Good morning, and happy Sunday! This week included a lot of snow, zero school, and many cozy meals at home. You’ll find all of the highlights from the past few days, along with each of our dinners, in today’s roundup of Our Week in Meals.
For those of you who are new to the blog, Our Week in Meals is where I share a little bit about what we’ve been up to over the past week — as it relates to our dinners each night. This series gives you a glimpse “behind the scenes” at some highlights from our life, shows you how I balance a busy schedule with feeding my family, and offers a few new ideas for your own weekly meal plan.
This Week’s Meals
Now, let’s back up to last weekend…
We went to early church on Sunday, and then straight to Charlottesville for Spencer’s first indoor soccer game of the winter season.
Red velvet cake Blizzard from Dairy Queen on the way home…
We watched a lot of football that evening, and for dinner had Dutch oven chicken,
as well as this easy dump-and-bake vegetable casserole,
and a pan of spoon bread.
I finished the most recent novel by Louise Penny that night, too: The Grey Wolf. This is the 19th book in her Chief Inspector Gamache series, and I have loved every single one of them. If you’re not familiar with these mysteries, I highly recommend starting with book #1 (Still Life). You won’t be disappointed!
The boys were supposed to return to school on Monday after two weeks off for the holiday break.
Instead, we woke up to a winter wonderland!
We got more snow overnight than we’ve had in years (about 7-8 inches). Needless to say, everything was canceled and we had a very quiet day at the house. In fact, this one snowfall led to an entire week of school being canceled! This was definitely the longest holiday vacation for the kids on record…
I made a pot of minestrone for warming lunches throughout the week…
On the dinner menu, a comfort food classic: cornbread casserole with ground beef and a side of buttered peas.
The kids may have been off of school on Tuesday, but was nice to see the sun again!
I baked a loaf of the best banana nut bread that morning because we had an abundance of overripe bananas on the counter. There’s truly no better snack when you come in from the snow — especially when paired with a mug of hot chocolate!
It was otherwise a day of many loads of laundry (again), the kids coming and going, and a work call and computer stuff when I could squeeze it in.
Casey requested pizza for supper, so we made it a feast: cast iron deep-dish pizza…
…and a house salad with candied pecans on the side.
Another day off for the boys on Wednesday…
I took an early walk up the road to bring apples to Chip,
baked another batch of banana bread (since the first one disappeared in less than 24 hours), picked up groceries, and took Casey sledding with the youth group.
My neighbor made us a shoofly pie, so of course we had that for an afternoon snack. What a treat. It was still warm, that crust was so flaky and perfect, and the sugary crumb topping was delicious. I also had a slice of pie for breakfast the next day, since Mary Ann said that it’s particularly good with coffee (it is)!
Supper looked like oven bbq chicken breast,
along with 3-ingredient buttermilk biscuits, rice, and steamed green beans.
It was starting to feel like Groundhog Day by Thursday — everyone at home, and all of the activities canceled.
I did a lot of work in the kitchen that morning, and I nagged the boys to help with cleaning the house that afternoon. Had to put them to work if they weren’t going to school!
I was planning to make these 4-ingredient baked pork chops for supper…
but we were all feeling cooped up and ready to get out of the house. So I stuck the pork chops in the freezer, and instead we went into town for dinner at Mad Pepper. I had the bourbon chicken with bacon and cheese, which came with broccoli and onion rings. The burgers and fried chicken were also hits. Best of all, I didn’t have to wash any dishes!
It was a mere 6 degrees when I left the house on Friday morning, so I was glad to have an indoor activity to look forward to. We are not used to weather this cold in Virginia!
I met Adria and Ashley for an early Pilates class and coffee at the Raven’s Nest afterwards. This was a maple, brown sugar, cinnamon latte…and I loved it.
We had creamy sun-dried tomato pasta with spinach and bacon for supper,
plus garlic bread and a winter salad.
And that brings us to the weekend!
Photo courtesy of my dad!
We got another light dusting of snow overnight, but I still managed to get outside for a walk with Mollie and Adria after lunch.
And Keith and I had a dinner date at the Ivy Inn in Charlottesville that evening to celebrate our upcoming anniversary. Cheers to 20 years!
I started with a bourbon cocktail and the Caesar salad,
and had the grilled mountain trout with smoked bacon butter sauce, Carolina gold rice, and winter succotash for my entree. It was incredible.
Save the best for last?! A warm local apple crisp with vanilla ice cream for dessert! Definitely the most delicious meal I’ve had in ages…
Before I sign off, I’d just like to take a moment to express my deep sorrow for those of you who have been impacted by the California fires. It’s been a shockingly heavy, overwhelming week. We are praying for you. For those of you who’d like to support the relief efforts but don’t know where to start, I did some research and decided to send a donation here. There are so many worthy organizations helping those in need. Feel free to leave additional suggestions in the comments below.
Thank you for being here, friends. Have a safe week ahead!
Happy Anniversary ! Thank you Blair, for your weekly pics and recipes! Be safe and warm..love winter!
Thank you, Jane. Hope you have a great week!
Thank you for the beautiful pictures, and stay warm and safe!
Sending prayers to all those in California impacted by the wildfires, and for the firefighters who are working so hard to get them contained!
Thank you, Ann!
Samaritan’s Purse is another organization that helps in disaster situations in the US & overseas.
Yes, I was just about to add Samaritan’s Purse, is a wonderful organization. They were one of the first on the ground, to offer help to the people in Western N.C. It’s run by Pastor Franklin Graham.
Thank you, Renee!
Congratulations on your anniversary. You have a wonderful family. Your snow week was very beautiful. Praying for the fires to die down very soon. Have another blessed week .
Thank you, Melody! Hope you have a nice week ahead!
Great suggestion. Thank you!!!
Happy Anniversary! We have snow here in KY also, & many kids have had an extra long vacation from school. Our kids are in their 30’s, & 1 in his 30’s, so the school days are behind them, but I do remember how chaotic it was. They didn’t have online learning back then either. I’m sure they are enjoying the time off, & will be happy to see friends at school again, once the snow melts away.Hang in there, Mom! Recipes look wonderful too! I am also praying for those affected by the wildfires in CA. It is so tragic, & could have been avoided.
Thank you, Leslie. Yes, it’s definitely a little chaotic, but much easier now that they’re older. If I was dealing with cooped up toddlers, I’d be losing my mind. 🙂
Take care, and have a great week!
Happy Anniversary! We live in Connecticut but are a UVA family. Whenever we go to Charlottesville, the Ivy Inn is always on our list for dinner. If fact, we dined there for our son’s law school graduation dinner! Happy to know you had a lovely time!
I also, for the first time, made your Banana Bread this week. It was delicious and I love that I didn’t need to use my mixer. I have a friend who cannot eat nuts. Can I make that bread and leave out the nuts?
Hi, Paula! The Ivy Inn is so great. What a special spot.
You can definitely omit the nuts from the banana bread. It’s also great with chocolate chips!
Please see the above email….do t know why it was sent yesterday.
Have a good day!
Oops, meant to say our kids are in their 30’s, & one in his 20’s. Sorry!
Hi Blair – Loved the snow photos! I’m in SoCal but in Orange County and not near the fires, but it has an impact on all of us here. It’s so shocking. And we have the Santa Ana winds again today so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that nothing else pops up anywhere. The last two years we had so much rain and nothing so far this year.
Have a great week and I hope the boys get back to school!
I’ve heard that those Santa Ana winds are hot and unlike anything we’ve experienced here. It’s been a crazy week! I hope that you stay safe, Tylene.
Happy Anniversary!!! and may God continue to bless you and your family…I loved the photo of the red barn – looks like a Christmas card…so many great recipes and some I intend to add to my special Blair cookbook…we still have about 15 inches of snow on the ground here and it has been cold but having a milder few days before another dip…it’s 29 degrees right now…thanks for forwarding a suggestion of where to forward a donation…we are praying for those in California who have and who may be affected by these terrible fires…and for those fire personnel who are tirelessly fighting to contain them…we ask that He will uphold them in His care…
Thank you, Wendy! Enjoy that mild weather. Hope you see lots of sunshine this week!
Happy Anniversary! Thank you for the beautiful snow pictures and recipes but especially for thinking of us here in California. I’m in the Bay Area but my heart breaks for southern California and all the people and wildlife affected by these fires. It is truly devastating and we appreciate your support.
Thank you, Joan!
Thank you for the information on where you donated. I donated there and to the Red Cross helping in the Los Angeles fire area. My family experienced a home fire in the night back in 2016 and the Red Cross appeared in 1+ hours and literally put their arms around us and provided shelter for us until our insurance agent took over.
We’re sorry for your loss but appreciate you sharing. It’s good to know they were such a big help!