Ah… what a glorious morning! Snow falling, wind blowing… It’s almost a perfect day!

The weather service is calling for 18″-24″ and we’re under a blizzard watch until 6am tomorrow. In the work snow pool, I chose 19″ as my guess. It could happen!!

I LOVE IT! Provided, of course, that we don’t lose electricity. I’ve pretty much ensured that we won’t, though. I’ve ground a pound of coffee and brought in wood. Nothing ever happens when you’re prepared.

24″ of snow… it’s almost like those thrilling days of yesteryear when I lived at Lake Tahoe. I loved those feet-of-snow storms. I moved up there in 1976 and stayed until 1980 – with a brief stint back in San Francisco round ’78.

I started off at The Old Post Office in Carnelian Bay on the North Shore.

old-po-2

They had the dinkiest kitchen on the planet. It’s amazing the amount of food that could be produced back there.

old-post-office

I quit on Mother’s Day – after my shift – and a couple weeks later moved on to the Hyatt Lake Tahoe as a cook at Hugo’s – then the gourmet lakeside restaurant. All of it has changed since those days. The hotel, casino, and all the restaurants have been seriously renovated since my days there.

01-23-16-hyatt-lake-tahoe

This is my one souvenir – a casino rocks glass close to 40 years old. Even the Hyatt logo has changed.

We were rarely snow-bound in those days. Studded snow tires were the norm, and when ya had to, ya put on chains. We did always make sure we had a well-stocked larder, though. We always ate well. It’s a recurring theme in my life.

But I digress…

It’s close to white-out conditions outside, right now. The wind is howling and the snow is coming down like there’s no tomorrow. Our one saving grace is it’s really powdery so it’s not sticking on the trees or power lines. If the snow gods stay with us, the electricity will stay on.

I’ve consumed several cups of coffee and a couple of scones and there’s a walnut raisin bread proofing right now. Lots of fun food on the snow-covered horizon.

The scones are really simple and really good. perfect for a snowbound day – or any day. they come together in minutes and are edible right out of the oven!

Scones

  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 5 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter
  • 1 cup whipping cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • your favorite jam

Preheat oven to 400°F. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in large bowl. Add butter; rub in with fingertips until mixture resembles fine meal. Gradually add 1 cup cream and the vanilla, mixing until dough comes together. Pat to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut scones into wedges. Make an indentation at the wide edge and fill with a dollop of jam. Transfer to baking sheet. Bake scones until brown, about 18 minutes. Serve warm.

I did half of them with boysenberry jam and half with key lime curd. Yum.