2-3-2019 This and That

Thoughts and Quotes: Winter is on my head, but eternal Spring is in my heart.
                                                                                  Victor Hugo

And from the Farmers' Almanac Weather Lore Calendar: There's always one fine week in February, and we're having that week right now. Saturday was 61, Sunday was 67, Monday will be 62, Tuesday 60, Wednesday 60, then ice on Thursday morning. Not quite a week, but I'll take it. It's 8:30 Monday morning, and the temperature is already 58.

Other February weather lore: 

If bees get out in February, the next day will be windy and rainy.

Fogs in February mean frosts in May.

Winter's back breaks about the middle of February. 

The Real Weather: Our weatherman predicted a light dusting of snow for Tuesday night. Sure enough, when I went to bed about 10:00, there it was, but the snow was no longer falling. When I got up on Wednesday, I found this:

Not exactly what you'd call a dusting, but fortunately our streets and driveways had melted by afternoon. 

And when the sun came out, look who showed up in the window. This is Flower, who wants to be a house cat, but Stormy says, "Absolutely not".

Tasting: Downtown Commercial Street is one of the oldest shopping areas in Springfield, MO. It went through its "seedy" phase, as newer strip centers and a large shopping mall moved in. 

Now its been given a facelift, and is becoming a fun place to eat and shop. One of the newer restaurants is Van Gogh's. The owner spent two years in New Amsterdam during his college days and loved it. You definitely get a Dutch feel in Van Gogh's. 

They even have a shelf of Dutch cookbooks.

A bottle of water on the table and a cute menu.

Mim and I spent the afternoon after lunch talking, and browsing the cookbooks of course. They weren't busy, so didn't mind that we stayed awhile.

We had Chicken Sate

Indonesian spiced chicken skewers with house peanut sauce

and

Meatball Stamppot

Two Dutch meatballs with gravy and zuurkool stamppot 

(golden potatoes mashed with sauerkraut and bacon)

with simple greens

I Googled sate and it seems you can spell it either sate or satay.

For the website, click HERE.

Our plan was to go to Ms. Gilmore's Tea Room, but it's on winter hours - open Wednesday through Saturday. I couldn't resist some photos of the window display. 

Tasting: A prior blog post had a link to Carrie's blog at www.northwoodsscrapbook.blogspot.com and she posted a recipe for Butter Brickle Bread from her friend Tina. It's on the January 19 post.

I tried it and liked it a lot. I added a package of toffee bits, but probably half a package would be better. I also think it would benefit from some chopped pecans. I thought you might like something to cut and paste, so here it is. Also will be available from the drop downs above.

BUTTER BRICKLE BREAD

1 Betty Crocker Butter Pecan cake mix

1 small instant butterscotch pudding mix

4 eggs

1/2 cup oil

1 cup hot water

2/3 cup toffee bits

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Heat oven to 350°.

Grease and flour two 9 x 5 loaf pans.

Put the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, oil, and water in a large mixing bowl and beat for 4 minutes.

Fold in toffee bits and pecans

Pour into pans and bake 35-45 minutes.

Time to own up: I didn't get very far with my National Days - just blueberry pancakes and croissants. Yes, I put butter on croissants. Well, Michelle did and she's French. If she can, I can.

More to come on Tater Tots and Fritos. Stay tuned.

Time to Celebrate: Punxsutawney Phil did NOT see his shadow, so an early spring.  I always had trouble remembering the shadow thing until I realized that: shadow yes; more winter yes/shadow no; more winter no.

I always miss my brother Sonny on Groundhog Day. Before he retired, he used to take a "Bean Feed" to work to celebrate. He made big pots of ham and beans, fried potatoes, and cornbread. He stopped a few years before he retired when the company grew too large for him to handle it all. Maybe next year we'll celebrate his life with a Bean Feed on Groundhog Day instead of going out to dinner on his birthday in June.

Things People Actually Said During Job Interviews: "I was fired from my last job because they were forcing me to attend anger management classes."

Things We Can Learn From Movies: All grocery shopping bags contain at least one stick of French bread. 

This Week's National Days: Today is Homemade Soup or Thank a Mail Carrier Day.

Tuesday is Nutella Day. Who doesn't love Nutella?

Wednesday is Frozen Yogurt Day

Thursday is Send a Card to a Friend Day or Fettucine Alfredo Day. How about both?

Friday is Kite Flying, Boy Scouts or Iowa Day. I'll just say "Happy Iowa State Day" in advance to any Iowans who read my blog, as I don't know any Boy Scouts, and I've never been able to fly a kite.

Saturday is Pizza Day (yippee!), Toothache Day (boo!), or Bagel Day (with cream cheese, yum!).

Sunday has lots of choices: Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day (okay), Make a Friend Day, White Shirt Day, Shut-in Visitation Day, Peppermint Patty Day, or Clean Out Your Computer Day (they must know mine's a mess).

GRAB SOME RAYS

STAY HYDRATED

DON'T FORGET YOUR EXERCISE GOAL

EAT YOUR APPLES

PLAN SOMETHING FOR VALENTINE'S DAY - IT WILL BE HERE SOON

START THINKING ABOUT A GARDEN - BUY SOME SEEDS

THANK YOU FOR SHARING MY LIFE