Washington was finally blanketed with a thick coating of wet snow today, locking in a snow day for all. My day started innocently enough (after coffee) making fried eggs, but soon “snowballed,” shall we say, into something much more bountiful. Upon replacing the egg carton into the refrigerator, I decided to have a look in the veggie drawer. Out I pulled an eggplant, half an onion, a green bell pepper and its red cousin, a few celery hearts, marjoram and parsley. Into a hot, oiled pot the chopped vegetables went with a handful of halved piccoline olives, lots of sliced garlic, a good sprinkling of salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. A drained can of tomatoes (hand crushed), and some chicken stock were added next and a then a good stir. I let this yummy mixture simmer for a couple of hours into my version of snow day ratatouille. I will be serving this glorious concoction over soft, warm polenta.

Feeling inspired, I decided to next make some pizza dough. After a good rise, I took a portion of the finished dough and rolled it out thinly. I spread the rolled dough with spicy honey mustard and topped with the crisped and browned half smokes I had slowly frying away in my cast iron pan. The dough was rolled around the sausage, brushed with egg, and sprinkled with sesame seeds before being placed into a hot oven. The most delicious pigs in a blanket I have ever had!

Next came my all time favorite cornmeal/panko crusted chicken cutlets and then some chicken jerky for Henry. Both chicken options were happy to be placed back in the fridge for later use.

Not wanting to leave out dessert, I conducted a quick poll — meringues or brownies. The future was clear. Brownies it would be. They cool now on the counter — three big squares of warm brownie missing.