As a tried and true Virgo it pains me to say this, but sometimes the best weekends are unplanned and unstructured, especially when a snowstorm and the tail-end of an upstate New York winter are involved. JoAnn was scheduled to join us for a weekend of hygge when our cousin Tyler and his partner Kevin asked if we were available to host them for a night. Our home has always operated on the age-old adage of the-more-the-merrier, at least in pre-COVID days, so I added some extra food into the loose plan, and filled the house with spring flowers to combat the forecasted winter storm.
In the fateful way destiny sometimes has of working things out, JoAnn arrived just minutes before Kevin and Tyler’s plane landed. For their arrival, I managed to tie everything up in a rosemary-festooned flavor palette, with a white bean rosemary dip that went with our pomegranate rosemary mocktails and cocktails.
We eased into a Friday afternoon with the warmth and bonhomie of good friends that were also family, widening the circle as we set up for a dinner of a Moroccan vegetable tagine, some kimchi fried rice, and (my only cutting-corners move) a package of vegetable samosas from Trader Joe’s. Dessert was a Filipino babinka of sorts, and by the end of the night we were filled and satiated and sleepy.
The next morning the world was completely white again, covered by snow, with more blowing and falling as the morning went on. I put together a quick, impromptu loaf of banana bread which filled the kitchen with its sweet aroma. We let it cook for the bare minimum then scarfed it down. Hygge comfort food to start the lazy day.
With any and all planned outings made impossible by the storm, we had fun and hilarity without doing much of anything other than hanging out and eating. JoAnn and I pursued some catalogs and books. Tyler, Kevin and Andy watched a few movies. In between we all talked and grazed on a charcuterie board that we somehow conjured from what was in the fridge. I also found a frozen batch of lumpia I’d made earlier in the winter, which we hastened to fry up and serve.
Before we knew it was cocktail hour, and I recreated one of the most infamous creations that has rocked this house: the Amber Jewel. (The first time I made this for JoAnn and her entourage, we never made it past the entry room, and the rest of that weekend went by in a quick blur. I believe it was April and some of us went skinny-dipping before the pool had even been officially opened, but the rest has been intentionally erased from my brain.) On this day, Tyler and Kevin tried out the alcoholic version, while JoAnn and I had an Amber Jewel mocktail which still managed to bring back the memories.
A large pot of squash, mushroom, carrot and bok choy soup simmered on the stove top, while I boiled a batch of udon noodles for a hygge-like dinner. Andy did a quick baked ziti dish, and there was still some babinka left for dessert. As the kitchen filled with the scents of comfort food and the sound of laughter, we assembled at the dining room table for a Saturday evening meal. Somehow the day had passed pleasantly, and at times riotously, without us even leaving the house.
Outside, the snow had finally stopped falling, while the plows made their reassuring groans as they passed and pushed the snow out of the way. Evening was at hand, and on the last night before the clocks pushed ahead, the blue descent of the bewitching hours lent our indoor sanctuary additional coziness.
It passed too quickly, the way all unplanned moments of serendipity do, yet we were all somehow present for it, mindful of the magic at hand, embracing the moment, and each other, while the outside world still shook its clenched fists with winter rage. With love and family, we would not be bothered by it.
The next morning we brushed JoAnn’s car off, and she was on her way, but not before sowing a few seeds of summer promise with the possibility of a Cape getaway. That Josie magic works its own wonders, weaving that tapestry of human heart-threads, and reminding us that the best of friends become our chosen family.
Kevin and Tyler took Andy and I out for a lunch at Koto, as Kevin had never had The Koto Experience before, and it was right on the way to the airport. A bittersweet last hour together before they returned to Baltimore, and the promise to meet again soon.
It will be spring in a few weeks, and the season of travel will ensue. A very happy thought, to close out a very happy weekend.
