On the morning radio show

Along with the weather/traffic report (and how many ferries are running on the Tickle), I love the movie reviews. The reviewers play clips from the trailers. On the radio. I find that amusing. Maybe it was the same back in NYC, but I didn't listen to the radio as much then as now.

Speaking of the weather, we're under a winter storm warning for tonight. A weather forecast just quoted accumulations between 15-30cm by Saturday eve. Let me get out my Convert app to put that in an amount I can relate to...
As I suspected, it means a sh*tlo@d !!

Laptop died

Arghhh. There goes my beloved Windows XP. Greg said he might be able to boot it to get some of the files that I didn't have backed up.

Drowning my sorrows in baked goods.
Yesterday I made Pignoli Pound Cake and Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins. This morning, I've got some Blackberry Muffins fresh out of the oven. The first two went with Greg to a meeting he's hosting this morning.  Hopefully they'll be tasty for his guests - told him not to indicate where they came from unless reviews were good!

Was trying to send the BB Muffins with him too but they came out of the oven 10 min too late. 

They're suppposed to be served hot out of the oven.  So I tried one as soon as it was cool enough to bite.  And I tried another after having some oatmeal.  And now I'm having one with my coffee, as I type.  They're best while still warm but they don't stink otherwise.

Oy vey...I gotta go for a walk to burn some of this off.

Pack Ice

There it is.  A big piece of pack ice floated past the Narrows this morning and with the currents not as strong closer to shore, it's making a slow tour of the point off Amherst Light.  We were part of the traffic jam heading up to Signal Hill to get a good view and hope there was a traditional iceberg too.   Another photographer standing up around the Queen's Barracks told us its part of the Petermann Glacier that broke off in August 2010 and is still drifting down from Greenland.

This is a picture I shot today.  Still haven't looked at the ones from yesterday; expect them to be less dramatic.

Date Night at Bianca's

We had a great night out last night, dinner at Bianca's, a very well regarded restaurant downtown.  We've been meaning to go for the past few months (thanks Tricia & John!).

Great meal:  I had Shrimp and Snow Crab Bisque and Cod with a Squash Risotto; Greg had the Roast Rabbit Ragoût Stuffed Pasta and Confit of Duck Leg.

We asked a passing waiter to take our photo; my point & shoot isn't the greatest and probably should have done a test shot before handing him the camera - it's very blurry.

Then a stroll down Water Street (low wind so it wasn't too chilly) and a nightcap at the Gypsy Tea Room.

The day started out with a mad dash to Signal Hill and then out to Cape Spear to try to catch sight of a recently reported iceberg.  We didn't see a berg but there was some pack ice in the distance.  I still haven't downloaded my photos - hope my shots of it with a CCG boat (maybe an ice breaker?) come out.   We were downtown a little while ago (without cameras, darn it) and could see the ice in The Narrows; here's a capture from the CBC's webcam; you can just make it out as it drifts by:

Can't wait to see a full grown iceberg!

"There you go, my love"

That's what the woman at the store said to me upon giving me my change.  At another store, I got called Darlin' .  I don't get this much sweet talk at home!  ;-}

It makes a nice segue to something that was on the St. John's Morning Show; a writer said she felt Newfoundland was more Irish than Ireland.

Here's a link to the piece, if you want to give a listen.

Extend NY

Awesome website that Greg referenced recently.  It takes the NYC street grid and applies it to the world.
In St. John's, we're in the vicinity of 20,321st Street and 3,764th Avenue.

First Day of Spring

Today's the vernal equinox (<---- that would be an excellent word for Words With Friends).

So glad they got the couch in before this started.

NFLD is Starting to Get Civilized...

....because after waiting 9 weeks and spending that time sitting on the floor on a twin mattress to watch tv, we finally got our couch (and a new mirror) !!!   We are so looking forward to stretching out on this baby after dinner.  A few throw pillows and an end table and we'll be looking good.

Delivery men from Hayward's furniture store came 5 min ahead of the scheduled time (11:00a).  That must be another huge difference between NYC and NFLD; we were thinking we might see them closer to 12-12:30p, given our experience with deliveries in Manhattan.

They were great, bringing it all in and placing it just so.  They also took great care to hang the mirror for us.

Now if we get the dining area cleaned up, we could just be ready for some company, either from in-province or out.  :-)

xo

Balmy Sunday; +8C

I think this is the warmest (47F) weekend day we've had this year.  Looking forward to getting out - don't know what we'll do yet.  It's been a bit damp, walking trails have been muddy.

Here's some pix from last weekend, which was considerably colder and snowy.  We walked down an unpaved road in Tors Cove, that warned it wasn't maintained in winter.  We discovered a couple of very cute cottages that teased us Spring/Summer might be here soon.

Blizzard on Wednesday; Spring on Friday

Wicked weather on Wed; shut down schools and provincial offices.  The RMPC and RNC were cautioning drivers to keep off the roads unless absolutely necessary (and "watch how you go").  They predicted 20-25cm (7-10").

And today was practically balmy - did see someone out in shirt sleeves.  Temps got up to +12C to +15C on the Avalon (that's about 53-59F).

So I give you some run-off to consider; this was shot in a park not far from Greg's office (making for a nice lunchtime break for him once in a while):

Getting cold again and believe they're predicting another bit of snow for the Avalon this weekend...5-10cm.

March came in like a confused lion - hope it goes out like a level-headed lamb.

We inhaled.

The Wild Mushroom Risotto, that is.  Never got a chance to take any photos of the finished product.
Oh my yummy.

Whole lotta cookin' goin' on

Exploring new recipes and trying to get better at making ones I've tried before has been my 'thing' lately.

Been taking photos of dishes in progress but haven't gotten around to posting them until now.

Because I have some time.

Because I'm making risotto.

Barefoot Contessa's Wild Mushroom Risotto, to be specific.  

dried morels (recons) & porcinis

pancetta & scallions in butter

all of it simmering in the dutch oven

I attempted it for Greg in NY but think it was a middling effort.  Didn't really add the liquids as slowly - let them get absorbed before adding the next ladle full.  But I am now.  I'm in between ladle fulls now.  [stop to go stir]

It smells really good.... morels, porcinis, pancetta and scallions in a bunch of butter, wine and broth.  I optimistically told Greg we'd be eating around 8:30p.  It's 8:35 now and I think it's going to be another :45 at minimum.   He keeps coming in the kitchen trying to 'backseat chef'.  Hopefully his episodes of Mad Men will keep him occupied now. [stop for a stir]

Will update later with the end result and some of the other things I've tried (soup, soup & SOUP!).

xoxo

The weather

Here's a couple of videos I shot out our kitchen window; January Snow and February Wind/Rain:

Don't know how I'll be able to depict March weather .... maybe one of Greg scraping the frost off his windshield!  It's been CHILLY.

I had some fears of what the winter would be like here - imagined so much snow and ice that we'd lose power, be stranded, uncomfortable, etc.
Well, this winter here was much easier to deal with than last year in NYC.  There was much more snow than we've had here (so far....watch me jinx us).