Snowed in

Well. In Atlanta we get snow that accumulates only about once every ten years. In fact, the last time I remember it happening, it was 2000, I was in school at Tech, it was also January, and I got the flu. My friend Kyle came by and brought me chicken soup and lemons for tea. It was very nice of him.

I don't remember how long that storm shut down the city, but I already knew Atlanta didn't handle the cold well from the time I lived on west campus and it was icy so they put down salt on the sidewalks. And then they hosed it all off and it froze. So we walked next to the sidewalk on the snow.

Indeed. Well, Sunday night it snowed. A lot. (Where two inches is a lot here.) And then it snowed a little more on Monday. Josh ran out to the store to pick up some things I wanted, not that we thought there would be any problems with snow, stores, or Atlanta being shut down. Wow, were we wrong.

Sunday night, I made meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and homemade gravy. Then I packed them into nice little lunches. Look at that advanced planning. Then I made cheeseburgers with Riverview beef and a 3 yr Tillamook cheddar and potato salad for dinner.

Monday, we got snowed in. For lunch, I took leftover bangers and fried up a mess of onions. I made little banger hoagies with caramelized onions with hamburger bun "hoagie buns". Ghetto. I also made french onion soup. Those leftover baguettes and american cheese slices come in handy. Since we were home and we were working on clearing out the freezer, I made short ribs from The Art of Braising. They are pretty easy, just time consuming. I served them over mashed potatoes with a side salad from the AeroGarden. That champagne vinegar is way stronger than you think.

Tuesday, the office was still closed. For lunch, we had leftover cheeseburgers (American, this time) and potato salad. For dinner, we had corned beef that Josh bought Sunday along with the requisite boiled cabbage and potatoes.

Wednesday, the roads were still bad. Some people journeyed out in the danger. I went outside and broke up the ice that was my driveway for an hour and a half. If you know me, you know I only do one instance of yard work every year and I was so happy to have avoided it this year. I did not want to make up for that with snow work. Oh well. I am sore and my wrist hurts. For lunch, we had meatloaf with mashed potatoes with gravy. I added extra butter (that I made) to the taters because why have a crappy lunch at work? It does the same boost at home. For dinner, we had wagyu coulotte from Star and gambas a la placha that were a little undercooked. I worried about dying. I felt high. It could also have been the bourbon drink and wine. We also had roasted baby Vidalias and roasted potatoes, garlic gloves, and red onions.

Today, I still worried about leaving the house. It was 19 degrees when I was up and showered and looking out the window at the road that looked like black ice. For lunch, I took boxed chicken stock and added the leftover (undercooked!) shrimp heads and two tablespoons of red miso and let that simmer. It's very loosely based on an Elizabeth Andoh recipe. Then I cooked up my favorite "oriental noodles" poured in the broth, and added a healthy pile of scallions. Pretty damn tasty.

For dinner, we are having chili. The Riverview beef is defrosting right now and the beans are (hopefully, because I haven't checked recently) simmering on the stove. I'll put it all together soon. Good thing Josh bought sour cream on Sunday.

The sun was out today and melted a lot of ice. Some of it will freeze again tonight (15 degrees) but it will be 41 for a high tomorrow so hopefully it will be at least 32 when I leave the house. Can't stay home anymore.

I am tired of cooking. I kind of want to go out for dinner tomorrow.

What I learned about myself is that I'm far more creative and experimental with lunch. I am fairly certain that if I always make lunch at home (and it would have to be for both of us because I don't really like to cook for just myself) that I would start to try new things and combine other things that I'm normally afraid of doing. Not mention that you really use up all your leftovers. I'm getting better at using leftovers for lunches anyway, but it's a different ball game when you are preparing it fresh, not in a microwave. Also, I make a decent quick lunch.