Meeting and Eating: Snowed In

That's my dog Bear above...well actually it's not technically my dog; he's my Mom's dog. And isn't he adorable! Sadly though, his "sad puppy-dog" expression sums up how I feel at the moment. I would love to do some "meeting and eating" as this section suggests I would be doing but right now I'm snowed in. So what's a girl to do living through a snowpocalypse if she wants to meet and eat? If you've been reading my posts you'll definitely see an emerging pattern...lists! I love lists and today is a perfect day to create a list of "Alternatives to meeting and eating when you are snowed in"...

Watch a Movie/Try a new recipe

I recommend watching something that makes you feel apart of the movie for instance; movies that visit the same places over and over again i.e Forgetting Sarah Marshall or Groundhog Day, movies that have memorable characters with some depth; Cyrus, movies that feature a neighborhood with eccentric characters; George Washington. For me all of these movies make me feel apart of it and makes me feel like I'm meeting new friends...urm, that I can't really hang out with.

This is also a great time to try a new recipe you've never tried before. There’s no pressure to impress guests so you can get creative and bold. And if you don't have all the right ingredients, don't bother braving the elements just take out everything you have and google search the ingredients or you could try Super Cook. {tip} I just googled cobb salad and in the left sidebar there was a list of ingredients, cook times and calories. It gives the options of selecting ingredients and it will edit your search for websites that share the similar ingredients and the corresponding recipe...google you cease to amaze me!

Watch a TV Series/Have a Sandwich

I really enjoy watching full television series over a couple days; it’s so satisfying. I usually use Netflix but you can try Hulu or Youtube. Lately it's been all British shows for me; Peep Show, IT Crowd and The Mitchell and Webb Look. They aren't storyline shows so instead you really get to know the characters. As I watch each episode, they become less of acquaintances and more like your weird distant relatives that everyone talks about but you rarely see in person.

So, why a sandwich? Well, a sandwich won't get cold if you aren’t eating it because you are laughing/enjoying the show and eating a sandwich with some mates is a tradition as old as time.

Comment on blogs & forums/Have a "Kitchen Sink" Salad

You can meet all sorts of people online and no better place to do that than on a blog or in a forum. Here are some of my favorites Designers Talk, Gawker, Lifehacker, and Etsy. Blogs related to your interests are an obvious place to comment. Newbie bloggers like me loooove comments, so please comment away (hint, hint). A good place to find blogs you are interested in are on google reader. They call it "magic" how they recommend blogs for you but I think it's based on browsing history so if you have a google account, good chance they'll know what you like...a little bit creepy but very effective. Just be sure to go to the actual blog to comment. Blog feeds are great but you can't comment from there and you don't give the site any hits.

A "Kitchen Sink" salad compliments the varied blogs and forums you may comment on because it’s made of varied ingredients...yea, I’m reaching but still sort of connects. "Kitchen Sink” just means grab whatever you have in your fridge and cupboard (or you lucky folks with pantries) and make a salad of it.

Call a Friend/Have some soup

It's always nice to catch up with a friend, so give them a call and see if they have time to have a long chat. Get reacquainted with their life, what their doing, current interests, etc.

The best food to pair with a call is soup because it can be eaten quickly and silently in between pauses.

Play Online Games and Chat/Have Sushi

One of my personal favorites is playing a rousing online game and chatting with some nerds. I'm a board game geek for sure and whether it's a RL (real life) party or online party, I like to play board games. So I go to Aso Brain Games where I can play games similar to Carcassonne and Settlers of Catan. And a great feature of most of these sort of online games is the side chat. Granted, you aren't going to get too much talk other than about the game, it's still fun to have some light conversation and play a competitive game.

The best food to eat during online gaming is stuff you don't have to touch with your hands and won't fall all over your keyboard; my recommendation is sushi. It is tight, compact and not messy. Lifehacker has an article here about foods safe to eat near your computer.

Watch the News or Public Access Channel/Have a frozen dinner

This can be a sobering experience because so much of the news is a bummer (understatement) but every dark cloud has it's silver lining. The news will highlight some of the quirky stuff going on locally and if you are very lucky you will see some hilarious news bloopers. Your public access channel is a concentrated channel of localness. Most of the people creating shows for public access aren't your everyday citizens so it may not be completely representative of the area but I bet you could tell a midwest public access channel from a east coast one.

I can't think of a more appropriate meal than the ubiquitous television cuisine; a frozen dinner. I still try to go light and eat a Lean Cuisine but if you are really brave and want to be "authentic" try a Hungry Man.

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Wow, that was quite the list...I hope it may provide you all with snowed-in alternatives to meeting and eating!