is there any more pie?

This morning, as I was dumping all sorts of lovely ingredients into the crock pot while listening to the local radio station, Banjo Man laughed and said, “Boy, you Rhode Islanders really love your storms!”

I’d spent the previous hour listening to people all over the state call the radio station and report what the conditions were, and I intended to listen all day.  So I guess Banjo Man was right.  We do love talking about storms.  Ever since the famous, surprising “Blizzard of ’78”, Rhode Islanders have been obsessed with knowing exactly where the snow is and how much is coming down.

The radio has been on–well, all three radios have been on–for over four hours.  Rhode Island is a small state, but the weather patterns vary across the large island, small islands, coastal towns and the always-hardest-hit northern part of the state.

The reports have ranged from rain to light snow to sleet to thunder to thick snow, with increasing reports of traffic accidents and power outages.

I find it fascinating to listen to as I sit here in my office/music room/sewing area.  I have a project to finish, so I’m praying the power will stay on.  It’s great fun to listen to the radio and stitch away, a mug of coffee near by and a view of the storm from the windows.

It rained here until 10:15, but now the snow is heavy and coming down fast.  We have filled water containers and assembled the flashlights.

The Fed Ex truck just delivered my latest Amazon order.  Isn’t that amazing?  In case you’re wondering, the box held a new guitar tuner, a dvd and a new dvd player (the previous one, so old it didn’t have HD, finally died) for my bedroom tv.  I’m calling it my belated birthday present.  It has the ability to play dvd’s from different regions around the world so I can finally watch some obscure old BBC tv series.

Last night’s “Sweet Fire Chicken” in the crock pot was pretty tasty.  Easy to throw together and nothing remotely “gourmet”, it was good enough to have seconds.  And we are counting the minutes until noon so we can finish the leftovers for lunch.

Projects in progress!

Want to see something very cool?  I have a new sewing table, a real sewing table, for the first time in my life.  I love it.  My sewing machine sits on a little shelf below the table so the entire top of the table is one lovely, flat surface.  It makes sewing and quilting so much easier.

The wind is gusting, the trees are swaying and I think I’d better send this blog post while we still have power.  After all, it’s February!  Time to expect some snow!

We’re supposed to be getting our first blizzard of the winter tomorrow.  It should start at 7 AM and stop at midnight.   The weatherman is warning of high winds along with the snow.

So of course the first thing I think about is food.  Specifically, what kind of hot, comforting, filling, yummy stew can be cooking in the crock pot while a foot of snow covers the ground and the wind howls around the house.

I found a new website with lots of slow cooker recipes!

http://www.lecremedelacrumb.com/category/dinner/slow-cooker-crockpot/

I tried the Asian beef last week, but because I sliced the flank steak too thin the beef crumbled into bits.  But the flavor was decent.  We added hot sesame oil to the sauce and served it over brown rice.

This afternoon I’m trying the “Sweet Fire Chicken” recipe.  I’ll let you know how it comes out.

Tomorrow I’ll do my own version of Green Chicken Chili.

This has been a quiet winter so far.  Banjo Man frequently escapes to town to run errands and get groceries, but I have been a bit agoraphobic and have no desire to go anywhere.  It’s cozy here in my little corner of the world!  Like a big old bear I’ve been hibernating in my warm house for the winter.  In a few weeks we’ll head to Texas for the music festival, so hopefully the warm Austin sunshine will perk me up and shove me back into the world again.

Until then I’ll be stirring whatever is in the crock pot, watching the snow fall and hoping the electricity stays on.