And This Is How Our Days Go

The good thing about February is that we see signs that winter won't be forever here in Michigan. Yes, we will still get snow -- maybe even a lot of it. But then you have melting days where the temps are warmer and the snow begins to reveal the grass beneath. And, as we celebrated Christmas late, we did Valentine's Day late, too -- so only about a month till "official" spring. Time flies!

I just came in from picking some thyme and sage. I'm amazed they hold up through the winter outside. There's nothing like fresh thyme -- possibly my favorite herb (or at least a tie with fresh basil!). Somehow, it is surviving well under the snow.

I made Julia's wonderful French onion soup the other night for dinner. That and a salad and it was all divine. But it paled in comparison to the wonderful dish Rick made for our belated Valentine dinner. It's called Mediterranean barley risotto with mushrooms and carrots and you can find the recipe right here. It was so flavorful! He substituted one cup of the liquid with one cup of white wine. It would be a wonderful main vegetarian dish or was great as a side.

It was lovely to be treated to a lovely dinner by my favorite chef! In addition to the risotto, we had steaks on the grill and I made my favorite chocolate mousse from The French Market Cookbook by Clotilde Dusoultier. This is a terrific cookbook and I heartily recommend it.

It's very easy -- melting nine ounces of chocolate, folding it into a meringue of six extra large egg whites, 1/4 t. of cream of tartar, a pinch of salt and about 1/3 c. sugar. Let it sent in ramekins and done! (You can also pop this into the freezer for sorbet or bake in ramekins for a lava cake but I've never tried those!)

Mary Berry says the true sign of well-whipped meringue is holding the bowl upside down over your head, which she has Paul Hollywood do in some of her Baking Show masterclass episodes. I was very nervous but I tried it --it works!

Every year I do a poetry book for him with poems about things that happened to us.

This year's version included Covid hair, vaccines, time at the lake, taking care of mom and toddler sitting! 

Rick gave me a beautiful sweetheart rose plant which will go in the garden this spring. He knows my history with plants and I only have to keep this going in the house till it's warm enough to plant. I think I can do that -- my poinsettia from Christmas is still hanging in there! 

Have join joined the wordle crowd? So far, I've won 97% of the 35 games I've played. I like this because it's free (so far; the NYTimes bought it and who knows if they'll add it to their pay-to-puzzle page in time), and it's once a day -- so you can't fall into it for hours at a time!

And there has been a little zooming with some of my old work friends. We used to gather for lunch or dinner back "in the day" (of eating in restaurants before Covid). Perhaps that will resume in spring but for now, we're connecting online. We share a lot of history.

My puzzle is coming along well. This is a fun one -- I just love the picture and go in spurts doing it. 

And then there's this. For those who asked, Lizzie has been checked out by the vet and there's nothing wrong that would lead her to her bad out-of-the-box behavior. She just likes this spot. And, if I get her down to her box when she needs to go, she's fine. 

I can work with this. I'd rather not. But I can.

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