Snow Day Soup Day

What a difference a day makes! When I drove home from Atlanta yesterday, it was 50 degrees with the sun shining as I zipped up the highway. But the meteorologists said snow was coming. Most of the time when they say the word "snow," it is accompanied by words like "slight possibility" and "slim chance" and "if all the conditions are right." We don't get snow very often.

But this morning, those conditions were right and beautiful snow fell for hours. I imagine most of it will be gone tomorrow. By the weekend, it warms up and we'll only need to put on a sweater to go outside. So you can understand why snow is a cause for celebration for most of us. It lasts just long enough for a few pretty pictures. There might also be a little sledding and maybe a snowman if you have kids. And then it's gone.

Yes, they do clear the major roads, but here in the country, we just wait for it to melt. The cows, on the other hand, do not wait. Daddy-O headed out on the orange tractor this morning as the snow was beginning to accumulate and fed them. They were happy to see him this morning. Looks like we ended up with about 2 inches. That's a significant snow for us. Who knows how long before we will see another one.

When he got back in from chores, Daddy-O asked several times, "Is it time to make snow ice cream yet?" Not all snows will work for ice cream, but this one was perfect. So before lunch was ready, he brought in a huge bowl of clean snow and I stirred up the ice cream, the same way my mother did it when we were little.

There really are no hard and fast measurements here, but this is a good starting point. Today, we even made a second bowl using condensed milk and vanilla. (Skip the sugar here.) Yes, we had a snow ice cream tasting. But both of us like this old-fashioned version best. 

SNOW ICE CREAM

1 large can chilled* evaporated milk

about 1/3-1/2 cup sugar (or to taste)

about 1 tablespoon vanilla

my largest mixing bowl full of CLEAN snow

When snow is predicted, put the can of milk in the refrigerator so you'll be ready. Stir the sugar into the milk until the sugar dissolves completely. Take your time and make sure you don't feel any sugar granules. Stir in vanilla. Taste and adjust to suit you. Then spoon the snow into the milk mixture and stir. Keep adding snow until it "looks like ice cream." It will be soft, so eat it immediately. 

*The milk is chilled so it doesn't melt the snow.

Now while I was stirring up a bowl of snow and milk, I also had a pot of soup going right behind me. For once, we had our dessert (before it melted) before we had our lunch. An upside-down-day as the little granddaughters might say!

The soup is written for an Instant Pot, but you could easily do it in a slow cooker or on the stovetop, too. (You might need a little more water for stovetop cooking, since some liquid will evaporate.) It was a quick and easy soup. In the Instant Pot, using frozen corn and frozen chicken breasts, it took 45 minutes from beginning to end, Not exactly an "instant' but still a very quick way to make lunch. And once the ingredients were in the pot and the lid was closed, I didn't have to look at it, stir it or touch it in any fashion until it was done. THAT'S what makes the Instant Pot useful.

CHICKEN TACO SOUP (Instant Pot) 

        ...recipe from SlapDashMom.com (check her site for other good recipes)

1 small onion, chopped

1 (15-oz) can black beans, drained

1 (15-oz) can light red kidney beans, drained

1 (8-oz) can tomato sauce

10-oz bag frozen corn

2 (10-oz) cans Rotel tomatoes (I used Mild)

1 packet taco seasoning (I used mild, low-sodium)

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (fresh or frozen)

1/2 cup water

Place all ingredients into pot. Put lid on, close and set vent to "seal." Use manual button and set to 8 minutes. Let   "natural release" for 10 minutes. Then release remaining pressure. Remove chicken and shred with two forks. Add shredded chicken back into soup. Serve. 

[If you are doing Weight Watchers, this soup is ZERO points 

on the new Freestyle plan,according to SlapDashMom.]

Last week I bought a bag of individually wrapped chicken breasts on sale and had popped them in the freezer. I used two of those small breasts for this soup. And I put them into the pot FROZEN. No other changes to the recipe. I'm sure it took longer to come to pressure, but that's the only difference. The cooking time remains teh same. From closing the lid to serving the soup took about 45 minutes. It took 25 minutes to come to pressure. Another time I'll try it with fresh chicken and see how much faster that time it.

Okay, I'm going back to watch this last round of snow falling this afternoon. It could be years before we see it again.

Grandmother-In-Residence

This grandmother blog might have fewer posts for a while due to, well.....grandmothering!

Just over a week ago, I got a phone call from Mommy and from the conversation and the sound of her voice, I decided I needed to get the next plane out here. Just like they do in the movies. So that's just what I did. I booked a flight right after that phone call and was here the next afternoon.

I'm here to help out while Mommy waits for the new baby to get here, hopefully not for several more weeks. "More rest" the doctor said. And that is plenty hard to do with a three-year-old in the house. Not to mention all the chauffering that a 13-year-old requires. And the daddy here has to travel a lot. So for the time being, I'm the grandmother-in-residence, glad to be here to do whatever needs doing.

I got here just in time for Little Sister to have massive stomach bug that kept me busy all during the night. I had forgotten about those nights. Changing the bed. Changing her pajamas. Over and over and over. She is better but maybe not completely over it. Last night when I missed the trash can in my bathroom, she said, "It's right here." She had put it beside her bed and put a grocery store plastic bag in it. "I put it here in case I throw out again." She's got the right idea. Thankfully, there was no throwing "out" or "up" or throwing in any direction last night. Fingers crossed that the bug is gone.

I also got here just in time for an awful winter storm. An inch or two of sleet followed by several inches of snow. My Southern bones are not used to this kind of winter. But we stayed warm inside and just enjoyed the view. I have seen enough now. Big Sister has missed 13 days of school now.

And the day school went back, I drove on some snowy roads—roads that would have kept schools closed at home. Grandmothering should include hazardous duty pay.

A little extra time in the house did give Big Sister time to finish the mitts she gave me for Christmas. (On Christmas they weren't quite done.) She added the color blocking to the pattern. A designer in the making!

I'm doing the cooking here now. This family is so good about eating healthy. They get fresh fruits and vegetables delivered to their door every couple of weeks. But this Mimi has had to resort to some of her old recipes to keep everyone fed. I'm not used to cooking for five anymore. (When I get home, I'll have to relearn the "cooking for two" system.)

This is a recipe my mother used to make. It's not like Thanksgiving turkey and dressing--it's a Wednesday night chicken and dressing, all in one dish. Big Sister gave it a 4.15 star (out of 5 stars) rating. I gave it a 3.5. But it is so easy to make and that counts for a lot. I don't use much canned cream soups anymore. This recipe has two cans in it, so I chose the Healthy Request version to cut down on the sodium. Surely that helps a little!

CHICKEN & DRESSING CASSEROLE

1 whole chicken, cooked (save broth)

2 cups of broth from chicken

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of celery soup

1 8-oz bag of Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix

Pull meat from chicken and cut into bite-size pieces. In a large bowl, mix soups and broth. Stir in stuffing mix and chicken. Spread in a greased 9x13-inch baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. 

Yes, this recipe is so old that it calls for cooking a whole chicken. I actually did that this time. But you can use chicken breasts. Or, you can use a rotisserie chicken. Times have changed.

Strange Weather

I talked to a friend who lives in New England last week. He laughed at the Southern way we deal with snow---we wait for it to melt. We don't own snow shovels or snow blowers. Where we live, you usually wait a couple of days and the sun comes out and it's gone. 

This snow hung around for a while. We actually saw snow fall for three days in a row. That just doesn't happen. But then—neither do earthquakes. And we had one of those (4.1-magnitude) just days after the snow. And today? One week later? The high temp was 72 degrees. Got out the flip-flops this morning. Strange times.

The snow kept Daddy-O from making it to the store for a Valentine. So I got this one that he made. And I love it even more than a bought one!

I spent part of my time inside while snow was on the ground making these fun mitts. Just takes a little bit of leftover yarn. The pattern came from a class I took a few days before the storm. Perfect timing.

But the sun did come out and I hit the road. I had not been to Atlanta in many months. The storm had cancelled my weekend beach trip, so I headed South, stopping only for a road trip treat.

When I get to this spot on the highway, I know I'm almost there. I had a good visit with second-born daughter, enjoyed a change of scenery, and a nice brunch. Who knows when I'll get back? 

And who knows when I'll post a blog again? I just haven't been in the mood, haven't had much to say. I did realize that I need to do this blog, even if no one reads it but me. 

I pulled a quart of soup from the freezer on one of our snow days. It was delicious! So I went to check the recipe, thinking I'd make it again soon. The recipe wasn't here on my blog. I couldn't find it on my Pinterest boards. Or, Evernote. Not on the blogs I read often. Not anywhere. I found photos of the soup I'd made, so I'm sure I meant to post the recipe. But I didn't. It's gone forever. Lesson learned.

Now, I just need to cook something.

The Snow Is Following Me

I must have brought the midwestern snow back home with me. I slipped and slid last week in the snow out there as I drove around. Even took a car service to the airport so that Mommy didn't have to get out on the slick roads to get me there. When I got home to the balmy temperature of 32 (it was 7 degrees that day where Mommy lives,) I thought I was done with the real winter stuff. But NOOOooo....Mother Nature had other plans.

We are in the midst of an "historic" and "catastrophic" snow/ice event, says the weatherman. Yes, it has been snowing since yesterday (sleeting now) and it isn't supposed to stop until tomorrow. But we have not had a catastrophe. Let's hope it stays that way. 

We are as well prepared as anyone. I made the mandatory "bread and milk" run on Monday, so the kitchen is stocked. When you live on a farm, preparation is necessary. The cows still have to be fed, regardless of the weather, so Daddy-O has to be able to travel, at least to the other side of the farm. 

But after the chores were done today, we had a little snow fun—in the form of snow ice cream! I make it the same way my mother did. I didn't measure anything but I'll tell you pretty much what I did. If you taste as you go, it will be good.

SNOW ICE CREAM

1 can evaporated milk

about 1/3-1/2 cup sugar (or to taste)

about 1 tablespoon vanilla

my largest mixing bowl full of CLEAN snow

Stir the sugar into the milk until the sugar dissolves completely. Stir in vanilla. Taste and adjust to suit you. Then spoon the snow into the milk mixture and stir. Keep adding snow until it "looks like ice cream." It will be soft, so eat it immediately.

(We set the bowl of leftover snow cream out on the cold porch until we were ready for second helpings.)

Pattern: Learning To Love Lace Fingerless Mitts

Yarn: Malabrigo Sock, (leftover from these socks)

Needles:  Size 6

In between the Midwestern snow and the Southern snow, I squeezed in a couple of days over the weekend at Knit Inn 2014. I taught one class on how to fix knitting mistakes and I took two classes on knitting lace. The last class--the Sunday morning class--was learning lace by knitting these fingerless mitts. Such a fun way to teach a technique! Perfect for the last class of the weekend when everyone is so tired. I finished the first one this afternoon while watching it snow. I'm ready to start the other one tonight and hope to be done before the storm is over.

I was thinking about driving to the beach this weekend to meet up with friends who left yesterday to miss the snow. But at the rate I'm going, it would snow there!

Snow Day!

Where we live, we measure snow in minutes—not inches...as in, "It snowed 15 minutes here. How long did it snow at your house?" "Sad, ours only lasted about five minutes." And those "stand-by-the-window-so-you-don't-miss-a-flake" snows don't come often. So today's real snow was a big deal for us. 

And now, an hour after it stopped snowing (snowfall lasted about 2 hours) it's almost completely melted. That's what makes our snows special. You really have to stop what you're doing and pay attention or you'll miss it. It might be a long time before you'll see another flake.

So glad our barn is red. Looks good in snow photos.

I was afraid if I slowed down to change out of my PJs, it would melt.

Didn't realize I was wearing the "When I am an old woman" purple and red. 

Guess it's time.

On a farm, the work goes on regardless of the weather.

Cows gotta eat.

Snow isn't bad. Ice can be a problem.

Today was pure fluff.

Hay is most welcomed in the snow.

PS  If you listen carefully, you can hear the birds chirping in the snow video. This morning before the snow started, I watched a bird building a nest just outside the window.

UPDATE:  The snow first started falling about 9:30 this morning. Most of the photos were made between 10:30 am & 11:00 am.  At 12:30 pm, I made the photo below. It came. It went.