Oh, the Weather Outside is Frightful

It was so cold at 6 o'clock this morning that, despite the fact that I was covered by two comforters and an afghan, my nose was cold. But I was wide awake and decided to face the day.

Yesterday morning I did a bit of Christmas shopping at the big nearby mall, and was surprised to find it very quiet. It was early, but still, I thought I would have to put up with a few inconveniences. Not so. I found what I was looking for and walked right up to a checkstand.

Afterwards, I drove to a nearby Vietnamese restaurant to meet my son, daughter-in-law and two granddaughters for delicious pho. (I, by the way, am absolutely addicted to this delicious

Vietnamese noodle soup. Can’t get enough of it.) Anyhoo, when I walked into the restaurant, I was wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt and no coat. The temperature was a balmy 58 degrees and sunny.

An hour later when I exited the restaurant, the temperature had dropped at least 20 degrees and it was cloudy and wintery-looking. Hmphfff.

The weather forecasters have been telling me for three days now that the temperatures, which have been so very pleasant, were going to drop Tuesday afternoon, and around rush hour time, it was going to begin to snow. And it will continue to snow throughout today. Furthermore, the temperatures in the next few days and through the weekend will be in single digits, and well below zero at night.

Somehow, I was hoping the forecasters had gotten it wrong. They often do, but not this time it appears. This cold, cold weather is supposed to wait until we have left for Arizona to arrive in Colorado. Didn’t Mother Nature get the memo?

By the way, the same cold front is hitting a large area, including the Phoenix metro area. My sister who lives in the Phoenix metro area informed me last night that she went for a walk to look at Christmas lights and saw someone wearing gloves, boots, and earmuffs. The temperature was 60. Seriously?

Anyway, I stopped at the grocery store on my way home from lunch to get a few vegetables and treats to enjoy over the next few days. Though it was only 1:30 or so, there were quite a few shoppers who were doing the very same thing as I. And it was likely even crazier later in the afternoon after more people got off work. There is sort of an energy in the air at the grocery store when folks are expecting a snowstorm. An alertness. A sense of frenzy. Hard to describe, but definitely present in the shoppers. No one yanked the last carton of eggs out of my hands, however. At 1:30, folks were still civil.

I’m doing my best to continue my healthy eating this week. Last night I made a delicious frittata. Bill asked me how a frittata differs from a quiche, and I explained there isn’t a whole lot of difference, but the frittata is crustless, thereby making it lower in carbs and calories. The nice thing about a frittata is you can use whatever you have in your refrigerator. So again, not really a recipe.

I browned some Italian turkey sausage, and removed it from the pan when it was fully cooked. I used the same cast iron skillet to sauté some green onions and carrots that I got from the Whole Food salad bar (my favorite way to trick Bill into eating vegetables). I also included the other half of the green pepper that didn’t go into my chili the night before. Once the

vegetables were soft, I added the meat back to the pan, threw in some baby spinach, and tossed some grated cheddar cheese over it all. I whisked up six eggs seasoned with salt and pepper and poured them over the whole concoction. I let it cook for just a minute until the edges had sort of set up. I placed the skillet into a preheated 400 degree oven and let it cook for about 10 minutes, until completely set.

Nana’s Notes: You can make a frittata completely on the stovetop, but I like to finish mine off in the oven. Make sure your skillet is ovenproof. You can really use whatever vegetables and/or meat you have in the fridge. Bacon is good, as is cooked broccoli or asparagus. The options are endless.