April Showers Bring May Flowers Snow Plowers

I woke up yesterday morning to 2 inches of snow. That's right. Snow on April 11th. I was starting to think about things like planting flowers, getting patio furniture, playing golf, and BBQ. Now I'm thinking about getting the salt off my car that all the snow plows dump on the roads whenever it snows. Quite a change from sunny SoCal. It turns out the spring is quite volatile in Iowa with well over 100 degrees difference between the record high and low (see chart). Apparently our neighbors were not aware of this. They bought flowers, shrubs, and plants two weeks ago and now they are all dead. Hopefully this is the last of this lengthy Midwest winter. I'm counting down the days (literally - see countdown on sidebar) till we can soak up the sun on the West Coast.

The OC

No, I'm not talking about that stupid show on FOX. Nor am I referring to the large, overpopulated county south of LA. I am talking about Trader Joe's Orange Chicken. I finally had it for the first time since moving to Iowa last night. That's 8 months without those decadent, crispy pieces of breaded dark-meat chicken smothered in a sweet & tangy sauce that is hard to describe as anything but "orange chicken sauce". I had been anticipating this moment for the past 7 weeks. We went up to Minneapolis in February and stopped by a Trader Joe's there and got 3 packages of The OC. Shortly after we got home, Heather and I decided to give up meat for Lent (I wasn't thinking about The OC at the time or I never would have gone through with it). This Easter we celebrated the resurrection of Christ by resurrecting The OC out of the freezer. I started thinking that I might have a glorified memory of the meal. That was until I took my first bite. It was better than I even remembered. Maybe this will become a new Easter tradition for our home.

To experience this exquisite culinary masterpiece, visit a Trader Joe's near you.