Kitchen

[ciao_bella]

Snowed in and brutally cold here in NJ,  so fired up the oven and made some ginger cookies and tonight will make chicken parm and spaghetti for dinner.  Keeps the oven going and smells great!

Daughter had a tube of Pillsbury gingerbread cookie dough she didn't get around to making for Christmas, so I doctored the dough up a little and made some delicious soft ginger cookies. 

Stay warm and safe everyone! 

[Annabellethecat66]

Yesterday I went by Panera and bought some chicken noodle soup and a salad.

It was a good day for it.  I had a Drs appt about 1 hour away but called and canceled it.  Schools are canceled so they don't clear our road right away and I live off of a dangerous 2 lane road.  

Not about to take chances, so my fanny is home, nice and warm and like you @ciao_bella I am enjoying a full belly.

However, dollars to donuts, your's was probably tastier and better than mine as I suspect you are a wonderful cook.

At my age (and living alone) I don't cook much anymore.  I do make sauce (for spaghetti, etc) and home made soup.

I love reading about the wonderful things many of you make.  If I lived near you, I'd invite myself over.  Ha!  Take care and stay warm.  

I live in Northern Va and I think we dodged it pretty much.  I think it sounds like you guys are getting hit and worse even further up.  Take care.

[ciao_bella]

@Annabellethecat66   You would definitely have an invitation.  I'm much like my Italian mother who was at her happiest when she was feeding someone...  

We have about 7 or 8 inches of snow on the ground now, but it's the strong gusts of wind (50 miles per hour) and single digit temperature that are most concerning.  Tomorrow, the temperature is going to get even colder with a high of 0 degrees and overnight with windchill factored in to be around minus 15 degrees.  

I'm staying put with the kitties all curled up in front of the fireplace, so hopefully no issues with power outages.  

[lavendar]

What did you do to improve the ginger cookie dough? I have two tubes of chocolate chip that I'll make. 

[qvc chick]

Ciabello, what part of NJ are you in?  I am in south Jersey, we got hit pretty hard too

[ciao_bella]

---

@lavendar wrote:

What did you do to improve the ginger cookie dough? I have two tubes of chocolate chip that I'll make. 

---

@lavendar  I already had a tube of Pillsbury gingerbread cookie dough and used some crystalized ginger that I had leftover from another recipe.  I simply added the crystalized ginger into the gingerbread dough and baked the cookies.  So, it was a batch of double ginger cookies and it was delicious.  

I suppose, if you have any dried cranberries or some kind of trail mix hanging around, you could incorporate some of it into the chocolate chip cookie mix.  

[Annabellethecat66]

I have an all electric house (heal pump).  When the temp is below 32 the thing doesn't work so I'm using all electricity.

That, plus I have (no exaggeration) 3 Dyson heaters going.  My cats hate the thing (they, like most cats like the radiant heaters) I've been meaning to get one, just haven't had a chance....

I sit watching TV in the upstairs family room (which is a few feet from the kitchen) (see where this is going)....Ha!

But I also look out into the back yard and woods!  It's beautiful but so cold looking.

I always think about the poor animals when it's this cold.  I've gone through so much bird seed it's crazy!  

It's very, very windy here today.  I have a daughter who lives in Denver.  She just sent me a video of her puppy running around like crazy at the dog park.  Dog was driving her crazy (she works from home) so took her to dog park.  What energy!  Ha!  Then she sent a picture of the puppy zonked out!  

My cats (2) stay zonked out most of the day!  Ha!  Cats hate cold!  I've always had cats (I don't like to say owned).  At least I don't have to walk them!

Anyway, I got side-tracked.  So not a drop of snow there and it's been way warmer there than here in Northern Va.  My oldest daughter just got back from 2 weeks visiting her sister in Florida (Orlando) so she's freezing to death.  (She's always freezing to death).  Ha!

Anyway, I'm 71 and I'm discovering arthritis in places I didn't even know I had it there!  Ha!  At least my two new knees are doing well....(that's a good thing).

Oh!  I almost forgot!  I sometimes watch cooking shows and I remember so many times they talk about how making food and serving it is the ultimate way to show love to someone.  

Makes sense to me.  I used to cook when my husband was alive.

[ciao_bella]

@qvc chick  I'm from central coastal NJ (Sayreville).  I think you got hit harder than I did.  I have a relative who lives in Bradley Beach and she said they have about 10 inches of snow or more on the ground and it's still coming down fairly hard.

[ciao_bella]

@Annabellethecat66  I'm happy to hear your knees are doing well and once the spring comes, I'm sure you'll be out and about doing things you haven't been able to do when your knees were bad.  

Having had both  my knees replaced, it was one of the best decisions I've ever made.  It's been about 5 years now and my new knees can keep up with the best of the younger crowd..ha ha  

My sister had all electric heat but converted to natural gas about 3 or 4 years ago.  She was glad she did because she said the cost to heat her house, which is a large two-story colonial, was extremely expensive.  

My kitties are snoring away...  They're such great pets and a source of peace and comfort.  

[Tigriss]

I was snowed in yesterday here in the deep south of Georgia.  There was salt out on the roads today, but not yesterday at 545 when I left for work.  I stayed in and texted the boss that I wasn't coming in.  There were only two in my department that made it as the rest lived where the police closed the bridges due to ice.  They let those two go home at 12 once the roads and bridges had been started to be salted.  We don't keep that stuff for down here, so it was a bit of a delay.  Schools are still out from Christmas break, so at least the buses weren't affected.  I too make a big pot of white chicken chili to stay warm and snuggly!