Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Snowed In



It's complete whiteout where we live right now. This is the view of one of our fields to the back of our house. It doesn't look that bad from the photo, but you can't really see anything with all the wind blowing the snow everywhere.

My parents said that they've got reduced visibility where they are, but we can't see a single thing out here. The buses are canceled and some of the highways are closed. I loved school when I was a kid, but I loved hearing that ever anticipated radio announcement for school closures even more! Sure, it was too horrible out to venture to school, but it wasn't too miserable to play outside in all that snow! It's amazing what we can endure when we're young!

On the radio, it was announced that the winds were blowing as fast as 120 km/hr in some areas and in others, around 80 km/hr. I seriously thought the roof was going to be lifted off our house. Unfortunately, that was the case for poor 'ol Chance's house. My Dad built him an amazing doggy condo that is insulated, has two rooms and a roof that can lift open so you can clean the inside of the dog house. This morning, the roof was nowhere to be found.

Anyway, this wind and snow just totally threw off our plans. We were going to take my Dad out for his birthday this evening. I suppose I could take this opportunity to do paperwork for income tax season. Oh, what joy.

Of course, nothing beats a hot bowl of soup on a cold winter's day. I love homemade soups.
I made a very quick cream of broccoli and cauliflower soup. Please be advised that I don't really ever measure things...except when I'm baking, of course. With soups and other dishes, I pretty much fly by the seat of my pants and improvise, experiment...and just wing it.

To make this soup, you will need:
-4 cups broccoli, 4 cups cauliflower (cut into small pieces)
-1/2 cup chopped onion
-2 cups chopped spinach
-1 cup celery, chopped
-a couple of tablespoons of butter
-1 cup of cheddar cheese (cut up)
-2 cups milk
-2 tablespoons garlic (or garlic powder if you so desire)
-2 tablespoons cornstarch, dissolved into 1/2 cup hot water)
-some chicken or vegetable stock (you can use 2 chicken bouillon cubes if you wish)
-salt & black pepper to taste

Put all the ingredients into a pot and let cook until veggies are tender. Be careful not to scorch. You can let the soup cook slowly for 2 hours, but if you're impatient like I am, it can be ready in 30 minutes. Yes, half an hour, people!

This soup is sooooo good! It's probably not the most figure friendly soup out there, but it is certainly easy to make and very delicious! Teamed with a toasted open-faced tomato-garlic-black pepper sandwich, this is a great meal on a cold winter day!

22 comments:

Farmer John said...

I just love snow days!!! Except that I get to go out and work in them :(

Unknown said...

Hubby:
I know ;p You and your mom always say that farmers never have days off...or vacations :)

Unknown said...

Stay warm inside!

That dinner looks delicious!

Jeanna said...

I didn't realize what a great cook you are. Grandma and I will hop on the next sled and be there for dinner. Oops, the sled is frozen and the dogs are eating soup and watching Soap Net.
It's not easy taking photos in weather this cold. I hate to ask, how much did the temp drop up there?

Uncivil said...

Mmmmmmmm...that cream of broccoli soup looks delish!
I'm gonna say hello to Jeanna on your blog to thank her for the wonderful posts of Roscoe & Miss Vickers since she must have me blocked from leaving comments on her blog??!!!LOL!!!!

Uncivil said...

Farmer John
I hope C is fueling you with plenty of that warm cream of broccoli soup!!!
I'd be comming back inside for soup break about every 30 minutes!

caninecologne said...

whast a delicious looking soup! that will be on my "to do" lis!

we've had rain here (no snow like you guys) and i made a smoky corn chowder, recipe from the newest issue of Real Simple. i'll be posting that on my food blog eventually. i made it twice already and it employs the use of bacon fat, bacon and half and half! bacon fat = good.

Karen MEG said...

Broccoli and cauliflower, two of my faves, I'll have to try that soup.
That looks very cold and snowy. I used to love snow days as a kid too. It was sooooo windy today, days like this I can't wait for spring.

Unknown said...

d'rae:
Thanks! We stayed in today- I didn't go out to work but Hubby had to.

Jeanna:
It was -11 degrees today but a high of +5 yesterday. Brrrrr!
You and Clem are most welcome to pop on by for soup whenever you wish ;)

Unknown said...

Jimmy:
The soup was certainly deeeeeeeelish! (I had two bowls of it) I brought some over to my parents' house tonight and they really enjoyed it too. We were supposed to take Dad to Red Lobster's for his birthday, but with the roads being as nasty as they were, we decided not to chance it.

Canine:
Yes! You should try this recipe sometime. It's sooooooo easy! I'm looking forward to your smoky corn chowder! Hmmm...I wonder if it's hard to make homemade clam chowder. Have you ever tried?

Unknown said...

Karen:
It was a really cold -11 today. It wasn't really snowing a lot, but more like the wind blowing around whatever snow we did get. We had a lot of rain in the past few days, so a lot of the snow we got has melted. Icky.

Jeanna said...

Dang, James, I didn't block your redneck butt, I swear! Red neck butt, ha, that sounds funny.

Heidi said...

Oh, isn't the soup and sandwich combo most comforting on a cold day like this! Looks sooooooo good.

Uncivil said...

C
Tell your Dad I love "Red Lobster"! You must take him as soon as the weather clears!
Jeanna
We got to quit meeting like this!

caninecologne said...

i've never tried making homemade clam chowder but i can sure try!

Anonymous said...

That soup looks so nummy!!!! I wish my hubs would eat stuff like that. :( The blowing blizzard you had resembles the one we just had, closed highways etc. I don't mind weather like that at all.... cause I always stay home! My good good parka got damaged in the washer (color went kapuk!) so I brought it back to Land's End and they don't make that one anymore (???!!what!!???) so i got the 'replacement'.. apparently everyone is into fashion now and not warmth.. and it's only rated to -10, so this last week when it was -30 it didn't do the 'job'--my other coat was rated to -30. But at least I look kewl. :( Hope you got a warm coat in canada.
ps.. i wished i kept my old one with the damage. :(

J said...

Wow that looks YUMMY! I made homemade clam chowder once, and it was a labor of love, because it was a lot more work than opening up a can. ;) But boy, it was really good. I got the recipe from a cooking class I took once...I wonder if I still have that recipe somewhere...

Unknown said...

CK:
You are so right about soup and a sandwich being comforting on a cold day! I'm not much of a sandwich eater...I am not much of a bread eater for that matter, but I do love soups of all kinds!

Uncivil:
We ended up taking him to Red Lobster's for his birthday last night (a day late, but at least we went)! We had a great time.

Unknown said...

Canine:
I'd love to check out that corn chowder recipe of yours! If you ever attempt a clam chowder, I'd love to hear about it!

Christine:
LOL! "Nummy"...That's exactly what I told Hubby when we were eating the soup!
It was -6 or -7 yesterday and I thought that was freezing!!! I can't imagine -30! Yikes!
BTW, I'd like to blog link ya if you don't mind! ;)

Unknown said...

J:
If you ever find that recipe, I'd love to try it out! I just love clam chowder, but only eat it when I'm at a restaurant because I know it's pretty labour intensive to make, right?

J said...

C, I found the recipe, and it will be up on my blog for you tomorrow. :) It's chopping and so on, a lot more work than a can, but really not too bad. Give it a try! I think I might make it on Sunday...I haven't made it in 6 or 7 years...

Unknown said...

J:
Woooo hooooo!!! You're the best! ;)

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City girl moves to the country, falls in love, and marries a farmer. She tries to incorporate her city ways with her new country lifestyle and blogs to keep in touch with friends, family & students who live far, far away :) Can this city girl go country? Watch as she learns all sorts of exciting things about life on the farm and in a small rural community. *UPDATE* We are now parents! Our baby girl was born on Nov. 11, 2008 (at 28 weeks gestation- 12 weeks premature, but she's quite the trooper)!!!
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