Cold Weather, Coconut Treats and Art- Oh, My!

I’m a native Floridian and let me tell you, the 28-degree weather we had last night is killing me. Thank heavens for the furnace! The forecast said snow flurries were possible in our area early this morning. I can’t confirm that we actually got snow as I was hunkered down in my bed. I couldn’t find any reports of snow on our local weather website so maybe we didn’t get any. But then again the website I checked sucks monkey toes. The weather people love to be all dramatic about what could be… You know, this is going to be the coldest night on record or this is going to be the worst hurricane season ever! Ooooo, the anticipation. Nevertheless, it was darn cold yesterday! And today is supposed to be no better. The boys are all snug in their fleece footie PJs. Too cute! So much for the play date at the park! We’re staying put today.

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Last night, dear J was foraging through our kitchen in search of sweets. The Christmas cookies had either been eaten or tossed. There isn’t much dessert-wise in our house which is fine with me. Less temptation helps me immensely. He went so far as to look up a snicker doodle recipe and take account of the ingredients in the house. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough flour. That’s desperation, people. When the poor man resorts to baking, you know it’s bad. However, during the second round of searching, J did manage to find the lone box of coconut petits fours in the outside fridge.

These came from J’s brother, Critter, as a Christmas gift. The petits fours are from Swiss Colony. The first thought we had upon opening them is that they were a dreaded re-gift! You see, J’s parents receive Swiss Colony treats every Christmas from their New Jersey cousins without fail. It makes J and I laugh every time we see the Swiss Colony box at their house. The cousins are so predictable and rather un-inventive in their gift choices. We thought this year J’s parents had rebelled and decided to give the SC box of goodies to Critter to re-gift to us. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with Swiss Colony stuff. It is quite tasty as J quickly discovered last night. It’s just funny sending mail order food for Christmas, don’tcha think? It’s kind of like a subscription to the jelly-of-the-month club.

So, J decided to call Critter to get the back story on the Swiss Colony stuff. Were we victims of dreaded re-gifting or not? J raved about how good the petits fours were and asked how in the world Critter came up with that as a gift. Critter is a twentysomething bachelor who doesn’t really seem like a mail order food kind of guy. Well guess what?! Critter is a Food Network junkie and had been watching a special on Christmas gift ideas. Apparently Swiss Colony was featured on the special he had watched and he thought of us. He said the coconut petits fours reminded him of their Granny’s homemade coconut cake. *blush* We feel like total schmucks for assuming the worst of this gift. I’m actually quite impressed with his thoughtfulness!

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Gigantic subject change!!!!!!!!!! Here’s what we’ve been up to this morning- Cold Day Fun!

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I think I might have to make a grocery run today. I’m going to stock the pantry with all of the ingredients for snicker doodles. J’s craving for these cookies is bordering on the severity of a PMS chocolate attack. We need flour STAT! And January’s issue of Southern Living Magazine has a scrumptious sounding Macaroni and Cheese recipe that I’m dying to try. Anything containing smoked Gouda will win my heart. I love me some smoked Gouda. The problem is finding a block of it around these parts. Our grocery store is plum out of it. Darn! Perhaps the local specialty food store?

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