snowy day.

Just last week, Rob and I were commenting that we'd made it through almost the end of January without a significant snowfall. We should have knocked wood ...

... today, we got a pretty good dump (5 inches, maybe) with more to come tonight and tomorrow. Interstates are shut down in various spots so I'm working from home, with a cup of coffee within reach and a sleepy dog curled up on his pillow across the room.

We took our regular morning walk about 7 a.m., when it was dark and still and quiet. It's been cold, so the snow is the light, powdery kind that doesn't pack (no snowman-making for us), which made walking uphill quite a workout. Wrigley had a bit of trouble with snow-packed paws, but we got through all right. It was pretty, a good start to the morning. Off to work now ...

crunchy granola.

A few months ago I was disappointed to learn that the homemade granola I'd been buying at the market was no longer available. So today I made a batch that comes close ... almost. The only thing I need to figure out is how to make it more cluster-y, if that makes any sense. But it tastes great.

Crunchy Granola

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup mixed nuts & seeds (I used sunflower seeds, walnut pieces and slivered almonds; if I had sesame seed I would have added that)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
generous pinch of salt

Mix together thoroughly (so all the nuts and oats are coated with the sweeteners), then spread on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment.

Bake 10 minutes; stir. Bake 10 more minutes; stir. Again, 10 minutes and a stir. I gave it another 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the granola was a deep and even brown (total baking time 30 to 35 minutes). When you stir, be sure to gather the well-browned bits on the outer edges of the pan and scoot them inward so it all browns evenly.

Remove from oven; cool. Stir in 1 cup of mixed dried fruit of your choice.

a cold winter's day.

Not as cold as yesterday, but still really cold. As we drove down Columbia Parkway to the market this morning, the sky was a brilliant pinkorangegold and it made me think it might get sunny, but not so much. We'll brave the elements later to take Wigs out for a spin. We all need to get outside.

These winter days I always hold out a bit of hope: We've hit the coldest stretch of the year, yet the days are growing perceptibly longer; there was a sun delay on my way home. So there's that.

Doing chores today, I was thrilled THRILLED to see a cluster of buds on my beloved olive tree. It has never borne fruit, and now there are two tiny bud clusters. The tree drops leaves in the winter just as it hits a growth spurt (old making way for new, I suppose). Here's a blurry photo:

please, enough with the pears already.

In the Mooth household, we have a serious pear problem: three -- count 'em, three -- deliveries of Harry & David pears within the space of about three weeks. We have 14 pears, and two people. Clearly, too many pears.

Pears are fine (and truly, these pears are delicious), but we're not huge winter-fruit eaters, and with only two of us, we just don't go through them quickly enough. (Plus, Rob has a little, erm, issue with them, which I won't go into here.)

So, what to do with all the freakin' pears?

Cocktail maestro that he is, Rob found in the Diffords Guide a recipe for a cocktail made of pear puree. So into the blender will go several of these blushing beauties. I'm a fan of sliced pears wrapped in proscuitto for a nice snacketizer. So that'll take care of another one. A recipe for salad of grilled chicken, blue cheese, red pepper, diced fennel and diced pear in a spicy cayenne-pecan dressing will no doubt be on the menu for Monday. And perhaps a pear crisp might need to happen.

Please, Harry & David, do not send any more pears. Ix-nay on the ears-pay.

roasted olives recipe.

I'm not a huge olive fan, though I do love olive oil and tapenade. I guess really I'm a very picky olive eater -- I only like the ripe ones (green = ick!), and I like to nosh on tiny Arbequino, Nicoise and oil-cured black olives with a glass of wine before dinner.

When Dad & Ellen were here for a Christmas visit a couple of weeks ago, we hit Lavomatic, a delightful French-style wine bar/cafe, for an afternoon pick-me-up. We ordered a dish of roasted olives to snack on -- I'd never had roasted ones (and these were served cold, which didn't seem ideal), but they were tasty and I resolved to try making them. I sort of made this recipe up:

assorted olives of your liking
a sprig of rosemary (fresh thyme would work, too, maybe for a spring or summer variation)
1 clove of garlic, smashed
a pinch of red-pepper flakes
a glug of olive oil
a splash of red wine
a piece of orange peel would be nice, too

I warmed the olive oil in my small Lodge cast-iron skillet (any oven-proof skillet would do), then added the garlic, rosemary sprig and pepper flakes and warmed them until they were fragrant. I added the olives and stirred them around for a few minutes, then added the red wine. Then I shoved the pan into a preheated 400-degree oven for about 12 minutes, until everything bubbled and smelled delicious.

These improve greatly over time -- I made a batch for New Year's eve that were much better when I finished them off on Friday evening, more than a week later. Yesterday's batch will sit in the fridge until next weekend, when I'll scoop a few into a small dish and let them come to room temp for a little snacketizer.

the fun list.

Last weekend, as our extended holiday time off was waning, Rob cheered me up by proposing that we create The Fun List -- a bunch of places to go, restaurants to hit and things to do during these short, dark, cold days of winter. I think his suggestion was mostly an act of self-preservation, as I can get sort of grouchy as I wait for the days to get longer, sunnier and warmer. The Fun List is a welcome distraction.

First up on the list: a trip to Jungle Jim's, a crazy food emporium (six acres under one roof!) on the way northwest side of Cincinnati. Yesterday was the perfect day for this Bit of Fun, as the weather was simply disastrous. So we trekked up I-75 and hit JJ's; an hour an a half and 130 bucks later, we emerged with a really random assortment of things. Our receipt shows:

-- 3 boxes of DeCecco pasta and a bag of my favorite, Fregola Sarda
-- 1 bottle of Verjus (a variant of wine vinegar that I've been interested in trying)
-- a liter of imported olive oil
-- bananas, zucchini, carrots, garlic, avocados
-- 2 cans of San Marzano tomatoes and a tube of imported tomato paste
-- 2 different kinds of fancy butter
-- 2 Spanish cheeses: an aged Manchego and a stinky-as-feet blue Cabrales
-- assorted fresh olives
-- 2 kinds of imported sea salt (coarse and fine)
-- a gorgeous piece of Sockeye salmon which, with the red lentils we also bought, was the centerpiece of last night's dinner
-- Cafe du Monde coffee
-- 4 additions to Rob's Pez collection: the Riddler, the mom and baby from "The Incredibles" and Linguini from "Ratatouille"

It was great fun!

a dream of mine.

If we won the lottery and could build a second home, this is exactly how I'd want it: a modern box, a kitchendininglivingroom with a loft bedroom above and all surrounded by glass. I found a picture of this house (who knew someone had been reading my mind?) on NYTimes.com. I would not like my house to be in Idaho, as this one is. But the structure is just right.

Photo below is by Stuart Isett for the NYTimes.

tree, you've been lovely.

Sadly, though, it's time to carefully remove all the beloved ornaments from your branches, take off the garland draped throughout your boughs, unwrap the strings of white lights, and pack it all away for the year. I hope you've felt like a star, all dressed up in the glittering painted-glass ornaments that I love so much -- the ones that first hung on my little artificial tree in my room growing up, even a few that probably came from Grandpa's flower shop and hung on Mom & Dad's tree when they were starting out. The ones that I picked up at the Herb Barn every day-after-Thanksgiving when Mom, Grandma and I would go out together. The ones that Rob and I have collected over the years, including the one that looks like a seed packet that I purchased just a few days ago.

You've been a gorgeous and welcome addition to our home these past few weeks, and we're glad we found you that cold night.

Thank you.