We have shoveled and blown snow and salted and just when we think we’re done we have to do it again. The never-ending winter onslaught has been so much in the news that I’m sure you’re all just as sick of hearing about it as we are of experiencing it. So I’ll stop the kvetching and instead talk about the things keeping me sane this winter, which I’m pretty sure has caused Hell to freeze over.

  • Shoveling is good exercise, and it gets us outside. My story, and I’m sticking to it. My Active Link (Weight Watchers version of the Fit Bit) is happy when I shovel, so I get to eat more. It’s all good.
  • What we save in paying for snow removal by shoveling it ourselves we get to spend eating out. And we’ve eaten out a LOT. New Bedford’s M&C Café has chourico fritters that are very tasty, and a nice grilled seafood entrée with salmon, shrimp and fish. Waterfront Grille’s Caesar Salad with grilled salmon isn’t as good as The Black Whale’s, but until Black Whale reopens in March it’s a decent finalist.

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  • Valentine’s Day is in February. Steve surprised me with a new restaurant in Tiverton, RI, The Red Dory. Steve Johnson, previous owner of Boston restaurants Rendezvous and The Blue Room, and the founding member of The Chef’s Collaborative, bought the old Stone Bridge restaurant and transformed it into a warm, casual spot with a really eclectic menu. Lots of Mediterranean and North African influences. I want to go back for the roasted chicken spiced with Harissa. I had grilled octopus (Sorry Victoria and Octavia – I couldn’t help myself), and a stew of white beans, cabbage and duck leg confit. Steve had a smoked haddock chowder and salmon atop green lentils. We split a slice of chocolate cinnamon cake. It was all absurdly good. And the room has a big working fireplace, a really nice bar, and a view to the Sakonnet River. All that wonderfulness and my husband had red roses waiting at the table for me to boot. It doesn’t get much better than that, even if it was only 12 degrees out.

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  • I get to give Valentine’s gifts, too. The “Taste of the Trail” mix of bourbon infused truffles by Art Eatables was a real treat. Different bourbons from the Kentucky Bourbon Trail were used in these high quality chocolate truffles. I think you could catch a buzz from them. Way, way too good.
  • The winter is pretty. It really is. I know icicles are dangerous and mean heat loss from a house, but there are some exceptionally beautiful gleaming beauties on the local places, including the St. Joseph’s Rectory down the street from us. Steve saw them and said; “I see they went with the low bidder on insulation at the parsonage.” The Waterfront Grille’s deck has a shapely drift of snow that looks like a sculpture, and the docks are completely socked in with ice. We watched a guy shoveling snow off of his boat; it piled up on the ice next to him. Not something you see everyday.

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Some have talked about starting a pool to bet on when the snow will finally disappear. I’m pretty sure there’ll be a pile somewhere on the 4th of July. We’ll be using it to keep the beer cold.

There’s always a silver lining. Or in this case white. And frozen.

Deborah