baby it's cold outside

Can you read that? Yesterday's snow forecast: Washington DC 16-24". They called it thundersnow. Was it an exaggerated weather forecast? Nope, not at all. It's everything they said it'd be and more. After a solid 24-26 hours of snowfall, it looks like marshmallow fluff, 2 feet deep, covering EVERYTHING.

Wanna see? I do!

This was the front yard at my Dad's house around 11am. I packed up half my kitchen and braved the roads to come over last night. What better time than a huge snow storm to bond with the family, right? Plus his neighborhood is prettier (and his TV is bigger and I won't have to cook myself meals).

And this was the front yard again around 8pm. Notice my brother's car... On Fri night he put the wipers up so they wouldn't freeze to the glass. Last night, couldn't see them at all. (Aww look at the sparkly christmas lights.)

So needless to say, we're snowed in, so I baked. Unfortunately I don't have pictures from what I baked yesterday :) I made the awful realization that my camera can only hold a few pictures because my SD card is missing. It's very likely in my work computer... My OLD work computer... the one gave back to IT to replace last week. Ugh. So I'm really hoping that it hasn't been lost completely.

What I DO have are pics from my baking night with my buddy Alan. We made some jelly things, chocolate crinkles, and these mint chocolate swirls. They're light and crunchy, not too sweet, and very cute. Alan had one of those small magazines full of holiday baking... I think it was Betty Crocker, but the photo copy of the recipe doesn't say for sure.

Chocolate Wintergreen Swirls

1 1/2 C powdered sugar

1 C butter or margarine, room temp

1 egg

2 1/2 C flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 C powdered cocoa

1 Tbsp milk

1/4 C mini choco chips (optional)

1/4 tsp peppermint extract

4 drops food coloring (also optional)

Beat together powdered sugar, butter, and egg until smooth. Stir in flour and salt. Split dough into 2 equal sections -- stir milk and powdered cocoa into one half, and the peppermint and food coloring and chips into the other.

Roll out dough onto some waxed paper into equal sized rectangles about 7" by 13". Lay the minty dough onto chocolate one so the edges are as flush as possible. Roll into a tight log, then wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 325. Cut roll into 1/4" thick slices. Place about 1" apart on parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Enjoy!