This weekend we received close nearly three feet of snow here in the DC area. The storm was predicted to hit on Friday afternoon so on Thursday evening and Friday morning, DC area residents went into Full Freak Out Mode. Eric went to the grocery store at 8 a.m. on Friday and found that all the shopping carts were already being used. They were out of eggs.
But those forecasts were right: the snow came...and kept on coming. According to the Capitol Hill Weather Gang and NOAA: "Snowmageddon will rank number 4 in recorded history for D.C. The storm also brings D.C. to number 3 in the top winter totals on record."
So what's a girl to do when you're snowed in all weekend? Bake, eat, and drink.
So what's a girl to do when you're snowed in all weekend? Bake, eat, and drink.
Friday night, I defrosted pumpkin puree from our freezer (courtesy of last summer's garden) and baked a pumpkin bread. Then Eric's friends arrived (one stayed with us all weekend, while the other two live nearby) and we walked to the local Irish pub for dinner and some drinks. Back at home, we kept drinking (Bailey's with caramel!), went in the hot tub, and then I made cupcakes with, apparently, a bit of a buzz going - because this is what they looked like when I got done with them:
Just put the knife down...slowly. Now back away from the cupcakes.
On Saturday, I decided to make some pita bread for the first time ever to pair with the hummus that our friend had brought over. The recipe was from my bread baking cookbook and it was super easy. I still can't believe they turned out so perfectly.
After taking a break to walk over to our nearby friends' house, I got back to work in the kitchen by baking rolls for our dinner, a boeuf Bourguignon that Eric was making. I found the recipe on Allrecipes.com, my favorite site for finding good, solid recipes. It was the first time I'd made a yeast dough by letting the yeast mixture sit in a "well" in the flour but it worked perfectly. If you've never made fresh yeast dough with active dry yeast from the grocery store, you should give it a try. It's not hard and it smells amazing. (Just make sure you use a thermometer to make sure your milk isn't too warm or it will kill the yeast.)
The dough felt really nice when I was kneading it and I resisted the urge to add more flour to make it a little less sticky. The end result were a bunch of rolls that were a bit brown on the bottom (I need better pans) but fluffy and great for sopping up the stew. 
After sitting for a day, they became denser, but then I cut the remaining rolls in half and turned them into mini garlic breads to go with the pasta bar we had for dinner on Sunday night. (Choice of sauces: pesto/vodka sauce/tomato sauce - all homemade from our garden! Okay, the vodka wasn't from our garden, but it was from our local ABC store! Ha ha...)I finished off the "Snow-my-god!" weekend by baking my good old standy cookies, the oatmeal chocolate chip walnut ones, for the Super Bowl. I could care less about football so I baked them some time during the third quarter.
But the fun isn't over yet! Work was closed today! However, we are so stocked to the gills with leftovers now that I haven't cooked or baked a darn thing today. (Amazing, I know!)
And guess what?
They're predicting another 5 inches (or more!) of snow to fall tomorrow night! So Eric is at the store right now getting us some more eggs and milk.
Hey, if I'm stuck inside again on Wednesday, you can bet I'm going to be making more food!
Thank goodness pool season is still a few months away.
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