Saturday, January 30, 2010

Perfect Winter Day

What a great way to end January ... with snow! Lots of snow (and sleet and freezing rain). This is what the view from the kitchen window looked like at 8:14 this morning.


I feel like a kid with an unexpected day off from school. Since it's Saturday, there's no work (the real job) and it's just silly to open the store (the authorities are asking people to stay off the roads unless they HAVE to).

What should I do? Hmm ... there's always laundry and bookkeeping and getting ready for taxes ... but I think I will play "hookie" today and enjoy the unexpected time off.

So far, I've already made a batch of butternut squash soup (had most of the ingredients prepped from a class last week) and I have a crock pot going with my favorite chili recipe. Tonight I'll make pasta with a simple marinara sauce with smoky bacon. Luckily, I have all these staples in my pantry / fridge / freezer.

Speaking of staples, here's a short list of what I consider essential to have on hand for any "weather" situation:
  • Wine, beer or your favorite "beverage"
  • Coffee (or tea) with whatever you fix it with (I like milk only)
  • Milk, eggs and bacon (think scrambled eggs for breakfast or an omlette for lunch or dinner)
  • Cheese (at least some cheddar and maybe some parmesan) and crackers (get an assorted package -- you never know how long you'll be snowed in and might get tired of Ritz after a while)
  • Dried pasta, canned tomatoes (I'd go with diced and tomato sauce) and maybe some canned beans (cannelini, kidney beans or chick peas -- these could be added to your pasta, chili or be made into appetizers)
  • Chili fixins (2 Alarm chili kit, ground beef, tomatoes (covered above), chips or corn muffin mix and your toppings ( I like cheddar, onions and sour cream).
  • Frozen waffles and pure maple syrup (this will go nicely with the bacon and eggs above)
  • Peanut butter and jelly (or honey) and your favorite bread.
  • Bottled water
  • CHOCOLATE

Now that I've mentioned chocolate, I'm getting a craving for something sweet. I'm going to see if I can whip up a batch of brownies or something.

Keep warm and I hope your power stays on!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I like when you do topics on here. They are soo helpful- I wish I had that list yesterday, I never know what to get!! :). So now I have your list :)!!