Besides the cold, which has been unusually brutal, and which has spawned yet further discussion about a woodstove to supplement our kerosene heaters and generator and possibly a windmill to power a shallow well, there has been snow. Lots of snow. And if there's not been snow, there's been thaw, which, on dirt roads without any decent drainage, leads to flooding, followed by freezing, which leads to ice.
The roads around here have been completely impassable for so many days since Christmas that being snow-bound is becoming a way of life: when we can't do anything else, we stay at home and do lessons, scrounge meals from whatever we can find in the refrigerator and pantry, hope the power stays on and the hot water keeps flowing. When the roads are clear, we run errands, drive everywhere, see everyone, get everything we think we might possibly need, plus some. Just in case. Makes for some interesting impulse purchases, most recently a bunch of nearly every variety of herb I could find, including some, like savory or lavender, that I practically never use.... you know, for just in case.
One thing I probably should stockpile is champagne. I just keep forgetting. It would have come in handy on Sunday when, once again snowbound, I discovered these savory pancakes. Of course, being snowbound, I was stuck with the materials I had at hand: No Madrigal cheese? No problem -- I used some Stilton instead. No ham? I used bacon. No mushrooms? Well maybe next time, when I'm making them just for me and M. Instead, I just crumbled a bit of Stilton between the layers, along with the bacon. I did happen to have some buckwheat pancake mix, and got lucky with the fresh thyme, and just for good measure, I seasoned the batter with a tablespoon or two of finely chopped green onion, crossed my fingers, and hoped for the best. The result: amazingly fabulous, much better than I had any right to expect, given the alterations I'd made, and given that it was my first attempt at poached eggs. Everybody loved them. Mimosas would have been nice, though. Thus the need to stockpile champagne.
So, simple concept: many delicious possibilities. What would you do with this?
What I'm doing when I'm not cooking or complaining about the weather: prepping materials for next term, tutoring students.
How I know there's a mercury retrograde going on: MS Word just vanished into the ether, taking with it a full page of typeset equations. So far, though, no appliances have crashed, making this a fairly mild retrograde. Call me grateful.*
*Amended, Saturday a.m.: Just lost my monitor. Good thing M. has two and is willing to loan me one for a while.
Things we never used to get when we lived in town: junk mail flyers for Backyard Poultry magazine. "Don't throw that out!" cried M, when I attempted to hurry it into the trash. Do you think I should be worried?
9 comments:
My favorite poultry "joke." Occasionally, we get these roving bands of meat purveyors going door to door to unload, what, overstock? Who knows. I greeted one at the door a couple of years ago, explained we were vegetarian. "No problem!" he said. "We've got chicken, too!"
Be very worried.
Hi Anno, I've hardly been outside over the last 10 days either so I understand a bit how it feels. and I always tend to stack full freezers full of goods. I like to have things at hand in case I want to cook without (wanting) to go outside. Then again, I hardly every do that: Jan's the cook and he wants to buy fresh goods. Right now we're doing a big freezer clean-up though. Always interesting what inspiration comes from that :p
It has been a brutal week up too. Below zero temperatures for a week, some snow, relentless weather that turns moods sour and puts black ice on the freeways.
This morning, at 6:30 a.m. the temperature is above zero heading for a high in the mid-20's. Feels like Brazil!
paschal: When I was a student in Germany, I declared myself a vegetarian (largely to avoid the "blood sausage" I feared being forced to eat), and I was constantly astonished how frequently people would offer fish or poultry as an alternative... but it's not Fleisch , they explained.
Ellen: I'd be interested in hearing about your inspirations... we're kind of doing the same.
Greg: It's good to hear your weather report. Gives me hope!
I'm rather happily snowed in today, catching up on reading and writing. As long as the power holds out, I'm happy.
BTW, there's an award for you at Becca's Byline :)
ohmigosh a poultry magazine? Be worried that he wants to toss it out? Nah. That's just not a magazine you see every day, either. You gotta take a look.
In the meantime, bravo on your recipe; there's no way I could pull that off. I have no natural cooking tendencies but can only imagine how delicious that was.
And you DO need the lavender ... if nothing else, it's scent, the magic it works.
Hope monitor, etc., are back online soon if not already!
So glad you understand Mercury retro. For me, it's been terrible this time -- the flights (both ways), computer issues, the whole digital TV thing -- all techy, communication or transportation-oriented. Makes me scream!
Have you tried the $6.98 Cava at Trader Joe's? My go-to for champagne since I can't afford the real stuff and the Cava is wonderful -- not too sweet. And the price is definitely right!
Your culinary experiment made me smile. Sounds fabulous. Isn't it fun to know enough to punt when you have to?
PS -- the poultry thing scares me...
Yes, I think you should be worried. Very worried.
Sorry to hear about the monitor - I hope that's fixable soon?
I, too, am getting tired of the snowbound feeling.
In my effort to "clear out", however, I'm finding that we're often left with odd bits to put meals together. It's worked so far, though.
I used to think it might be good to be forced to eat things out of the freezer, but no more. Time has a way of getting away from us, and food frozen too long needs to be tossed, I have sadly learned.
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