Menu Monday: A is for Asparagus with Brown Butter

Y'all, every school in our area had a snow day but ours.  We did start later (10), but STILL.  We couldn't get out of our driveway, so Zach's boss came and picked him up.  I'm either going to take a vacation day or make up the hours on lunch and after work.  It's supposed to start warming up tomorrow, but then we are expected to get "A slushy accumulation of less than an inch."  Pardon me? Arkansas, you better step it up with your road maintenance...  It is only January after all.

So while we were in Chicago, Zach said that he has decided he likes asparagus.  For the longest time, neither of us liked it though we did eat it on occasion and found it tolerable.  But now we are in the pro-asparagus camp.  This is one vegetable I never had growing up, and I'm pretty confident that the first time I tried it was in the past ten years, probably having been served it as part of a pre-determined menu (at someone's house or at one of those restaurants where you just don't request substitutes or removals).

With the New Year, I am trying my best to eat healthier and exercise.  I'm trying to follow the mini goals over at 100 Days of Real Food, and I'm proud to say I'm doing fairly well with Week 1--eating two fruits and/or vegetables with every meal.  We had veggies for dinner over the weekend, and I decided to try my hand at asparagus.  I served it with a brown butter sauce, and it was pretty yummy!

ASPARAGUS WITH BROWN BUTTER

1 lb of asparagus

1 cup of water

salt to taste

5 Tbsp. butter

1 tsp. lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

-Wash asparagus and snap off the tough ends.  (I felt finding the tough spot was very intuitive.)

-Using butcher string, tie asparagus into bundles of 6-10 shoots.  Sprinkle with salt to taste.

-Bring water to boil in a sauce pan and stack bundles perpendicularly to one another:  two going horizontally with two stacked vertically.  Continue until all are stacked.  Steam for 5 to 10 minutes.

-Meanwhile, melt butter in a  saucepan and cook slowly on medium heat, whisking frequently, until it begins to brown and smells nutty.  You will also notice flecks start to form, which are the milk solids browning.  The butter will foam as it cooks; once the foam subsides, it will turn brown very quickly.  Remove from heat once it turns brown--better too soon than too late.

-Stir in lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.  Pour brown butter over steamed asparagus and serve immediately (1 Tbsp. per two bundles).

I served my asparagus with balsamic roasted potatoes, green peas, and Texas Toast (which isn't very healthy but is oh-so-good!  Brown butter can be intimidating because it does require a close eye.  But it is little effort for BIG taste!  It also makes a wonderful addition to many other dishes, including savory and sweet ones (you would just leave out the lemon juice and spices for baking).

And here are my tied bundles, of which I was very proud :) :

What are some things you are doing and eating to get healthier this year?

Snow Days!

We are on our third day of being snowed/iced in, and if you know me, I am loving it!  I was quite surprised to get out on Thursday; I figured we would have go in for a few hours, and then they would close as the weather got bad.  Imagine my surprise when I woke up to a text from my boss that we were closed!

So I went back to sleep for an hour.  I have a hard time sleeping in when I know we are having winter weather because I want to watch it and measure it and touch it and walk it.  Oh, I so LOVE it.  Once I got up, I started editing photos, cleaning, and catching up on TV shows. The sleet started early but didn't really start accumulating until mid-morning. Once Zach got up, he played video games while I continued my cleaning. We drank lots of hot cocoa and tea, watched the snow begin to fall, and played & snuggled with the kitties. In the evening, Zach built a fire, which was lovely.  Here's how we spent our "snow days:"

sleet starting to collect on everything

Yes, we still have pumpkins out.  We didn't carve any this year, so they are still in tact.  I don't have the heart to throw out anything that is still good.

The cats enjoyed having us home!

This is probably the coldest it's been in Arkansas since I don't know when!

It's a tradition for me to drink out of my snowflake mug on snow days.  :)

night fall, snow fall

When I got up on Friday, we had EIGHT inches!  It's now over nine.  :)  I wasn't sure if my guess was correct (eight inches), but I was right on the money when this photos as taken!

On Friday, I watched Christmas movies and prepared for our late Fall Feast.  And, of course, watched the snow continue to fall!

Since we moved up here, I've used these birds to measure the snow.

They have been quite snuggly with the cold weather.

Yes, I know, we make beautiful children raise beautiful cats.

dangers of winter weather in AR

I love our home in this kind of weather.  it reminds me a cabin!  Also, those bows used to hang in our stairwell during Christmas, but Dinah tore them up pretty good last year, so I shortened the tails and decided to use them one last year--outside.

my (rain)boot prints

Selfies in the snow are hard, especially when it is well below freezing.

why we named our home The Owlery

Our landlord's little lady statue looks like a gnome in the snow!

It's hard to see here, but there are some animal tracks in the snow.  Deer, maybe?

Last night, we had our Fall Feast, and I invited Amy over since she made it safely back home from her friends' house.  But I'll tell you more about this on Monday!

Today, I'm going to knit and address Christmas cards.  :)))
Oh, and next weekend, I'll be sharing our Christmas decor courtesy of Kelly's Korner SUYL!
Did you get any winter weather courtesy of Winter Storm Cleon?  How do you spend your snow days?

Photo a Day in July #26

26.  Sunshine

When I woke up this morning at seven, it was still rather dark outside; it was gloomy and overcast, like it was going to rain, and it wasn't too hot.  But since I have forgotten what rain looks like or feels like or smells like (which is actually from the bacteria that is stirred up by the rain, BTW), I thought I should be preparing for the apocalypse instead.  So my umbrella and rainboots were kept in the closet, and the raincoat that I got in April (?) remains unworn.  :(

And then the sun came out as usual.  :(

But then my husband sent me a text about this long-forgotten weather state--RAIN!--and I watched the clouds roll back in and darken and finally start to fall from the sky in liquid form.  The cats were confused and amused, too:

I know, I know, today was supposed to be about sunshine, but today "my sunshine" was the rain.  Thanks be to God for this much needed rain!  Like many parts of the country, we are in extreme drought conditions here in Arkansas, and while it was not long-lasting, the rain was much appreciated.  :)