When it comes to the weather, this has been an up and down kind of month. January started out with below zero temperatures, mellowed into nice winter weather, and has now spiked above 40°F. Rain is in the forecast for today, and there’s a foggy mist over snow that has become hard and dirty. Readers, it looks like March out there, and the horror of this is almost too much to bear. As if this weren’t enough, tomorrow the temperature is supposed to take another nose dive, with freezing rain, severe cold, and slippery roads. Even by Maine standards, this is extreme weather.

However, on Wednesday, it was a fine winter’s day, and at dusk, at the golden hour, we went to Norcross Point, a little park in town by Maranacook Lake. In spring, summer, and fall, we park the car there and use the park as a starting point for our bike rides. We always see people launching boats as well as using the many benches and tables to relax and have picnics. Not this time of year.

But with a glowing cerulean sky and an expanse of snow, the park and lake are beautiful and welcoming to snowmobilers and those who like ice fishing.

This picture shows the expanse of snow and sky, and the lake is so covered with snow that you can’t tell where the land ends and the water begins.

Empty benches overlook an ice-fishing shack.

A view of that same shack through the gazebo.

Nobody grilling on a snowy day.

A bare tree against a deep blue sky. One of my favorite subjects.

Here’s hoping that there will be more snow, no more freezing rain, and no more March weather until March.

Our power is back, and it was only out for two hours. To say we were thrilled doesn’t begin to describe how we felt when after only a short while, the power whirred back into our house. Is there any sound sweeter than the refrigerator coming back to life? Not after a power outage, there isn’t.

In fact, Clif and I are well prepared for power outages, even though we hate them. We have plenty of wood for the furnace, stored water in buckets, canned food, oil for the lamps, and good flashlights.  And most important, peanut butter.

We did much of the clean-up yesterday, but there is more to do. At the end of the driveway, we have a wall o’snow left by the road plow. It’s too much for Little Green, and I have to chunk the snow first to make it manageable for the snow thrower and, of course, Clif.  Nature’s gym.

Here are some pictures of the blizzard, as it was happening and afterward.

Yesterday, it wasn’t too cold, but it sure was snowy.

Blizzard or not, the birds must eat.

The entrance at night.

A little guardian by the door.

The front entrance by day. We are certainly tucked in the snow now.

Well, it happened. We lost our power. Sure hope it isn’t out for a week this time. More later.

Winter has definitely come to Maine.  Cold air from the Arctic has swept down on the state, leaving frost on the windows, crunchy snow underfoot, and a nip on the cheeks. Though it is cold, it is beautiful, and here are a couple of winter shots to illustrate this.

This is literally right out my bedroom window. All I had to do was open it to get a good picture.

A couple of years ago, a pileated  woodpecker visited this tree in our yard,  pecked with a vengeance, and left these holes behind.  To me, they look like little doorways that need to be shoveled.

Now on to biscuits. Somehow, cold weather encourages baking, and last night’s supper was a classic—biscuits with gravy. The previous night, in a crock-pot,  I had cooked a chicken with potatoes and carrots. With the resulting stock, I made a gravy—two cups stock, 4 tablespoons butter, 4 tablespoons flour—and then added the leftover chicken and vegetables. The stock was so tasty from the spicing—garlic, salt, pepper, sage, thyme—I used for the chicken that no additional flavoring was necessary.

Then came the biscuits, an old-timey recipe from mother who got it from an elderly friend. No one could make biscuits like my mother, but last night’s biscuits came pretty close to being as soft and tender as hers were.

Here they are, hot out of the oven.

A closer look.

Biscuits with the chicken gravy.

I posted the biscuit recipe many years ago, but this blog has lots of new readers, so I’m going to post it again. However, I do have a few tips and comments.

First, because this is an old-timey recipe, the measurements are not precise. Regular spoons from everyday cutlery are used for measuring, and one cup strong means just a dite over a cup. (Shannon, I know how you love such instructions.) Biscuits, unlike pie dough, improve with a bit of additional liquid, hence the one cup strong measurement for the milk. The dough will be very mushy. Let it set for a minute or two, and it will be stiff enough to handle.

Second, handle the dough as little as possible. Put it on a floured counter, sprinkle flour on top of the dough, pat it, flip it, and that’s enough. Remember, these are biscuits,  not bread.

Finally, I use Crisco in my biscuits. I realize that Crisco has fallen from favor, but it provides a taste and texture I like.  (I also use Crisco for pie crusts and gingersnaps.) If Crisco really isn’t your thing, try cutting in cold butter instead. I bet the biscuits will still be tasty.  And if you do use butter instead of Crisco, let me know how the biscuits turn out.

Rochelle’s Old-Timey Biscuits

Ingredients

• 2 cups of flour
• 3 heaping tablespoons of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 4 tablespoons of Crisco
• 1 cup of milk, strong

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. Cut in the Crisco until it is well mixed with the flour, and it all looks crumbly.
4. Stir in the milk. Do not overmix. The dough will be very soft, runny even. Let it rest for a minute or two, and then turn the dough onto a floured counter or board.
5. Pat the dough with flour and flip it, shaping it to desired thickness.
6. Using either a glass or a biscuit cutter, cut out the biscuits and place them in an ungreased 8 x 8 pan. Dab the tops with small pieces of cold butter.
7. Bake for ten or fifteen minutes, until the tops are golden brown.
8. Serve hot with either butter or gravy. As my Yankee husband observes, pretty darned good.

For a bonus picture, here’s a shot of my counter after the biscuits have been made. Sometimes you’ve got to make a mess to get something good.