Bread and Milk in Rhode Island!

There is a mad dash for BREAD and MILK every time there is a snow storm in Rhode Island or Southern Massachusetts.

Mad dash for BREAD and MILK during every snow storm is a tradition in Rhode Island


I always do an inventory of fridge and pantry when we know there is a storm coming and make sure we are stocked up on certain items.
We saw a PROPANE GAS sale at Walmart a couple months ago and got 4 full tanks before the winter started, just in case we ran out of electricity and gas. We could cook at our outside Grill which has a side stove burner.
Bags of Salt, environmentally friendly so Okie doesn't get poisoned by it. Defrost spray in case doors get frozen and sealed in...
In 2003, the cold was so intense that our local Bay froze and ships delivering Natural Gas for heating had to be escorted by US Coast Guard Ice Breakers in and out of the Harbor. We had Natural Gas service cut off and moved to a Marriott for 2 days with Okie, our fish tank and our tropical plants...I know, you are thinking crazy Brazilians...we just really value any living thing very much :)
Here I go side tracking again, so, food is always what scares us the most, I can burn things in my fireplace and put on socks and blankets in case we loose power and heat, but we need food.
We lived briefly in Miami in 2004, just long enough to experience 2 horrible hurricanes. The experience was really bad because we watched life as we knew it fall apart piece by piece.
First Gas stations ran out of Gas and new trucks weren't allowed in Florida because the Hurricane was on the way.
Second, Grocery stores were completely and utterly wiped out, no, you don't understand, you know those weird looking cans of octopus, smoked pig feet, whatever, gone, sold out, shelves completely cleaned out, people panic in a way they buy things they would never ( and probably never did) eat.
Well, here is not too different, with one exception, BREAD AND MILK vanishes from stores EVERYWHERE. It is insane, I even went to the "Wonder Bread" factory outlet store nearby and THEY were cleaned out too.
I went to our favorite grocery store because we were going to cook a "Coq Au Vin" and I needed white mushrooms, Spanish onions and leak. I though I could grab some bread and milk while I was at it, but no such luck, there was no more milk or bread.
The store was so packed there were no shopping carts available and the parking lot was full, people were following shoppers to their cars and waiting for people to unload their groceries to get the shopping carts from them... you could cut the tension in the air with a knife. I started seeing empty shelves and that's when people start to get anxious.
The lines for the cashiers were going into the isles to the middle of the store...there was a fight near me, not a fist fight, but someone yelling at each other for cutting in front of the line...I will tell you, we were become a little less civilized than I am used to seeing around calm coastal New England.
The tradition for the BREAD AND MILK run is said to have started in the 1970's with the BLIZZARD OF 78 but we found out today that it started a little earlier than that HERE is an interesting video explaining how the tradition started in the region.
After leaving the craziness of the Grocery store I ventured into a large LIQUOR STORE for a hearty  California Burgundy, the main ingredient in our "Coq Au Vin".
Are you aware of the IRISH influence in New England...? Yes, besides Italians and Portuguese there was a HUGE immigration of IRISH in the Region. Well, let me just say the LIQUOR STORE had twice as many people as the GROCERY STORE.
Thank God I got my U$4,00 delicious California "Gallo" Hearty Burgundy and got the heck out there before the IRISH took it away from me :)
Just kidding, the IRISH don't necessary drink more than others...just the ones we know...  ;)
Long story short, no BREAD or WINE for us, but we got a DELICIOUS "Coq Au Vin" made and the house smelled great under our 2 feet or so or heavy wet snow!!!!
Our recipe is very simple and super authentic. Gil leaned to make it when he lived in France briefly when he was only 19 and very adventurous.
I will ask dear blogger friend Danielle to post the recipe on her Awesome Cooking blog.
Yesterday's snow storm was nasty, wet heavy snow, 2 whole feet of it...we have a broken basement window due to the weight of the snow but we are safe and sound, warm and stocked up.
Okie is having a lot of fun playing around, this freaking mut loves snow, I tell you, he is miserable in the summer but he absolutely has the time of his life every time it snows...he rolls around in the snow like he is having a sexual experience, it is really cool to see how much enjoyment he gets from it all.

ON ANOTHER IMPORTANT NOTE

We were a little down tonight, it is just too much tragedy on the news...
Queensland, Rio de Janeiro, Tucson...we are praying for all of them, I admit I have cried more than once, grown men cry too, trust me.
I have to say Sarah Palin has crossed the line, not only she is STUPID, but she DOES incite hate day after day, "blood libel", please google words your writers place on a speech if you are imbecil enough not to know what they meant to begin with...and this idiot still thinks America is stupid enough to vote her in for President. I am not even worrying anymore because I am confident Americans will know better when voting.
Back to the recent tragedies on the news tonight, we are specially worried about our dear fellow blogger Ginger.
We hope Ginger and her family are safe and sound in Rio and we are praying for their community to find strength in this tough time so they can rebuild and have their lives back to normal as soon as possible.


Ray