Cookies for Breakfast and Other Tips for Snow Day Fun!

Sunday morning my husband and I walked out of the 8:00 am church service and it occurred to me how trapped and unhappy the sun looked in the sky. I turned to Russell and said, "Somewhere in the sky the sun is screaming 'LET ME OUT!'" I think this is how most of us here in the East tend to feel on cloudy days, but not me! As a "born and raised" Northern Californian, cloud and fog and mist are my life's blood. They remind of me home and happy times spent wandering through San Francisco with my friends and family. I think San Francisco on a foggy, misty day is the MOST romantic place on earth! The way the fog lazily floats between buildings and dances along the ocean. How magical it is when the Golden Gate Bridge appears in full view for mere moments... (The rest of the time, only the tips are visible on a terrifically foggy day.)

When we lived in Arizona, it was only foggy one day in nine years! Our children were little and I woke them from their dreamy slumber, dressed them in jackets and frolicked with them in the mist through our rose garden. I snapped photo after photo as we laughed and tripped about the yard counting dew drops and playing fetch with the dog. Those photographs from that morning are still treasured momentos of that mother-daughter experience. In fact, we still reminisce about how special that morning was to the three of us.

Now that we live in the East and foggy, days occur year round; I can enjoy misty mornings more often. Sometimes, the mist appears like a blanket over a field. Sometimes, the mist is like a table on the water. Sometimes, the fog caps the hills... My breath always catches in my throat because mist and fog remind me of "Home" and "Home" reminds me of my mother, Ellen. My mother lives in Arizona and given her health and our busy schedules, we do not see each other often. How do we connect? Well, through food of course! My mother is the person I call to run menu concepts by and talk about recipes. I am the that person for her too. Isn't it wonderful what a great "connector" food can be? Food can bridge a gap of distance. Food can bring joy. Food can open converstations. Food can be the basis for new connections. Food is AWESOME!

So the next time you are home with your children who are on a Snow Day or a Snow Day delay, get into your kitchens and make some memories. Maybe that means pancakes. (Not just any old pancakes, but pancakes shaped like snowmen of course!) Maybe that means gingerbread people you and your children decorate in snow gear. Maybe that means something new altogether! A sort of "Snow Day Treat" you reserve just for special days when you get to steal some extra morning time moments with your children.  In our house Snow Days means my special waffles, unless, just saying, Press Cookies were made the day before...