Cauliflower Directions, Valentines and Snow

Some of you felt that I wasn't explicit enough in describing Sue's cheesy cauliflower recipe two posts ago, so I will attempt to remedy that little oversight. This was the final, all-done photo if you recall, but you can see the sequence of photos in that earlier post.

Following are the further details, which a few of you wanted to have described more fully.

• Steam the cauliflower for 8-10 minutes. This means boiling the cauliflower with just a little water in the pot. Eight minutes will probably be enough; check it then. The cauliflower should beginning to soften but not too much.
• Remove from oven. Apply mayonnaise and mustard glaze and then coat with shredded cheese. See the process in photos in the previous post.
• Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.
• Broil for perhaps 30 seconds. Keep your eye on the dish to get a result that pleases you.

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Right: the kids on Valentines Day, taken by their stepmother. Left: their gift of a hot chocolate bomb -- add warm milk and watch the result (we have yet to do this).

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We awoke to a pretty big but not gargantuan snowfall yesterday. It was probably about 20cm (8in).

As you know, we have a contractor to plow the driveway but we still have to shovel out by the garage door and along the short walkway to the front door. Our kind neighbours often do this for us before we even have a chance, but I did the job yesterday morning. Sue stuck her head out the door long enough to take a couple of photos.

I have been letting my beard grow fuller and longer than usual during the lockdown. I am not sure where I am headed with this, but it is something to do, and I will keep letting it grow for now.

Although our contractor had plowed the driveway by 6AM, the town plows came by again and blocked the entrance. Fortunately, our guy returned by about 10AM so that I could get out in time to pick up our weekly grocery order.

This is what it looks like from my den this morning, one day afterward. Not all of the snow was new. We did have a complete cover before the storm.

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One more photo from our walk on the previous day before the big snow. You can see that I brought my camera, but I only took one photo. I suppose there were a few more options available, but old feet and knees prevented me from proceeding through the snow tp get close enough to the water's edge to take those shots. I sometimes find my reduced mobility frustrating.

When I wrote that I only took one photo, it took two snaps. Because I took my longest lens that day, I required two clicks to photograph all of the rink on the river. I joined them together in post but not quite seamlessly, unfortunately. You can see the line where the two parts join. 

The river was frozen over in the foreground, but the cleared section for the rink was near open water. This is wonderfully Canadian, but Sue was alarmed about the proximity to the open water.