Cold-weather comfort food

[spinbaby]

We have a whole inventory of meals that come out when the weather turns cold. Today, on this dampish cold day, I put a pork loin in the slow cooker with a big mess of kale. Yum.

[trotsky]

1. It's one of the best parts of winter.

Putting something in the crock pot when you leave in the morning, then coming home to a wonderful aroma and fully cooked meal.

[In_The_Wind]

2. We'll be out shopping today. Tomorrow's forecast is heavy downpours.

I'm not gonna budge outta my home.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

3. Pasta e Fagioli

1 tsp thyme
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1 bay leaf
1 pound Italian sausage, either hot or sweet, casings removed and diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
3 ounces pancetta, chopped
1 stalk celery, diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
2 teaspoons minced garlic
4 cups chicken stock
2 (15 oz) cans cannilli beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup ditalini
Salt and pepper to taste pepper
1/2 cup Parmesan

Heat olive oil in a heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add the celery, carrot, onion, pancetta, sausage, and garlic and sauté until the onion is tender, about 3 minutes. Add the broth, beans, herbs and salt and pepper. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat, then decrease the heat to medium and simmer until the vegetables are very tender, about 15 minutes.

Add the ditalini and boil with the lid on until it is tender but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes.

Ladle the soup into bowls. Sprinkle with parmesan just before serving.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

4. I need to work more on the basics of sauces.

Meat prices continue to rise, and I need to get more to thicker sauces to make up for smaller amounts of meat in the pot, not just thin liquids that don't 'stick'.

[JayhawkSD]

6. Two words: cornstarch and roux.

Right here is a pretty thorough discussion on different types of roux.

When using cornstarch, don't be afraid to use quite a lot, and dissolve it in a little bit of cool water before adding it to the sauce as the last step. Adding it dry to a hot liquid will cause it to clump irretrievably.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

7. I'll look into it. So far

I've only been involved in the most basic of 'sauces' imaginable - beef broth, flour, salt and pepper, slow cooking around onions and beef all day long. I'm pretty sure I've got cornstarch in the pantry, though, even if I can't recall when I ever used it.

[elleng]

8. Add canned tomatoes

and let it cook down > thickens. I rarely use cornstarch.

[JayhawkSD]

5. Cold weather?

It just cooled off to the upper seventies, but is supposed to be in the eighties again next week. I'm still waiting for it to be cool enough for me to use my oven to roast potatoes. Maybe in late November or in December.

[SheilaT]

9. Why I love winter.

I love making soups and stews, love how they can make the house smell good.

I really need to do more slow cooker meals.

[Jenoch]

10. Where do you live?

I loved winter as a kid, as an adult, not so much. Of course I've lived most of my life in Minnesota.

[SheilaT]

11. Santa Fe, NM.

Of course we don't get a real winter here, despite what the locals think. I know. I've lived in Minneapolis. Spent my childhood in northern New York State. I've also lived in the Denver area. Plus other parts of the country, so I know different climates and different ways of dealing with the weather.

Here, the very first time in the fall the temperature drops to 60 degrees, people will start saying, OH! MY! GOD! IT'S SO COLD! It's weird, as if until a couple of years ago the climate here was exactly like, oh, I don't know, maybe San Diego. The sun shines well over 300 days of the year. What snow we get almost always melts by 9am the next day. Of course, it doesn't always melt that fast, and until then it is nice to clear the streets, so finally, about a dozen or so years ago, the city bought its first plow. And they haven't a clue that chemicals can be put down on the roads which will melt the ice and snow even when the air temperature is well below zero. Here they only use cinders, which I guess is more environmentally friendly, but does not do a very good job of making the snow melt.

Oh, well. There are enough things I really like about living here that I'll stay for now.

[Jenoch]

13. I've spent a fair amount of time

in Mesa, AZ in the winter visiting my snowbird father. I'll go to the grocery store wearing shorts and a t-shirt at 50° and the locals are wearing winter coats.

The chemicals are much less effective below zero. The freeways get covered with what is called 'black ice' which is basically frozen exhaust from autos. You can't see the ice, and when you hit a patch of it bad things can happen.

[SheilaT]

14. I know that when I lived in Overland Park, KS,

that particular city did an excellent job of clearing the streets in winter. One thing they'd do quite consistently, was pre-treat the roads ahead of a storm. What a difference! Kansas City, Missouri, of which OP is a suburb, did a genuinely crappy job of clearing streets. I always said that in the winter time you didn't need to read any street signs to know when you'd crossed the state line.

I have been told, or perhaps read some where, that the chemicals are good down to about 20 below. Perhaps I'm wrong. I do know quite well how very cold Minnesota can get. But the attitude here of, "Oh well, it'll melt pretty soon" is dumb. For one thing, if it does snow and stays chilly for a while, the snow will turn to ice in a shady area after a while. Parking lots on the north side of a building, for instance, become a particular hazard.

Two other winter comments. Generally speaking, places that get a real winter are geared up to deal with it. The other thing is that there's this assumption that everything and everything must proceed as if winter weren't happening. I'm a bit of a go with the flow person, myself. I've also been fortunate that I've never had a job where I had to commute particularly far, and that has made my life better, summer or winter.

[Jenoch]

15. They stop putting down the chemicals at about -5° because it

wastes money because it is no longer effective. Your observations about Overland Park vs. Kansas City are about the same in Minnesota. Minneapolis and St. Paul have pretty crappy snow removal in the residential areas.

[pinto]

12. Macaroni and cheese. Chili. Grilled cheese sandwich. Pasta with garlic and oil.