
I really enjoy your pbs show and the wonderful tips you give for improving on common recipes.
Loved the Photos. My Grandmother was raised in Maine and Vermont. Her old photos of their farm look very much like yours. I love the stories you tell, they remind me so much of the stories my grandmother told about her “Neck of the Woods”. She was a great story teller. Small towns are wonderful and there are so few of them left.
Chris,
Why, with all your hunting, doesn’t America’s Test Kitchen include game and wild fowl recipes? My husband hunts, too, and I could use America’s Test Kitchen-type recipes for elk, venison, antelope, duck, pheasant, etc.
Thanks very much,
Julia
Mr Kimball, I have been a big fan of yours for at least ten years now. You have so much knowledge in the art of cooking; but I love your letters from the “homefront” since I also grew up on a farm but sadly had to move away …”where’s there is smoke, there’s work” Hope the New Year finds you and your family well. All my best Leon Schuck
You said in your Letter from Vermont that you can’t dig out a stream anymore. I live in PA and we have strict laws about that too, but there are legal ways of doing it here. We had major flooding and erosion problems allowing the stream to get too close to our house. We hired a company that specializes in stream problems, which was recommended by the EPA. They dammed up the stream above where they dug it out and widened our stream and pumped the water below where they were working. They walled up our stream bank with 3 layers of 2’high, 2′ wide, 6′ long cement blocks to prevent erosion. When finished they removed the dam. Don’t know if the same is possible with Vermont laws.
Man, do I miss New England. I’m 26 yrs born and raised in Maine, now in Colorado. Can’t say as theres much in common of the two ‘cept a few pines. Though, I must say, the Rockies win the ticket when it comes to “them thar hills”. I thank you for the pictures of Vermont, and the huntin’ don’t bother me either. Been there a few times myself. Guess I’m just gonna have to move back to settle my soul. Thanks again!
I enjoyed the picture of you and your deer. My dad was a deer hunter, his dad, one of our three sons and my 6 year old grandson who shot his first doe this year. Thank you for sharing your life in Vermont with us. Happy New Year.
Dear Mr. Kimball,
Somehow on this web-site I was directed to a sickeningly inhumane video of animals being slaughtered and I am unable to retrace how I got there.
I appreciate that you’re hunter and I trust you’re a “good shot” so the animal doesn’t suffer and I believe you utilize all edible parts of the animal and have respect for it’s life. Where/how did that torturous video (although good for the folks that never consider where their meat comes from) get connected to your website? I may be shocked back to Morningstar Farms Grillers (so many ingredients) after the video I happened upon tonight.
Thank you for sharing you hunting trophy. I am a true believer in the humane hunt.
Please tell me how that riveting, disturbing, animal torture video was connected to your site? Politics? Gad!!!
Hi Chris,
I look forward to your e-mails also. Absolutely love the photos. Very tranquil. They make the winter months more tolerable. Happy New Year to you and yours !!
I think your show is outstanding,it explains cooking in very simple ways.i always enjoy watching and learning thank you for sharing your cooking knowledge.happy holidays to you and your family mike
Don’t know why folks got wired with you about hunting – most of ’em need to realize that probably 90% of hunting is done for food – not sport, though some folks do make a sport of it in the process – in the future, ask them what their ancestors ate – don’t suppose too many of them ate asparagus & artichokes along with their canard…
Thank you for not making your reader go on Facebook.
Glad you are down home people. Love the show and your books. Keep at the good work.!
So nice to see this website that enjoys the great outdoors. After hearing all the flack about Sarah in Alaska, it’s nice to see that there are other people that get it. As a native of California that grew up on venison, salmon, trout, pheasant, and such,and being in my seventy’s is hard to come by anymore, so enjoy seeing other people enjoying the harvest.
We used to live in Vermont and have been in Florida since 1972 so we thoroughly enjoy your writings and your pictures. As a point of reference, what town is your farm located in?
We live in Tn. your newsletters are the only connection we have with NE. Love your shows on PBS.
Also, nothing wrong with Hunting, we probably have about as many whitetailed deer as we have had in the past 150 years.
Look forward to next month’s letter.
Henry in Tn
Let’s hear some more about the pond ie dig out and state regs re the stream. How about some photos as well. Some detail about how you might prevent another fill in of the pond and stay within state control would be interesting.
All the Best,
Greg
Just finished “Fannie Farmer’s Last Supper”. One of the best writings on historical cooking I’ve read plus the re-enactment of preparing the 12 course dinner. Whenever I get homesick for the olden days I will bring to mind all the work involved in putting together even a simple meal and be so thankful for my automatic stove and running hot water and flushable toilets – in the house – and finally automatic washing machines. I have lent your book to another “foodie” so she too can appreciate all the wonderful conveniences we take for granted.
Hi Chris,
I love the letters from Vermont and the pictures are great. I have seen you a couple of times at book signings in Mountain View, Ca. I love the stories, the recipes, the books and the shows of America’s Test Kitchen… Your the best.
Glenda
Hi Chris,
Thank you for the letter from Vermont. It reminds me of my childhood memories of the Smokey Mountains of North Carolina. I have been impressed and love your show. I am grateful for the testing you show as there are so many new utensils to ease cooking and ensure an exceptional dinner for family and friends. I have used many of your recipes and not one was a failure. Thank you for making me look like I can be an accomplished cook, my family truly does appreciate this! Thank you again for the photos, memories, and recipes. Happy New Year!
Thank you for the creation of an exceptional television show, cookbooks, website, and love of this country and its beauty and the celebration of good food and family. Thank you.
Linda
Chris,
Grew up in New Hampshire and now live in Texas. Spent two lovely weeks in New England this past Sept. one of them in your beautiful State of VT. I so enjoy your news letter and your T.V. show on PBS. Keep up the great work.
Happy New Year to you, Chris, your family and staff.
I watched as you restored and rehabbed the farm house for your cooking show. It’s a beauty. I love the way you live your life in Vermont. My brother’s wife was from Manchester, New Hampshire so I had the occasion to spend a summer there. I was able to go through Vermont and without that state line it could all be one as they are so much the same. I send your letters on to my niece in NC because she grew up on a small farm in WI and your letters remind her of her past life!!
Thank you, Mary Eastwood
Thanks for all the letters and photos. I grew up in south Dakota and Nebraska and there was hunting. I know what responsible hunting is. I, myself, am not a hunter by choice.
Hi Chris, can you take a picture of your “treestand” that you so often take pictures from?
Thought you might like to know this – when someone in my family mentions “The Kitchen God” we mean you.
Thanks for all the wonderful programs, magazines, and books. Yours are my primary references in the kitchen.
It’s pictures like these that make me yearn to live in Vermont. I had to opportunity to visit a few times, but it couldn’t possibly compare to what it’s like to live there and have access to such beauty on a regular basis.
Mr. Kimball, I thoroughly enjoy your TV shows, Cook’s Illustrated, and your Notes from the Kitchen. I even enjoy your periodical blogs. However, I am becoming frustrated at your company’s business practice of sending me unsolicited books. If I have to keep paying the postage to return the unwanted books you send me, I will have to cancel my subscriptions. Please stop sending me the books!
I spent many years skiing in Vermont on Killington and still remember the crystal clarity of the air on a cold winter day, the beauty of a fall morning with the crispness of the leaves as you walked through them. I close my eyes and remember Ascutney Mtn as the backdrop as we flew gliders. Vermont is unsurpassed in beauty.
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Others state that the bill should require not just a hunter over the age of 21 but the parents themselves should be
required to be present. However, make sure that
you take water skins with you out in the desert
or you run the risk of dehydrating and dying. Why do deer hunters wear orange or
in some cases red when going hunting.