BLIZZARD WARNING

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA
901 AM EST WED FEB 10 2010

...BLIZZARD WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT EST TONIGHT...
...WINTER STORM WARNING IS CANCELLED...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WAKEFIELD HAS ISSUED A BLIZZARD
WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT EST TONIGHT. THE WINTER STORM WARNING HAS BEEN CANCELLED. A MIXTURE OF SLEET AND SNOW WILL QUICKLY CHANGE OVER TO ALL SNOW LATE THIS MORNING...THEN CONTINUE TO SNOW THROUGH THIS EVENING. SNOW WILL BE HEAVY AT TIMES. BANDS OF HEAVY SNOW COMBINED WITH STRONG SUSTAINED WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS OF 30 TO 40 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 50 MPH WILL PRODUCE WHITEOUT CONDITIONS ACROSS THE WARNED AREA. EXPECT VISIBILITIES TO BE RESTRICTED TO LESS THAN A QUARTER OF A MILE IN THE HEAVIER BANDS OF SNOW.

TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 5 TO 6 INCHES IS EXPECTED IN THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE WARNING AREA...WITH 7 TO 9 INCHES ACROSS THE NORTHERN PORTION OF THE WARNING AREA....INCLUDING NORTHERN DORCHESTER AND WICOMICO COUNTIES.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW WITH STRONG WINDS AND POOR VISIBILITIES ARE LIKELY. THIS WILL LEAD TO WHITEOUT CONDITIONS...MAKING TRAVEL EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. DO NOT TRAVEL. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL...HAVE A WINTER SURVIVAL KIT WITH YOU. IF YOU GET STRANDED...STAY WITH YOUR VEHICLE.

Sleigh bells ring, are you listenin'

That's right folks, the sleigh bells are ringing again at the Frog & Penguinn Here is what it looks like from the second floor looking at the back fields. We started to get snow about 30 minutes ago and the NWS is now promising up to 6 inches by tomorrow morning. HEY!!!! I realize that some of you are laughing under a heavy blanket of snow (others are hoping to get to Costa Rica) but for the Shore this has been a big winter. We, well I got so excited this morning i even tried to shoot some video of the storm. Here take a look>>>> OK OK OK , maybe i need to wait for some bigger flakes. Soooo is this cool or what???? We are supposed to be getting bands of heavy to light snow all day long. <<<< NEWS FLASH>>>> NWS has just issued a BLIZZARD WARNING!!!!! Come back for the Noon Report. ALSO... Get ready,,, it's Americas Cup time again. First race should be today if there is wind off Valencia Spain. Hang On!!!!

Drip, Drip, It's raining

But not for long. NWS has promised that this will all turn to sleet and freezing rain soon. AND then to all snow tomorrow morning.

For those of you who may not understand the colors on the radar, blue is ok, green is not so ok, yellow is bad, and red is really bad.

AND Neighborhood Watch Night Field Maneuvers for tomorrow night have been canceled by Col. Jan due to lack of snow boots.

More in the morning!!! if we have power and internet????

Applesauce - Homemade, Easy and Good

The applesauce jar said it was “all natural” which was not entirely true, unless you like corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup, both of which we want to avoid. Apples were on sale in the produce section, so homemade applesauce seemed a better idea. To say this was easy is putting it mildly. It’s SO simple: core, peel and cut apples, add water and sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and cook down. Some cookbooks suggest using a food mill to process the cooked apples, especially if cooking them unpeeled (this way is supposed to produce a better taste). My version used about 8 apples (mix of granny smith, gala and white delicious), added some sugar and spices and added a half cup of cranberries, just because it made for a colorful applesauce. The cinnamon stick is optional too. We enjoyed the applesauce on oatmeal cereal today (not the instant version).

Easy Homemade Applesauce
6-8 apples, peeled, cored, coarsely cut up
½ C sugar
¼ C brown sugar
¾ to 1 C water
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp cinnamon (to taste)
Cinnamon stick broken up - optional (wondered what to do with these)
½ C cranberries - optional (had some frozen)

Put all ingredients into a heavy duty pot, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes. I used a potato masher to mash the apples and cranberries as they cooked. Remember to remove the pieces of cinnamon stick.

Not here yet ,,,, BUT

It is on it's way, and the radar looks really really nasty with all the pretty yellows and reds. On the bright side there is a loaf of Rosemary bread heading for the oven.
More later!!!

It's Coming- Another Winter Storm Warning!!!

This is what we are looking at this morning. Our local radio prognosticator is calling for rain/sleet later today, changing to snow over night. 4-6 inches possible but if the system sags a little we could be looking at up to 12 inches. Work for today will be refueling the tractor and getting out some rock salt. Definitely too wet to plow and y'all know I can't dance.
More as we go through the next two days.

On the summer side of the street, the pepper and egg plant seeds are in the Bio-Dome and traveling from window to window as the sun moves on. No activity yet but rest assured you will be among the first to see the new "babies."

Lazy Day Braised Pot Roast

Grenville made this crockpot roast on Super Bowl Sunday. Lazy is the best way to describe this meal as there’s no browning or fussing with the meat first, which is perfect, and the dinner cooks itself. - perfect! Just pile everything into a slow cooker and thicken the juices later. While the recipe has more liquid than others, it’s the basis for the gravy and keeps the meat moist and tender. This meal is great as leftovers - some of our favorite meals. Use a medium oval or large round (or oval cooker). Cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hrs and go do something else with your day!

Lazy Day Braised Pot Roast
4 lb boneless chuck roast, trim fat and blot dry
½ tsp salt
4 large carrots cut into 3-inch lengths
4 large potatoes, peel and quarter
1 large onion, quarter
2 bay leaves
3 C water
½ C cider vinegar
3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
3 tbsp all-purpose flour

1. Place roast in slow cooker and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add carrots, potatoes, onion, bay leaves. Pour water and vinegar over meat and vegetables. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours.


2. Transfer meat and vegetables to heated platter and cover. Turn cooker to HIGH. You will have about 3 cups of liquid. In a small bowl, mash the butter and flour together to make a beurre manié.
   
   OK this sounds like something Julia Child might use (maybe she did) but it's not hard to do. Beurre manié is just an uncooked paste of flour and butter that thickens the thinnest of sauces. Put equal amounts of soft butter and flour in a bowl or small food processor and use a fork or pulsing motion, to mash together until the mixture forms a semi-firm mass. Add to the hot liquid in the cooker, stir with a whisk until it melts and the liquid thickens. Turn cooker to HIGH re-cover and cook about 10-15 min. Pour over the meat and vegetables and serve the remainder in a bowl

Here we go again

The NWS is predicting a real wintry sleigh ride for tomorrow and Wednesday. Rain, Snow, Sleet, Wind, Freezing Rain, Tsunami.

Well maybe not the last one just a high surf advisory, but it should be an interesting meteorological ride. If you haven't checked Beatrice's pics of this past weekend go now.

As we were heading out this morning there were so many flooded places that had frozen over we both longed for our ice skates. Something that is seldom seen down here.
On the bright side we hit the food store this morning and are well stocked for the next two days..... AND Beatrice made FRESH APPLE SAUCE!!!!!

Whoooppppeeee!!!!
The fun is supposed to start tomorrow afternoon. Maybe we will try some "Live Blogging" for this storm.

Blizzard Not

We were not part of the Mid-Atlantic region that got blanketed with up to 2 feet of snow. Outside the F&P there was about 5 inches of fresh snow, enough to make for a beautiful winter scene, but thankfully not much to shovel. Unlike the snowfall from last weekend, this snow was wetter and glistened in the early Sunday morning sun. The penguins enjoyed the wintry weather more than the frogs who are awaiting the arrival of spring. We didn't tell them about the groundhog's prediction of 6 more weeks of winter because there's just no telling a frog anything.

Don't Like the Weather? Wait Awhile

SNOW - RAIN - WIND - SNOW

That's what's been happening outside the Frog and PenguINN over the past 24 hours. The weather here is changeable and that was really evident in the past 24 hours. Here's a rundown of our local weather: Friday morning and afternoon brought intermittent snow showers, then came the sleet and rain, overnight rain was accompanied by strong gusting winds which rattled windows through the night. When the wind subsided early Saturday, the rain continued. Parts of the F&P back yard flooded out after after 2 inches of rain.

The weather really got more interesting (some people would use a different term) about mid-day Saturday when light snow started to fall and fall - a wet and heavy snowfall that coated the trees, roadways, standing water and everything else.

It's still snowing at 6:30 p.m. Parts of the Mid-Atlantic area were slammed with up to 2 feet of snow from this storm. Last weekend was the first major snowfall in this area in years when over 9-1/2 inches fell and shut down local schools for 3 days (secondary roads are not plowed in this area).

Grenville and Beatrice have been hibernating all day - reading and enjoying hot chocolate and homemade soup and bread - it's what bears do best!

More weather updates to follow...