“Guess what”, mom says. “Snow day today. No school”. I remember looking out of the living room window at a snowy wonderland and feeling a deep inner joy. A day off. Snow play. Maybe even ice-skating at the rink down the block IF the city plows the side streets. Hot chocolate, warm soup. A snow day.

When I moved to snowy northern states, I decided to rekindle the joyous feelings of snow day by starting new traditions. In Wyoming I hit the streets in all my snow layers and took photos of the few people who were outdoors. Walking around was often challenging but someone was always out. If not, I ducked into a local cafe and then wandered out again. The night before the big snowfall, I bought a rotisserie chicken for me and a large dog bone for Tango. We ate in front of the fireplace and watched TV or read into the late hours.

Our small town North Dakota grocery does not offer cooked chickens, so last year I tried a few different culinary treats, but nothing stuck. Then, during the summer while talking to Don the Baptist, I decided on a special kind of beet soup for snow days. Forget bland borscht. This traditional German soup has beets, carrots, potatoes, and diced, leftover beef roast. The broth is deep red, of course, but the end result is true comfort food with a rich, deep beefy aroma. When I harvested my garden beets and carrots, I blanched then froze them in small bags of beef broth. I cooked a roast and froze leftovers. For snow day ambiance, I bought my faux wood stove. Just waiting for a snow day, like today!

The snow starts around noon  and forecasters say to expect 4-6 inches by tonight and more tomorrow. Life won’t come to a halt like it does on a real snow day, but that is enough for me to dig through the freezer and pull out the soup fixings. How about decorating my table top Christmas tree too? Let it snow. Let it snow., I would rather be making snow angels with my son at the Garden of the Gods, CO, but I have simple pleasures and new snow day traditions waiting.