No winter wonderland here. If there was that stage then it passed in the wee hours of the morning long before I got up.

The snow has turned to slush and it's raining. I broke out the snow shovel AKA slush shovel and cleared the bluestone path hoping that I could limit the amount of frozen slush/ice on it tomorrow morning.
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I'm not sure about dinner but I'm thinking it's time to take out the plum pudding and hard sauce that didn't get eaten over the holidays (it was trumped by an apple/mincemeat/walnut pie).

Claire

Not much to complain about this winter, pixie-lou - at least not from me. Our forecast read 3-5" and we already have the 5", so we'll see. It's a mac n' cheese day here with salad. But I'd be happy to have some of Claire's plum pudding. It's been years, and I do like it so! Claire, do you get Crosse & Blackwell's mince meat for your cake? I like mince meat pie, but am a minority of one, so that too is now just a memory. Good English desserts are hard to find...hmmm, a good trifle! Well, winter isn't bad but thinking about these desserts is tortuous for the memory!
Jane

I was thinking about beef stew or chili in the crockpot today along with brownies and tapioca pudding. I have a cold and want comfort food. Maybe I'll make the stew in the crockpot and the chile on the stove and have dinner for the week mostly made.

Our snow is light and fluffy right now, but may get heavier as it warms up this afternoon. We aren't predicted to get above freezing though, and we are already in the mid-range of snowfall predicted so I have hopes for a reasonable amount of snow. This is just our second nice snowfall of the season.
{{gwi:2128232}}From January 24, 2015

Jane: I bought the plum pudding from Vermont Country Store - it's made by Matthew Walker but doesn't seem to be on the VCS website now. They do have Walkers Ecclefechan Tarts on sale. They look to be a good one person size.

The mince meat was Crosse and Blackwell's brandy and rum product, and I added apples and walnuts to convince myself it was healthier - always good to eat fruit and nuts.

Claire

It looks like we'll have plenty of weather to talk about this coming week on Tuesday and Friday! We ended up with something like 5" of snow from yesterday's storm, enough to give us a pretty coating of white, but not enough to completely cover the corn stubble in the field. I don't think that will be a problem any more by Wednesday!

Did any of you end up with any remaining snow? Here it's warm enough so that I imagine it must be above freezing for most of you further south.

Here's a trifle recipe for you, Jane! It's my all time favorite dessert. I use all organic ingredients for this and it tastes wonderful!

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This post was edited by spedigrees on Sun, Jan 25, 15 at 12:57

Oh, Sped...be still my foolish heart! I want some right now! Thanks very much for the recipe, I'll print it! Nice to 'see' you again.
Jane :)

I see we have made the 'weather and what's cooking' official. lol Great idea! We have about 6 inches of snow. A very easy storm, not heavy to shovel. The sun is out here and it's pleasant, but the snow is already off the trees. We have a pot of beef soup on the stove simmering away.

I just heard the South Shore may get 3ft in the storm Tuesday?! I hope they are wrong, that's a lot of snow!

Love everyone's photos!

The National Weather Service has a Winter Weather Page which has all sorts of neat graphic maps showing snow totals, etc.

This is one of them from the Boston office; it may update here.

WFO BOX Storm Total Snow Forecast
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Claire

edit note: The Winter Weather Page has links on this map that take you to the surrounding areas.

This post was edited by claire on Sun, Jan 25, 15 at 16:54

Wowâ¦that is a lot different than what I saw on the local channels. Last map I saw it was showing large totals all along the south coast and the Cape and not more than a foot north of the Pike. That looks like we are going to get more than I was expectingâ¦lol.

Thanks for posting that, Claire.

I'll add my thanks to PM2's Claire. I hadn't seen the updated forecast and was living in the comfort zone of a foot of accumulation. I immediately phoned my near neighbors and none of them had seen the update either. We're now in the 24-36" zone.

24-36", me too. Oh, joy.

I found that site during last year's storms and had it bookmarked just in case.

The map is updating as I'd hoped. Unfortunately, the 14-18" zone keeps shrinking. There now looks like a fifty foot wide strip along the Plymouth coast that I can fit the house and maybe the car into. Maybe less snow but more winds.

Is it Wednesday yet?

Claire

Hang in there Claire! I hope they are wrong about the severity of the storm. You know sometimes the media over reacts. I turned the TV off, when they started saying in serious tones that this could potentially be a 'life threatening' storm.

We've had some snow flurries but that's it so far, but it's getting dark now. I did hear them talking about South of Boston as forecast for the highest amounts. Certain parts of Plymouth unfortunately was mentioned as possibly 3ft.

While we have prepared as much as we can, the only thing I worry about is a long power outage. I decided today to make a reservation at a local hotel just in case. Last time when our power was out for 5 days, we did go to a hotel and luckily thought of it while they still had vacancies, because they filled up quickly once the power went out.

But it is a 'life threatening' storm. They just haven't clarified whose life is being threatened. I personally have my eye on the sour cream in the refrigerator for sour cream gingerbread. Then there are the millions of yeasts that died during Saturday's storm, and their kin who may very well die tomorrow.

If you were a container of whipping cream, you would probably be quaking in your carton.

Sour cream gingerbread sounds wonderful......and with whipped cream on top.....

Claire

LoL Mad Gallica! I am imagining the wonderful aroma drifting from your kitchen. I can't remember the last time I had gingerbread, it sounds great!

So far, not a lot happening here. No wind, not a lot of snow on the ground yet. According to BZ, we're an hour away from something more interesting.

Woke up to POWER ON - huge relief - so far... still snowing - we probably have 16"+. Our section of the state was reduced to the 18-24" bracket. Sincerely hope everyone is powered and okay.
Jane

No power outage here either and very grateful. Snowing and blowing out there. Lots of snow and drifts. Birds are out in this weather at the feeders and I felt bad for the poor doves who couldn't find anything on the ground and the only feeder we have that they could use was emptied by the squirrels. So I threw some cardboard on the top of the snow and covered it with seed. That's the best I can do for them today.

Not sure how much snow is out there yet, but it looks like maybe 2ft. Doesn't sound like there are many power outages except along the coast and the islands. Nantucket is really having a time of it.

Still snowing. Still have power. Still comfortably in the 24-36" zone. Had buttermilk waffles for breakfast. Put chicken drumsticks in the Dutch oven with tomatoes, onions, peppers, etc.

This was my mailbox when I woke up this morning. Maybe I'll still be able to see it when the storm is over?

The power is still on! Thank you, NStar! Now just keep it up for another day......

The snow's still blowing sideways here, but it's managing to get at least 18-24 inches so far and more coming down. The drifts are impressive. I know because I've been shoveling paths for the birds to give them food and water. These are also paths for humans so I'm getting a jump on tomorrow's shoveling.

There is a landscape out there....
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My only treat so far is a heaping slug of cocoa added to my morning coffee.

Claire

We appear to have dodged a bullet & may that continue through the month of February. Sorry Boston et al got slammed and hope there's relief soon for everyone.

No loss of power here either altho' I had a fire built & ready to light in my downstairs woodstove. Don't think I'd have coped well with an extended outage. Wind was blowing strong most of the day but died down when it got dark.

My breezeway is covered so that'll take some shoveling tomorrow--a path will suffice to my way of thinking.

pixie_lou - can you still see your mailbox?

Oh my goodness Pixie Lou! That is a LOT of snow, and that was in the morning. I can't imagine what you ended up with; you will have a lot of work ahead just to get out and about again!

We were lucky enough to be just north and west of the worst areas in NH. Much of the southern and eastern parts of the state got around 2 feet, but that rapidly fell off farther north so that we got about a foot. The snow was light and fluffy with a fair amount of wind, so when I looked out midafternoon, the trees along the river behind the spruce were almost invisible in the snow. This photo was taken in the morning when there was less snow in the air.

I'm enjoying all the beautiful snow pictures but thinking how nice it would be not to have to deal with the snow myself. I just finished digging out the car after clearing snow for the birds and I'm taking a break before tackling this - the pathway to the back side of the house. Maybe I'll leave that until tomorrow - other areas have higher priority (and not-so-deep drifts).
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I rooted around in the freezer this morning and found some lemon ginger scones (broken pieces not suitable for public consumption but just as tasty as the whole ones). I poured on some boiled cider for a little extra energy and then went back out to shovel, renewed.

Claire

Woke up this morning to 6" of snow, and it is still snowing fast and furious. Once again, schools are closed. 3rd time in a week.

DD and DH are folding paper airplanes - DD has a book illustrating 50 different designs. They are planning a flying competition this afternoon. I'm about to put a beef stew in the Dutch oven. And contemplating baking - either rye bread or Finnish Pullla.

This was supposed to be the last day of midterms at DD's school. Well actually, Thursday was supposed to be the last day of midterms, with Friday as a make-up day, but they were sent home after half a day Monday, missed Tuesday, and had a two hour delay Friday. She lucked out(?) and took all of hers, but has friends who still have one to go. I have no idea when that will happen since the email announcing today's closing said that the first day of second semester classes will be tomorrow. At least it has nothing to do with me.

I made banana bread yesterday, so I don't have a burning desire to bake something else.

It was snowing first thing this morning, but it quickly turned to sleet and then rain. Now it's beginning to change back to snow and they're talking about a flash freeze where the temperature plummets in a few hours, turning all that slush to ice.

Since I didn't have the time (or will) to scrape all that slush off the paths, particularly the sloped paths, I decided to scarify the slush so at least it will freeze in lumps and be less slippery. I did this a few years ago and it worked. I don't want to use salt on the bluestone paths and the sand is frozen in the bag.

I pulled an old garden rake out of the tool shed and raked away. It's not elegant but I'm hoping it will be safer tomorrow.

This section of the pathway is level,
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but this section is on a slope and can get treacherous. If the snow wasn't so deep I could walk on the sides and avoid the ice.
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Closeup of the roughened surface (complete with birdseed):
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I decided to make some applesauce today, using up some of the apples that had to migrate from the deck to the refrigerator when it got really cold. Apples take up a lot of room in the refrigerator.

Claire

This post was edited by claire on Mon, Feb 2, 15 at 15:55

All snow here, and lots of itâ¦added to the 2â already on the ground. ItâÂÂs only made it to 10 degrees today. I know it beats ice though.

DH made chicken stew for tonight. Could be interesting since he likes to wing it (no pun intended) without a recipe and use whatever is on hand. Good cook though and enjoys it, so can't complain!

Susan

Snow is still coming down, have already shoveled twice. Lots of birds that are devouring seed. Almost empty feeder after filling it yesterday. We're still eating soup. lol Couldn't have been better timing with a day at home, after staying up late to watch the SuperBowl.

Looks like Houzz has brought us a new format. Hope I can figure out hot to use it!

The little one has another snow day. 4th snow day in 2 weeks. She is happy. It seems like it has been snowing forever. Looks like I'm going to have to shovel out the bird feeders this go round!

That's a lot of snow, pixie_lou. It's not as bad here, but the squirrels will probably be able to reach this feeder if it occurs to them.

Claire (AKA claireplymouth)

This is going to take a little work.

Claire

I only made it to work 2 days last week instead of all 5 that I was scheduled for (and one of those days my commute was almost double its usual length due to road conditions) and the university was closed today again, so I am ready for it to stop snowing for a bit. DH will be out on the tractor tomorrow moving snow back further and higher than the plow can reach so that he will have somewhere to put the next round of snow. I've only made it outside into the woods a couple of days since I am not fond of snow blowing into my face, but I've certainly put in time shoveling walkways over the last couple of weeks. Two of my compost piles have disappeared under the snow, but the view is really beautiful now with the corn stubble buried and snow coating everything. I've done more baking than usual - brownies and a couple of batches of apple crisp since I've been stuck inside so much.

The photo below is the intersection at the end of my road; most traffic turns left, but there is a farm and farm stand down the road the direction I was facing. The wind was strong enough across the fields to send drifts most of the way across the road for two days.

3 wild turkeys came down our driveway to search for food around the bird feeders. Two more joined them but if there was the slightest noise, off they would go. Finally after running away several times they settled in. After a car left, I tossed 1/2 a pb sandwich and a quart container of black oil seeds. I think they are grateful. I just watched two more come thru the woods. They keep sinking into the snow. They will probably fly once they clear the woods. It is too difficult for them to walk I the snow.

I made apple and maple syrup pudding cake earlier in the week. It's tasty topped with great vanilla ice cream (Richardson's in Boscawen). Yesterday Italian braised pork butt was in the slow cooker but I think my family likes pulled pork better. I got a Confection kabocha squash out of the cellar and it is so sweet you would think I had mixed sugar into it. Our very favorite winter squash and a good keeper.

Defrost, would you share the recipe for the apple and maple syrup pudding cake? That sounds nice.

We haven't seen the turkeys for the last two weeks. I imagine they are hanging out in the woods where they have some hope of finding food or in the tree fields at the farm next door where there are many overgrown crabapples.

http://www.yankeemagazine.com/recipe/tinkys-cozy-apple-maple-pudding#_

This is very sweet. My husband thought it made too much sauce but I would only dare decrease the syrup and cider to 3/4 cup each. Cake part is very good. This is an easy dessert to make. I think I made a similar one before, also from Yankee Magazine, that did not contain apples.

Thanks, Defrost. You got me started going to the Tilton Farmer's Market and I've been buying utility apple for baking. One more way to use apples is always good.

Nice recipe, Defrost. Sounds delicious!

Our daughter was here over the weekend and cooked a lamb stew that was so good, there are no leftovers. [g] I'm going to have to get that recipe.

Gorgeous bouquet of flowers, Jane! We've been bringing home hyacinth from the Supermarket. Love the fragrance in the house.

hey, NHbabs, I saw pussy willows as we were coming out of a road west (?) of the library and Canterbury store last weekend. The sap is running in our area! Our granddaughters spent last Sunday night with us so I was cooking bacon and French toast at 5am. We have family dinner on Thursday nights and my family really likes me to make yeast rolls. This week it was Rita's Cornmeal Rolls. The recipe is on Epicurious. There is just a small amount of cornmeal so a person might not realize why the flavor is different. Since the recipe makes 32 rolls (crescent style) I put a bag in the freezer. Making a turkey and rice soup for a potluck meeting on Sunday. I finally started using the trick of pre-cooking the rice and adding it to the soup at the last minute if you make the soup ahead so the rice doesn't get overcooked. I'll add the rice to the slow cooker and hope it doesn't overcook during the meeting but I might just get up and add the rice before the buffet line opens.

My sympathies to people south of us that got more snow this past week. I drove our granddaughters to school Monday morning and since the roads were a tiny bit slippery, I didn't go as fast as they thought I should. Had a warning light come on that I think meant some posi-traction came on. Also pulled over at one point to let the parade of commuters get by me. We made it to school on time because we allowed extra time.

I have a recipe for maple glazed root vegetables I want to try. If I get to the farmer's market, I'll get some parsnips. It will be weeks before we can dig ours. Purple fingerling potatoes are starting to sprout. They taste fine but I can't get past the color. Any suggestions on what to do with them besides roast? They are supposed to contain a lot of phytonutrients.

Thanks, Defrost - I'll have to look for the pussy willows when i am next in the center. Were you on the road that heads down towards exit 18?