12 Degrees

7:55

7:56

Up at 6:15, to a cold, cold morning.  At the moment, it's 7:15, the lake and sky are appearing and I can see what looks like some blue sky above a heavy cloud bank off to the East.  The flag is blowing madly, the lake a ruffled mass of gray and no geese or ducks in sight.  I just stepped outside to take a photograph and it's cold out there!

Long Point

Chautauqua Lake

Yesterday was a gloomy and gray most of the day, with a slash of blue/sun mid to late afternoon. Our usual Sunday takes us to the Chautauqua Institution for a walk but we were afraid the freshly plowed streets would be icy so we decided to walk Long Point State Park instead, a good choice.  For once, we had dressed properly, and we were never cold nor too hot.  The park was empty although we did see some cross country ski tracks, a surprise to both of us.  It looks like it's time to get down our skis from the attic.  It was a good walk, just over three miles, and most of the way the ground was frozen with just a few wet spots where we sunk in the mud a bit.  For most of the way, we were protected from the wind but when we started out towards the tip of Long Point, the Westerly wind kicked in, buffeting us as we walked.  We were out for little over an hour and felt righteous when we got home, the way we always feel after a walk on a cold, windy, snowy walk.

Woodlawn

Since we were having the McClures over for dinner (again), Evie wanted to get started on dinner, so we quickly had our Sunday breakfast of eggs, bacon, and bagels and watched CBS Sunday morning. Around 1:30, Evie got cooking and started to get together the ingredients for the lasagna.  It would have been easier had she used packaged noodles but she had in mind making her own lasagna noodles which takes time, like making up the dough and letting it rest for an hour.  Around 3:30, Evie called me into the kitchen and we began making the noodles and putting together the lasagna.  First Evie would put the dough through the pasta maker four or five times; I would take the finished strips, cut it in half, drop it in boiling water for ten seconds, take it out and put it in cold water, then drain it and put it on a towel. Evie would then grab it, put the strips of pasta in the pan, add a bechamel sauce, then bolognese sauce (prepared Saturday), then Parmesan cheese, then start the process over again, seven,  layers in all. It took longer than we thought and the Mc Clure's were coming at 5:00, so Evie did not get to shower until 4:30 while I cleaned up the kitchen and took a quick shower at 4:45.  We made it just in time as Linda and Ron arrived at 5:15.

A Touch Of Blue, Late Afternoon

The lasagna had to bake for an hour, sit for a half hour, so we relaxed with beers and Shropshire Blue cheese and crackers.  The cheese purveyor recommended trying some maple syrup on the cheese with a cracker and a slice of apple.  I was the only one to try but it was amazing, the sweetness of the maple syrup, the bite of the Stilton like Shropshire blue.

Evie's Lasagna

We ate around 7:30 and all the work of putting together the lasagna was worth it as all agreed it was fabulous, the melding of noodles, cheese, bolognese and bechamel just right, a souffle-like quality.  Everyone had a couple of helpings, along with a salad, rolls with water buffalo milk butter.  We ended the evening early, around 8:45, with ice cream because the Ron wanted to get home to watch Downton Abbey.  We saved it for later in the week on our DVR and watched another episode of RIVER until 10:00, when I went upstairs to read.  Evie stayed down to watch TV for a bit before coming up to bed.  A busy but fun day for all of us.

Dinner With Linda And Ron

It's 8:15 and amazingly, I am sitting in a sun filled living room.  Where have you been?