Another sign of spring...

First Robin sighting was yesterday.  Funny how once you see the first one, they seem to be everywhere!  It does seem like one step forward, two steps back though...we had more snow today.  More big white fluffy flakes...

The turn is coming...

It has to be.  This morning we woke to 11 degree temps with wind chills feeling like 5 below zero...the average temp this time of year is 45.  The forecast looks promising, hopefully getting us up to average temps by the weekend, perhaps even above average.  I'm heading out of town this weekend, and hoping when I return the snow will be significantly melted.  We shall see!

Charlie-West

Well, I spent the week in Charleston, West Virginia and in hindsight wish I had taken a picture or two.  It was in the high 50s to low 60s with lots of sun, no snow, and the daffodils and crocus were blooming. They have another shot at snow coming this weekend, but it certainly was a nice respite from the chilly temps at home.

A few more cold days and then the forecast says we will be in the 50s too.  Of course, I'll be gone again by then...oh well.

10 days later

We still haven't made significant progress on the Spring front.  The 3-4 inches of ice are gone from the driveway and the massive amounts of snow and ice are gone from the roof, but what had melted in the backyard has refrozen into a very large ice rink and another winter storm is coming our way tonight.  At this point, it will be May before we get in the garden!

I shouldn't be so impatient I guess...this time last year we had plenty of snow on the ground, but that's not supposed to be the norm.  We still have single digit lows in the forecast!

Thaw

Well, it's March 8th and the garden is still buried in snow.  But the great news is that the sun is strong enough to melt the snow and ice even if the temps are below freezing!  And for the first time, the 10 day forecast has every day above freezing after today.  We're hitting 40 degree temps so things should start to slowly melt.  We are finally getting some average temperatures!  The meteorologist in our office says winter isn't done with us yet...but any movement towards spring is great news to me.

Spring...eventually.

We still have 3 feet of snow on the ground...and it's only 14F out this morning, but the first signs of Spring were here is morning!  No, not tulips or robins.  Not even melting snow.  BUT, my black coat hanging on the chair in the kitchen was warmed by the sun!  AND the sun was warming my face in the car this morning!  Ok, I know it's not much...but it's definitely something.  

Dreaming of Italy

Oh the Cooking Channel.  It has me dreaming of things 45 minutes ago I didn't even know of.  Some dreams, like a buying a villa in Tuscany, have been in my head for ages...but here are some things I want to remember to make when springtime comes around again:

Potato gnocchi (I still need to figure out how to make these successfully)
Home made tortelloni with fresh basil and ricotta
Corsetti, flat, round stamped pasta
These little one inch skinny noodles, like big rice...yum!

Can you imagine having an artisanal fresh pasta store in your town?

Basil cream sauce
Roasted eggplant, zucchini & peppers
Artisan bread bruschetta with grated tomatoes, olive oil & basil (never thought of grating tomatoes?)
Chestnut floor gnocchi...yum!
Pesto cream sauce, made by cooking the basil first.  I need to find a recipe...
Peach tiramisu, with white wine, vanilla,  mascarpone, whipping cream and lady fingers
Roasted plum tomato sauce, with white wine
Grilled steak, with rosemary and bay on the grill and a caramelized porcini mushroom, brandy cream sauce
Testirolli, kind of like a cross between crepes and pita bread, smothered in pesto.

I'm going to dream of food all night and wake up starving!  Mange!