Playing pretend

This has been one long slog of a winter.  A few snow days here and there can be charming but after #7, you turn weary...and may start to lose it.  Snow-shoveling has been our predominant form of exercise (okay, more so for my husband) and I am just generally tired of feeling tired.

A picture from a few storms ago - our snow piles have reached a lot higher since

On the positive side, I'm really grateful we don't have any power outage issues this year.  We're lucky to be snug inside our home and I have plenty of time to putter in the kitchen so I won't complain too long.  At this point, I just have to resist the urge to sit or sleep all day in the face of all this continuous cold, snow, and ice.  I'm seriously ready for a change.  I know that this year, I will appreciate the warm seasons - when it eventually gets here - like never before!

There's a whole lot I miss about the spring and summer...the fresh produce, the farmer's market, the sunshine!  Not having to put on six layers of clothing to head outside would be amazing.  And I'm ready to crave lighter foods again, to put on t-shirts and open-toe shoes, to sit outside for a meal! Well, the time for all that is not quite nigh but I can pretend in the meantime...and I'm doing it with food.

This quinoa pilaf is one example.  It makes me think of spring and summer for some reason.  It's a lighter, vegetarian option, and the Asian influences of ginger, rice vinegar, mirin, and scallions make for bright flavors.  It also makes me think of this cold soba noodle I like making and stowing away in the fridge during the warm months.  

So while hearty stews, chili, big bowls of hot soup, and plenty of starch have been welcomed companions to these cold days and nights, I'm switching up my eating pattern a bit to cheer things up.  I've been buying grape tomatoes like it's in season and pretending my zucchini and (frozen) corn are fresh from the farmer's market.  Who says adults can't play pretend!