We are finally mostly dug out from the blizzard over the weekend. That was a bit of a surprise, let me tell ya! We knew we were going to get a lot of snow, around 10 inches/25 cm, but a blizzard? In April? Yep.
High winds and lots of snow falling and blowing so that at times it was hard to see across the street. We had taken the plastic covering off from around the Dashwood’s run weeks ago and the snow blew right in. They stayed inside their coop and refused to come out. Good, but not good, because their food and water is in the run. Bookman went out several times with a plate of warm food and a dish of water that he would put in the coop. I asked him if I should tie a rope to him so he could find his way back to the house. I think he just rolled his eyes at me but it was hard to tell since he was bundled up so much.
When it ended Sunday afternoon we had accumulated a little over 16 inches/40.5 cm, a record snowfall for April. In fact we also have had more snow total in April than in recorded Twin Cities weather history. Also, it is so far the coldest April on record. April is not the month you want to be setting these sorts of records.
Bookman and I went out late Sunday morning to start to clear away some of the snow. Getting out the front door took a big hard shove because of all the snow on the porch. As we shoveled we kept hoping our next door neighbor with the snowblower would come out and start clearing the sidewalk as he so generously does from time to time. But no, it turns out he is in California. Normally we would shovel his sidewalk, but not this time. One of the neighbors did manage a shovel-wide path for him though.
We got the Dashwoods dug out and the snow cleared from the run and some fresh straw for their little chicken feet. They were glad to be out of the coop, that’s for sure!
The temperatures are above freezing again and by the weekend we might actually be a warm 52F/ 11C! This helps to melt all the snow and might mean that the 100k populaire bike ride that was postponed because it was blizzarding will take place. The Tuesday night crit races I signed up for have been cancelled for the last two weeks because of snow. Next Tuesday it looks like they will finally happen.
At the beginning of the month I had a birthday. It was a really wonderful day that was all about the food. We had brownie pancakes for breakfast. For dinner we had lentil-beet burgers with tempeh bacon and all sorts of fixings including baked fries. We had carrot cake cupcakes and peanut butter ice cream too. I asked Bookman for the recipes, a difficult request because he is the kind of cook who looks at a recipe and then makes it his own. It has taken him some time to be able to get it all down for me. Here is the cupcake recipe. Others to follow.Carroty Cakey Cupcakes (adapted from Simple Vegan Blog)
• 2 tbsp flax meal (ground flax seeds) + 6 tbsp water
• 1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 cup apple sauce
• 1/2 cup brown or coconut sugar
• 2 tbsp soy milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup grated carrot
• 1/2 cup or so raisins
Oven should be preheated to 320-330F, no more than 350.
Mix the flax meal and water first and set aside, it develops a jelly/ egg-like consistency.
Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
Add the flax “egg”, the soy milk, and the vanilla and mix well. (add a bit more soymilk if it seems too thick).
Mix in the grated carrot and raisins.
Bake in cupcake sized pans for 20-25 minutes or until tops seem firm when pressed gently with your finger.
Cool completely then frost with sweet cashew cream frosting.
Sweet Cashew Cream Frosting
- 1 cup raw cashews soaked in hot water for 1 hour
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- a pinch of salt
- 2 tablespoons agave or your favorite sweetener (the drier the sweetener the more water you will need)
- 1/2 cup water (add more to get desired thickness, I like to start out with as little water as possible and just add enough to keep the mush mushing)
Process drained cashews in a food processor until they are a mashy butterness.
Add the rest of the ingredients and keep prcessing until they are the desired consistency (the longer you can stand it the better).
You can just add all of the ingredients without first processing the cashews alone, I just like to it this way.
Jeanne said:
Yesterday and today I’ve been telling people it’s the 96th of January.
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cirtnecce said:
First of all, Happy Happy Birthday (belated, I know!) Many many happy returns of the day! Wishing you a year filled with great biking events, awesome books and a blooming garden! Believe it or not, it is a much cooler April in my part of the world as well. It’s been snowing in Himalayas so us in Plains have some relief though your climate is at the other extreme and I hope the actual Spring comes your way soon! I love how proactively you have started sharing the recipes, knowing some of us would nag you to the world’s end about them otherwise! But you really must not blame us; Bookman is such a great cook and his recipes turn out so awesome, that we must take up every opportunity of learning from him! 😀
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Brian Joseph said:
The cupcakes look and sound so good!
Hopefully that will be the last of the snow for you. We are still very unseasonably cold here on Long Island.
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smithereens said:
Oh gosh, I send you warm, springy, flowery vibes all across the Atlantic so that your blizzard and snow situation will soon be over! I was so over the cold, but nothing comparable to your temperatures. Keep warm!!
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Joan Kyler said:
Happy birthday, Stefanie! Those cupcakes look good!
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2020cookingadventures said:
Hi. How are you? I know exactly what your saying, as that storm hit us only it didn’t end until Early Sunday and ended Monday afternoon. I was hoping that we were going to have help with shoveling, but that didn’t happen. Happy belated birthday to you. Your cupcakes look great.
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Laila@BigReadingLife said:
Happy Birthday (belated!) I do not like this weird weather at all. We only had flurries here on Monday, thankfully, but that’s still really weird for April. And the temp fluctuations! I hope things can stabilize for you soon!
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piningforthewest said:
Happy Birthday Stefanie. It looks like it has been a terrible winter for so many of us. Allegedly it’s going to get warmer here over the next few days. I’ll believe it when I feel it!
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wherethereisjoy said:
Wow! we’ve been complaining about the cold and wet April here in the PNW but that’s nothing compared to a blizzard! And… happy birthday!
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BookerTalk said:
That does sound very late in the year to be having so much snow. We’re having some odd weather over here in UK too.At the moment I am sitting in the garden basking in 22C which would class as a warm day for us in summer. But then being UK it never lasts…. back to cloud tomorrow
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