Snow, Maryland Style
We went to Maryland this weekend for two reasons. First, we planned to attend a party that was both a reunion of Howard’s grad school classmates from the Molecular Biology department at UC Berkeley and a celebration of their classmate Carol’s recent Nobel Prize. The second reason was to visit with my sister Jane and her family because they live there, and we love to spend time with them.
The trip started off with annoyance on my part. We had an early morning flight. I hate airport food, but we were leaving too early to eat before we left home. I grabbed two yogurts and some plastic spoons from the refrigerator. We could eat them while we waited to board.
Who would have thought that yogurt is considered as a liquid, gel, or cream. (Actually, Howard warned me.) TSA spied the yogurts as the luggage went through the X-ray machine, and they confiscated our breakfast. I started to argue with the woman that yogurt wasn’t gel, it was food. I lost. Howard told me not to argue with TSA or we wouldn’t make it to our destination. I still don’t agree with their assessment and complained about it all weekend. And, I’m still complaining.
As luck would have it, a snowstorm hit Maryland shortly after our arrival on Saturday morning at Jane’s. Initially, it didn’t seem like it would amount to much, but as we lounged around and prepared lunch, the snow kept on coming. Then, my nephew’s basketball game was cancelled. Not looking good.
Being intrepid New Englanders and having travelled south specifically for the party, we didn’t want to abandon our plans. Fortunately, Danny lent us their 4-wheel drive vehicle for the 50 mile journey from Frederick to Baltimore. It was a grueling trip (see picture). Howard drove. It took almost 2 hours, more than twice as long as it should have. The roads weren’t plowed, not even the highways, and the other drivers weren’t predictable. There were plenty of cars abandoned at the side of the road. Traffic was treacherous and slow. It was stressful.
We did arrive at the party safely. But there was an element of dread thinking about another two hour ride home at the end of the night. Howard inquired, and we were able to get a room to stay the night (unplanned). Now, we could relax and enjoy the evening.
Howard really enjoyed reconnecting with his old friends. They reminisced about their years as grad students. There were some slide shows of their antics. There were also some entertaining videos. Also, Carol showed pictures and talked about the Nobel festivities in Stockholm in December. It was a late night for everyone.
In the morning, the sky was clear and blue. The roads were plowed too. We journeyed back to Jane’s for a breakfast feast and to swap their Tahoe for our lame rental car.
Jane made a nostalgic breakfast with a few favorites from childhood. She made salami and eggs and my mom’s special fruit salad. She also made a hash brown casserole, nicknamed Heart Attack Potatoes. They were not-so-healthy, but oh-so-tasty!!! For dessert, we had a walnut-topped cake that was very decadent. An excellent meal by Jane!
My mother made this fruit salad for all occasions and all seasons, sometimes for breakfast and sometimes to go with dinner. I think it’s the perfect winter fruit salad, though she made it year-round.
Mom’s Fruit Salad
Serves Many
3 grapefruits
3 oranges
2 or 3 apples
2 ripe bananas
1 lb frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed
Peel the grapefruits and oranges with a knife, removing the pith. Cut the citrus fruit away from the membrane, section by section. Squeeze the membrane over a large serving bowl to extract any remaining juice. Cut each piece into thirds (bite-sized pieces). Add to the bowl.
Peel the apples and slice them into 1/4-inch slices. Cut the slices crosswise, about 1/4-inch. Add the apple pieces to the bowl.
Slice the bananas into the bowl.
Add the thawed strawberries with all their juice.
Stir and serve.
Suddenly Stormy
Early this afternoon, Howard sent me a “news flash” about a fast storm coming through the area during this evening’s commute. There would be snow, high winds, and possible whiteout conditions. As reported, wet snow came down in the afternoon, blowing against the windows, and then, it stopped. When I left work this evening, the sun was shining. Well, actually, it was dusk, but the sun had been shining. Shortly before I headed home, I noticed that the setting sun cast a lovely pink light on the afternoon’s dusting of snow.
When I got home, Bella and I suited up for her evening walk. I put on waterproof shoes, a hat, gloves, nothing special because the storm had passed. The sidewalk was a little icier than I expected. Instead of detouring back inside for my YakTrax, I chose to just walk slowly. It was a bit treacherous in spots, but, I tried to walk on snow wherever possible, and we ambled along, enjoying the brisk evening.
All of a sudden, I noticed it was cloudy again. Within seconds, I was in the middle of a snow squall, nearly whiteout conditions. I think the sudden weather change made Bella nervous. She started to walk faster, causing me to slip and land flat on my back. It knocked my hat off!
The snow was blowing horizontally, and I could hardly see. We were around the halfway point, so it didn’t make sense to turn back, but we were still 15 minutes from home, under normal conditions. All we could do was barrel ahead.
Fortunately, the plan for dinner was hot soup: Caldo Verde, a Portuguese kale soup. I had prepared most of the components the night before. I had already cooked the sausage and sweet potatoes. I had also had the base, the broth with potatoes, prepared as well. All I had to do tonight was to slice the kale and heat it all up.
Howard commented on how this was the most local meal we’ve made in a while. The homemade chicken stock was stashed in the freezer. The onions and kale were from the past weekend’s farmers market, the potatoes and sweet potatoes were stored from our Winter CSA share, and the sausage was from Chestnut Farms.
Caldo Verde
Serves 4-6
(Adapted from The Boston Globe Magazine, January 3, 2010)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1½ sweet potatoes, peeled and diced in ¾-inch pieces
½ lb hot Italian sausage links
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 quarts chicken stock
½ lb red potatoes, peeled and sliced ¼-inch thick
1 bunch kale
2 tsp cider vinegar
Salt & pepper to taste
Roast the sweet potatoes: Preheat oven to 450F. Toss diced sweet potatoes with 1 Tbsp olive oil, a pinch of salt and some freshly ground pepper. Roast on a cookie sheet for 25 minutes.
Preheat broiler. Broil sausage links on top rack, about 5 minutes per side, until cooked through. Cool until you can handle them. Slice into ½ inch rounds, and then cut the rounds in half again for half moons.
Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onions and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the stock and potatoes. Bring to a boil. Cook until the potatoes are very soft, about 15 minutes. Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes in the pot.
Prepare kale: Cut out the center stem from the leaves. Cut the top part of the leaves along the center stem. Stack several leaves flat. Roll them lengthwise into a tight cigar. Cut the cigar crosswise, as thin as possible. (I rinsed the leaves after preparing them.)
Add the greens, sausage, and sweet potatoes to the broth mixture. Stir and simmer until the greens are tender, about 5 minutes. Add the cider vinegar, and salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.
Serve immediately.
The sweet potatoes, sausage, and broth mixture can be cooked the day before and stored in the refrigerator.
A Plateful of Happiness 