It’s a Hard Winter ❅ Stick-to-Your-Ribs Recipe Roundup

Marlene Cornelis

12 years ago

Oh, what a winter it’s been, and it’s only January. It started in November and it seems it’s hardly let up. Sure, we’ve had a few mild days here and there, but they’ve been overshadowed (snowed in, so to speak) by relentless, no-holds-barred winter weather.

We’ve seen it all. Lake effect snow and streamers that ran over us for days, dumping deep snow. Widespread ice storms (we were spared, thank goodness). Cold weather alerts. Wind chill warnings (a numbing -40 polar vortex is no treat). School and business closures. Blowing snow warnings. Whiteouts. Road closures, airport delays, transportation mayhem. Plows depositing walls of snow boulders at the end of the driveway.

And did I mention my old nemesis, black ice? We had some of that in the thaw/freeze cycle after the November snow storms, but the worst is yet to come when spring approaches in fits and starts.

All in all, a good old-fashioned Canadian winter. The kind we used to have when I was a kid.

It’s not all bad. After all, when you’re not shovelling it, stuck in it or driving in it, the snow is pretty. It makes a great backdrop for food photography and the air is clean and fresh. Best of all, this is the perfect weather for hearty, stick-to-your ribs comfort food. You know the kind: stews and pasta dishes, hot, full of flavour and satisfying. Just the thing to last us through the hibernation until spring.

Here are 22 recipes to help you forget that the barbecue’s engulfed in a snowdrift.