...2.2...Over the (snowy) Weekend...

...we got an early start on a weekend that was supposed to be a major snow event...

...so we had vegan waffles...

...then we made a quick grocery run...

...pretty much normal stuff...we've been having a lot of trouble finding organic soy milk for some reason...so we were thankful that aldi had some...

...we cooked an Instant pot full of yellow eyes...

...and got those stored in Tupperware...some for the week ahead and some for the freezer...we're not really worried too much about losing power this weekend because it's so cold that it's supposed to be a light powdery snow not a heavy wet one with ice...

...and sure enough...just about 4:00...it started to snow...

...and it's been so cold that it started to pile up quickly...

...so of course we bundled up and went for a little neighborhood walk...

...it's sticking on the sidewalks...

...but not yet on the roads...but it's sifting down through the trees and carpeting the woods...those are the big boulders that the little ones climbed on when they were visiting last spring...

...snow on the palm trees...

...and the river rocks around the lamp posts...

...and then back home...

....snow is so unusual here...they said on the news that the local photographers were inundated with calls for family and engagement photos in the snow...and the neighborhood children were certainly enjoying it...

~Wishing you a lovely start to your week!

...1.26...Over the Weekend...

...there was a huge winter storm brewing...and her name was Fern...did you know that winter storms have been named like hurricanes since 2011...I didn't...

...but since we'd already done our weekly shopping trip...we just had a lazy Saturday morning...which we started with a big ol' brunch...

...I made some homemade Just Egg...and sautéed some peppers...(from the newly-organized-freezer)

...and then I cooked it to 'death'...as I can't stand mushy eggs of any sort...

...and then I got out the three remaining Thanksgiving rolls...(also from the newly-organized-freezer)...and sliced them up for 'toast'...

...and sprinkled some Violife cheddar on top of the vegan eggs...

...and then we used up the last of the blueberry jam my sweet Sissie had given u sback in October...

...and then it was time to do some more food prep...just in case we lost power...

...we'd gotten these new-to-us beans...'Orca' beans...for obvious reason...but also called Yin-Yang...and also called Calypso beans...they're supposed to be creamy textured like Turtle beans...with a nutty flavor...

...so we soaked those overnight...

...and cooked them in the Instant Pot...

...I wasn't sure if they'd stay two-toned after cooking...pintos don't...but these Orca beans sort of did...

...so I divvied them up...some destined for the freezer (added to the spreadsheet...haha)...and a couple of tupperwares for us to eat from the fridge...

...and then I made a double batch of Toby's Tofu Dip...it's always delicious...and can just be eaten right out of the fridge with bread or crackers....

...and then I wanted to make Nanny's Mexican Cornbread...but I didn't have any cream corn...so I just got some frozen corn out of the freezer and whizzed it in the Emmie...to give it the right texture...

...I had everything else on hand...and used up some peppers from the garden from the freezer as well...

...and it turned out perfectly...as always...

...I flipped them over out of the pan so they don't get soggy bottoms...

...and then I had bookmarked this soup recipe Creamy Broccoli and Chickpea Soup...and since we also had everything in house to make it...I started sautéing some onions in the Man's new brazier...

...added some green onion from the winter garden...just because I wanted to use them up...and the spices...

...then the vegan stock...

...and the chickpeas...

...added the broccoli and the coconut milk...

...and finally the lemon...and that food-prep was done...and we were ready for Fern...

...we both chatted with our Mom's who were supposed to get a lot more ice than us...our power did go off for a couple of hours during the night...but we did not even get out of bed...it was back on when we got up...so we just re-set our clocks and moved on...

...but Mom was telling me out the delicious Monkey bread that my sweet SIL had brought her...and I thought it sounded really good...but I didn't want to make a whole tube pan full of Monkey Bread...I have a recipe for a yeasted version on Monkey Bread from a long time ago...but this time I wanted more of a quick bread sort...so I mixed up a soft vegan buttermilk biscuit dough...melted some vegan butter and mixed some sugar and cinnamon...

...and then plopped spoonfuls of dough into the vegan butter and then rolled them in the cinnamon sugar and then popped them into the air fryer...

...it smelled delicious as it was cooking and the whole process only took about 15 minutes...

...I love pulling off the little chunks of bread...it was the perfect little two person loaf of monkey bread...

...Church was cancelled...so after noon we went for a little walk around the neighborhood...there is a coating of ice on everything...

...the bushes are crisp and twinkling with it...

...and there's a dusting of snow...I remember learning about all of the different 'types' of snow when we lived in North Dakota...it's fascinating the different temperatures and shapes that create snow...

...this is Rod-shaped snow, known as columns or needles, it forms when ice crystals grow in temperatures around 23°F (-5°C). In these specific conditions, water vapor deposits onto ice nuclei in a way that promotes fast, elongated growth along the c-axis of the crystal, creating slender, rod-like, or cylindrical structures. Key Conditions for Rod-Shaped Snow...

...so guess what the temperature was...haha...

...this is just a random vehicle in the neighborhood...not ours...but it shows the coating of ice pretty well...

...our little bridge with a coating of ice and a dusting of snow...

...the mailbox is the same...

...the poor winter garden may survive this...but it's not likely to survive the week ahead with temperatures falling into the teens...

...but I did pull up a few gorgeous French Breakfast radishes...

~Wishing you a lovely start to your week!

...1.22...another Winter Storm...

...we really did get measurable snow this time...it's very pretty...

...and it's really cold...

...it's very quiet because the roads are so icy that no one is out...

...and hopefully the little winter garden will survive...

~Have a lovely day!