'Beast from the East', a week of snow in a rural village
Snowmageddon, snowpocalypse, snowzilla...if you live in the UK, the snow has been the only news for the past week. Just as Spring dusted off her dress, ready to step out and wake up the garden, the 'beast from the east', an extremely cold spell of weather from Siberia roared in like some fairytale monster and covered everything in a blanket of ice.
Roads soon became impassable, schools closed and 'snow days' were called in at work. With roads blocked, deliveries to the village shops became impossible, even the local Post Office closed. Early excitement of the unusual weather soon turned to cabin fever and finally semi hibernation. With a wind chill factor of lower than -10 even the usual snowmen failed to make an appearance, it was just too cold to be outside.
So, what to eat when snowed in and not prepared? The local shop is limited in its variety on a normal day let alone a week without deliveries and my own larder was a little down to the end of the month pre-payday minimum. Still with a pinch of imagination its been possible to eat really well and to off-set a little cabin fever in the process.
Fritters are always an easy option and can be whipped up in no time. A quick fridge forage produced some wilted spring onions and slightly floppy carrot and a root around the box of veg from my dad revealed two a couple of golden beetroot. The veg grated, spiced with some cumin, kalonji and mixed together with a tin of chick peas, beaten egg and a little crumbled feta and fried slowly in smallish heaped spoonfuls made a mighty fine lunch with a healthy dose of sriracha. An Asian style slaw, pulled together from a 'seen better days' leftover red cabbage, more carrot and a couple of sprouts, with a kick of chilli and soy sauce formed another healthy meal. The discovery that the local butchers was still open whilst searching for kindling for the fire, provided a couple of joyous breakfasts of sausages and eggs and my resting sourdough 'mother' after a refresh and night in front of the fire, made enough batter for a batch of sourdough crumpets, eaten hot from the pan slathered in salted goats butter and honey.
Meals became more inventive making use of items in the house and its been good to have been made more aware of our reliance on food shops open all hours. Its also been a stark reminder that despite our 21st century lives, the natural world holds the power to change everything, with harsh weather we don't often experience in the temperate climate of England. The frustration of housebound days soon declined and the pace of life slowed as bedtime came much earlier and a state of hibernation set in (possibly due the higher carb consumption than normal, cold weather = cakes, right?). Books waiting to be read got a little attention and half finished craft projects re-surfaced for cosy evenings in front of the fire. Wild birds never normally seen in the garden came closer too, a Fieldfare took up a weeks residence, eating at least two apples a day and smaller birds of various colours lined the fences whilst I topped up their feeders. The cold snap is now over and although there is still a huge amount of snow on the ground, some 4 days after the temperatures have risen back to a seasonal average it will all soon be forgotten until it takes us by surprise again next year.
Roads soon became impassable, schools closed and 'snow days' were called in at work. With roads blocked, deliveries to the village shops became impossible, even the local Post Office closed. Early excitement of the unusual weather soon turned to cabin fever and finally semi hibernation. With a wind chill factor of lower than -10 even the usual snowmen failed to make an appearance, it was just too cold to be outside.
So, what to eat when snowed in and not prepared? The local shop is limited in its variety on a normal day let alone a week without deliveries and my own larder was a little down to the end of the month pre-payday minimum. Still with a pinch of imagination its been possible to eat really well and to off-set a little cabin fever in the process.
Fritters are always an easy option and can be whipped up in no time. A quick fridge forage produced some wilted spring onions and slightly floppy carrot and a root around the box of veg from my dad revealed two a couple of golden beetroot. The veg grated, spiced with some cumin, kalonji and mixed together with a tin of chick peas, beaten egg and a little crumbled feta and fried slowly in smallish heaped spoonfuls made a mighty fine lunch with a healthy dose of sriracha. An Asian style slaw, pulled together from a 'seen better days' leftover red cabbage, more carrot and a couple of sprouts, with a kick of chilli and soy sauce formed another healthy meal. The discovery that the local butchers was still open whilst searching for kindling for the fire, provided a couple of joyous breakfasts of sausages and eggs and my resting sourdough 'mother' after a refresh and night in front of the fire, made enough batter for a batch of sourdough crumpets, eaten hot from the pan slathered in salted goats butter and honey.
Meals became more inventive making use of items in the house and its been good to have been made more aware of our reliance on food shops open all hours. Its also been a stark reminder that despite our 21st century lives, the natural world holds the power to change everything, with harsh weather we don't often experience in the temperate climate of England. The frustration of housebound days soon declined and the pace of life slowed as bedtime came much earlier and a state of hibernation set in (possibly due the higher carb consumption than normal, cold weather = cakes, right?). Books waiting to be read got a little attention and half finished craft projects re-surfaced for cosy evenings in front of the fire. Wild birds never normally seen in the garden came closer too, a Fieldfare took up a weeks residence, eating at least two apples a day and smaller birds of various colours lined the fences whilst I topped up their feeders. The cold snap is now over and although there is still a huge amount of snow on the ground, some 4 days after the temperatures have risen back to a seasonal average it will all soon be forgotten until it takes us by surprise again next year.
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