For the last two years (on Portland Indymedia) I have been suggesting the best choice of recipes for the annual Groundhog Day Dirt Feist (usually involving black rice). See:
Chrismas Is Great. Now Let's Upgrade Groundhog Day!
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2013/12/426170.shtml I would like to expand on this menu, but this year's celebration has been a groundhog fiasco:
Weather.com
http://www.weather.com/news/news/jimmy-groundhog-day-sun-prairie-mayor-wisconsin-punxsutawney-phil "Groundhog Day turned ugly Monday moments before a local, furry legend was set to deliver his winter weather forecast in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.
"When Mayor Jonathan Freund lent Jimmy the Groundhog his ear, the prognosticating celebrity bit the mayor.
"The mayor winced for a moment, but, as the Associated Press reports, Freund regained his composure and translated Jimmy's forecast: an early spring.
(MORE: Groundhog Day 2015: Punxsutawney Phil Sees Shadow, Six More Weeks of Winter)
"However, the controversy only deepened.
"WISC-TV reports that Jimmy's caretakers, Jerry and Maria Hahn, disagreed with the mayor's deliberation. The Hahns say Jimmy meant to announce six more weeks of winter, but since it was Freund's first time with the groundhog, the confusion was understandable.
"The city released a statement to set the record straight:
"'While tradition holds that only the mayor can translate Jimmy’s prediction and that a clear sky generally means Jimmy sees his shadow and that winter will go on for six more weeks, the mayor’s translation this morning was clearly for an early spring. The break with tradition is unusual, but not unprecedented.'
"'As his official website says, this Jimmy is the 11th in a "long line of groundhogs.'
"It's not clear whether No. 10 would have bit the mayor.
"In Gobbler's Knob, Pennsylvania, Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter on Monday and the ceremony went without incident."
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed your Groundhog Day feast (it's actually Groundhog Week according to the Imbolc observers). And I am sure he saw his shadow (the mayor be damned). So, six more weeks of winter. But it's now half over!!!
Next year's recipe will involve bright green lentils and lots of butter or olive oil (as always).