Plays by Eugene O'Neill for One Hundred (Updated)

The past two days we've had amazing winter weather here in the DC Area. Finally our forecasters cast off the habit of debating whether the weather, and earned the title of weather people by predicting something that came to fruition. They're sort of like Trelawney. They get it right once or twice in a life-time.

Yesterday we started out with snow of various intensities that changed overnight into wicked sleet and freezing rain. Luckily the freezing rain was mostly to the east of the city. I've learned that it is far more trecherous than sleet. Today we are featuring below freezing temperatures that are keeping the snow and ice frozen. Both Kristin and I awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of ice pellets on the bedroom window. By the morning we had streams of ice running down our window screen. In the first picture the water on the window screens is frozen in place. Similarly on the deck the grey box in the second picture has streams of ice "running" down its side.

Because of the weather I decided to head into the office a little late. This allowed me to ride in with Kristin and Clara. Ride in with Kristin and Clara, you say? That's right! Today was the fourth JCREM Cook-off and Kristin and Clara were the guests of honor. (I blogged the last cook-off here. ) After having done food from your upbringing, summer dishes, and a harvest theme, we decided to mix it up with a Valentine's Brunch. As always a strong showing by all with traditional breakfast dishes as well as some things that my mother would never have let me eat for breakfast. See if you can pick those out of the list below.

• Waffles made on the premises & Fresh Fruit (Sonja)
• Goat Cheese, Spinach, Tomato & Bacon Cups (Meredith)
• Breakfast Casserole (Kristin - my wife)
• Pecan Roll (Kristen - my coworker)
• Heart Cupcakes with a Surprise in the Middle (Diana)
• Better Than ... Most Things Cake (Courtney)
• Brownies (Jen)
• Pumpkin Bread (Brendan's Mom)
• Streusel Crumb Cake (Sheilah)
• Homemade Biscuits with Homemade Jam (Caroline)
• Bacon - four pounds worth! (Fang)
• Chicken and Apple Sausage (Daquaan)
• Quiche (Kim)
• And I know I'm forgetting something. If you know what it is, tell me so I can add it.

In keeping with tradition I tried every dish. They were all wonderful. I especially loved Meredith Goat Cheese cups. She had to track down filo dough in last night's bad weather. Harris Teeter came through. Nancy also had an adventure heading to the store in her almost-PJs to pick up eggs. We also had mystery judges, but they have yet to hand down their verdict on the winners. Once they do I'll update the post.

Everyone loved seeing little baby Clara. She was a good guest at the brunch and smiled and cooed at all the right times. She napped in Dad's arms whilst we walked around the ninth and twelfth floors. It was fun to have the chance to show her off. Everyone says she is a beautiful baby. I couldn't agree more!

Update: And we have a winner! Hats off to Diana for her winning Cupcakes. Honorable mentions to my adorable wife for her breakfast casserole and to Caroline for her from-scratch biscuits. Thanks to Joe and Jen for adjudicating.