Cold, so cold�

Upon rising, a paltry -34�C greeted me. The sun had already risen (that�s one good thing I have to say about this time of year), so the temperature must have as well. I shudder (literally) to estimate what it fell to during the night. The main floor of the house was just short of hanging icicles. Thankfully there were still embers in the woodstove and it wasn�t a big deal getting a fire started. Hubby is concerned that we will run out of wood before winter�s end. He may have a point there. Then, heaven forbid, we would actually have to put a few thermostats up!

The other day I had to get down on my hands and knees looking for something which fell off my bed-side table. What greeted my eyes were dustballs under the bed the size of horror-movie monsters. Hubby had been complaining about being congested in a horizontal position at night, so I got out the vacuum cleaner and went at the two upper stories of the house (attic and bedrooms). I have already gone on elsewhere about what a lousy housekeeper I am, so I needn�t repeat myself. Suffice it to say that it is all true!

However, the performer for this week�s Chez Nous concert will probably be staying with us for a couple of nights, which means I have to ready the guest room and make our house appear hygienic. This is a guitarist who is originally from Qu�bec, but lived in Germany for many years, and is now back in the land of his birth. He commissioned a guitar solo from Hubby, but unfortunately is not prepared to play it on this concert. Hubby said that this is all right, because he would rather that R�mi premiere it elsewhere (a larger place with a newspaper reviewer in the audience, preferably), but at least perform it here. What I think is that he would like to play this work himself and cannot until R�mi premieres it. Of course, I am conjecturing, which is almost as bad as assuming. It just sounds more scholarly.

For dinner last night Hubby and I shared a ripe avocado that had been patiently turning black on the counter. In keeping with my mandate of a couple of months ago, here is the recipe for my salad dressing, which makes an excellent sauce for avocado and dip for artichokes:

juice of however many lemons (1 or 2)
an equal amount of extra-virgin olive oil
salt, pepper, granulated garlic (or fresh, just use lots) and granulated onion to taste
crushed dried peppermint (or spearmint, but you�ll need more) also to taste, but more is better

Combine all this in a little jar, shake well, and use sparingly on salads and other fun foods. It actually makes a good moistener for canned tuna, instead of mayonnaise. Store unused portions in the refrigerator, and let come to room temperature before using, as the olive oil will congeal. Enjoy!

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