A Few Inches Of White (Red's Best Pancake House, Sherman, NY)

Cross Country Skiing On Chautauqua Lake

7:21

It's 7:00, a chilly 15º and I have been up for an hour, waiting for a couple of fishermen to head out on the lake.  Finally, just as it was getting light, a tent appeared, a guy walked out from Victoria.  All is well on the lake.

Looking For A Sweet Spot At 7:00 AM

Sunday was a great day, mostly because we had sun and blue skies and we both got out of the house.  First, after our morning routine of coffee and finishing up the blog, we decided to get in some cross country skiing.  So about 10:30, we went out for forty-five minutes, skiing down to Sandy Bottom and back.

A Happy Gal

It was a glorious morning on the lake and Evie loved getting back out there, enjoying the snow, sun, and blue skies.  There's nothing like sunshine to make your day.  We were happy to come in and shower because we were going out to breakfast to our favorite winter spot, Red's Pancake House midway between Sherman and Clymer, about a 25-minute drive.

We left at 11:30, hungry and happy from our skiing, ready for pancakes and sausage.  Red's parking area was crowded but we were able to get seats and the hostess recognized us immediately and sat down and talked for a bit, a neat gal. The beauty of Reds is you don't have to wait long for your food. They use high school girls as waitresses and one brought us coffee and juice.  No need to order as the pancakes appear in a few minutes.  The buckwheat pancakes are delicious and unfortunately or fortunately, they are all you can eat.  We both ended up eating six, ordering one after another after the first stack of three.  We left feeling stuffed but how can you pass up pancakes with Red's maple syrup. Each year the price seems to go up a dollar so yesterday it was ten dollars a person, well worth it.

On A Buckwheat Pancake High

We waddled out, jumped in our car and drove home on backroads, enjoying the winter landscape, snow-covered fields and blue skies.  Evie knew we would not feel like doing much after our pancakes so before we went skiing, she seared some lamb loin chops, baked eggplant slices, and made a flavorful tomato sauce, spiced with Aleppo and Maras pepper.  The chops baked in the oven, low and slow, until we left for pancakes and the lamb was tasty and tender.

When we returned from Reds, we knew that not much was going to get done in the afternoon.  We spent the afternoon watching some basketball, reading, napping or movies, depending on who was in the TV room.  I decided, finally, to buy a backup system for my computer in case it ever died.  I read about all the various options and decided on BACKBLAZE, the most recommended, an app created by former Apple guys.  It's fifty bucks for the first year, sixty for the following years and is supposed to be easy to use.  At the moment, it is still backing up my computer and has been doing it for probably the past 15 hours.

A Late Afternoon Neighbor Pow Wow

Around 5:30, Evie put the lamb and eggplant stew into the oven and we sat down and enjoyed a glass of wine and listened to the news until dinner was ready.  The stew was straight out of a Turkish Lokanta, tender lamb and eggplant in a delicious tomato sauce.  With Portuguese rolls for dipping, we were in heaven.  We watched a mediocre movie on Netflix called A LITTLE BIT OF HEAVEN, starring Goldie Hawn's daughter Kate Hudson.  She is diagnosed with Stage Four colon cancer and falls in love with her doctor.  The ending was sad-making and predictable.  We ended the night with one of the best Saturday Night Live shows in years.  Usually, we skip through the various skits but not last night; every one was funny and well written and the host, John Mullaney, was hilarious.  Watch it if you have it saved.