So what will today bring

Temperature matters for all "ice melters". Urea only works at quite warm tempertures (>-15 C). This is why our city uses calcium chloride. It works at much lower temperatures. Jim.

What's a beaver tail, other than the appendage of a beaver?

Joyce >> Sorry, Marg, we are not having bad weather; just a normal Ottawa winter.

It is made from basic pancake batter, and is deep fried and made thick. It is served with things like maple syrup and sugar. Jim.

Just as Jim said - a fried dough much like a funnel cake you get at a fall fair in lots of places in the US. They were even served at the Canadian embassy in Washington during Obama's inauguration.

Thanks, I think that you've already arranged that storm forwarding. It's really nice today - the first sun we've really seen. And only a few degrees below freezing - 28 F here (- 1 C) . Supposedly it's going to be nice (above freezing - maybe 40s) for a couple of days on Mon-Tues, but then we're supposedly getting another "real" winter storm around Wed. Told DH we have to go buy some Ice-Melt stuff - his reply "we'll see" . I can't decide if he's an idiot (man-thing), likes the skating practice, or just figures it keeps me in the house.

Ellice

The C&O canal, which runs parallel to the Potomac into the District does freeze enough to skate. Sometimes. When it is, the park service will announce that it's open for that. Usually the place where you go skate is on the Maryland side - outside the beltway. If you google around you can find info. I don't think the section in Georgetown would freeze solidly enough - it's down in in the DC swamp area, while out further west it's colder. 2 years ago a bunch of use were skating on the canal, and we actually got to do some pond hockey a while ago. Mostly around here, the freeze isn't deep enough.

There is however, a lovely outdoor rink at the National Sculpture Garden on Constitution Ave. It's great to go skate there, and there's another outdoor rink - though smaller - somewhere else downtown.

FWIW, we've noticed that the local community small ponds, and the large pond (small, small lake) has been pretty frozen - and probably could be skated on but the HOA has asked people not to. Likely it would handle small weights, but you never know.

Ellice

Thanks. We're still learning about some of the foods made in America, but not Canadian delicacies. I don't know a funnel cake, other than a cake made in a tube pan, which isn't fried.

I must try to make beaver tails sometime - The mixture must be a lot thicker than for a pancake, or it would be fried crumbs! Obviously not good for the figure - luckily I don't have one!

Joyce >> "Joyce" ( snipped-for-privacy@global.co.za) writes:

It's a Pennsylvania 'Dutch' (German) tradition and that's where I first had them. The batter is thin enough to pour through a funnel so that's where the name comes from. As it is poured into the hot fat in the fryer, the cook moves the funnel around making a big circle of dough. They are often served with powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar. They are wonderful but very fattening.

Here's u-tube video of funnel cakes being made. As you can see, one of them is enough for several people.

Thankfully they are not available around here, I watched the youtube clip and felt I could just taste it !

I do like them a lot. They're greasy and sweet and murder on your stomach, but in a fun way. Fortunately it's something you can't usually find unless you're at a street fair or a carnival so when I do have a little piece I don't feel particularly guilty for eating something so unhealthy.

Lucille