The Guardian for this meeting was Bruce Mowbray. The comments are by Bruce Mowbray.

--BELL--

 
Bruce Mowbray: Hello, Eliza.
Eliza Madrigal: Hi Bruce :)
Bruce Mowbray: Are you ready for the big winter storm?
Eliza Madrigal smiles.... yes all hunkered down
Bruce Mowbray: The TV weather folks have been hyping it BIG time.
Bruce Mowbray: "Coldest it's been in decades..." etc.
Eliza Madrigal: well I did read that parts of hm, I think Minn, were as cold as parts of Mars...

[Note:  ALL public schools in the state of Minnesota have been ordered closed on Monday.  Waiting for a school bus outside for only 5 minutes will cause frostbite.  They are now saying this could be the coldest it has been in 110 years. ]

Bruce Mowbray: Yeppers, and my friend in Anchorage said it was about 30 degrees warmer where he is than it is where I am in Ohio.
Bruce Mowbray: They are saying the chill factor might get down to 40 below, here.
Eliza Madrigal: so the real question is, are YOU ready? :::sharknado music::::
Bruce Mowbray: Yes, well.... I guess my typist is ready.
Bruce Mowbray: He made special trip into town today to get stuff.
Eliza Madrigal: excellent
Bruce Mowbray: nods.
Bruce Mowbray: He's difficult enough to live with as it is, let alone with frozen fingers...
Bruce Mowbray: upon which my life depends, of course.
Eliza Madrigal: stock up on gin?
Bruce Mowbray: Yes, he bought two large bottles.
Bruce Mowbray: Thanks for asking!
Bruce Mowbray: Yikes!
Eliza Madrigal laughs... well maybe you two can sing songs
Bruce Mowbray: (at least that!)
Eliza Madrigal: write poetry...
Bruce Mowbray: Yeppers, writing poetry is cool.
Eliza Madrigal: to commemorate the coldest day
Bruce Mowbray: He took two sonnets to the Sunday school class last Sunday....
Bruce Mowbray: (a poetry reading there....)
Eliza Madrigal: lovely
Bruce Mowbray: I only wish more folks had brought poems to read.
Eliza Madrigal: too shy?
Bruce Mowbray: yeah, probably.
Bruce Mowbray: (Which has never been a characteristic of my typist, btw.)
Eliza Madrigal: :)
Eliza Madrigal: I attended a wedding this week, and at the end of vows the groom began to sing...
Bruce Mowbray: OH! That's wonderful!
Eliza Madrigal: Everyone was so startled... it was a surprise... and could have gone horribly wrong
Bruce Mowbray: A brave dude, to be sure!
Eliza Madrigal: but didn't... was sweet
Eliza Madrigal: yes
Bruce Mowbray: Do you remember what he sang?
Eliza Madrigal: yes.... he sang "I can't help falling in love with you"
Bruce Mowbray: "Wise men say.... only fools rush in...."
Eliza Madrigal: mhm...
Bruce Mowbray: "but I can't help falling in love.... with..... you!"
Eliza Madrigal: Later he told me that he had worked before as an Elvis impersonator...haha..so she should have expected it
Bruce Mowbray: cool.
Bruce Mowbray: Did you cry?
Eliza Madrigal: I cried twice... once during the service when my friend was walking down the aisle, and once at the reception when her new step-daughter read a toast that she had written
Bruce Mowbray: Oh, that's wonderful.
Eliza Madrigal: I cried twice at the latter, actually...since I drove the stepdaughter to the reception and she practiced it on the way
Eliza Madrigal: She described when they met my friend for the first time, how she and her sister hid behind a hedge to look at her...
Eliza Madrigal: to look for the "pretty blond lady with blue eyes"...
Bruce Mowbray: :)
Eliza Madrigal: and she told the room about the first time she said "I love you" to my friend...
Bruce Mowbray: ahhhh.
Eliza Madrigal: It was sincere and well ::::melt:::: it was *the* moment of the whole thing
Bruce Mowbray: Beautiful.
Eliza Madrigal: :) indeed
Bruce Mowbray: I have an urgent weather report coming in....
Eliza Madrigal: oh my
Bruce Mowbray: ready for drop?
Bruce Mowbray: Yikes!
Eliza Madrigal hunkers

[weather.com  red alert for southern Ohio]:

--BELL--

Eliza Madrigal: I'm glad your typist doesn't have to go anywhere for a few days
Bruce Mowbray: Well, he'll be going to Sunday school in the morning.... before the storm hits.
Bruce Mowbray: but he will not make it to Quaker Meeting in the afternoon....
Eliza Madrigal nods... be safe
Bruce Mowbray: Too dangerous getting back home (to the farm --- 25 miles).
Bruce Mowbray: (on country roads -- very prone to drifting snow, of course).
Eliza Madrigal: I've never lived in full blown snow
Bruce Mowbray: ;-)
Bruce Mowbray: My typist was raised in northwest Iowa,
Bruce Mowbray: where, if we didn't get 30 inches during a winter, then it didn't count as a winter.
Bruce Mowbray: And we walked to school in that -- every day.
Bruce Mowbray: I can't recall our ever having a snow day.
Eliza Madrigal: goodness... beautiful, but brutal sometimes I imagine
Bruce Mowbray: Yes, brutal.... but you know those parts of the country are occupied by Scandinavians....
Bruce Mowbray: so they are used to it...
Bruce Mowbray: sort of a genetic thing, perhaps.
Bruce Mowbray: (and a Lutheran thing, of course!)
Eliza Madrigal: :) of course, lol
Bruce Mowbray: Bearing the heavy load, alas.
Bruce Mowbray: But those Norweigan bachelor farmers are good at that.
Bruce Mowbray: or is it "Norwegian"?
Bruce Mowbray: nahhhh. Swedish.
Bruce Mowbray: ha ha --- like Yaku!
Eliza Madrigal: Swedish Yaku ^.^
Bruce Mowbray: Yeppers.
Bruce Mowbray: I rather enjoy being snowbound.
Bruce Mowbray: It gives me a nice cozy feeling....
Bruce Mowbray: sort of . . .  "All's right with the world."
Bruce Mowbray: (my tiny world, of my own making.)
Eliza Madrigal: can imagine it would ... was perusing cabins a short while ago... dreaming of a getaway next winter
Bruce Mowbray: Wonderful!
Bruce Mowbray: Something in the mountains?
Bruce Mowbray: I'll bet that either Stormy or Aphrodite could recommend a few good ones.
Eliza Madrigal: yes, probably something I could drive to
Bruce Mowbray: Hmmmm.
Eliza Madrigal: Carolinas
Bruce Mowbray: Not in western Canada, then....
Bruce Mowbray: Yikes!
Eliza Madrigal: but not too mountainous because I'm not easy on the roads
Bruce Mowbray: Appalachians, maybe?
Eliza Madrigal: perhaps :) the problem is my ideas start small but then....snowball..
Eliza Madrigal: I begin adding in people I want to bring, and things to do...
Bruce Mowbray: good time of year for that!
Eliza Madrigal: and I put it out of reach, hah
Bruce Mowbray: Hmmmm.
Bruce Mowbray: Well, wouldn't a lot of people sort of defeat the purpose of a mountain get-away?
Eliza Madrigal: maybe...maybe not. The hardest thing about retreating I think is that although I loved being away and find it important to do so, I think "Oh, child1,2,3..." would love this...
Bruce Mowbray nods.
Bruce Mowbray: and I'm sure that each of them would love it, although maybe not all at the same time.
Eliza Madrigal: haha, yes
Bruce Mowbray: Hello, Qt!
Eliza Madrigal: Hi Qt! :)
Qt Core: Hi Bruce, Eliza
Bruce Mowbray: (btw, Eliza, I'll bet Qt knows of some excellent mountain getaways in Italy!)

--BELL--

Eliza Madrigal: do you ever make risotto, Qt?
Qt Core: yes
Bruce Mowbray listens carefully to learn what that word means.
Eliza Madrigal: oh, so yummy Bruce - comfort food
Bruce Mowbray: This is .... ELEPHANTASTIC !!
Bruce Mowbray:           _____
Bruce Mowbray:      / 0 \____
Bruce Mowbray:     / _ \__/ \
Bruce Mowbray: / / \ ____ I \
Bruce Mowbray:     /_/ I I I I
Bruce Mowbray:       I__I I__I
Qt Core: !
Eliza Madrigal: hehehe
Bruce Mowbray: with red wine????!
Qt Core: I'm more a rice person than a pasta one
Bruce Mowbray: So is my typist, Qt. In fact, he eats rice almost every evening, for dinner.
Eliza Madrigal: well, it depends on what sort... I've done well with it just once, due to impatience
Qt Core: usually white, red ones would darken the rice
Bruce Mowbray: (steamed.... with veggies.)
Eliza Madrigal: do you use a pressure cooker?
Bruce Mowbray: Nope, he uses a steamer (my typist, not Qt).
Bruce Mowbray: works GREAT!
Qt Core: my aunt is great with risotto in a pressure cooker, i never used it (for rice)
Bruce Mowbray: [automatic.... cooks until done, then stops.... YUMMY!)
Bruce Mowbray looks up risotto.....
Eliza Madrigal: every year I add some cooking things to my resolutions... this year is learning to use a pressure cooker (not as scary as they used to be I'm told), and proper dumplings - BUT, I'd love to be able to make wonderful risotto more often
Bruce Mowbray: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risotto
Bruce Mowbray: nods, that would be great, Eliza!
Bruce Mowbray: My typist's only resolution this year is to watch all 195 episodes of Star Trek the Next Generation.
Eliza Madrigal: the page makes it look so simple, heheh
Eliza Madrigal: hahah Bruce!!
Bruce Mowbray: oooops!
Qt Core: I've used pressure cooker for decades, but i have to replace it
Bruce Mowbray: all 175 episodes, sry.
Eliza Madrigal: great resolution
Eliza Madrigal: <--just finished with 7 seasons of Dr Who
Bruce Mowbray: Yeppers, he's already gotten a good start on it, too.
Bruce Mowbray: Great!
Bruce Mowbray: a marathon!
Eliza Madrigal laughs
Bruce Mowbray: Yikes!
Eliza Madrigal: So you are just patient then, Qt... if no pressure cooker for risotto. Any tips or secrets?
Bruce Mowbray listens carefully for insider tips on risotto.
Eliza Madrigal: ^.^
Qt Core: the classic is to add a little piece of butter and/or grated cheese at the end,
Bruce Mowbray: ahhhh!
Eliza Madrigal: mmmmm
Bruce Mowbray 's mouth waters.
Bruce Mowbray: (no animation for that one, sry.)
Qt Core: after shutting down the fire, before serving
Bruce Mowbray: Mmmmmm.
Eliza Madrigal: so just before
Eliza Madrigal: nice
Eliza Madrigal salivates too
Bruce Mowbray: Yikes!  [backward flip]
Bruce Mowbray: (A backward flip is the closest animation I have for salivating.)
Eliza Madrigal: hm....
Bruce Mowbray: or, closest TO salivation.
Eliza Madrigal giggles wildly
Bruce Mowbray: salavation*
Bruce Mowbray: or whatever.
Bruce Mowbray dies from laughing....
Qt Core: but even with a traditional pan it take let say about half an hour to make it, from raw rice to risotto (depending on how many things you want to add to it)
Eliza Madrigal: and staying with the whole time, yes?
Eliza Madrigal: stirring continually?
Eliza Madrigal: that's where I think I go wrong... maybe I don't leave it alone enough
Qt Core: not really, if the fire isn't to high once every 5 min
Bruce Mowbray: You know, didn't RICE-ARONI (an American company) try to duplicate that dish with some of their products? --- ready-made risotto?
Eliza Madrigal: probably where their idea came from, nods... but sooo salty!
Bruce Mowbray: seasonings, etc, built right into the box?
Bruce Mowbray: yeah, wayyyy too much sodium.
Eliza Madrigal: and risotto is much creamier
Bruce Mowbray goes back to listening for insider advice on risotto.
Qt Core: and then it depends if you want to go all traditional and add the broth a ladle a time or just in a couple times
Eliza Madrigal: I did have a friend who could use the rice a roni and just part of the packet, to do her own thing, and that was yummy
Bruce Mowbray: afk for a sec --- brb
Eliza Madrigal: right... I thought you *had* to ladle
Eliza Madrigal: k Bruce
Eliza Madrigal: maybe I fidget with it too much
Qt Core: luckily there isn't a risotto police around ;-)
Eliza Madrigal: I'm bad about that with plants too... over-watering
Eliza Madrigal: haha, I'm my own police
Qt Core: so one could take shortcuts
Qt Core: like using cubes instead of "real" broth
Bruce Mowbray suggests that Eliza listen to her plants -- They will let you know when they need water.
Eliza Madrigal: correction: plant...just one left
Eliza Madrigal hangs head
Bruce Mowbray: oh dear.
Bruce Mowbray: Yikes!
Eliza Madrigal: actually before this conversation I hadn't pinpointed what I was doing...and now I'm sure
Eliza Madrigal: thanks

--BELL--

Bruce Mowbray: So, would that be, like, chicken broth or beef broth? Or neither.
Qt Core: classical would be beef
Bruce Mowbray: ty!
Eliza Madrigal: can use veggie too... lemon risotto is amazing
Bruce Mowbray: "Risotto is normally a primo (first course), served on its own before the main course, but risotto alla milanese, pronounced [ɾiˈzɔtːo alːa milaˈneːze], is often served together with ossobuco alla milanese."
Qt Core: (i'm using the risotto alla milanese as a reference (the yellow risotto with saffron)
Qt Core: ;-)
Bruce Mowbray: :))
Bruce Mowbray notes that some Italians are even romantic about what they eat.
Qt Core: yes, a lovely dish, especially in winter
Eliza Madrigal: yummmmm
Bruce Mowbray: Well, good people, my typist needs to skate off and steam some rice now.
Bruce Mowbray: May you be warm and well.
Qt Core: :-) enjoy
Eliza Madrigal: :) have a lovely evening Bruce, be safe
Bruce Mowbray: You too!
Bruce Mowbray: Thanks!
Eliza Madrigal: I have a meeting now actually... didn't see the time
Eliza Madrigal: thank you qt..sorry to quiz you then run
Eliza Madrigal: hugs
Bruce Mowbray: Bye for now!
Qt Core: np, bye Eliza
Eliza Madrigal: bye for now