When it rains in California, the world sort of stops. People suddenly cannot drive with even 1/100th of an inch of rain on the roads, i.e. your cat sneezes more water than actual rainfall amounts, and in general people hunker down and stay inside.
This is not how I grew up. Far from it! I grew up in rural Minnesota where people went outside in -20F degree temperatures for much of the year and thought nothing of it. It was life. You just dealt with it and moved on. And drank lots of beer, went ice fishing, or went snowmobiling.
In light of the rain yesterday, it was a great day to do some baking.
This is what I came up with.
#iphonephotography
I need to edit the real pictures and type up the recipe. It’s coming soon. Patience is a virtue.
The closest thing in my recipe archives to the cookies I made yesterday are probably these
Other things I do when it rains:
Clean my house
Catch up on emails, computer work, photo editing, and blogging. Or try to get ahead on things, i.e. pre-blogging some posts in draft so that on really busy days, I can hit Publish rather than starting from scratch
I’d be lying if I said I sit around curled up on the couch reading magazines when it rains. I’d like to but it’s not reality.
Not when I have a family to feed, work to do, Skylar to take care of, and just life to tend to.
I try to be extra productive by cooking, doing meal prep work like produce cleaning and vegetable chopping, and cooking things that make planned leftovers <–cook once, eat twice
Some good comfort food like Cheesy Taco Casserole sounds good when it’s raining
Growing up in Minnesota we ate lots of casseroles. But we called them ‘hot dishes’. Casserole sounds much fancier than we ever were.
And we ate lots of leftovers. As a working mom, I now understand why my working mom was a fan of leftovers.
Sometimes things are not fully evident for a couple decades, like why anyone would actually want to create leftovers. But I get it now.
Other rainy day projects included
Laundry
Wasting time on Pinterest
Drinking a Pumpkin Spice Latte
And trying to keep this one from going stir crazy
Good thing we have lots of crayons, paper, books, and the occasional Barney episode on DVR
Questions:
1. What do you like to do on Rainy Days?
2. Do people drive differently in your area in rain or bad weather?
They sure do here. I think it’s probably a universal phenomenon but people who are used to driving in snow and inclement weather get pretty good at it from all the practice.
In Southern California, most people have no practice with snow and since it rains so infrequently here, when it does, holy traffic accidents and traffic delays.
On my way to pick up a Princess Costume (yes, we had success on that venture), I saw some really wicked accidents. Spin outs, crashes into guardrails, traffic backed up for miles, police and ambulances everywhere. Gnarly stuff.
Common sense things like: slow down, increase your following distance, don’t tailgate, don’t slam on your brakes, don’t make any sudden or jerky moves, take your time on turns, common.sense.stuff, it seems to have been lost on many drivers here.
Good thing the weather is usually like this
Thanks for the Silpat Giveaway entries
So true on rain and driving here. But it wasn’t any better in Florida where is rains all the time! But I was totally in shock that I needed my windshield wipers the last two days.
And yes, a little rain doesn’t make the chores and work go away, they still need to get done! At least it takes care of watering the garden.
1. Usually try to function as normal getting what I need to do done. Sometimes rain is the best time to go to the mall, Whole Foods, Costco, etc. since crowds stay away and I can dash through the parking lots fast by myself.
2. Yeah, there’s always more traffic from drivers being over-cautious.
When it rains NO ONE knows how to drive. Super frustrating. Thought it was just here but I think it’s everywhere!!!
On rainy days I love to just lounge around…having something sweet baking and watch movies.
Skylers hair is absolutely gorgeous.
People in Santa Rosa drive like idiots when it rains. Of course, they drive like idiots when it’s not raining, too. I think we’ve had at least one pedestrian a week getting hit in a crosswalk for the past few months. Believe me, I practice defensive walking when I’m out and about.
i don’t change my ways at all with the weather – sun, rain, snow, hot, cold, i just do my thing. but i can understand how rain would throw some californians into a tizzy! up here, that’s the situation with the first snow fall of the season…fender-benders every way you look. people forget to slow down and adjust for the weather. it gets a bit better as winter goes on – but that first snowfall is total chaos.
glad you make the most of a rainy day! it’s so great to prep meals, blog posts, do catch up…really is a great feeling!
Rain makes everyone idiots on the road here. Like carries on here when it rains. Nothing different other than getting a lot wetter!
That’s so funny about the rain! That’s how it is with snow in NYC. Upstate 5 inches of snow was nothing and down here a half inch is enough to cancel classes…
hahah so true! growing up here in california has def made me not a fan of the rain. it’s like chaos ensues when it rains! my bf is from ny and is so used to it. when it rains here, he’s like about time! hahaha while i’m like “nooooo!!”
Rainy days have been pretty common here lately, unfortunately. The driving’s not so bad when it rains, but the first snow is always nuts. I always feel like saying “Come on, people, we live in New England. This happens EVERY YEAR.”
I wish I sat down and relaxed ANY day! I seriusly just can’t do it – even if nothing “really” has to be done. I just have to be constantly moving or working on something! Rainy days are kind of like snowy days here. I love getting snow days in the winter to do some baking and catch up on things I’ve been meaning to do.
The fall colors in this post are just gorgeous…I feel the same way about when it rains. People in Denver will drive through 4 feet of snow but a couple of rain drops and the brakes get slammed! Glad to hear you had a productive day despite the rain :-)
thanks for noticing the fall colors :)
NYC gets pretty kooky when it rains. It feels like everything slows way, way down. I’d like to say I get lots of work done when it’s rainy, but really, I just do what I have to do. And make soup and drink lots of tea.
Oh man I can’t wait for that recipe to get posted. Yum… I love cookies. I just moved from Cali to Utah and I miss the weather there so much. We had 85 degree weather here (Utah) until two days ago and today, IT SNOWED. When its cold outside it nearly kills me to leave my house. I like to cuddle on the couch and watch trash tv :)
sunday for the recipe, soon…very soon!
It never rains here…so I have no idea. ;-)
He he! Love rainy days here since we don’t get them that often. I lvoe cleaning too (while burning yummy smelling candles). :) But for some reason rigth after I clean everything gets all messed up again. :) Why is that?
Rain is actually my FAVORITE weather. But I drive like an old lady 100% of the time, so nothing changes there. ;)
I drive with a lead foot 100% of the time…we balance each other out :)
What is the deal with people and rain when it comes to driving??? We get plenty of rain here, and people still act like it’s something strange. So many more people running red lights and just doing stupid stuff. And when it snows? Forget it. You have the a-hole driving a truck barreling down the roads at full speed or the poor driver too scared to barely move. I don’t know who’s worse.