Pioneering in a chilly city

{ Whatever it takes to stay warm  |  January 2013 }

There are some books that make you feel like supremely cozy and safe, like you're sitting in a plush chair in front of a roaring fire with your feet clad in wool-y socks and propped up on an ottoman. Perhaps a golden retriever snoozing nearby, and definitely a pot of spicy tea (or tumbler of whiskey) and some little vanilla-spiced nibblie on a tray next to you. Surrounded by good spirits with all the darkness and ghosties banished outside. Any one of Lucy Maud Montgomery's books does it for me, as do Laura Ingall Wilders'. When I lived alone and had a spooky night, I'd always grab one of my Anne Shirley books to settle my nerves. 

I've been thinking about coziness and cold and fireplaces (mainly how I don't have one) since the temperature in NYC has been hovering somewhere between 7 and 15 degrees F with a windchill below 0. Despite my potentially impending move to Sweden, I don't have a winter coat that can stand up to that kind of cold, but I cobbled together something else to combat the frigidness:

One morning last week, I thought there was nothing proper to take with me to the office for lunch, since all we had in the fridge before groceries arrived was a sweet potato and yogurt, but with about an hour before I had to leave for work I popped it in the toaster oven for a bake and prepared a yogurt-parsley sauce to top it off with. Rather than snuggle the potato in with the sauce for the trip in, I wrapped it in foil and stuck it in my pocket for the walk to the subway. Do you remember that scene from Little House in the Big Woods? I think seeing Laura at the library last week reminded me of it. It all felt very prairie and quaint and lovely...although I wished I had a few for my boots, or, that I didn't have to leave the house at all.

From the Big Woods to the Big Apple, all thanks to a hot potato.