Thursday, February 21, 2008

Ice Storm

Every January, St. Louis gets a big ice storm. I've been worried that we'd miss it this year, but it was just late! I suppose it's a little odd that I love the ice storm, but I really do. Unless it knocks out the power.

We have a cozy house stocked with plenty of comfort foods. As long as we have electricity, we'll be fine here for a few days.

I love the way the world outside is so silent, glistening, pristine, deadly. It's like the trees and telephone wires and mailboxes have gotten all dressed up in their formal wear and bling. It's the calm after the storm. It's a celebration of life to take little children outside to experience such an event, and it will be Ada's first one.

I love the enforced quietude of being iced in. There's no real pressure to go anywhere or do anything constructive; it's a winter storm! The only pressure is to drink hot chocolate and pamper yourself a bit.

So, for dinner tonight, I made two pizzas. The first was on whole wheat dough, covered with a light Parmesan Alfredo sauce (Rob, this was originally intended for you) topped with some fresh baby spinach flash-fried in a touch of EVOO and mozzarella cheese. The second was more traditional: red sauce, pepperoni, and mozzarella on an Italian white crust. The girls ate, and loved, the white pizza. I served broccoli on the side, drizzled with more of the Parmesan Alfredo, but didn't sweat it too much, since there was spinach on the pizza.

What? A food blog, from me?! Surely not. Tomorrow, the plan is for a homemade chicken pot pie, as long as there's power and Paul's here to entertain the girls while I cook comfort food, and I'll try to spare you the details. Pictures of girls on ice will hopefully follow . . . as soon as a new-new external hard drive arrives to replace our still-under-warranty drive that holds all such precious commodities and is currently reluctant to function (we do have the photos stored elsewhere as well).

8 comments:

Rob Monroe said...

"My" pizza sounds great! Sorry to have missed. Darn Paul and his General Tso craving!

We're getting a terrible mix of snow/rain/sleet/ice and most schools have closed, but I am going to assume that it will be a vacation day for me. The big boss seems to think that everyone is an "essential employee" and that our business is essential to operate, even in terrible weather.

Oh well! Enjoy your ice storm!

SusanIsk said...

EVOO! Even my teenaged sister is calling it that.

BriteLady said...

Did you guys actually get any ice? All we have is a brown slushy mess. While the streets were kind of messy yesterday, neither my commute to or from work was slowed by more than about 10 minutes. Then again, my kids were the last ones at daycare (at 5:30! normally the place is still packed), so maybe my commute was fast because everyone else in town had a vacation day to take...

Sarahlynn said...

Rob, I guess you'll just have to come back again soon! Our ice storm didn't pan out as expected overnight, so Paul's at work today too. Alas. Business as usual! TAKE CARE driving with that beltway traffic on "wintery mix."

Susan, yeah, I'm not a huge Rachel Ray fan, but I couldn't resist the reference!

Kristi, it's lovely here. It's snowing now, but even yesterday's ice was a pure, beautiful white. The roads in this area (W and SW StLC) were terrible yesterday - driving over 20 mph guaranteed a slide - but today is not so bad.

We used your neighborhood as an example this week, with some friends who are considering a move to the St. Louis area. "This is what you get for that price in our neighborhood. And, for the same amount of money further north: this." I was thinking that Pam might have wondered why my van was parked outside her house for a while on Monday.

Beverly said...

Where I live, the annual ice storm usual is about Easter time.

Sarahlynn said...

Then maybe we still have a chance! Because our little storm didn't amount to much except for a bunch of unnecessary school closings on Friday.

BriteLady said...

Pam mentioned your realtor gig this weekend :) Hope your friends find what they're looking for--there's such a wide variety of price vs quality vs squarefootage of homes in the metro area, if they move here, they're likely to find something they both like and can afford.

flatflo said...

No ice storms at Easter this year, Please! The mid-April freeze last year devastated the fruit crop throughout the region, so that this year Missouri wines are mostly from out-of-state grapes. Not many apples or peaches or pears from my parents' orchard, either.

I think I am ready for spring!