At the shops…windchill is down to 9F/-13C. Blew my coat out of my hands!
That’s colder than here! We had snow overnight but it’s currently just above freezing and everything is melting (just in time for me to get my snow tires on tomorrow!)At the shops…windchill is down to 9F/-13C. Blew my coat out of my hands!
You must have Eskimo blood somewhere in your past...Unless it’s below 20F/-7C (real temp or windchill), I usually won’t wear it into the shops, I just leave it in the car, in case I get stranded - anyone should be able to endure that kind of temp for the minute or two it takes to get from the car to the doors.


Sounds like a Venezuelan version of a Mexican tamale? Ingredients different for sure but similar methodology?Wife has decided she wants to make Hallacas this week. A traditional Venezuelan Christmas dish, an hallaca (pronounced "ay - yaka") is basically cooked meat (pork, chicken, maybe beef) spiced up with peppers, onions, sweet chiles, etc., enclosed in a maize flour coat and then wrapped in plantain leaves. There are dozens of regional variations and there's lots of competition. There's even a traditional song, translated as " My mum makes the best hallacas".
Around November, the hallaca frenzy begins and the supermarkets suddenly start stocking loads of pork, red peppers, plantain leaves (ready to use), raisins, olives, capers, almonds (all used to make the hallaca prettier!) and string - to tie the things up! When I first arrived here, my MIL would have an hallaca-making session which lasted 3 days, along with half a dozen members of the family. They'd make upwards of 400 hallacas and then share them out.
Soooooo: today I need to get the ingredients. I do not, repeat not take part in the production. I have always resisted, because I knew that sooner or later, I'd end up making the whole lot and I'm not doing that. I just do the shopping!