Snow Day!

Here in Hampton Roads, we have a yearly ritual of preparing for hurricane season. Hurricanes have a fairly long lead time as emergencies go, so there is time to refill medications, get canned good, fill your gas grill, buy flashlights and batteries and bottled water. While many of us use the beginning of hurricane season to do these things, some people wait till a hurricane is on the way causing a rush to the stores to stock up before the storm. However, that is nothing compared to when snow is forecast in this part of Virginia. It is a phenomenon that is unmatched.

Those of you who live in the north, or anyplace where winter snow is a part of everyday life would laugh, yea scoff at the chaos that an inch or so of snow causes in our area. Scores of fender-benders, school and business closings, and excitement way out of proportion to the event result anytime Jon Cash shows a Snow Hope Index over 5 (10 is 100% chance of accumulating snow)

Having set the stage, I have to admit that I was excited when 3-6 inches of snow was in our forecast for this holiday weekend. What can be better than snow when you have no place that you have to go (sorry for you health care workers and others who have to work no matter what!)?

So what does all this have to do with food? Simple. Here in Hampton Roads, a high Snow Hope Index coincides with crowds- in particular at grocery stores and movie rental stores. I have to admit that Saturday morning, as the snow approached, we, too, braved the crowds to make sure that we were not snowbound without something that we just had to have. As we stood in lines that snaked halfway back through the stores, I paid attention to what others had in their carts to give you an idea of what people in Hampton Roads had in their carts to help them prepare for a possible blizzard. here are the things that appeared most:

Milk - have to have that for coffee, cocoa, and to dip cookies in after making your snow angels or to warm up before going out to brave the cold.

Beer - I am not sure if this was inspired by the impending snow or football championship weekend, but nevertheless it was in about half of the carts in line.

Bread - How can you make warm cinnamon toast or a grilled cheese without this?

Soup - Tomato, chicken noodle, and vegetable beef were all very popular

Batteries - Like me I think most people were buying AAs to power cameras (have to take pictures of the snow, which is a not so common event) or, like us, making sure we had sufficient power for our Wii remotes to keep the young savages from getting cabin fever!

Magic gloves - These are the gloves that will stretch to fit (almost) any hand. Many people in this area don't normally have either gloves or boots, so the rack at the Food Lion provides that opportunity. I usually have tons of these in black since boys or girls can wear them and then you don't have to search for the one blue or pink glove, you can always make pairs if you have enough.

Ground beef- Chili, duh!

Snack foods - Also could be affiliated with pro football, but you know it takes a lot of calories to make snow angels or pull a sled up a hill, or shovel the walkway, and besides, snow immediately suspends all diet resolutions until the snow is nothing more that black piles on the side of the road, so nachos, chips and dip, and homebaked cookies or brownies are all fair game on a snow day.(photo, left c/o fringehog on flickr)

Wine - Self-explanatory- Kids off school...stuck in house,...cabin fever....remember all those guys who bought beer?.... they have wives!

Cocoa and coffee - A must-have during cold weather (you may also see a run on marshmallows or marshmallow cream)

Firestarters and Firelogs - Many houses have wood-burning fireplaces, but because our temps are usually, well, temperate, many do not have wood for them. But really, what is better than a fire when snow is falling outside?


So what did we buy? Batteries (camera and Wii), eggs and milk, cheese, wine (to go with the cheese), cocoa, tortilla chips, and chicken parts for 40-clove garlic chicken (recipe in a subsequent post), and a baguette (those of you who have had this chicken need no explanation!) We did not head to the movie store, since when we checked the Redbox ($1/night new release rentals- it is our new favorite!), scores of people had beat us to the punch and no movies that I wanted to see were still there.

So what about you? Whether you face a real snowstorm or would just like to fantasize, what would you brave the crowds to go out and buy?