Turkey Tracks: Blizzard!

Turkey Tracks:  December 27, 2010

Blizzard!

 We woke up to a blizzard this morning.

We knew it was coming as it’s been moving north for the past two days and as various relatives who live further south have called or sent pictures of deep snow.  Maryann, John’s sister, drove in from Boston about 1 p.m. yesterday, with the storm on her heels. 

We had at least a foot of snow on the ground at 7 a.m.  I donned boots, hat, coat, mittens and set out to get to the chicken house.  The snow was calf deep, but I was able to get food to the chickens and to change out their water.  I returned with the shovel and got a path organized to them.  It’s fairly light snow to move.  The chickens have been hunkering down in their coop during the past few days of colder weather.  They were happy to see me, and Annie “talked” while I fed them.  I didn’t open the door into their larger cage as the wind was high.  By now, though, their cage and coop are banked with snow, which gives them quite a bit of insulation. 

Inside, I cut up one of our meat chicken for dinner and put the backs, feet, wings, head, etc, into a pot and got a bone broth going with lots of onion, celery, carrots, garlic, and herbs.  It smells heavenly.  We’re low on bread, so I dragged out the bread machine and got that going.  The plow crew came and cleared the driveway, the front porch, and the paths around the house, and John and Maryann shoveled the upper porch and refilled the bird feeders.  Now, we’re all hunkered down enjoying a snow day.  Maryann is hoping to get out tomorrow to meet up with friends going to the Cape.  Likely she will make it.  New Englanders are brilliant with snow removal.

Dinner tonight is a bouillbaise made with chicken and fragrant with saffron, roasted tomatoes put up last summer, fennel, leeks, and the pernod Maryann brought me this trip.  (We couldn’t find it around here.)  We’ll add salad (the last of Rose Thomas’s hoop house lettuce) and broccoli.  And then, there is the Lane Cake, the fudge, and the Italian pizzelles.  Mercy!!!  We are blessed!!