Snow day cooking

     Last week we got hit by a snow/ice storm which shut down life for a few days.  We got out of school two hours early Friday and I had planned for being hunkered down for Saturday and Sunday...but then they cancelled Monday...then Tuesday...and then no kids on Wednesday.  Nearly a week later we finally saw the students again.  With the unexpected snowcation I had time to clean, crochet and COOK.  When I know I am going to have a few days at home I have some favorite recipes I love to cook that my normal schedule does not allow for.  First up was roasted chicken.

      A few years ago I took on my first full bird.  I had no clue what to do so I searched the Internet for recipes and helpful hints.  My favorite suggestion that I stumbled upon was putting an apple in the bird during the baking.  After cooking it for my friends and everyone loving the results I added the receipt to my playbook.  

Growing up when prepping for holiday meals my parents where never responsible for making the Turkey, but my dad has gotten a reputation as the Turkey Soup Guy.  For as long as I can remember the day after Thanksgiving is the start of the weekend long process of my dad making his "Famous Turkey Soup".  From Friday to Sunday my dad is in the kitchen making stock from turkey carcasses, adding veggies and then finally serving it after church in a community gathering.  So of course when I take the time to make a full bird it seems natural to take the second day the make home make stock. So on Day 2 of the big freeze I make chicken stock.

My new dish towel :)

On the 3rd day of ice and snow I knew I was going to take my chicken stock to make chicken noodle soup.  But of course I could not JUST make soup so I decided to make some homemade bread.  I love having a chance pulling out my grandma's Pyrex and make something yummy.   Making bread is fun because I find the dough rising exciting, enjoying slowing town a little and having a nice drink as I wait, and then the smell of the fresh bread filling the house is heavenly.  Soup and warm bread were the perfect thing to warming up on a cold day.

After Three days of cooking I thought for sure I was going to be headed back to work but nope they called another day off so I had another day to enjoy the kitchen. On the last day of our unexpected break I turned to my favorite family recipe with my Aunt Barbie's pizza dough.  A prefect way to round out a weekend of cooking.

It was nice to have some time off..especially since our winter break was so short this year...but I was ready to get back to the real world.  I hated to put on real pants, but I was glad to see my friends again.  Hopefully with the musical starting next week I will still be able to get some quality cooking time in.