Snow

For a nearly snow-less winter, we certainly have seen Spring snow up here in the mountains. It’s now April 13 and it’s been snowing all night with little accumulation on roads that I can see, but 5-8″ were forecast.

The winds picked up yesterday and all the birds went into refuge elsewhere. It’s not unusual to see about 40 ducks from our windows, sometimes a couple of geese, and the cranes. Right now much of the nature preserve is covered in snow, except for snowmelt making rivers and mud holes for the birds to dig into for bugs et al.

What does this extended winter mean for me, except a dirty car? I can make a few more soups or stews before changing the menu toward asparagus, fresh peas and look forward to outdoor farmers’ markets. We haven’t had Julia Child’s French Onion Soup all winter so I have to make it, have the ingredients on a post-it on the frig (all my cookbooks have been in storage for a year).

A few days ago I bought a bunch of spring onions, split the bulbs in quarters while leaving the greens intact, tossed them with olive oil, salt and pepper and we grilled them. A harbinger of spring, before the snow started up again.

There’s a lot going on the next few weeks, though it is tough to think of Memorial Day being right around the corner. We’re hoping to see family that weekend, perhaps Jim’s Uncle Bobby will even babysit a few briskets for 13 hours on his custom smoker. Then we have family coming in June and I’ll work on menus for a picky eater, our nephew.

Along with cooking a good deal this past weekend, I helped my husband with wiring his car to allow him to listen to music on an iPhone or iPod. My time was spent pulling the coat hanger attached to the wire, and making breakfast, lunch and dinner. This morning I think I’m going to make omelets with Black Forest ham and Emmenthaler cheese, and perhaps biscuits. I have to plan it now because it takes 20 minutes for the oven to heat up, and who knows what temperature it’ll be at today? It’s usually 50-100 degrees high but has a mind of its own. Enjoy the day and cook something good!

Oh, here’s something for you. I cut up a slice of red onion, diced 1/2 red bell pepper and tossed it in a skillet with a bit of olive oil, added a couple cups of frozen corn, seasoned and stirred and let it cool to room temperature for a quick corn salad. I added a bean salad and sandwiches and that was Sunday supper. Cheers, Dee