Blizzards and Blossoms

Got snow?

After a break from snow during much of January, we received more than 18 inches of snowfall in the last 12 days. The recent snowfall lead to a surge of snow days and other cancellations and although the local school schedule has absolutely no effect on my life, last week's schedule ended up a bit topsy-turvy as I tried to time my trips into town between major snow events. It may not have been the week I originally imagined, but I did get some major dental work wrapped up and met deadlines for two freelance articles, so we're just going to mark it down as a good week.

I thought I'd catch you up on the photo roll. There was a full moon on Valentine's Day and Andy and I snowmobiled over to a neighboring lake to see if I could get any decent shoots with my little point and shoot. Although I won't be giving up my day job any time soon to pursue photography, I'm pleased with the results and think they give you a good idea of just how bright the moonlight was.

Earlier on Valentine's Day I made a batch of these: cream puffs from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. You know how you get those ideas that worm into your brain and just won't let go? At Christmastime, a jar of chocolate sauce arrived in a gift basket and the jar label suggested you use the sauce on ice cream, cake, fruit, and profiteroles. Profiteroles! Since New Year's, I've been haunted by the idea of cream puffs and I finally decided Valentine's Day sound like a good time to throw roughly a dozen eggs into a dessert that disappears in the blink of an eye. Also, I resisted the temptation to make the filling out of instant vanilla pudding and Cool Whip (don't knock it 'til you've tried it) and instead followed Julia Child's recipe for Creme St. Honore. It was worth the extra effort.
 

 

Blizzard-y conditions kept us off the lake most of the week, but we sneaked in a few minutes of ice fishing before sundown on Thursday as the large snowstorm rolled in from the west. Speaking of Thursday - who watched the U.S./Canada women's gold medal hockey game? My heart and nerves are still exhausted. Ladies, ladies let us not rest upon our laurels once a 2-0 lead is secured or liefer Canada will bet us 3-2 in overtime. Moral of the story: the U.S. women have not won an Olympics since I was twelve. Cammi Granato and Karyn Bye, wherefore art thou?!

The snow that was predicted for Thursday didn't arrive until late that night. While the forecasters were a bit off on the timing, they were right about the quantity: lots.

To help break free of this monotone environment, I actually purchased flowers this week on a whim. They even smell nice.

The amaryllis is blooming too, so we have lots of dramatic flowers in the house at the moment.

If snow's got you down, remember: "Snow and adolescence are the only problems that disappear if you ignore them long enough." -Earl Wilson