F ³: Snow Day Food

Some folks run out to the store to stock up before a big thump of snow.  The oft-repeated trinity of bread, milk, and toilet paper notwithstanding, there are certain foods we tend to turn to when the white stuff takes over our plans and everything shuts down. Many folks make a big pot of soup, or chili with cornbread. Others are bread bakers and pancake makers. Grilled cheese and tomato soup, or hot chocolate with marshmallows are great post-sledding fuel.

Not all of our snow day hankerings are sensible, however. There are always those few who will brave the snow and trudge through the drifts to the village center for pizza or Chinese carry out.

In Leslie Gray Streeter’s recent column for the Baltimore Banner she reminisces about childhood snow days in Baltimore. Her food memories? Pizza and fries with gravy. There’s something about a snow day that brings out a desire to roll out a slumber party sort of menu: things you might not normally allow yourself to indulge in. For me that’s definitely donuts, Entenmann’s, especially.

My husband stopped at the Giant on the way from bell choir rehearsal last night. He asked if we needed anything and I admitted that we didn’t have any bread in case he anticipated wanting any. I basically told him to get the kind of foods he though he might be hungry for while we were snowed in. His haul included two bags of flavored chips, some kind of cheese spread, a loaf of croissant style bread, a big box of assorted doughnuts (hooray!)  and a box of frozen sausage sandwiches. 

There’s something about impending snow that causes us to throw common sense to the winds.

Years ago my older daughter and I, on our own, made a few fun purchases before a big snow. She picked sour cream and onion potato chips and I picked those vanilla waffle/wafer cookies with frosting. If we had known how long we would be stuck in our apartment, before kind folks helped us dig out my little Honda Civic, we might have tried to punctuate the junk food with some more wholesome choices. It was a long time before I ever wanted to see either one of those items again, much less eat them.

What’s your idea of snowed-in cuisine? Do you lean towards slow-cooked home cooking? Party food? Breakfast all day? I’m curious. 

In closing, a very different kind of snow food. I saw the following for sale on Facebook Marketplace yesterday. “Ooh, a cute little handmade mouse figure,” I thought. “I wonder if it’s by a local crafter.”

Then I read the ad.

Does a snow day make you want to clean out your freezer? Let me know. In the meantime, I’m headed to the kitchen to make peanut butter sandwiches. For our local squirrels. 

Village Green/Town² Comments