Providence - maybe 4 - 5 inches and a little drifting. Overreaction here too.............. but the intense cold they're predicting for tonight (-3ú in the city) is what I hate! This will be a true test of my Gardenia, Camellias, Crape Myrtle and especially my Windmill palm! Oh well, can't stop Mother Nature.

{{gwi:5901}}

Hard to judge here along the southern CT coast because of the winds that come off the river. I'd guess we had about 5/6 inches as an average. Lots of hype here, too, about the snowfall totals but the wind predictions were right on.

I never did mulch around my new roses. So I'll also have to wait and see what's survived in the spring.

Our forecast was for 10-14 inches and I'd say we have almost a foot. I'm very happy with what we have. No kids in school so that isn't affecting us and DH works from home when anything interferes with getting to work.

We just came in from shoveling. We have a small electric snow shovel that can handle this amount of snow. It was very light and fluffy snow, which is so much easier to shovel. The wind was blowing, but the sun was out and it was very pleasant. Dressed in layers, it was comfortable and it just doesn't seem possible that it is 5 degrees out there, it seemed warmer. Went around and knocked the snow off the Arborvitaes and a couple of Taxus and that's about it. SO much better than a heavy wet snow!

Bill, I just looked at my Camellia and it is almost buried in snow, which I think is good considering how cold it is and it's not in a location that gets the wind. Hope your plants will do better than you could expect.

Pixie Lou, I am in the opposite situation than you are. I'm glad to have a break from the routine and have DH home another couple of days, because he hasn't done that in awhile. He made a pot of chili yesterday afternoon and I made a pan of cornbread to go with it. Perfect for a cold day. Still have some holiday decorations to put away today too.

Ann, you had chili and cornbread, and I made a huge pot of good ol' chicken soup. What some call "Italian Wedding Soup". It sure hit the spot!

{{gwi:5901}}

About 12" here in Cambridge, and it's duning up, with the wind. We climbed onto our large flat roof and did some shoveling to reduce the load up there. So far the plow guy who does the 3 driveways out front came through once last night, and until he shows up this afternoon, we're locked in. No problem. Dinner will be linguine under a nice home-made batch of sauteed zucchini (from our RI garden), garlic (ditto) and stewed tomatoes (ditto), with a sweet Italian chicken sausage chopped in (we didn't grow that ingredient).

I'm hoping that our RI garden has a good insulating cover of snow, over the gardenia, gunnera and fig.

No hype here - in fact it hasn't quite finished snowing. There's still some light ocean effect snow showers going on but at least the strong wind has died down. With all the drifting it's hard to tell the amount but I'd say an average 10 to 12 inches with drifts to 3 feet (I shoveled through one of those).

I did a lot of shoveling this morning but the snow was fluffy for a change (we usually get the wet heavy stuff). In keeping with the forum storm food reporting tradition, my lunch today after shoveling was a wrap with cashew butter, ginger preserves, and a banana inside.

I'm worried about the bitter cold tonight affecting my new Hopi crape myrtle, but it's bundled up as best I could. The Hopi is in the big cardboard box, inside a border fence, with a frost blanket on top. While I was at it I also covered two little viburnums, one of which was newly transplanted. The boxes survived the northeast wind gusts last night so I hope they're little safe houses until the big melt on Sunday and Monday.

Claire

Bill, I was curious what was in the Italian Wedding Soup, the recipe I found on Food Network has meatballs, is that right? Chicken meatballs? We had a neighbor who was Italian and used to make Pasta Fagioli, which was very good. Our chili is kidney beans, black beans and red and green peppers but no meat. My mother was Scotch and made Chicken Soup with carrots and barley, delicious!

Carol, I'm impressed that you are able to produce meals in January from your garden!

Claire, I never thought of using a box with a blanket over it. Good idea, I hope it works! I like the sound of your sandwich too. Never heard of ginger preserves, although we get fig spread sometimes and have that with almond butter.

This post was edited by prairiemoon2 on Fri, Jan 3, 14 at 14:38

We got about 6 inches of snow. Less than predicted, but enough to close school. They could have gone yesterday, but it probably wouldn't even make sense to have one school day between a long vacation and a long weekend.

Dinner last night was homemade iron skillet pizza.

Did not seem like a nor'easter to me. Trees are not smacked with snow on the north side. About 7" of powder and a new window garden.

PM2 - I had a Scottish mother and we had ginger preserves - Dundee still makes it.

Jane (who is grateful it was a peaceful event)

Carol, your linguini, tomato, zucchini dinner sounds delicious and Mad, your homemade pizza makes my mouth water too! We're having the last of our goulash, a simple concoction of ground beef, tomatoes, and onions simmered in the crockpot, good cold weather food.

We received somewhat less than the foot of snow predicted, but the weather service was right on target about the frigid temperatures. Here I am heading out to shovel with my rag-tag band of hairy little followers in tow, and hubby clearing paths so we can all walk out into the pasture.

From the news reports, travelling was hazardous yesterday. It's a great relief to be retired and not need to venture out onto the roads. I think the worst part of this storm was that it lasted nearly 48 hours.

This post was edited by spedigrees on Fri, Jan 3, 14 at 16:04

PM2: I originally bought the ginger preserves online, made by the Trappist monks in St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, MA, but then I found the same preserves in my local Shaw's supermarket.

Claire

edit note: I just added another layer to the crape myrtle.

This post was edited by claire on Fri, Jan 3, 14 at 17:16

Sped - I thought the same thing about your Phoenix Plan - pure genius. Inasmuch as cacti grew from seed in Vermont, they must know they are in caring hands. Lovely land you two have.

Claire - the crape myrtle fort is bound to become a bird stand. It's beginning to look like part of a police investigation. Hope it pulls through for you.

This post was edited by corunum on Fri, Jan 3, 14 at 17:19

Oh, I love the winter scenery ---Claire's covered crepe myrtle looks like a sleeping monk. Which brings to my mind the Trappist Monks preserves. I love their boysenberry variety.

Sped, your pathways through the snow are so inviting, despite the cold. And Jane, the lacy window frost is magical.

Not surprisingly, this thread has meandered into a discussion of great winter foods (after all that hard work outside). Hmmmm ---chili and wedding soup and cornbread, homemade pizza and linguini with veggies (one of my favorites), goulash. I told my DH we needed a special dinner tonight because my mouth was watering and because we worked hard out there too. So we're having chicken baked with onions, carrots and potatoes, with a cheese sauce, sautéed green beans & broccolini and wine, of course!

Don't you absolutely LOVE winter meals?

Glad to hear everyone, so far, has fared well. It was a light snow - easy to clean things up. DH did the driveway and the walkways, and I shoveled off the skating rink. Though it only took me 20 minutes, I used the forced labor an excuse to order take out. I'm awaiting the Chinese delivery man as I type!

I am also glad that folks seem to have weathered the storm with good food and some exercise clearing snow. We got about 5" of snow on Thursday and another 3" last night into today. It was light enough that I cleared most of the walks with a broom, and DH did the plowing somewhat more quickly than usual. Other than that I pretty much hunkered down indoors, and I enjoyed watching snow waft out of the white pine trees lining the river bank along the corn field. We now have more than a foot of snow on the ground, so like many of you, I am hoping that any borderline plants will survive the cold temperatures.

We have been eating turkey soup made as a followup to a late Christmas celebration.

Maybe 8 inches or so down here on the south coast of Mass. It was nice to see dry powdery snow here--which is extremely rare. This is only the second time since 1996 that I have observed Colorado powder fall from the sky here. But the cold.......don't like that. I am impressed with your Crape Myrtle shelter Claire. You should know that the Hopi is field tested in PA and is hardy to -8. So I think it should be OK because I doubt it will get that cold near the coast. My Muscogee crape is huge---like 15 ft tall--and is too big for protection. It is also not as hardy as the Hopi--good to zero to -5. So it will be a close call tonight. I just checked my weather records. The coldest my Crape has experienced so far (planted 5 years ago)--with no damage whatsoever is +1 degrees. My backyard has been in zone 7 mode for years. but tonight will be a 6b night for sure. If it dies, I will replant with a hardier crape. My big southern Magnolia experienced the dreadful winter of 2004 with no problem---so she is one solid southern lady and I will not worry about her.

So Pixielou, how did your skating rink work out for you? It must be up and operational if you are shoveling snow from the surface. You should post a photo!

It's good that no one suffered damage from the storm or lost power or skidded off an icy road.

Mad gallica, we made pizza the other night, but whatâÂÂs an iron skillet pizza?

Jane, how do you get frost on one of your windows? That is SO gorgeous, I love it! So, is ginger preserves a Scottish tradition?

Spedigrees, you didnâÂÂt have to shovel that long path to the trees in your 2nd photo, did you? That is a lot to have to shovel. IâÂÂm glad it wasnâÂÂt 2ft of heavy snow.

Claire, IâÂÂll have to try the Trappist Monk. IâÂÂve never had ginger preserves either.

Pixie Lou, I forgot you had a skating rink this year, I hope it is getting a lot of use.

Rockman, I remember your southern Magnolia and IâÂÂm glad it is still surviving winter there. I didnâÂÂt realize that Hopi Crape Myrtle was so hardy, maybe time to try one.

IâÂÂm also just happy that we had a nice manageable snow storm, with no ice hanging off everything in sight, no loss of power, and no one in my family had to travel on the roads during the storm.

And itâÂÂs Friday! :-)

PM2 - before going too, too far OT, quick answer is yes - to the best of my knowledge. See article below for more info.

Here is a link that might be useful: NYT,ANN PRINGLE HARRIS, FARE OF THE COUNTRY; Chunky Marmalade, A Scottish Tradition

Love all the photos! That window frost pic is especially wonderful.

I didnt measure, but we had well over a foot of snow here in Falmouth, on the Cape. I was just outside finishing up the shoveling; we had done most of it earlier, but we need to get into the shed out back tomorrow, so I finally did that rather long path.

I'm worried about my crape myrtles; like Rockman's, they're way too big to be protected. I'm also thinking about a few other marginally hardy things out there, like willow oaks and winter jasmine. It's supposed to get down to 2 degrees tonight here - EEK!

Our dinner was chilli, rice, and cornbread. I made the chilli from a 4 pound sirloin roast, left over from Christmas dinner. I cooked it - whole - with plenty of onions and peppers, canned tomatoes and wine, for about 8 hours, in a super-low oven. OMG, it's really good; the beef more or less melts when it's simmered like that. Hmm, wonder if it's too late for seconds?

My "Pink Velour" crape myrtle is sitting out there unprotected, but it's supposed to be one of the hardiest. Time will tell. Gardenia "Frostproof" is in a corner against a boulder and stone wall, covered almost completely with leaves and then some snow. Camellias are on their own, to big to cover. Rosemary "Arp" and "Barbecue" should be OK or at least come back from thick wood. The Windmill palm tree.............now THAT'S a concern. I piled leaves all around about 3 feet up the trunk but that's all I was able to do.

Ann, chicken soup with some onion, lots of celery, carrots and cooked, drained and chopped escarole and small Italian style beef meatballs, smaller than olives. Whenever I make my huge pot of tomato sauce for pasta, with meatballs, Italian sausage, braciole, beef or pork, I always take some of the meatball mixture and form about 200 tiny meatballs for my soup. I saute them very lightly and freeze them so they're ready for whenever I make soup. I also make a huge pot of that. Both my soup and my pasta sauce are enough for 8-10 times and containers freeze perfectly. I like to add a small amount of any tiny pasta to my soup, but I cook that fresh and then add it in.

{{gwi:5901}}

Thanks, rockman50, for the encouraging report on Hopi hardiness. I thought of that last night and again this morning when I saw my outside thermometer sensor read -1.5 degrees F.

The temperature is rising now with the sun and I'll probably open the shelter this afternoon for a little while to let the warm air in, then close it up again until tomorrow.

Claire

Glad to hear everyone is safe and sound, if a bit cold!

It is hard to tell here how much snow, due to drifts, but I would say about 4 to 5 inches, nowhere near the 10 inches forecast. School had early dismissal Thursday, which was kind of ironic since the morning commute was much worse than the afternoon, by which time there was a big lull in the storm and the roads were completely clear.

Friday school was cancelled. I think the problem is not so much the amount of snow, but the clearing of the roads (or lack thereof). My town does the worst job in clearing the roads. I live a quarter-mile from the town border, and you can literally tell when you drive down the street where the boundary is, because suddenly the road is clear, dry, sanded, plowed, whatever - just because you've entered the other town!

So while the amount of snow wasn't awful, the roads are. They are a sheet of ice, at least in my neighborhood. My DH is convinced someone on my street (which is several miles long and a main road in the area) has ticked somebody off in the public works department, lol! That's his theory for the non-plowing our our street!

Hmm, all the food sounds good - especially Italian wedding soup. Haven't had that in awhile. Lots of turkey soup here (also leftovers from our Christmas turkey) and last night was homemade spaghetti sauce using tomatoes I canned in fall for the first time.

Jane, your frost is absolutely gorgeous! We used to get Jack Frost on our windows in the morning, especially in the bathroom and my son's bedroom, and every morning when he was little he'd jump out of bed and run to the window, and we would look at, admire, and trace the patterns as the morning sun shone through it. What fun! I was very disappointed when we got new and improved windows and the salesman assured us we'd no longer get frost. Like that was a selling point, lol? Yes, it saved heat and electricity and all that logical stuff, but where was the fun and artistry and joy in nature in that?

;)
Dee

It was 2 degrees here this morning. brrr! Sun is out, haven't been out there yet. Hope these temps are going to be short lived. The furnace has been cranking.

Thanks Jane, interesting article. I am a marmalade fan, so IâÂÂll have to look for some of these brands that have ginger in them and try it.

DtD, that recipe sounds delicious. We will use a roast for pot roast once in awhile, but never thought of using it as a base for chili. So do you use beans with it or just âÂÂchiliâ spices? Sounds like I could use a large crockpot, too.

Bill, I have been looking for new âÂÂsoupâ recipes, so IâÂÂll have to try your version this winter. We had an Italian connection in our family in the past, and my Mother was a huge fan of many Italian dishes and got her sauce recipe from an old world Italian woman. We make lots of sauce and chicken cacciatore, minestrone soup and thereâÂÂs always some of that in our freezer. Making tiny meatballs for chicken soup sounds like a new fun version. And the escarole adds a lot of nutrition.

BTW, there is a new book out called Eating on the Wild Side, that reviews current studies of nutrition in food and I was surprised to learn that a can of tomato paste is chockful of nutrition and during the off season when fresh vegetables are not available from the garden, beans are one of the highest nutritional foods you can eat. And blue cornmeal if from a non GMO source, is also better nutritionally than yellow cornmeal, according to the book. So chili made with canned tomatoes and beans with blue cornbread is a very healthy meal. And the book is a very interesting read, if you donâÂÂt find nutrition too dull. It also offers names of varieties of vegetables and fruits that are the highest in nutrition, that you can grow.

As for gardening, IâÂÂm not quite in the garden mindset yet. Later in January, IâÂÂm sure that will change, but I am very interested in how all the âÂÂzone pushersâ are faring. As much of a worry as it is to have the temps dip so low, Bill, you are right, this will be a good test of which varieties are really solid zone pushers and I will be fascinated to see whose plants survive come spring. All of them, I hope!

Prairiemoon, I'll have to read 'Eating on the Wild Side.' It sounds interesting and right up my alley.

It's indeed true that cooked/canned tomatoes are very healthy. They are antiangiogenic, which basically means they are a cancer preventative food. That is part of the reason why those in the Mediterranean regions have extended life expectancies, the other being resveratrol, the substance in red wine which is also a strong antiangiogenic substance. No problem for us since we are Italian at heart at least in the kitchen, if not by ancestry, and we make heavy use of canned tomato products year round. You can't eat too much spaghetti or lasagna! We drink a lot of wine too but more importantly take resveratrol capsules which deliver a more potent and effective form of the substance.

If you have ten or 15 minutes, this oncologist gives a TED talk on the subject of angiogenesis and eating to prevent cancer and other ills. It's worth a look and a listen.

http://www.ted.com/talks/william_li.html
Dr Li's credentials

Oh, and no I didn't shovel the paths out across our pasture! I'm not that energetic, ambitious, or young! DH makes those with the snowblower. I just shovel paths around the back yard for the dogs.

Claire, I get a kick out of your bundled up crape myrtle snug under its blankets! That and your phlox protection zone make me laugh!

It seems like all of our winter snowstorms threads turn into a "What did you have for dinner" thread. I like that. Yum yum!

Our skating rink. This is our 2nd year at attempting a rink. When I first researched building a rink, one of the biggest comments that got my attention was that it takes 4 or 5 years to figure it out. I now believe it. This years rink is 24x32, made of 2x10x8's. Pressure treated. Our lawn is more sloped than previously believed. So the upper corner is really thin ice. Figure skaters have toe picks, so you need to make additional adjustments to protect the interior liner from being pierced. And figuring out a way to get your young child on and off the ice without damaging the liner, and protecting her blades from the ground. Things we are working on. Also, now that she is jumping, we really need a bigger rink. She does a waltz jump, half toe loop combination, that takes almost the full 32 feet. There is no way she'd be able to get up enough speed to attempt more difficult jumps. Even though I think harder jumps are a long way off, she should be working of full revolution jumps by this time next year.

This photo shows her in shoot the duck, shows the carpet protected entrance, the little seat that holds her blade guards and where she can sit to put the guards on and off, the 2x4's protecting the interior liner, the extra snow I piled up in the upper corner where the ice is too thin for her to skate on (you can kind of see the orange cone I had previously placed). Who knows what the rink will look like next year! At this point, as long as she keeps skating, we will keep building one.

Well, last night was the coldest night in 17 years at my place on the south coast. I am just inland a few miles, in a sheltered low spot. So we are subject to radiational cooling and cold air drainage, if the conditions are perfect. And they were last night---fresh snow cover, rising barometer, clear skies, and most importantly, calm winds. Anyway, the low temp was minus 6. It will be very interesting to see if the Crape Myrtle is toast. Some mitigating factors include the totally calm conditions (-6 with a strong wind is MUCH more hard on exposed plants), and the very short duration of the cold (maybe a few hours in the danger zone). The temp rose rapidly today after sunrise and is now hanging near 30.

Spedigrees, I found your link very interesting. I have read a lot about antioxidants and avoiding foods to prevent disease, but I think this doctor has gone a step further with suggestions for what to eat to prevent cancer. And he has very good credentials too. Thanks.

I wish I could eat more lasagna, one of my favorites, but not helpful with the waistline. (g)

Pixie Lou, great that your rink is working out and a good year for it too, so far. Your daughter is a lucky girl!

Fingers crossed for you, Rockman!

All of my garlic survived, and, is still actually growing taller despite the snow. I don't have a picture, but needless to say there was a nice layer of snow (~4") with green tops poking out everywhere.