Winter Fun: Blizzard Photos

Yesterday

Today

Winter Fun: We're Having a Blizzard

Yep, it's been snowing and blowing since 7 a.m., dropping upwards of 12" on us, though it's hard to tell with all of the drifting.

We skipped ice skating, kung fu, and haircuts (cancelled yesterday.)

Instead, Sis and Bud went sledding with the neighbor girl and then made a snowfort, which they stocked with snowballs for later.  Then, all cold and damp, they all came inside to share snow ice cream and hot chocolate.  Later, Bud built Legos.  Sis read a book and then read another book.  Mama played "Spit" with Sis and "Blink" with Bud.  I doodled and crocheted a new hat (with yarn that I ordered just yesterday and was amazingly delivered during the blizzard!  I would have specified, "No need to deliver during natural disasters.")  The kids played Minecraft.  Mama napped.  We all petted the various cats (Mr. P continues to recover.)  We had eggs and Irish bacon with toast and marmalade, then tortilla soup and quesadillas and finally mini Victoria spongecakes while we watched "The Great British Bake Off." We called Gommie, Ma and Gong, and wished Lambeth a happy birthday.  I took some pictures and looked at everybody else's on FB.

Tomorrow, it should be sunny and we'll get some great snow photos.  But, for now, here are some taken, mostly, from the safety and warmth of inside.  The last two, contrasting night and day, are my favorites.

First Snow 2016

Storm Jonas, or Snowmageddon 2016, or whatever you want to call it, is bearing down on the Eastern  Seaboard and Mid-Atlantic states as I type.  It's been snowing in DC for hours now and apparently it has started in NYC.  I don't think it'll get here til after midnight--I won't really be watching for it.

There have been some fun memes floating around--the maps with forecasts of how many wine bottles/books/skeins of yarn you'll need to get through the storm, the "Be Like Bob" bits ("Bob won't post about the snow.  He knows people have windows.  Bob is smart.  Be Like Bob."), the open letter from the Bangor, ME police department, and various funny articles like cliches weather forecasters swear never to use again.  Plus tons of serious articles about forecasts and preparedness and such.

I've written my own posts in years past about snow--things to do with the kids (and here) and how to prep if you're unfamiliar with snow.  The kids are older now so we're not exactly making obstacle courses with painters tape; they have puzzles (a 1000-piece Pixar ones), games (the dominoes and checkers Gommie and Pop played), books, movies, Lego kits (two Star Wars), and of course videogames (always Minecraft, sometimes Dimensions)--longer more sophisticated ones than they did when they were 3-years old.  I have yarn and Zentangle supplies; Mama is finishing a puzzle.  And of course, there is the snow.  The kids will have snowball fights and build snowpeople; they've already put out the bowls for snow ice cream.   Maybe they can go sledding on Sunday (because we've cleared the whole weekend, due to snow and cat.)  I have makings for hot chocolate and popcorn, as tradition requires.  I imagine we'll have some soup, maybe some biscuits.  There will be a lot of cat petting.

All of which is to say, we're looking forward to this storm, our first for the year.  We don't need 2' for it to be special; 6" is just enough.  In fact, recent reports of 12-15" aren't ideal, but our snow blower is working and we have all the necessary supplies should we lose power or the ability to leave the house.

Stay tuned for snow photos!

Our Groaning Board

Hoping you and yours had a great, grateful Thanksgiving!

We did . . . and we had SNOW!  Not any accumulation, but fluffy flurries and real snowfall for hours off and on.

And so much food, obscene really:
Texas trash chex mix
baked brie
cinnamon dough roll ups
turkey
cornbread dressing
oyster dressing
gravy
giblet dressing
canned cranberries
*cranberry relish
NPR Mama Strindberg's cranberries
Grandmother's pickled beets
rolls
*creamed spinach
brussel sprouts (actually leftovers from Mama's office dinner)
green bean casserole
*sweet potato casserole
*mashed potatoes
*mushroom stromboli
rolls
lime jello salad
chocolate pecan pie bars
*apple pie
*cherry pie
*blueberry pie
pumpkin pie

We didn't make it all ourselves, despite my starting cooking on Monday.  Because my sous chef, Goo, had to work at the hospital, we ordered out several of the dishes, in small amounts, to try (marked *.) We wanted to cut down on the work and have enough leftovers to send to the new doctor.  We did.

Some of those other dishes were made by the kids.  Sis helped with the chex mix and then made cinnamon dough roll ups with my leftover dough for the brie.  She put so much cinnamon sugar on the inside that they turned to delicious sugary goop.  Bud, in consultation with Mama, had decided to make oyster dressing and giblet gravy--he spent half the morning in the kitchen helping out--toasting 15 slices of bread, tearing them up, shredding the turkey neck and organs (he drew the line at hard-boiled eggs in the giblet gravy, though, despite it being something my grandmother used to add--I guess so we could know which gravy to avoid!!  Alas, I don't have her recipe, so Mama, who was in charge of Bud's cooking, used the one in the NYTimes.)  And he was so excited and proud.  And, when dinner came, he ate and ate and ate, loving his creation.  Best.  Thanksgiving.  Food.  Ever.  So I think we have two new additions to our regular menu.

Sis photobombs the mashed potatoes

Of course, we all had to say what we were thankful for before passing plates.  Family, friends, food, health, satisfying and supportive employment, current and incoming cats, and their gifted class.  And the really big knife Mama was wielding on the turkey.

The kids played Hex Bugs with Ma and Gong, spreading track all over the living room floor (Gong had bought them their first bugs a few years ago, at the Liberty Science Center.)   Bud played Christmas tunes on the piano.  Later, they played a frog origami game, trying to knock each other's paper frogs off the table by ramming them with their own, all by blowing on them (one breath each turn only, but it could be sustained.)

Otherwise, we spent a lot of time out in the flurries, watching the first snow of the season come down (yeah, all of New England got snow yesterday but us.)  The kids kept trying to catch the flakes on their tongues.  They even managed to hit me with a few mini-snowballs.  And I got a great picture of geese overhead; you can almost hear them honking!   In the evening, I enjoyed staring up and seeing the flakes materialize above me out of the night air, swirling like I was flying through a tunnel.  I still love snow.  (We even started a new "first snow" ritual:  watch Frozen!)

And I like Thanksgiving, too.



Today's Poem-A-Day from Poets.org

When Giving Is All We Have

Alberto Ríos, 1952

                                              One river gives
                                              Its journey to the next.

We give because someone gave to us.
We give because nobody gave to us.

We give because giving has changed us.
We give because giving could have changed us.

We have been better for it,
We have been wounded by it—

Giving has many faces: It is loud and quiet,
Big, though small, diamond in wood-nails.

Its story is old, the plot worn and the pages too,
But we read this book, anyway, over and again:

Giving is, first and every time, hand to hand,
Mine to yours, yours to mine.

You gave me blue and I gave you yellow.
Together we are simple green. You gave me

What you did not have, and I gave you
What I had to give—together, we made

Something greater from the difference.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Cheater's Giblet Gravy
4-6 cups gravy (either from the traditional batch or canned/purchased)
turkey giblets
drippings
salt, pepper, turkey stock/bouillon, to taste

Remove giblets from turkey carcass.  Simmer in water until cooked.  Shred and add to gravy, with any additional drippings from the roasting pan.  Season to taste.

Mama Hungry

-=-=-=-=-=-=

Lucy Buffet's Oyster Dressing

• 12 tablespoons/1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, divided, plus more for baking dish
• 1 (8-inch-square) baked and cooledcornbread, preferably on the sweet side
• 15 slices white or wheat bread, toasted and cooled
• ½ large white onion, finely chopped
• 2 celery ribs, finely chopped
• ½ large green bell pepper, finely chopped
• ½ cup chicken broth, plus more as needed
• 2 dozen freshly shucked or jarredoysters, preferably Gulf oysters, drained and coarsely chopped (reserve the oyster liquor)
• ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce, preferably Crystal
• ¼ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh sage, finely chopped, or 1 teaspoon ground sage
• 1 ½ teaspoons truffle salt or sea salt
• ½ teaspoon ground white pepper

PREPARATION

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by 13-inch baking dish.
2. Crumble cornbread into a large bowl. Tear toasted white or wheat bread into very small pieces, add to cornbread, and toss to combine
3. Melt 8 tablespoons butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add onion, celery and bell pepper; sauté, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes. Cover pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are almost translucent, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove cover, add broth, and cook, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, for 2 to 3 minutes. Continue to cook mixture for 1 more minute, then remove from heat, add to bread mixture, and stir to combine.
4. In a medium bowl, stir together oysters, lemon juice, hot sauce, parsley, sage, salt and white pepper. Add to bread mixture and stir well to combine. If dressing seems too dry, add a little oyster liquor and up to 1/2 cup more chicken broth; mixture should be very moist.
5. Pour dressing into greased baking dish. Cut remaining 4 tablespoons butter into small pieces and scatter over top of dressing. Bake until top and sides are browned, 40 to 45 minutes.
6. from NYTImes

Advent Activities: Snow Day, in Pictures

Why are they home all day?  Must hide.
OR, Is it Christmas yet?

I have a thing for bare tree branches right now.

For Sis

It's a cat.

And that's a "snow Dalek."

Our snowflake gallery

Sis's paper chain

The Doctor Who Christmas Village with Racnoss "web star."

Sis making meringue snowflakes.  We went free hand eventually.

Advent Activities: SNOW!!!

Sis ran into my run at a quarter past 8 a.m. (at which point the bus would have already come and gone!), "Delay or cancel?!  Delay or cancel?!?"

School was canceled.

Her brother followed right after, equally glad for a day off.  

And then the fun began:

• the first annual snowball throw, done in pajamas without coats and hats, very quickly;
• homemade sourdough biscuits with butter and honey;
• a "baked" chicken in the slow cooker for their favorite chicken, rice, and gravy dinner;
• cutting snowflakes and hanging them around the house, with one hung over the Doctor Who Christmas Village as the Racnoss's web star;
• making red and green paper chains and draping them across the windows;
• the traditional call to Gommie and Pop announcing the snow--today this included a holiday music serenade with piano, cello, and violin;
• heading outside for snowballs and other fun--the kids could get into their snow outfits all by themselves!!
• making a "snow Dalek";
• no snow ice cream though--leaves and bits from the trees kept falling in the bowls;
• receiving an early birthday gift from neighbor Miss K--a pumpkin spice latte for me and hot chocolate for the kids;
• and now, listening to Christmas carols while playing Minecraft and crocheting (right after I post);
• later, popcorn and maybe a movie!

It's not a lot of snow, but it doesn't get much better than this.

Fall Snowfall

Snow.  Not flurries, but real snow.

We all cuddled in the warm bed, watching the snow dance with the red leaves.

Sweatshirts, coats, knit hats, not cold enough for mittens.  Hot macaroni and cheese in a thermos for later.

Traditionali call to Texas to wake Gommie and Pop with the news.

Photos of snow on leaves, not enough on pumpkins yet.  Maybe.

But definitely not enough for snow ice cream or snowballs.

Kids off, now a cup of tea with peanut butter toast.

Still snowing.