Skip to main content

A taste of Winter & Spring

Image
By

Good morning everyone! Barry has or is still trying to reach Galveston. A bit of a rough day getting flights out ahead of the storm. Late last night he was still in St. Louis waiting…He thinks if they start walking, they may get there faster.

The crew and I spent a good portion of Friday preparing for the storm, learning the 6 P’s of sailing: Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. This planning technique included groceries, wood, putting the plow on the truck, setting up projects to last several days… We knew we wouldn’t be going anywhere for a few days. Two of the crew have never experienced a New England snowstorm. They were awed by the beauty of a graceful snowflake coming down (that was last night at the beginning of the storm). They have yet to show their faces today to see the accumulated 7” of snow and ice that are present and still coming down. We are expected to see this all day long. Today’s lesson: shoveling, plowing, building a snowman, snow angels. We also hope to get a few blocks painted in between all the winter fun. "The mice will play while the Captain is away!"

As a treat for the crew last night, the kids and I shared one of our favorites for a spring snow when the trees are tapped and we’re thinking ahead of spring yet faced with one last bit of winter. We hope this brings back a great deal of childhood memories for many of you.

Maple Snow

Boil some maple syrup in a pan until it reaches around 230’-240’ degrees. We use a candy thermometer for help with this. It will bubble up and make a great mess on your stove so stay with it and stir. It smells terrific! Take a bowl and pack snow into it and leave it outside while your boiling your syrup. When syrup is ready pour it in a thin layer over the top of the snow. It will melt the top layer of the snow and the bottom of the bowl should be still fresh snow. The syrup will cool quickly and make a sticky layer on top. It’s ready! Grab a spoon (or fork) and enjoy the last taste of winter and the first taste of spring! Note: for those of you in the south, try making this with crushed ice. Enjoy!


Have a great day! Be good. Do well. And remember to bend your legs while shoveling snow!
Labels:

Comments

Unknown said…
When I was in training to be a Vista volunteer, way back in 1971, we were taught the 7 P's of planning, "Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance." Since I moved to the south I have had many occasions to refer to the 7 P's but I must admit that here in the south I've had to make it a bit more genteel, "Proper Prior Planning Prevents Pitifully Poor Performance." For bonus points anybody know what a Vista volunteer was?
March 20, 2007 at 7:21 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hail Mary

By
My heart is heavy with sadness as I write this particular blog. Since the beginning of August our dear friend and cook for the last 12 years, Mary Barney, had been struggling with cancer. I have intentionally respected Mary’s privacy and I apologize to you for not sharing any news about Mary’s health sooner. On Monday afternoon Mary passed away very peacefully at home, surrounded by friends and “family”. Her departure was as graceful as the rest of her life. Many people, including Jen, have been doing heroic work to support Mary these last few weeks. Oddly enough Mary was never very excited about transitions though this was about the fastest transition she ever made. And as I struggle to let go of Mary I realize I am terrible with transitions as well. We used to joke about how we liked things just the way they are, thank you very much, so why change what is working already even if it might be less labor intensive. Hard works is its own reward. I used to joke about getting Mary a Cui...
28 comments
Read more

We are Nuts

By
Good morning everyone. Well I just had to say it before you did. Yes, we are truly nuts. Now we have gone and added one more adventure to our already full lives. As you can see she is some cunnin'. We have named her Colby. We had a sign... literally. We were in the car brainstorming names on the way to get her at WalMart (yes, you heard it right) and there at the Waterville exit was a sign for Colby College. Colby just happens to be dear Mary's alma mater. It is also the name of one of my favorite ledges in Jericho Bay, the Colby Pup. It just seemed to fit just like the way she came to us. Nothing about our Sunday was going to be different than any other except that I just happened to be helping a friend get her generator back in the barn while Jen and the kids met her new puppy Sherman. They fell in love... so easy to do. We called and there were had two pups from the same litter available... no commitments yet. We had been having the long family debate for weeks about the k...
11 comments
Read more

Galley Gadgets

By
Good morning everyone. As any of you who have sailed with me know I love gadgets. Creating new and easy ways of doing things is a fun challenge for me even if I am slow on the uptake. So here is a gadget I have tried before that I felt I should share with the universe. I am sure I am not the first person to think of this but, hey, this works slicker than greased owl droppings and it reeks just enough of red neck that the devil in me just has to laugh. We buy our peanut butter by the 9 lb. tub. The stuff we buy is that organic, all natural stuff with the hefty layer of oil on top when you open the lid. I have tried inverting the tub every few days to get the oil to work its way through but getting even consistency is still a challenge. Who hasn't got to the bottom of this kind of a peanut butter tub to find a layer of peanut butter cement? The mother of invention was not necessity. It was laziness as any of you who have tried to hand stir peanut butter will know. If you do not own a...
7 comments
Read more