I always like to make people who somehow find my blog happy about having found my blog. What could be more frustrating than a search that brings you to a blog, only to find that your question isn’t answered? Of course answering people’s questions after they’ve already come and gone might be not as helpful as we’d hope, but where there’s one, there is more, and so I can answer this question for the next person who thinks to ask the question: recipe for stormy weather

Now, keep in mind that this is only what has worked for me in the past.

recipe for stormy weather:

  • make plans that require hours and hours outside with no shelter in sight
  • ideally these plans will have you expecting extra warm weather, so that when the storms hit you’ll be freezing and miserable, underdressed and unprepared
  • include someone who is frightened of lightening
  • forget to bring umbrellas
  • manage to get a flat tire

Of course you don’t need all of these at the same time, though it does increase the likelihood of a storm if you do.

It is always possible that I’m misinterpreting the question, and so I’ll provide a different kind of recipe as well:

Cuban Black Bean (aka Stormy Weather) Soup:
from “Vegan Planet”

1.5 cups dried black beans, picked over and rinsed. OR 2 15oz cans black beans, rinsed.
8 cups water (only if using dried black beans)
2 bay leaves (if using dried black beans)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 large red onion, chopped
1 medium-size carrot, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 small fresh hot chile, seeded and minced
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
6 cups vegetable stock or water
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne (optional)
1/4 cup dark rum (optional
2 Tbsp minced fresh cilantro for garnish (optional)

If using dried beans, cook them with the 8 cups of water and 2 bay leaves. Should take about 1.5 hrs to cook black beans. I used the cans because I was feeling lazy and hungry.

Chop the onion, garlic, red bell pepper, carrot, and fresh hot chile. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large pot, and add the chopped veggies. Cover and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the diced tomatoes, beans, vegetable stock, and spices. Simmer for 30 minutes over lowish heat.

Transfer 2 cups of the soup to a blender or food processor and process or blend until smooth. Return the processed soup to the pot with the rest of the soup and simmer for 15 more minutes. Add the optional rum at the end, if using, and garnish with cilantro, if using.

I ate mine with some fresh crusty bread, and it was delicious. I think this would work really well in the crock pot as well. If it was especially stormy and you’re still cold, have a bit extra rum on the side (assuming you’re not pregnant, driving, underage, or should be abstaining from alcoholic libations for any reason at all), and maybe two extra bits for the person who was afraid of lightening to take the edge off their nerves.

stormy bariloche

Three things for Monday:

  1. The giant spill of “sludge” that shut down the entire southbound highway (all 4 or 5 lanes) for about three hours happened at such a time that if I’d left home five minutes earlier I would have been stuck for the three hours, but as it was, I sat there for only 10 minutes before peeling off onto what ended up being a really long exit ramp, after which I was able to get on the highway just past the sludge spill without getting (too) lost.
  2. I looked up mechanics online and found one that gets good reviews and is pretty close by. I badly need to get some work done on my truck, but it is always so hard to find mechanics that I trust. I don’t even mind if I pay a little extra for honest work. Does that sound backwards? I guess I figure you get what you pay for, and I also think the honest folks are found at non-chain stores, and those non-chains are the ones that have a harder time giving the cut-rate pricing. I want them to stay in business, and honesty is worth a bit extra in my opinion, especially when their honesty probably means I save money in the long run. Now I just have to make an appointment. …
  3. Tempest came over to sit on my lap while I was on the computer. Usually she just tries to sit on the computer (passive attention is not what she’s after, usually), but last night she curled up nice and warm on my lap