Welcome to Friday’s Fave Five, hosted by Susanne at Living to Tell the Story, in which we can share five of our favorite things from the last week, a wonderful exercise in looking for and appreciating the good things God blesses us with. Click on the button to learn more, then go to Susanne’s to read others’ faves and link up your own.
Brrr! It was 1 degree F on Monday and didn’t get above the mid-teens all day, and this was after rain and snow, so it was pretty icy out. I haven’t been that cold in a very long time. 45 degrees today (Thursday) felt almost balmy! Here are some favorite parts of the week.
1. Not losing power. Sometimes a favorite is something that didn’t happen that you were afraid might! According to the local news, about 500 or so homes did. I felt so bad for them and prayed it would be restored quickly.
2. No broken pipes here: our church did have one, but because they were taking precautions it was minor.
3. Not running out of supplies. Somehow I was not as prepared for the weather this time as I usually am, and I’ve found that makes a great deal of difference in how I feel about the weather! We were running low on a couple of things before I felt comfortable enough to venture out, but didn’t run out completely, thankfully.
4. Warmer weather, relatively, later in the week. Supposed to be in the 60s by the weekend!
5. Sous-vide chicken. I mentioned last week that my son made a sous vide cooking apparatus for my husband for Christmas, and this is his third and so far best experiment with it. He made three kinds of chicken: teriyaki, barbecue, and a marinade he had found at the store (it is nice with this system that one can make different flavors without their mixing together with each other). The chicken breasts were so thick that he never could have grilled them without burning the outside before getting the inside done. They were so moist and good.
BTW, when I mentioned sous vide last time, someone commented on the cost of the cooker. Jim said new they’re about $500, but Jeremy had found a link with instructions to make a sous-vide cooker for about $40 and put one together for his dad. When they were first discussing it, I thought, “OK, so, what’s the big deal?” But now I am a definite fan!
Bonuses: Safety on super-icy roads was a blessing, as was my mother-in-law’s aide being able to come in spite of the weather, and throw blankets, coffee, and good books have helped make the cold days a good bit cozier.
Happy Friday!
Stray Thoughts 
So glad you’ve stayed safe and warm! Back in 2008, we had an ice storm just before Christmas and were without power for over 4 days. It was awful! Huddling in the basement with flashlights, keeping pets under our shirts to keep them warm — it made me re-think my fascination with living a “little house” life, that’s for sure! Your chicken looks amazing.
We were in southern California last week when everyone else in the US was freezing! It was nice there, but when we got home, our temps were in the 20s with snow. I’m glad everything worked out well with your freezing weather!
That chicken looks amazing! I’ve never heard of that type of cooker before; I’ll have to look it up.
The chicken dish looks delicious, so tender looking. Losing power must be so difficult in such cold weather, what a blessing yours stayed on. xx
sounds like your weather has been as treacherous as ours! OOOHHH, I can’t wait for spring to get her! Yes, no frozen pipes is a huge blessing here! Our oldest lives in my grandmothers old house and it always froze up on grandma. SO thankful! Looking forward to those warmer temps this weekend as well!
Lots to be thankful for even in the midst of the bitter chill. The chicken sounds like it was delicious. We’re having a bit of a warm spell here, actually above freezing but with that warmth comes the chinooks winds that bring that warm air.
Glad you stayed warm and the pipes didn’t freeze! We were worried about ours but so far everything seems ok. The sink in the garage froze but it’s not anymore and everything looks good. And hooray for power and not running out of supplies. Hopefully that will be the worst of our winter.
That chicken looks delicious. I’ve not heard of that type of cooker before and will have to Google it.
Glad you were able to comfortably weather the vortex! That cooking method sounds interesting. The chicken looks delicious…
Ooh, stay warm, Barbara. Your chicken looks delicious!
Converting into Celius, you have the same temperatures as we have ! rain and very windy ! Still better then some other places where it’s freezing so much that even the Niagara falls are almost frozen ! Terrible !
I like your 3 “nots,” Barbara. You are are right, when things are averted that is also a huge blessings.
I hope this week finds you experiencing more of these “nots.”
Sounds like you’ve been facing some of the same weather challenges as we have. Thankfully we’re into rain now and the icy roads are melting. We didn’t lose power either although many in the provinces next door to us did and still are without power. That would be tough. We’re pretty set as we have a woodstove but no water makes things hard.
I’m going to check out your link for the chicken cooker – my boys might be very interested in trying that out.
Thanks for the mention on the link – it’s such interesting info.
Fun to see your experiments with sous vide! And also how you survived that super cold weather. It would cripple us here in So Cal where every inch of rain is hailed with “storm watch” and drama.
I know it has been so cold and I just shiver in sympathy for you. I don’t like cold. It’s important to keep emergency supplies but not too many. It sounds like you had just the right amount.
I prayed that we would not lose power during this last round of winter weather, and we didn’t. I’ve also started praying each time a storm is forecast that the internet would not go out, also!
It’s good to have the pantry full when these things hit. I know how you feel, though, after a few days you get nervous thinking that you are going to run out of something vital.
By the way, I think I missed getting by your blog when you announced that you will become grandmother this summer. Congratulations! You make number 4 of people I know who are becoming grandparents.
Loved reading your list this week, Barbara. That chicken looks SO yummy! I understand completely how you feel about bad weather if you are starting to run low on a few things. We live about half an hour’s drive from a grocery store so I try to stockpile a bit about the middle of August on things that are important (like toilet paper). 🙂 But this last storm that went through found me low on several perishable things.
Wow, I am most impressed with your son!
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