We woke up in Narnia.

That's what I thought of, too, when I looked at my yard. EL

Maker's Mark Snowballs... all the glory of ice cream for breakfast when one was a little kid, with added "Being an adult can rule".

For a blizzard at the end of the week, I might not actually have enough food for three days in the house...I don't stock a lot of stuff (because I forget about it!) and I shop on Saturdays.

On the stove today...chana masala and homemade naan.

Can I come to your house? Uh, no. I can't get out the front door. EL

Along with stocking up on comfort and party foods, one should also lay in plenty of CFF -- cooking-free food -- in case power is cut.
I wonder how many interesting meals and snacks could be made without cooking. If it snowed for weeks and you were stone bored to death with sandwiches and salads, what would you make to keep from going mad?

Chocolate. And if I get bored with that, then milk chocolate.

EF,

I've been thinking about this for a couple of days now, and you've hit the nail on the head - it's an unexpected cause for celebration. I think that foodies are by their nature celebratory and look for food as an integral part of celebrating life.

That said, time to make some pancakes and bacon and celebrate!!

Grain punch and lamb chili...it's whats's for breakfast in a blizzard! And, yes, I've been drinking all night!

If your readers can get out in Federal Hill, we are open for brunch with a full bar. We've got plenty of food, drink and toilet paper.

Let us know if you get customers. I can't get to the sidewalk. EL

Regi's is always open in a storm, and usually packed with people from the neighborhood. It would be a great day for some of their white chicken chili (Do they still have that during the winter?) it's great to sit near the fireplace and thaw out.

For breakfast we had pumpkin pancakes with cinnamon butter and maple syrup. and Maple Sausage. And the coffee is drowning in Baileys.

I totally feel justified in my three trips to the store this week. There are just two of us, but we have enough for a couple of weeks. And at this point, we may need it....

We made sure to have the ingredients for the ultimate comfort foods for this one: chili, chicken pot pie, lasagna, chewy chocolate oat bars. And plenty of craft beer.

Summer: now that's a snow day!

Beth - I was going to make my chana masala scramble... BUT I DON'T HAVE ANY CHICPEAS!!! Noooooo!!!

My wife is reading "Eat, Pray, Love" this weekend. I am going to enact the sequel, "Eat, Drink, Snore". To wit:

Waffles and bacon for brunch.

Roasted chicken and potato-cauliflower gratin for dinner, with a nice red Bordeaux.

Texas-style red chili for tomorrow's dinner (it's better the second day), washed down with Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale.

A loaf of bread in there somewhere.

And after I shovel out tomorrow, there will be a lovely bottle of Larressingle Armagnac waiting for me.

Sourdough bread got made last night, english muffin bread just came out of the the oven, crinkle cookie dough is chillin', snickerdoodles are next. More bread to come - and more cookies - and chili and probably some french onion soup. And mushroom risotto. And bacon. And yes, there is lots of beer and wine around, too. Snowmageddon is just an excuse to indulge in the guilty pleasure of a day in the kitchen.

Pizza dough is rising right now. Four pizzas on the menu....cheese, pepperoni, mushroom and BBQ chicken. Rasberry oatmeal bars are out of the oven too.

Beef Burgandy (Baltimore Sun's recipe, circa 1968 ish) simmering and smelling really good. I don't think I can open the front door and I'm tempted to not even try to do anything until it stops coming down.

Definitely will watch some on demand movie at some point. And perhaps read War and Peace.

It's going to be a while til life returns to the north country!

Split Pea Soup with smoked ham hocks for lunch, Duck A'la Orange with oven roasted , honey mustard glazed red potatoes for dinner. Choucroute for Super bowl. Plenty of beer and wine, what else is necessary?

Is your house ok, EL?

I saw one tree down and a bunch of smaller branches when I was walking my dog earlier (can you folks please clear the sidewalks before digging your cars out? Trying to get a nearly 18 year old chow through crotch deep snow is not fun. Thank you).

I will be baking bread and cookies later, the bread for me and the cookies for the angelic child next door who cleared a path in front of both of our houses and did my steps.

I still don't get the grocery store runs, but that may be because they are logistically difficult on a regular day, so it doesn't occur to me to make a special trip.

House is OK, but not the electrical line the tree fell on. EL

Since we opened at 9:00 (with a full staff that I managed to pick up over the city) the bar has been steady with bloody Mary's and brunch. People are starting to trickle into the fireplace dining room. Some guest have inquired about having brunch on the "heated" patio with their dogs. It seems that everyone has a dog or borrows a dog to walk in the snow in Federal Hill. As time goes on we're seeing more signs of foot traffic in the neighborhood.Happy shoveling to all!

So I made a matar masala scramble. Delicious. Note the beverage.

Also, cooked the lavash bread on the wood stove.

Good snowpocalypse breakfast (they're using that term over and over on WBAL...).

Oh, and sweet potato arugula potatoes.

Braised a whole pork shoulder for pulled pork bbq with coleslaw. Just pulled the apple walnut muffins out of the oven. Later I'll be making a big pan of 4 cheese mac 'n cheese.

I just named my snowblower as a beneficiary in my will.

I've gone through some rosemary and dijon in getting my breakfast potato on and am now contemplating removing myself from the computer long enough to get the tzatziki going so it's combined well when I get hungry and rock out the lamb kibbeh.

Is it obvious I'm kinda okay with this 'snow day' thing?

blizzards or mudflows (our foothills may get some later today) ? take your pick............
tom from SoCal

This is Brother Tom. I just can't feel sorry for him because he has a little mud. EL

sean, the next time it starts to snow, I'm heading for your house.

Just put on some sweet potatoes and potatoes to roast. Baking is postponed because I forgot to take the butter out of the freezer. In the meantime, I'll do dishes.

Lissa, come on over! We finished the coffee when I was shoveling out our street, but we can always start a new press!

You've got a dogsled team, right?

This is god's punishment to Baltimore for electing Shelia Dixon.

You all make me feel like such a slacker. I'm going to make some carrot and ginger soup and some cornbread, but clearly some of you THINK BIG. I've been curled up with the cats reading a book about art forgery--perfect for a snowy day, but I think I should be over at Read Street.

Semi-appropriate Captcha: hot ionesco

I love dining@largess.

Just curious if only pandering comments don't get rejected.

Just catching up now. What do you mean? EL

Dahlink, I'm making cornbread later today! Also, probably some blueberry muffins...

bread pudding with cranberry pecan bread from atwaters.

the coffee shop in pigtown is open today.

wv: left titanic

Hot Chicken Salad last night, Beef Stew today and tomorrow a Chicken and Shrimp Casserole.

OK, I'll confess - I'm one of those people who make a special trip to the grocery store. It's a compulsion and tradition - and EL, you are right that it's not a matter of having food, but having the RIGHT food. We love a good snow on a weekend (this exceeds the good snow standards and qualifies as work, but is still kind of cool), and good food is essential.

You guys certainly do fix some exotic sounding food!

Yesterday I "made" pizza and salad from Bagby on my way home, and that is carrying me through today. Instead of cooking I'm cleaning. Will likely venture to Todd Conner's or One Eyed Mike's for further sustenance.

Poo

Zeke's is open today until 3pm or so.

sean, Emily is one lucky lady!

Ginger carrot soup is made and cooling (I'm working on overcoming my fear of the immersion blender). Cornbread muffins have been sampled and found worthy. Now back to my book and the cats.

Thanks, sean, but Conan is crashed after a trip around the block. If I get out the sled, he might go hide under the snow.

I can't believe I never tried chunking sweet potatoes, tossing them with olive oil and salt, then roasting them until they carmalize before. I think I need to go shovel some more to work off some of those calories.

Don't forget to stay hydrated, folks. You need to drink as much after exerting yourself in the cold as you do after exerting yourself in the heat.

Pot of chicken and rice soup,"rugalating" in the pot on the stove...

crocuses overpayment.....maybe not till spring tho!

The best I can describe the food shopping phenomenon when snow hits Maryland is that people DO want to have a good time with food when faced with nothing to do other than watch snow fall.

We are not unique. The people of the Gulf Coast have 'Hurricane Parties' in very much the same fashion. They too clear out store shelves. Albeit, they are not purchasing snow shovels and ice melt along with the milk, bread, toilet paper and beer (rather, it's plywood, screws and sand) but the same situation occurs in other areas of the country when occasional, hazardous weather threatens certain doom.

Dahlink, carrot ginger soup and cornbread do NOT a slacker make! Sounds great...!

We lost a tree in our backyard, but it didn't land on the house or on the electric and phone wires.

Julia's Boeuf Bourguignon is in progress. And since I had to get bacon to make it, we had toasted bacon and cheese sandwiches for lunch.

the chana masala is coming along great...and after shoveling out and hiking all over patterson park I decided to indulge in some oatmeal cookies...so delish!

Maggi, I agree - making all our meals from scratch is equal parts luxury and necessary entertainment right now (one batch of egg custard = one hour of distraction for one 6-year-old.) We usually have a few days' worth of dinner components, snacks, and staples in the house. But since we generally skip breakfast and eat lunch at work/school, we don't keep enough on hand to make 3 days' worth of breakfast, lunch, and dinner for 3 people.

I am not a six year old. I just act like one.

I dream of the day when a batch of egg custard distracts you for a full hour, and I mean that in the nicest way.

Today, on "Meet the Parkers": Courtney mistakes the jar of Jon's habanero powder for her paprika-based seasoned salt, and empties several tablespoons of it into her chili. Tears are shed, hearts are broken, hilarity ensues.

Last night was albondigas soup w/ white rice. Girlfriend made the classic chocolate chip cookies.

This morning was bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches on english muffins. I used the oven-cooked bacon method for the first time, and am now completely converted.

This afternoon we've been munching on chips + guac

Tonight is shredded pork tacos. The pork has been marinating in orange, lime, and grapefruit juices with herbs all night and all day today. Stewed black beans (soaking all day) and guac will accompany.

Been a great day so far...

Huge pot of Italian wedding soup here.

Scratch-made the chicken stock on Thursday, finished it last night.

Huge old baguette to go with it, and packaged salad mix.

MMD - so glad The Parkers sitcom idea has taken off!

Make Me Dinner, you can save the chili by mixing plain full fat yogurt in to it, or sour cream. The yogurt works better, in my opinion.

Made a boatload of chili mac last night to reheat over the weekend. Eggs, home fries, and bacon for brunch today. Chocolate chip cookies are coming up soon, followed by either chicken enchiladas or chicken or tuna tetrazzini. Tomorrow, I'm making pancakes for brunch, followed by buffalo chicken tenders, fries, and homemade chips and salsa for the game.

Nothing too fancy, but still yummy for me and the hubby (and our brand new 3 month old puppy. That we've had for a day.)

Made some steak sandwiches for the boys, still have some left over beans and rice to tide me over til dinner. Was thinking about either cheddar bacon stuffed burgers or broiled herb rub chicken breast, with their choice of black, brown or bastami rice or baked potato. (however They MUST agree on at least side or entree, or they can cook for themselves.) Cafe Meekrat, open for they that can get here.

Make Me Dinner, my father (with the asbestos taste buds) makes inedibly hot chili. I can eat it as a condiment on a baked potato.

I made a large pot of Brunswick stew for the family and we're finshing the meal off with snow cream. Oddly enough; I'm from NC where it does not snow to this depth, but we alwats made snow cream. I'be found few people here who know what it is let alone how to make it. It's a treat!

North Carolinians really are educated and can spell; I just can't type. My apologies. My previous post should have read. 'We always made snow cream. I've found few people here..."

Was able to salvage the chili, fortunately - it still turned out super spicy, but serving it over Fritos and under generous amounts of cheese and sour cream balanced it out well. The Loose Cannon on the side didn't hurt, either.

Sean, I can hardly wait to see what zany mishaps await us tomorrow. Will we never learn?!

My mother used to complain that my chili ate her tupperware. I don't know how she could tell. She usually ate it as fast as I could make it, with several generous dollops of yogurt.

Yogurt with chili, is that a Detroit thing?

She managed to bring the heat level down to the edible range, and we ate it with lots of cheese and sour cream. It was delicious, but right at the edge of what I can tolerate.

The habanero powder she used was some that I made back in the fall when a friend gave me a bag of fresh peppers. I dehydrated them and ground them in a coffee grinder. The resulting powder is best used in half tsp. amounts as needed.

Friday night: Chili and cornbread, with Thunderhead IPA
Saturday morning: Oatmeal with cinnamon, brown sugar, bananas, and walnuts
Saturday night: Lasagna with a lovely Malbec
Tonight: Chicken pot pie
Annnnd an entire pan of chewy chocolate oat bars has already been demolished. Might have to make some cheesecake brownies...

Nope, RoCK, it is an Indian thing. I was taught when I lived in India that if something was too hot for me, mix yogurt in to it (there is always yogurt on the plate).

So, when Mom complained my chili was too spicy, I just adapted the concept.

Ann, from one who often has grammer/spelling errors in their posts, I would say, don't worry about it! For example, that sentence just does not seem right...

All this talk of chili is seriously creating a major hankering! However, my mother has been cooking up everything in creation since I have been here this weekend. Don't know if I have any room for chili! But the thought of spicy beef, melted cheese, and cool sour cream..YUM!

No onions! Never in my life have I not had onions in my kitchen! I hiked to the SuperFrsh - which I'm boycotting under normal circumstances - and they had no onions, either! And no green peppers!

What is an immersion blender?

Eve, an immersion blender is the thing that looks like a boat motor that people put into soups to puree them.

I'm not overly fond of them myself, as I tend to propel all of the contents of whatever I'm pureeing all over the kitchen. I use mine for tuna salad because I like my tuna really pureed into a spread with the only chunks being small pieces of celery and pickle relish.

For soups, I use the blender. But I've learned (the hard way) that you can't fill it up to the top to puree hot food, and you should hold the lid in place with a towel while hitting the puree button.

I am of all things in the kitchen, most experienced at cleaning up horrible messes!

Joyce, anyone who hasn't cleaned up a few bad messes in the kitchen doesn't deserve to be here.

Joyce, immersion blenders only splatter if you let the working end emerge from the food you're blending while the motor is running.

I thought they were a silly thing until one day on a whim (or maybe it was a great sale) I bought one. Now I think they're a wonderful invention.

Eve, after all my mocking of the last-minute snow storm shopping crowd... we ran out of butter AND olive oil yesterday! Walked to Safeway today for a re-up.

I think I am getting the hang of the immersion blender. It turned out a very creamy carrot soup without any dairy added. The key is to use a deep pan to contain any spatter.

Speaking of kitchen messes, my family still remembers the time that grandmother's pressure cooker exploded while she was making split pea soup. The kitchen ceiling was pea-green. It left me with a deep fear of pressure cookers!

Dahlink, my mother's pressure cooker exploded when she was making corned beef and cabbage. We were finding cabbage in crevasses for months afterwards.

Took years to get rid of the smell, too.

Okay, Lissa your pressure cooker legend tops mine!

A long time ago my roommate put an unopened can of condensed milk in a pot of H20 to cover and slowly boil it for hours. (I think it is an Ohio thing). After hours when you opened the can, the milk would have thickened and turned light brown and looked and tasted like caramel to be spread on graham crackers or over ice cream. The important part is to keep the can covered with H20. One time she fell asleep and the pot ran dry and the can explosed. We had caramel stalagmites hanging from everywhere. What a mess.

Kitkat, there was an article in the NY Times two years ago some time ago about making dulce de leche from unopened cans of condensed milk. It seems that the practice is worldwide in scope, and not just in Ohio.

Kitkat, that is how my Brazilian sister made dulce de leche. Delicious stuff. Probably not when it is dripping from your ceiling, though.