Snowpocalypse Chowder

Well, our snow appears to have stopped falling from the sky but is showing no intention of leaving the ground any time soon.  I ventured out to the gym yesterday and was shocked that so many of the roads are still so bad.  Driveable but gross!  Slushy business.

Nice time for my darling boyfriend to head off for sunny South America, no?  I knew that whole business of trotting off to Greece without him would come back to haunt me.  Next time I need to be smart enough to book my warm and lovely vacation during Victoria’s annual snowpocalypse.

Alas, someone’s gotta stay home and pay her mortgage so instead of snorkelling with tropical fishies I’ll stay here and eat copious amounts of soul warming chowder.  Take THAT silly sunny vacation.

Roasted Butternut Squash Chowder

yields 6 servings

adapted from Food for my Family (thanks Pinterest!)

Ingredients:

• 6 slices bacon, chopped
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced 
• 2 baking potatoes, peeled and diced into bite-size cubes
• 2 tbsp fresh sage, chiffonade
• 1 tsp paprika
• pinch cayenne
• salt and pepper
• 1 carton (900 ml) chicken broth
• 1 cup water
• 3 cups roasted butternut squash, pureed
• 1/2 cup heavy/whipping cream
• 1 tsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tsp cold water

Tip: Add water 1-2 tbsp at a time to help the process of pureeing the squash.

Directions:

1. In a large pot, cook bacon over medium heat until browned and becoming crisp.  Using a slotted spoon, remove bacon from pot to rest on paper towel. 
2. In the same pot add carrots, celery and onions.  Stir to coat and sauté until al dente.  While vegetables are rendering down stir in garlic.
3. Add potatoes, sage, paprika, cayenne and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.  Stir to combine and continue cooking for 3-4 minutes.
4. Stir in chicken broth and water, cover and bring to a boil.  Once boiling remove the lid, reduce the heat, and simmer until potatoes are fork tender…approximately 10 minutes.
5. Stir in pureed butternut squash and whipping cream.  Taste for seasoning and adjust if desired.  Add corn starch mixture, stirring continuously while returning chowder to a light boil.  Reduce heat once bubbling begins.  When desired thickness is reached remove pot from heat, stir in reserved bacon, and let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Don’t nibble on the bacon while you are working on the soup!  You need it.  If you are a bacon monster, make extra.

Fill your belly full of this delicious creaminess before pulling on your fuzzy lined boots and your devil horn toque and your big red mittens and your puffiest Winter coat to take your hairless dog out for her business.

It wards off the cold.

Almost as good as a trip to Costa Rica.

Riiiiight.

Victoria Snow Day(s)

On Saturday morning we awoke to a few inches of freshly fallen snow out in the ‘burbs.

Just enough to be pretty.  Just enough to be fun for the dogs.

On Monday morning we awoke to enough snow that I thought maybe my car and I might have to take a snow day.  Alas I have snow tires, front wheel drive, and a boyfriend with lots of great elbow grease.

By Tuesday afternoon Mother Nature was trying to drag her blanket of snow into the city but after a while she gave up.

Until this morning that is.  I woke up to a white out and minor snow drifts in the parking lot. So I went for a walk in two pairs of pants and my trusty toque.  Yep, our roads are a mess and baby, it’s cold outside. 

Looks like the perfect night for chowder.  And snuggles on the couch.

Did I mention Michael is leaving for Costa Rica in the morning?  Bugger.

Field Trip!

It’s a Saturday morning, there’s frozen snow on the ground, no one is dying and for some reason I’m up at 8am.  I don’t get up at 8am on work days.  What the h3ll is going on?

Photography Field Trip!

I was late picking Charmaine up because the near empty Starbucks took about a gajillion years to make our two lattes.  I waited though because there was no way I was making it through an outdoor photo session without extra hot caffeine in my system.

Here we are looking like we totally know what we are doing!

I borrowed a snazzy tripod from my friend Alex which was quite a treat.  After a bit of a chat by our instructor, Charmaine and I wandered off to find a place to set up and shoot.  It took us a few tries but we finally found a spot we were both happy with…we didn’t last too long before we started to freeze to death though.  I couldn’t feel my toes and called it a day!

On the way back to the car we took some fun freehand shots…poor duckies!!!

Sadly confused seagull.  What’s going on?!

We hopped in the car and headed for the closest warm place for brunch we could think of.  Milestones.

Quite the view!

Hot coffee to soak my feet in.

We both ordered the California Benny….shrimp, bacon, avocado. Bliss.

After warming up and filling up we headed back outside to take a few more pictures at the waterfront.  Unfortunately we only lasted about 5 minutes because it was just too cold.  My feet were soaked!

We made a trip to lululemon where I may have finally procured a new workout outfit (new grooves!) before heading home to warm up and relax for the afternoon.

I needed hot tea and a warm blanket when I got home. 

Perfect afternoon for a cuddle with the kitty, a light snooze, and a leftover snack.

I’m helping Stoopy to see the entertainment value of all three seasons of Castle. :)

Saturday evening was girl’s night out!  Tough to drag myself away from my warm apartment but a delicious dinner and fabulous company worked it’s magic to lure me back outdoors.  Stay tuned!

Snowpocalypse

Apparently when the news folks said we were in for a cold front and some snow I wasn’t really paying attention.  I was pretty much stunned when I wandered into the dining room and looked out the window this morning and was confronted with the biggest dump of snow we’ve seen all Winter.  BAM!

I’m pretty sure we aren’t in Halifax anymore, Toto.

I noted the half a foot of snow drifted onto my car and settled in with my hot coffee for my weekly conference call.

The call ran long and I was ready to gnaw my arm off by the time we finished.  Why didn’t I plan breakfast before the call?!  I never learn.

I needed hearty and hot.  Oatmeal to the rescue!

Peanut Butter & Jelly Oatmeal!  Steel cuts oats cooked with water, UVAB, flax meal and 1/2 a banana.  Topped with natural PB, pomegranate jelly, roasted peanuts, and a sprinkle of salt.  nom.

Once I was pumped full of oatmeally goodness and had tackled another hour of work I put on my dorky toque and puffy coat and hit the streets for a walk in the white stuff.

I hit up Topaz Park near my place…fields of barely touched, deep, fluffy snow!!!  My lined, waterproof Winter boots are actually in the trunk of my car (I know, good place for them right?) so I wore my other boots…which were great because they are taller, but bad because they definitely aren’t waterproof.  I came home when I could feel my socks getting wet…and my thumbs going numb.

A hot lunch was required.  I pretty much replicated the awesome frittata from the other day…I think with more cheeeeese this time though.  Still super awesome!

A kiwi while the frittata baked.

Since I didn’t feel like cleaning off my car to venture out onto the streets with the crazy people (even after three Halifax Winters I would still rather not drive around on the bad roads just waiting for inexperienced snow people to drive into me) I decided to actually stick with my meal plan which actually just happened to have comfort food on it!

Homemade focaccia!! 

Diana made focaccia a few times ages ago and I’ve been meaning to make it ever since, but finally just got around to it.  This recipe was very easy to follow and came together quite well if I do say so myself!

It’s a tiny bit time consuming because it has to proof twice, but once it’s baked you can eat it pretty much right away.  So I did!

Alongside a serving of my Balsamic Chicken & Mushrooms and steamed broccoli with fresh parmesan cheese.

I’m now rocking 3/4 of a loaf of focaccia which could spell DANGER around here, but here’s hoping plastic wrap helps keep it fresh for sharing with friends this weekend.  Oh and I see a panini in it’s future!

Don’t forget Canadian friends… I’m giving away a brand new copy of The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels. 

To enter just leave a comment on my post from earlier today. Good luck!

Snow Found

So it appears that the snow I was trying to entice into town last night did arrive.  It just needed a bit of overnight help.

Technically it is still a work day for me (seeing I did not have to venture out in a vehicle like most of Victoria) but because the majority of my day to day coworkers are American I really only had my daily tasks to perform.  Happy Thanksgiving BTW! :)

I took the opportunity to treat the day a bit like a snow day.

Made a big pot of coffee instead of my usual 1.5 mugs…

Filled my tummy with toast and almond butter with banana…

Then set out with my boots, gloves, toque and James Dean for a walk to the park down the street…

Back in the warmth of my apartment I got a bit of work done then set to pulling the meat from the leftover roasted chicken to make soup.

Soup #1: Corn Chowder with Chicken

Totally cheated using this soup mix I received from Low Fat Kat eons ago…

Just add water…and some chicken…et voila…lunch!

Baked up a side of yam chips to go alongside. 

After lunch I got to work on making the chicken stock for soup #2…

I saved you from the picture of the chicken carcass.  You are welcome.  Simmered the bare bird, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, rosemary and s&p for four hours.  The house smelled fabulous all day.

While the stock simmered I finished work, ran a load of laundry, snacked on a new Larabar flavour and watched Eat Pray Love.

During the movie I heated up a Chicken Enchilada from the freezer.

I don’t know about you guys, but I really enjoyed the movie.  Maybe it’s because I’ve never read the book but I thought it was quite well done!

After the show I got to work on soup #2 but it’s still simmering so the recipe will have to wait until tomorrow.  I think the perfect way to complete this relaxing yet productive snow day is with a couple of hours of reading and maybe a crunchy snack.

Popchips and Kindle.  Sounds good to me!