Hazy Shade of Winter: Update

The snow hasn't stopped all day and it is now getting heavier. The wind began to pick up late this afternoon and there have been gusts between 25 and 35 mph, making it difficult to see the street outside of my front window. I took some photos just before it got dark tonight to show my gentle readers how much snow we have gotten today. Enjoy!

I never get snow this far back on my porch:

Taken through the door--I refuse to go outside in this. Kenna has no choice.

By 8:00 tonight, we had so much snow that it was creeping up over the screen of my door.

Just kidding ;-)

The snow made me extremely hungry, so I made bolognese sauce this afternoon along with French bread and then tonight I made a loaf of challah. I think I have run the dishwasher three times today.

The official advice is for everyone to stay inside and off of the roads until at least tomorrow morning because it's only going to get worse overnight. I am grateful for my warm dog and my warm bed.

Up next: a new Obsession and some Reminiscing...

Hazy Shade of Winter

Well, gentle readers, the latest snow storm has arrived in central New York. Here's what we woke up to this morning:

The snow is coming down rapidly and we're supposed to get 1-3 inches an hour for most of the day and tonight. Thankfully, Kenna and I have plenty of things to do within the comfort of our warm, dry house.

Don't Stand So Close To Me

I have been eating a lot of garlic this weekend. I am not kidding. Am I the only one who can't think of this song without thinking of this now?

Okay, back to the food. Focus. So, I followed Rosie Hawthorne's instructions for making chicken consomme out of the stock that I made last week. Thanks, Rosie! I'm never going back--this is so much better and prettier than regular old stock and look how much I have now!

Then, I used my consomme to make risotto. I'll try to give you some measurements, but I pretty much made this up as I went along, so feel free to adjust if you try this. Here, I have one leek, half of a cup of onion, half of a cup of Baby Bella mushrooms, and half of a cup of garlic (okay, not that much, but a lot), all fairly finely diced. Oh, also--pretty new pan, courtesy of Grambi:

After all of those ingredients sauteed in some olive oil for five to seven minutes, I deglazed the pan with some Meyer lemon juice:

And some white wine (I used Barefoot Pinot Grigio):

Somehow, I forgot to add the rice to toast before I deglazed the pan, so I added the rice after the lemon juice and wine had reduced--about half of a cup of short grain rice:

I added two cups of my heated consomme about one cup at a time as the rice absorbed the liquid, until it was cooked through and then I added some frozen peas:

Dinner is served--salad of mixed greens, Kumato tomato, buttermilk blue cheese, and French dressing, my risotto (topped with fresh parsley and grated Pecorino), and some bread and olive oil. Oh, also some red wine from Languedoc and water with slices of Meyer lemon and clementine to drink:

This was delicious and very garlicky. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Later, I decided to make peanut butter cookies using a recipe from one of Mother of Ken's friends. I usually don't get excited about peanut butter cookies, but these are really, really good.

Here's the recipe:

1/2 c. butter, softened

1/2 c. peanut butter

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. light brown sugar (divided in half)

1 large egg

3/4 tsp. vanilla

1 1/4 c. flour

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

Beat butter, peanut butter, sugar, and 1/4 c. brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla until thoroughly blended. In small bowl, combine flour, soda, and salt; with mixer at low speed, beat into butter mixture until blended. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 c. brown sugar on top of dough; using rubber spatula, lightly fold in so that sugar granules are still visible. Roll heaping teaspoonfuls of dough into balls; place two inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Using bottom of glass, press each ball into 1/4 inch thick circle. Bake 5-8 minutes at 375 degrees until lightly browned. Makes 3 1/2 dozen.

Obsession

This week's Favorite Thing: The J. Crew Perfect Fit Long Sleeve Crewneck Tee. Let me say up front that I only buy these at the J. Crew outlet if they are $10 or less, but I love these shirts. I have three of them and I wear them all of the time. The weight of the cotton knit is perfect, they are slightly fitted through the body, and have longer sleeves than most other long sleeved shirts that I have tried (according to Brother of Ken, I have "freakishly long arms").

Note: I am not a paid spokesperson for any product that I feature in my "Obsession" posts.

Hazy Shade of Winter

So, last night we got an unexpected snow storm that dropped about six or eight inches of new snow on our fair hamlet. I was supposed to go to church for the 7:30 Ash Wednesday service, but after getting stuck on the way up the hill out of my neighborhood, carefully turning around and heading back, getting stuck on the way up the next hill, carefully turning around and taking an alternate route and praying that I could make it home, I decided that if I wanted to live to see Easter, I had better stay home. By this morning, poor McKenna and her six inch legs were having a hard time navigating through the snow:

After realizing this week that I had three containers of leftover chicken parts in the freezer, I decided that a snowy day was the perfect time to make some chicken stock. It is chilling in the refrigerator now, to be finished tomorrow:

In other news, I received a box from Mother of Ken today with some new "Reminiscing" material, so look for that to be posted soon.

Everybody Have Fun Tonight

Happy Mardi Gras, gentle readers! I had a Mardi Gras party to attend this evening at church, so I made mini Chocolate Vinegar Cupcakes with Mocha Frosting to take with me.

Some of you gentle readers may be thinking that Mardi Gras at church doesn't sound like much fun. Let me tell you--it can be if you are an Episcopalian. You see, we frequently drink at church dinners and tonight, I had the pleasure and privilege of sitting at a table with a man in his 80s who still makes his own wine. Yes, we had our very own bottle to drink and it was delicious. The vintner himself kept pouring me more wine and I told him that he had better watch out because I'm going to start showing up at his house unannounced to partake of the fruit of the vine.

Having eaten dinner, with my wine in hand, it was my job to help choose the Mardi Gras king and queen. Our king was an older gentleman in a wheelchair who is my hero. This man, regardless of his state of health and age, wore a costume for Mardi Gras. Not just beads and a mask, either. He had a full King Tut headdress, complete with a snake at the top, and a matching tunic. And this is why Episcopalians are the best ;-)