Having lived only in Ireland I have only once before experienced weather similar to that of the last two weeks. My very first trip to New York was in January of 2003 and the temperatures there were a crisp -15C. Now this was my first trip stateside and New York is very obviously used to these Baltic temperatures, life functions unhindered with safe roads and pavements, the weather was seen through very romantic eyes.
Their were nine of us in total on that trip, seven of us travelled together and two more joined us a day later. We all came prepared with warm coats, hats, scarves and gloves, and sensible shoes. All apart from my sister in law who walked the snowy streets of Manhattan in 6 inch stilettos. We all grinned like Cheshire cats as we huddled in a group to have our photo taken in front of the Empire State Building, walked around the city in sub zero temperatures without complaint, marvelled at the sight of Central Park with its thick blanket of snow, giggled at the the amateur skaters on the ice in Rockefeller Centre and braved the temperatures at night in order to dress in our finery for dinner and cocktails.
On our first night we phoned home to our late arrivals to advise them of the extreme temperatures and advise them to pack for the North Pole. They took our warnings as nothing more than the Irish abroad exaggerating as we have a tendency to do and each packed a heavy 'Irish winter' coat and no accessories. They snickered when we met for pre dinner drinks the evening of their arrival and layered ourselves up before departure to the restaurant. I would say approximately 2 minutes later when we hit the streets in hunt of taxis it was the rest of us snickering as they could barely speak with the cold and looked up and down the block frantically for a street vendor from whom to purchase hats, scarves and gloves. Very stylish 'I Love NY' hats et al were soon secure on their person and remained so for the rest of the holiday without any remarks of our exaggerating prior to their arrival.
And so it was that for the remainder of the holiday we layered ourselves up like the Michelin man, tramped around the streets of New York and stopped when necessary for an alcoholic beverage to warm our cockles without a second thought and more importantly without a grumble. Fast forward 7 years and to Ireland and non holiday mindsets and it would seem that our bodies have somehow forgotten how to cope with this weather phenomenon we are faced with. I personally have not left the house except when necessary for the past two weeks, engagements have been cancelled, daily walks have been abandoned and the cupboards are almost bare.
I think some of it is rooted in our biological make up. We live in what is probably best described as a tepid climate, never too hot, never too cold just somewhere nicely balanced in the middle. For this reason our natural thermostat is thrown into a tizzy on the rare occasions that we experience a heatwave or a cold snap. Our natural response to this cold weather is therefore to slow down, eat plenty of hearty, warming comfort food and to cocoon ourselves in layers of clothing and blankets and basically hibernate. In a heatwave our bodies slow down (any excuse it would seem) we strip back the layers (hence our poor eyes are assaulted by the sight of lily white beer bellies wobbling unabashedly in public), graze on our food in an attempt to shed some unnecessary insulation and wait for the rain to return.
The common denominator of these two extremes in weather is the love that Irish people have for a good old moan. By God if moaning was an Olympic sport we'd take home gold, silver and bronze every time. At the moment everybody is moaning about being trapped inside for fear of breaking a limb stepping foot outside the door onto the icy surfaces that the government haven't bothered to grit. In hot conditions we complain that there isn't a breath to be had and that we can't function properly in the heat. And when there are no extremes but just bog standard Irish rain we complain that were sick of the cold and the wet and would love to live in a Mediterranean climate.
So there you have it, there is absolutely no pleasing us and while we may be thwarted by the weather at present it suits us just grand cos we can have a good old moan and a right go at the government for their ineptness in dealing with the situation at hand and plunging us into a state of natural emergency.
Why is it that the entire country has ground to a very frosty halt? It is fair to say that we rarely have weather so cold for longer than 2 or 3 days and snow rarely sticks to the ground for long and for this reason national and local contingency plans while effective initially have well and truly been stretched to there limits and beyond. Our belief that we had had our 3 days worth until next Christmas I'm sure delayed the ordering of fresh supplies until eventually someone in a council office somewhere probably said, 'actually lads I don't think this is actually gonna blow over in a couple of days so maybe (just maybe) we should order in a bit more salt'. Said supplies are supposedly en route and it's a good thing they are as we are said to have another 10 days of snow and frost stretched out ahead of us, this is the third consecutive day that I have heard news reports state 10 days as the duration!
To ride this out I have opted for hibernation. Apart form necessary tasks and travel I have taken to lounging on my sofa with a warm blanket, plenty of chocolate and the remote control. I am quite enjoying the excuse to divulge myself in so much guilt free inactivity. When I settle down each evening basking in the soft glow of lamplight, the flickering of deliciously fragrant candles and look out at the moon illuminating the snowy blanket, I wrap my hands around a steaming mug of hot chocolate and I must admit that I am completely and utterly intoxicated by the beauty of this fluffy, marshmallow like weather phenomenon. It has rendered my brain all but useless and for this reason I have not ventured into the kitchen to indulge in my favourite pass time of baking, but if you would like something delicious to warm you on these wintry nights I suggest one of my favourite indulgences - a Bailey's hot chocolate. The creamy liqueur transforms a humble hot chocolate into a silky, internal hot water bottle that will melt away any post Christmas blues. So enjoy (obviously in moderation, you don't want to wake up face down in the snow now do you?) and stay safe when out and about on the ice.
Bailey's Hot Chocolate
- 1 Mug of steaming hot chocolate
- 1oz Bailey's or similar cream liqueur
- Whipped Cream (optional)
- Flaked Chocolate (optional)
- Simply make a mug of your chosen hot chocolate according to instructions.
- Add 1 oz of Bailey's and stir to combine.
- Add 2 tablespoons of whipped cream to the top if desired and crumble some flaked chocolate over the cream.
