Winter Is Coming - Ready or Not

[Prince of the North]

I do enjoy winter...when winter means snow and not freezing the twig and giggleberries off cold.

I thought ND got pounded last year? Or was it just Minot that kept getting bad luck with weather and floods and such?

Oh, I agree. However, those two record-setting winters a couple of years ago taught me, once again, that there can be such a thing as too much snow. I mean too much snow in the sense that roads are blocked and until the state and county transportation folks can clear them there's no way you are getting to work, a grocery store, or even to the hospital in the case of a medical emergency :worried:

Also, no, ND did not really get pounded with a bad winter last year. It was, however, a bad year for flooding because the snow melt from those two previous winters had already filled basically everywhere that could store any extra water. Thus, the added snow melt from just a normal winter was too much because it had nowhere to go. Also, there were some early spring rain storms that dumped a bunch of water and that's pretty much what resulted in the Souris river flooding Minot, ND and destroying thousands of homes and the Missouri flooding all up and down the river. It was not the absolute devastation that the folks out east are dealing with but it truly sucked nonetheless.

I used to use all seasons, but I find them inadequate, so I switched to 4 snows. The difference is remarkable.

That's why I said "at least". The only vehicle we have with all-seasons on it is our little car which won't be driven much during the winter anyway :)

Oh, that sounds delicious! :drool: Can we have the recipe, please?

Sure! I got tired of waiting for people to give me the recipe so I looked up some online. It turns out it's pretty simple and I've only made it once but it turned out well. I have the recipe at home and I'm at work now but I'll post it (and some other liqeuer recipes I found) when I get a chance. Besides, that should really bring any resident experts out of the woodwork to tell us what's wrong with those recipes. I wouldn't mind any pointers from those who may be more experienced than me ;)

[Turinqui-Calima]

I'm very excited about winter this year. We finally managed to make our landlord turn down the heat in our apartement, making it possible to actually spend time there, and I have very nice boots.

Plus, this thread just reminded me that I brought my old ice-skates from Sweden to New York and I can't wait to see if I can still skate. I imagine a movie-like moment of me and my husband skating in Central Park, obviously having the ice almost to ourselves, with just a few snowflakes slowly falling. Yup. That is going to happen.

[Éadaoin]

Last winter was far too mild, so I'm hoping for some colder weather this time around. Winters in the north are brutal, but that's the way I like them. It's summer that I can't stand. :(

[MercenaryChef]

i grew up in a land of cold. northeast oregon winters are snowy, windy, cold and frozen. leaving those behind for california after high school was fantastic. when i returned to oregon i was in portland. the winters there may have a touch of snow once in a while, but mainly just drear and rain.

since coming out to the east coast i have been subjected to storms of 24 and 36 inches respectively that crippled the city and left me trapped in my home.

i have prided myself on surviving four winters out here without a winter coat. this one will be no different. to buy a coat that only sees service during the coldest months give into the demons of winter. it says 'lady winter, you have won.' no thank you. i am far more likely to just wear layer upon layer capped off by my near constant black hoodie than to be defeated by this chilly foe.

winter is coming? bring it!

[Greywolf2375]

i have prided myself on surviving four winters out here without a winter coat. this one will be no different. to buy a coat that only sees service during the coldest months give into the demons of winter. it says 'lady winter, you have won.' no thank you. i am far more likely to just wear layer upon layer capped off by my near constant black hoodie than to be defeated by this chilly foe.

winter is coming? bring it!

See, I grew up here and do the same thing. My wife gave me a really nice winter jacket years ago, but I figure if I wear it, it will wear out and then I'll have ruined her nice gift. A couple layers under, a good fleece, a hat and I;m set to go. No hobo beard, but I get by.

[Whitestripe]

You know you're from somewhere cold when three layers under a heavy sweater, gloves and a hat is acceptable winter attire.

[Elder Sister]

We've been getting the snow gear out - sled, parkas, skis......

Nah. I'm just funnin' you guys. :P

[MercenaryChef]

See, I grew up here and do the same thing. My wife gave me a really nice winter jacket years ago, but I figure if I wear it, it will wear out and then I'll have ruined her nice gift. A couple layers under, a good fleece, a hat and I;m set to go. No hobo beard, but I get by.

get a serious beard. it keeps the cold away. and the ladies go crazy.

no really. it makes them crazy. like when it tickles them in not a good away. or you get food in it. yep. makes them crazy!

[Fragile Bird]

Those two coatless fellows brought back a memory. There was a brilliant scientist at a company I worked for years ago by the name of Fred Longstaff, the co-inventor of the trackball, who used to wander around in winter time in his khakis, rolled up shirt sleeves and sandals, never a coat, looking like the typical mad scientist. Absolute genius in the computer field, especially in towed array radar. When I first started to work at the company, I was shown this machine he developed that could process 10M signals a second! (I think it was 10M). What fun he would have today. :)

[Solmyr]

I'm so ready I'm actually migrating north for the winter! Going on a 5-week business trip around Europe, including mostly countries colder than mine. On the plus side I will not have to carry firewood for 5 weeks ... unless the hotels they have us staying in are much, much worse than the average :).

[Lany Freelove Cassandra]

I hate winter. Tonight will be our first hard freeze and 25F in the morning when I head out for my walk (that is less than zero C)

We have some wood but really need more, so no, we are not ready.

[WrathOfTinyKittens]

Winter's already here, I don't even think the high today was in the 70s.

[Carlot dan Eider]

Hate winter. I never go out in the cold if I can avoid it. As of two days ago I can no longer go running outside and it's officially bubble bath with a book season. Can't wait until it's over.

[wolverine]

I used to use all seasons, but I find them inadequate, so I switched to 4 snows. The difference is remarkable.

Inadequate for what? We get a lot of snow here (Minnesota) and I don't know anyone who changes tires just for winter. Although most pickups have fairly aggressive tires to begin with.

[Prince of the North]

Oh, that sounds delicious! :drool: Can we have the recipe, please?

I used this one to start with:

Apple Pie Liqeuer Recipe

1.5 gallons apple juice

OR

6 cans frozen apple juice concentrate & 18 cups water

1 gallon apple cider

750 ml Everclear® alcohol

7 cinnamon sticks

4 cups sugar

4 cups brown sugar

Take all the ingredients excluding the Everclear and combine in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 45 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 15 minutes. Add the Everclear. Bottle and Enjoy!

And here's a video of the same thing.

Here's a video of a slightly more involved recipe.

Finally, I found this posted on the web while I was looking around for recipes. My ears really perked up at the last line ;)

By Doc Allgood on August 28th, 2010 at 20:33:57

I've made it using either Everclear, Golden Grain or 180 Proof Vodka - all work well - just use a middle shelf vodka - the bottom shelf stuff tastes like lighter fluid.

As for the cider - most US Grocery stores carry pasturized unfiltered apple cider in the produce section - often near the other natural juices like Odwalla brand or Pom Wonderful juices.

I've got 2 batches going tonight - one regular Apple Pie made with 1/2 Gal cider and 1/2 Gal Apple Juice, 4 cinnamon sticks, 8 cloves 2 cups of sugar and 20 oz of Golden Grain.

The second is Peach Pie - made with 1/2 Gal Peach Cider, 1/2 gal Welches White Grape Peach juice, 3 cinnamon sticks, 4 cloves, 2 cups of sugar, 20 oz Golden Grain and 1 cup Peach Schnapps.

Next batch I try will be Cherry Pie made with Bottled Cherry Juice (found in the Health Food section of most grocery stores), Welches White Grape Cherry Juice and Sugar. I'm still working on this version - should be awesome as well...

"Pie" is the Drink of choice at Dragon*Con on Labor Day weekend so that gives this about 5 days to mellow before we consume it!

I'm looking forward to trying these out as well. Maybe "Doc Allgood" is running around this board? :eek:

[Fragile Bird]

Dear God, I am going to have to make me some of this elixir! :lol:

[Lord of Oop North]

Inadequate for what? We get a lot of snow here (Minnesota) and I don't know anyone who changes tires just for winter. Although most pickups have fairly aggressive tires to begin with.

Yeah, I agree with this. I don't have specific winter tyres for my truck. Trucks are different in that even your regular tires are pretty rugged and made for bad conditions.

[Fragile Bird]

Inadequate for what? We get a lot of snow here (Minnesota) and I don't know anyone who changes tires just for winter. Although most pickups have fairly aggressive tires to begin with.

All-season radials just don't grip the snow the way snow tires do. I drive a fairly large car, a Toyota Avalon. I really noticed the difference switching from all-seasons to snows - you slide a lot more with all-seasons, you just grip a snowy road with snow tires so much better. I do a lot of highway driving, whereas my brother does probably 90% city driving, so he just sticks with all seasons. But if he has to go off to see a client in lousy winter weather, he borrows my car. Even for Saturday shopping, if there's been a lot of snow.

[wolverine]

I live on a highway but many roads around are gravel. I use about 2 miles of gravel every day on the way to work. In the winter here parts of them often end up being glare ice. Your tires really don't matter in such a case, unless they are studded (which would make them illegal for other surfaces). Tires certainly affect stopping and starting speeds, but just driving down the highway or road I have never really noticed a difference.

[Prince of the North]

Dear God, I am going to have to make me some of this elixir! :lol:

Yes, try it and let us know what you think!

It's pretty simple and I can vouch for how good the apple pie drink is. It does taste just like apple pie only, ahem, with a kick. It can be dangerous, though, because you can't really taste the alcohol very much. Like I said, it's great warmed like hot apple cider or chilled really, really cold (of course, just don't boil it after you have any alcohol in it).

Also, something I sort of found out while making my first batch was that that volume of liquid really doesn't "boil" per se. When it's actually boiling you just see the liquid sort of "roiling" up from the bottom. It's actually boiling then but it doesn't look like it.