The Blizzard That Wasn’t
I wish I had gotten this post up before going home, because the number one favorite thing for everyone to ask me is, “How cold is it up there?”
While the temperature changes day-to-day with one day hovering in the 40’s and the next is in the 20’s, overall it really hasn’t been that bad of a winter. There was, however, one weekend when we got a little dose of just how cold South Dakota can be.
It was purported to be a storm of blizzard proportions. The base ended up closing around 10:00am that Friday. I received a call from work telling me not to come in. Then I watched the snow swirl and pile up, and witnessed my first white out, all while waiting on Husband to safely return from the base.
Jean just snuggled up a little tighter in her bed.
When more than an hour had passed since Husband had told me he would be heading home, I started calling and texting him every few minutes wondering where the heck he was. The wind was so strong it seemed like the roads were staying clear, but I was worried about him being able to see the road in front of him.
Finally around 11:30 he arrived. Dressed like a polar bear.
It was our first snow day in South Dakota, and we planned to make the most of it. I had stocked up on food and booze the night before so we were in good shape for a day of couch potato-ing.
The dogs went out to play in the snow.
And Jim acted as if the nordic weather was his natural habitat. In fact, the following day it was only 10 degrees with a -25 degree wind chill, and our “special” dog was just laying out in the yard with 30 mph sustained winds blowing through his hair.
Jeannie on the other hand lasted a few minutes before I noticed her starting to walk very slowly and picking up one or two legs at a time like they hurt. I then realized her feet were cold. So Hubs picked her up and brought her back to the house.
The blizzard never came though. In fact the snow stopped falling shortly after lunch, and by the next day the roads were perfectly clear (I’m still amazed how quickly they handle the snow up here!), albeit some houses were buried in four foot tall snow drifts, and snow had been piled up in the parking lots to a point it was taller than our heads.
The rest of the weekend was spent cooking lots of good food, drinking lots of wine, brewing a new batch of beer (a Red Stripe clone), and venturing out for a lunchtime happy hour at On The Border.
I HIGHLY recommend this delicious recipe. Although I did make a few substitutions. I nixed the mint and the caster sugar, used lima beans in the place of broad/fava beans (because I couldn’t find them), and subbed greek yogurt for the sour cream.
I am not a spicy fan. I like a little heat (like Frank’s), but in general I’m a wuss when it comes to serious spice. So, I was hesitant about using the chili in the sauce.
It was perfect. The absolute perfect amount of heat, and it had such a unique flavor.
We ended up having it again a few nights later with the addition of shrimp. I fell so in love with the sauce I even topped my roasted veggies and veggie burger lunch with it. I’m tempted to make a bunch to just keep around as a dressing/sauce for anything and everything!
And that was our weekend. Blizzard averted. Good food and good times found!