ArcaMax

Not long ago, I was making the observation that the weather we are having this year is really weird. They announced last week that this is the warmest winter in 78 years. Chilling part is the year the winter was that warm it was followed by the hottest summer on record. I’m already dreading summer and it’s not even February yet! I don’t handle heat well.

So, I have another crazy weather story from last week. I was invited to Mason City/Clear Lake, Iowa to do a speech at the Wellness Expo. Two days before I left it was over 50 degrees in Chicago. We’d hardly had any snow so far this year. One storm that dropped about 5 inches was it.

So just when I was scheduled to drive to Iowa they announced another storm was on the way. Just my luck, but snow’s normal in winter here. I prepared by renting a huge Jeep Grand Cherokee. There was no way I was driving to Iowa in my Honda Fit. I love my Fit but it’s not really designed for snowstorm highway driving.

Turns out if I had driven my Honda Fit I’d never have gotten there. I hardly made it in the Jeep. It took 9 hours of white knuckle driving to get there.

In the northwest corner of Illinois there’s a picturesque little town called Galena. On most days I love that place. It’s a Victorian town with plenty of gallery and boutique shopping, nice restaurants, plenty of history and it’s just beautiful. It’s nestled in a river valley with huge hills surrounding the town.

It’s those huge hills that could have killed me, my husband, our colleague Jennifer and my kitten Titan. We were all packed in the huge Jeep.

We drove into the teeth of the snowstorm and from Rockford on up north and west, it just got worse and worse. At one point we were, I’d safely say, driving an average of about 17 miles per hour for over two hours.

As we came into the Galena area I had to slow down even more. The snow was coming down really fast and I had to keep a very close eye on the road so I didn’t venture off. There are no guard rails in that area and the slopes drop off 4 or 5 stories. It was really scary.

I came around a curve and my nerves really jumped. Toward the bottom of a long slope I saw the back up of traffic. The car closest to the top was a Lexus SUV and he could not get up the hill. The snow cover was too thick and the ice underneath wasn’t helping either. No plow had been through. A guy was out on the passenger side trying to push the Lexus up the huge hill. Behind him was a long line of traffic, including semi-trucks working their way up along with him. Everyone was stopped, waiting to see what would happen to the Lexus.

I slowly slid down my side of the huge hill and did all I could just to keep control of the Jeep Grand Cherokee. I didn’t want to slide off the side of the hill and I didn’t want to slide into the traffic stuck on the other side.

I made it past them and let out a huge sigh of relief.

I had planned to stop for lunch in Galena but there was so much snow I was afraid I might not be able to navigate through town. We decided to eat at the fast food joint that we knew was out the outskirts of town, further west.

So instead of detouring into town we kept on the two lane highway. As we got out of the river valley I bet you can just guess what was next.

Traffic was stopped dead. Turns out whatever vehicle was furthest ahead could not get up the opposite hill on the way out of town. No one was going in or out of Galena.

I made a U-turn and headed into town. We had a nice lunch, got to know the restaurant owner and basically prepared to spend the night if we had to. After lunch we agreed to take one more shot at getting out of town but if no one could get up that hill we were going to be stuck. I started to get visions of chilling out in front of the fire at the hotel across the street from the restaurant. My nerves were fried from driving and I refused to let anyone help me. I thought if I was going to slide off the side of a small mountain I wanted it to be me that lost control.

Turns out by the time lunch was over they had the hill cleared so we could get out of town. It only took us four more hours to get to our destination. (Sarcasm intended in the word “only”). We made it.

Cheers,
Zola

Lamb Chops with Balsamic-Shallot Reduction

Serves 2

Ingredients

3/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste
4 lamb chops (3/4 inch thick)
A spritz of olive oil
1/4 cup minced shallots
1/3 cup aged balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1. In a small bowl or cup, mix together the rosemary, basil, thyme, salt and pepper. Rub this mixture onto the lamb chops on both sides. Place them on a plate, cover and set aside for 15 minutes to absorb the flavors.

2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place lamb chops in the skillet, and cook for about three and a half minutes per side for medium rare, or continue to cook to your desired doneness. Remove from the skillet, and keep warm on a serving platter.

3. Add shallots to the skillet, and cook for a few minutes, just until browned. Stir in vinegar, scraping any bits of lamb from the bottom of the skillet, then stir in the chicken broth. Continue to cook and stir over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, until the sauce has reduced by half. If you don't, the sauce will be runny and taste sour. The reduction makes the balsamic vinegar thicker and it gets sweeter as it cooks down. Remove from heat, and stir in the butter. Pour sauce over the lamb chops, and serve.