I thought I was done. Not only with the 3-feet-plus of snow piled up on my lawn, but with my kitchen.

After yet another weekend hunkered down in the house where I baked, seared, sautéed, slow-cooked and fired up my dishwasher every 2 hours, I couldn’t bear to re-enter the kitchen today. Besides, I think I’m low on butter. Again.

But, as aging Godfather Michael Corleone once said, “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”

This time, however, it wasn’t the mob. It was the snow.

The Wicked Whiteness guilted me back to the stove this morning to prepare a bowl of hot oatmeal for my wet and rather huffy hubby who had just come in from yet another date with his yellow snow shovel. We only have the one.

Mind you, there was a pan of leftover raspberry sweet rolls wrapped in plastic next to the coffee pot, but how could I expect him to warm them up in the oven after his morning ordeal?

Cue the constant voice in my head – the one of my Italian mother – that forced me to shuffle back to the kitchen.

“Do I get points for setting the timer on the coffee pot to go off at 7:30 a.m. so he’d have a hot cup before heading out,” I asked Mom-in-my-Mind.

“No,” she said. “GET UP AND TAKE CARE OF YOUR HUSBAND!”

Old-Fashioned Quaker Oats, raisins, cinnamon, maple syrup, here we go again…

Last night, I had a perfectly good pot of slow-cooked short ribs in the fridge, but the thought of de-fatting, straining and warming it as well as stirring up a pot of polenta to accompany the beef just glued me to my comfy chair and fleece blanket. So Steve had cavatappi with Barilla marinara sauce (our If-the-Electricity-Goes-Out meal) and I nuked a little wedge of leftover eggplant parm for myself. There was a warm, homemade baguette to accompany the meal, so I don’t feel that guilty.

The trouble with this storm is that once I start in the kitchen, it doesn’t end.

After his bowl of oatmeal and many cups of Jim’s Organic Coffee, Steve decided to write from home, so that meant lunch. At least we nearly finished up the salmon and leek quiche I made two days ago when I tested a pair of pate brisee recipes.

Not satisfied with just warming up the quiche, I noticed a container of chopped clams, a packet of bacon and more leeks in the fridge, so I made clam chowder. And those nearly black bananas staring at me from the bowl? They dared me to mash and bake them into a loaf of banana bread. So I did.

See? I’m on my second dishwasher load and the afternoon is young.

I have the short ribs for dinner, but what about dessert? The banana bread is fine for accompanying a cup of tea but dessert? Nah. Though I’m pretty sure I have some pie dough in the freezer…

Oh, and this just in: WCVB-TV meteorologist Harvey Leonard, the dean of Boston’s weather trackers, said he’s keeping his eye on another storm that will land around Thursday. And shortly after the weather report, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency (read: another day in the house).

So Wednesday is probably the only day available to brave the 30+ inches we have here on the South Shore of Boston and forage for more food for the rest of the week. Actually, pantry-wise, we’re not doing too badly. I haven’t had to dip into the freezer yet. But if I run out of dishwasher soap this week, I may throw myself in front of a snowplow.

 

Tags: blizzardbreakfast, blizzardfood, MAsnow, snowday, snowfood, snowmaggedon, snowpocalypse, stopmebeforeibakeagain, stopmebeforeicookagain