The Weather Gods Listened

6:24

7:15

Well, the lovers of winter certainly got a dose of it last night as we probably received a total of eight inches during the day and overnight and at the moment, it's like a blizzard outside, the flag waving wildly in the wind.  And a solitary fisherman was out on the lake at 6:30, the first one in perhaps ten days of unpredictable March weather.

Fishing Alone At 6:30

Yesterday began with clearing three or four inches of snow off my car and an 8:00 breakfast with only one of our breakfast club at the Bemus Point Inn, now open after a two week vacation for the staff.  It was a quiet morning there, as many of the regulars did not seem to get the message that it had reopened.  Jack and I, however, were able to hold down the fort and I had my usual breakfast, two poached eggs on hash with wheat toast for my health.  We even talked some politics, something we don't usually do when we are in full force.

When I got home, Evie was making a shopping list, knowing I would want to do something later in the morning.  We were having a lamb and chicken tagine over couscous for dinner so I needed to pick up some lamb for the dish.  Because I had breakfast in Bemus, I had enough coffee for the day so I didn't stop at Ryders's but did return the running shoes I bought on Wednesday because they did not feel right wearing them around the house Wednesday afternoon.  Evie had made a thorough list for me on her Wegman's app, so all I needed to do was fire up my phone, hit the Wegman's app, and check off each item as I found it.  Yes, they tell me what aisle to find an item...cool beans.  Best of all, I found an empty check out line and the gal was fast so I was through and in my car in literally five minutes.

I had bought a sub sandwich for lunch at Wegmans, big enough for two lunches, so I enjoyed a half of the sandwich, with some vegetable soup.  After lunch, Evie got busy with the tagine, a dish from the Maghreb (Northern Africa), using a dutch oven because we do not have the traditional Moroccan tagine (an earthenware pot used to cook this stew).  It involves browning the chicken and lamb, adding spices, vegetables, and chickpeas, then letting it bake for a couple of hours. So once the prepping is done, little needs to be done except check for taste and tenderness of the lamb and chicken.  It's usually served over couscous or with a flatbread like pita.

Once the dutch oven was in the oven, Evie was able to relax and enjoy the snowy afternoon, as the inches piled up once again on the car.  I did get outside to do some shovelling after my nap, trying to keep up with the snowfall.  Linda and Ron had texted earlier in the day to see if we wanted to go to the Seezurh House for their steak special like last week.  We decided it would be fun to go and knew that the tagine would always be better having sat in the refrigerator overnight and heated up the next day.

So we drove over to Bemus Point in a wet snow and met Linda and Ron at 6:30.  It was deja vu all over again, as the girls ordered the steaks but Ron and I broke tradition and ordered the burgers.  Despite the weather, there were a few couples eating dinner and the bar was packed with some locals, enjoying the evening.  We left in more snow around 8:00, fat and happy, and took our time driving home because of the wet, slippery roads.  We had enough TV time to watch two more episodes of Season Two of THE KILLING before it was time for bed.

A Bit Of Nostalgia:

Beth, Ramiro, And Family: Winter Park, Florida, December 2003