The Other Side

Tuesday, 2/24

Greetings from the other side of disaster! That is, I hope it’s the other side. What if it’s only half way through and I’m stuck in the middle of it? No, that cannot be. I mean, yes, the pipes froze and then burst and yes, my workshop needs a new ceiling, and Betty’s bathroom is missing a wall, so that’s it, right? All over now. Has to be.

It wasn’t easy to go through, but misery does indeed love company. We weren’t the worst off in town by a long shot. Whole houses were frozen, guesthouses were damaged and restaurants affected. The plumbers who came to fix our problem told horror stories that widened my perspective and made me feel like we are all trapped in a Stephen King novel.

Wednesday, 2/25

The snow that fell last night would have been considered a good amount in the old world, the world BTB (Before The Blizzards). Instead, everyone was talking about how “light and fluffy” it is, nothing to worry about. Perspectives certainly change, don’t they? Still, the new snow does improve the scenery. The old stuff was getting pretty grungy.  Danielle Niles, on Channel 4, says we’ll get more tomorrow. I don’t usually watch her because she says “P-town”, but I’m so desperate for a good forecast I’ll watch anybody in my quest for a snowless future. Not only did she say the “P”word four times, she said we’re having more snow. At this rate we’ll be skiing on the dunes in our tankinis!

The good news is, Tuesday night was supposed to have been the lowest temperature since 1898 here in Provincetown, and we didn’t have frozen pipes! So, I guess we really are on the other side of disaster. Maybe. 

WHAT DOES THE FOX SAY?

What an exciting day! I was making coffee this morning and out my kitchen window I saw the largest fox I have ever seen. He was in the driveway checking out the birdseed Betty puts out, but I guess he didn’t like it, because he trotted off to the next yard, where we got to watch for about 20 minutes while he dug a deep hole in the snow there.  He seemed to be playing. He’d dig for a little bit and then come out of the hole and jump straight up in the air a few times, and then go back into the hole and dig some more. My friend Tony says he was hunting mice under the snow.  What a treat to see him so relaxed. He had no idea he was being watched, and so acted very much at ease.  Finally, he just trotted off, maybe to try mouse hunting somewhere else. Thank the Goddess for our wildlife! I’m so blessed to live in a place where I can watch!

They had gorgeous asparagus at the Stop & Shop yesterday, so I got some and made the following pasta dish:

Makes enough for 2

10 spears of young asparagus  (Try to use pencil-thin spears)

12 raw shrimp, cleaned and de-veined *

The zest and juice of one lemon

4 TBLSP olive oil

2 TBLSP unsalted butter

3 med cloves of garlic, diced

Salt and fresh ground pepper

Hot pepper flakes (optional, but delicious-just don’t overdo it)

Whole wheat linguini

Freshly grated parmesan cheese**

In a medium skillet, heat 3 TBLSP olive oil. Add diced garlic and toast, stirring frequently, until golden. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels. Reserve.  Chop the asparagus into ½ inch pieces and sauté until al dente. Season it to taste. Meantime, cook pasta to taste in 2 quarts of boiling, salted water.  When the asparagus is nearly done, add the shrimp and lemon zest to the skillet and cook until the shrimp are pink and firm.  Add the butter, hot pepper flakes and lemon juice, and about ¼ cup of the pasta water. When the pasta is nearly cooked, transfer it to the skillet and toss well. Cook until the pasta is done to your taste. Finally, add the freshly grated cheese, toss and serve.

*My brother taught me to always have a bag of frozen, de-veined shrimp in the freezer. I get the 21/20 size, and when I need some I just shake some out of the bag into room-temperature water and let them de-frost.  If you really want to enhance the shrimp flavor, cook the shrimp in hot water until they are pink. Reserve the water. Shell the shrimp and put the shells back into the water and boil for about 3 or 4 minutes, then strain and discard the shells. Use the water in place of the pasta water mentioned above. If you do it this way, add the cooked shrimp to the skillet at the same time you add the linguini. Love those frozen shrimp.

**Feta cheese can be substituted if you prefer.

Remember to get some good books on your ereader and charge it up in case the power goes out in the coming storm….

Blessed be,

Phoebe

Well,  I guess the snow is getting to me.  I really wanted to be above it all, shouldering bravely through the blizzard, never given to remarks about the weather like everyone else I know, but Mother Nature finally won,  as she so often does. When the four walls began to close in on me this afternoon, I retreated to the one place where no blizzard, no hurricane, no heat wave or cold snap can touch me: my kitchen. It wasn’t the first time. Since the snow began I have produced a dazzling variety of dishes including beef stew, roast chicken and a snappy three-layer dip on Super Bowl Sunday. Today it was cookies. I was going to make a batch of tollhouse cookies, but I started playing around and came up with the following recipe. Give them a try. This recipe makes about 4 dozen, and they are, of course, best eaten the day they are made, though they will probably keep for about a week in a sealed plastic container.  I don’t have a name for them yet.

NAMELESS  CHOC. CHIP COOKIES

2 sticks unsalted butter

2 eggs

2 ¼ cup flour

¼ cup good cocoa powder (I like Droste)

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 TBL spoon vanilla

½ tsp. espresso powder

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

½  cup granulated sugar

½ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

White choc. Chips

Dark choc. Chips

Dried Cherries

Chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 and prepare a cookie sheet with cooking spray and parchment. Cream butter and sugars together until well mixed and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing until incorporated. Add vanilla.  In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder, espresso powder and cinnamon together. Add to wet ingredients in three batches, mixing well after each addition. Add the last four ingredients, amounts to taste.  Drop by teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheet, leaving room for spreading between each cookie. Bake for 10 min, transfer to rack and cool.

I hope you like them. If you can think of a name for them, I’m open to suggestions.  I look forward to your comments. Now if I could just think of some way to cook SNOW!!!!! Meantime, here's a picture of the Nameless Cookies: