Well, I didn't get a migraine.

It's cold today, but not end-of-the-world cold like the weather people seem to think. Yes, it's cold. Yes, it's in the 30s. Big fat hairy deal (as Garfield used to say).

We are supposed to get freezing rain tonight and tomorrow. Do you know how happy I am I did my grocery shopping for the week on Wednesday afternoon? Now I don't have to deal with the panic-mode people buying eight dozen eggs, and ten loaves of bread, and six gallons of milk (it's supposed to be back up into the 50s on Monday, so the worst that could happen is we have two cold days when it's not possible to get to the grocery. I always keep peanut butter, crackers, and canned fruit - all things you can eat without having to cook - on hand in case the power goes out.).

I am a bit concerned as there is a "new student recruitment" thing scheduled for tomorrow here and I'm supposed to help out with it. I hope, if we do get really bad weather, that they decide to cancel it early enough that I don't risk my neck coming over here and find that either (a) none of the parents and kids showed up because it was too risky or (b) they cancelled it and forgot to tell the faculty who were helping out (similar things have happened in the past).

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It's been a while since I shared a recipe but here's one that's pretty good. It has the "good recipe hat trick" - it tastes good, it's nutritious and made out of "real" food, and it's fairly quick and easy to make.

Southwestern-style bean and corn relish

1 15 oz. can black beans
1 15 1/4 oz. can corn
1/4 cup chopped sweet onion
1 cup peeled and chopped jicama*
1 to 2 T chopped fresh cilantro, depending on how spicy you like it.

Drain and rinse the beans and corn. The onion and jicama should be very finely diced. Combine everything in a big bowl. Add the dressing:

1/4 cup lime juice
2 T olive oil
1 t cumin
1 t salt
1/8 t garlic powder or one crushed clove of garlic.

Pour the dressing over everything and mix. Let it marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

If you want at the end you can garnish with chopped up tomato and/or avocado. (I didn't, the tomatoes here are all "winter tomatoes" (ugh) and the avocados at the store felt kind of too squishy).

* I don't know if jicama is widely available in areas where there's not a big Hispanic population. I can get it easily here (heck, I could get nopalitos if I wanted them), and I remember I could generally find it back in Central Illinois, but they had a sizable Mexican and Central American immigrant population. If you can't find jicama, you could probably use water chestnuts (similar texture + flavor) or celery. Or you could try your local Whole Foods Market, if you're lucky enough to have one; it seems that places like that are more likely to carry "unusual" vegetables.

The other nice thing about the recipe? It's vegetarian-friendly. Vegan-friendly, even.

It's really a very good recipe - everything blends so well: the slight sourness from the limes, the crunch and slight sweetness of the jicama, the spicyness of the cumin and cilantro, the smoky/savory flavor of the beans.

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And because it's cold today, I have my nice big cranberry colored Mission Falls sweater on. And I have these:



This qualifies as Old Knitted Stuff. It's a pair of cabled socks I made - gee, I think back in 2000 - using some Baruffa "7 Settembre" bought from the late, lamented eKnitting. I think the pattern was my own invention but I can't find it written down anywhere.

I've also been working on some new socks, these are from Mossy Cottage Knits' free Dublin Bay sock pattern (N. B.: .pdf file)



I'm using one of the newer colors of Regia - I think it's 5440 - for them. The yarn makes me think of roses, and the pattern is named for an old-fashioned climbing rose, so it seems appropriate.