Snowy, Blowy Day

Life in Wisconsin in the Winter is either snowy or cold. We never get both at the same time. We like variety. On Tuesday, we got the snow.
　
Initially, they were predicting 4-8 inches. We got 8 inches by 8:00. Most of all the schools around the area were closed. I couldn’t get up the hill by our driveway, so for me that meant a snow day. I love snow days because you can feel like a little kid again. Sure, I have to shovel, but that just is part of the territory. I was up and wondering about the weather by 4:30. Our dog followed so I let him out to see if he could navigate through the mass of snow on the sidewalk or if he was going to be buried alive. He isn’t stupid. He went out the door, peed on one of my flower pots on the front stoop and turned around and came back in. One doesn’t venture very far when you only weigh about 8 lbs. and are less than a foot off the ground. In addition, Pongo is a Miniature Fox Terrier, which means he seems to shiver all the time and if you mix in the cold and snow it just adds to his shivering antics.
　
It was so white outside that I figured I better go out and shovel so I could gauge how much we got. I always say, if it is during the week and it is going to snow, either snow just a little or a lot – nothing in between. The "lot" or "little" is a better determining factor for me if I am going to be able to make it to work or not. Of course, if the winds are blowing pretty stiffly that is another consideration because most of the country roads I drive during my 35-mile trek to work drift very easily. I went out through the garage and grabbed the shovel and started plowing through. Okay, more here than really meets the eye. Some of the cats came bounding out because if I am out there, they think it is time to get fed. Well, I had thrown their cat dishes in the garage the night before so as not to be buried under all the snow. I grabbed them and scooped out a bucket of cat food and divided it out amongst the dishes. My little kitten, Simba, came scampering out, too, but stopped short when he ran out of the shed and saw he had to be very cunning about getting from the shed to the house this morning. He hopped, bounded, skipped and pounced his way to the house, a little more snowy than he started but a good shake got rid of that. Next, I let out a few yells of "kitty, kitty, kitty" and I looked up toward the barn and saw some of the older cats starting to find their way down from the hay mow. Cats are like mail carriers – no sleet, snow, rain, ice will keep them from getting to food. Although I have seen some very funny stuff go on when they are trying to get to the house on ice.
　
With the shoveling done, I was able to take in the beauty of the winter wonderland. It is always such a sight after a fresh coat of snow. But gazing at the snow wasn’t a smart thing to do when you have just finished shoveling and you are standing outside in just your robe and tennis shoes for extra cover. Brrrr, there may be snow but it was still cold out. Yep, it is going to be a snow day.

Back inside, Bob is saying he better get out to the barn because it is going to be a day of extra plowing. I’m making myself some breakfast and trying to think what I want to make for lunch today. I’m always like that. When I first get up and it is a day I’m going to be home, I think what I want to make today. Sorry, cook by nature. Aaahhh, yes, it is a lasagna kind of day. I had been threatening the last few weeks about making lasagna. Bob is not much of a tomato-based dish kind of a guy. Although he loves his pizza, he’s not much for tomato sauces, so I usually stray away from them. But there are times when I get such a craving for them, and this was such a day.
　
I whipped up some breakfast, did my treadmill, tossed a load of towels in the washer and then zipped around the kitchen checking the pantry and fridge for the staples I wanted to throw into my lunch creation. Lasagna noodles, check; tomato sauce, check; tomato paste, check; crushed tomatoes, check; crushed garlic, check; ricotta cheese, check; mozzarella cheese, check; cheddar cheese, check; eggs, check. Except for double-checking the seasonings, we were good to go. Started water boiling for the noodles and then threw in nine noodles; semi-thawed 1-1/2 lbs. hamburger, crumbled it up in the fry pan, seasoned it with salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder, and fried it up. Next, the sauce. I opened up a can each of crushed tomatoes, tomato paste and tomato sauce and dumped them into the blender; followed that up with a couple tablespoons of sugar, some Italian Seasonings, garlic powder, crushed garlic, onion powder, oregano, parsley flakes, and hit pulse and blend a few times. Once blended, into another pot with the browned hamburger and I let it simmer for an hour. Now the filling. I grabbed an egg and beat it, dumped in a container of ricotta cheese and 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese; mixed it up good and put it into the fridge for a rest. Once the noodles were done, I drained and rinsed them and then hung the noodles over the side of the strainer to wait for the layering process to begin. While the sauce simmered, I constantly taste tested. After adding a 1/4 cup of sugar, some paprika, some more garlic powder, it got the go ahead sign from my taste buds. I next began to layer; a little sauce on the bottom then noodles, filling, sauce, and mozzarella/grated Parmesan/cheddar cheeses; the same process again and into the oven we go at 350 for 45 minutes. Next, dessert. How about Devil’s Food Cake. Always need a little chocolate to cut the tomato taste, so I threw that together quick. That is an old family recipe from my grandmother and I know it by heart. And, into two layer pans and off to the oven with that. I next sliced and buttered upped some French bread and sprinkled on some garlic powder and they were ready to toast up when the lasagna was just about to come out. Finally, I pulled out some pears in sauce and put them into a bowl. Oh, yea, I’m liking the smells already. Time to hurry up to sit down and eat.
　
Bob even made the comment that he liked it very well. He felt the sauce was a little sweeter thus not having such a tomato aftertaste. See, I can make him come around one way or the other – all I need to do is sneak a secret ingredient in and he is all mine!! Satisfied with a meal I thought I better go out and catch up on some shoveling. I shoveled and then let Pongo out so he could get to the sidewalk while it was still clean.
　
Okay, it’s a snowy day and what should you do on a snowy day. Cuddle up in a chair with either a book or a movie. I had three new Netflix DVDs that I hadn’t seen yet so I asked Bob if he wanted to watch one with me. He had already seen The Proposal and Inglorious Basterds, so I queried if he wanted to see Up. I knew the answer before it came out of his mouth, but still had to ask. But he did want to see The Proposal again. Great, I’m in the mood for that one as well. Wow, that was so good. He had to go out to the barn, but I still wanted movies, so I slipped Inglorious Basterds in for a complete afternoon of DVD overload. I didn’t realize beforehand that it was 2-1/2 hours long, but worth it. As I love animated films, I’m saving Up for a little speck of time for myself this weekend.
　
Once Bob came in from the barn, I fixed some tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. We ate while we watched The Good Wife. We both really like that show.
　
I noticed when he went out to the barn, it had started snowing again and when I let Pongo out for the last time tonight, it is still snowing. Lightly, but snowing. Hope the roads are better in the morning.

When The Drama Queen In Your Day Is Inanimate

Boy, it sure is nice when the weekend gets here. It is time for cleaning, laundry, cleaning, laundry, cooking, baking, cleaning . . . okay so maybe I want the week back! Hahahaha!

My husband, Bob, and I got up bright and early, only to find we have something new on our plate for the day. Bob opened the fridge before I did and noticed the milk just didn’t seem very cold. Oh, no, not another appliance purchase. I just couldn’t bear the thought of it. I wanted to spend a day at home, a day of relaxation with cleaning, cooking, baking and laundry. I really needed to pray to the appliance gods. In 2009 we had already purchased a new dishwasher in January, dryer in June and water heater in October. In addition my stove was going so my sweet hubby surprised me with a new glass-top, double oven stove a couple days before Xmas. Don’t get me wrong. He didn’t go into that purchase blindfolded. This is a major purchase to get for someone who thinks of the stove as another limb. It has to be just right, it has to fit me and if it doesn’t, it is gone. I guess he was paying attention to the times we were looking at other appliances and I would wander over to the stoves to check them out.

Our fridge, on the other hand, she (yes, she, because she can be quite the drama queen sometimes!) has been informing us for the last 1-2 years that she wanted to take a permanent vacation, so I shouldn’t seem surprised that she was getting cantankerous again. In the past, we would take out the back panel in the freezer, defrost her with the hair dryer and put in a new part. Sort of like botox for the fridge. And she was good to go for another few months. We were hoping today would be the same.

Bob had to go out to the barn to milk cows and informed me to get the freezer cleaned out and he would deal with it when he came in. I pulled stuff out of the freezer and started packing it into a cooler. Hopefully, I would be able to put it back in and not have to take everything out to the big freezers in the garage. Then I put it in the back of my mind for the next couple hours.

As I made my breakfast (consisting of orange juice, skim milk and a ham/cheese omelet sprinkled with peppers and mushrooms and whole wheat toast), I surveyed the goods in the freezer and fridge to figure out what I wanted to put together for lunch. I pulled some chicken breasts from the freezer and decided I would make some stuffed chicken breasts for lunch. So I threw together some stuffing, thawed, split and seasoned the breasts, filled them, skewered them shut with toothpicks and put them in an oblong Pyrex dish with some chicken stock and cream of chicken soup. I positioned the chicken in the center and added frozen mixed vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots) around the outside, seasoned them, covered it with tin foil and stuck them in the oven at 375.

Now, what to do for another side dish. Pasta or potatoes? I was more in the mood of just putting everything in the oven and let it all bake, so potatoes it would be. I took out some golds, peeled, chunked and rinsed them, and put them in a bowl. Next, the sauce. I seasoned the potatoes with salt/pepper, poured a little chicken stock in the bowl, grabbed another can of cream of chicken soup, cut up some Velveeta cheese, added a little horseradish sauce, Dijon mustard, skim milk (got to cut the calories somewhere!!), onion and garlic powder, Parmesan/herb seasoning and mixed it all up. Then poured it into a buttered oblong Pyrex dish (love these dishes), topped it with some paprika, covered it with tin foil and into the oven with its neighbor Mr. Chicken. Now, onto to dessert. I feel the need for one of my favorites – angel food cake; so threw it together in the mixer, beat it and into the angel food tin and the lower oven. Set the timer and away we go. Aaaahhhh, lunch is just a few hours away and it will be a no-muss, no-fuss, pull-it-out-of-the-oven kind of meal. Hurrah! And this is exactly why I wanted and love having a double oven. I’ve got lunch and dessert working at the same time, different temps, different timers. Sometimes – even for just a moment – life is good!

Off to cleaning and laundry. Bob decided to pop into the house before doing chores to get a head start on the fridge – just in case I need to run for a part or, heaven forbid, we need to run for a new fridge. It is not like I haven’t done my homework on refrigerators. I have. I know what want. It is just that age-old thing of money. We didn’t really want to have to do it now, but if you have to bite the bullet, you have to bite the bullet. He called the small town dealer where we bought the fridge 16 years ago. Nope, they didn’t have the part on hand, and they would have to order it; wouldn’t be in until Tuesday at the earliest. Bob tinkered with the fridge, got it defrosted, put it back together and it started up again – but for how long? We are hoping until at least Tuesday. Okay, off he went to do chores. Off I went to, once again, try to get back to my laundry and cleaning. I put in a Rascal Flatts CD and cruised thru the house.

Lunch came and went. Everything turned out great, with the added touches of some warm rolls, a tossed salad and angel food cake for dessert. By late afternoon, tired of cleaning and laundry, I knew I had to check in on things at the nursing home which is a 15-20 minute drive. I cleaned up and headed out. Since I was going to be getting there right at supper time I decided to make a run into Madison first to pick up my niece’s birthday present and return a sports coat I had gotten for Bob. Shopping accomplished, I headed to the nursing home. When I got there, she was sound asleep, so I sat bedside for a half hour, tidied up some of her stuff, then went out and talked to the nurse for a little bit. Nothing more for me to do here, so I went home.
　
Walked in the door, checked the fridge; good–still running and not hopefully my the antics of my attention-seeking whiner are over for the time being. Grilled ham and Swiss cheese sandwiches for supper once Bob got in from the barn, we were content for the night. We caught a little TV, let the dog out for his evening duties, I did a little reading of Heat Wave and found myself tuckered out. The bed never felt so good.

Hope it’s a better day tomorrow. I could use one that is not sprinkled with the inanimate objects in my house wanting some serious one-on-one interactions.