Month in review: Decemb-rrrrrrrrr

In my part of the country we had an exceptionally cold and snowy Decemb-rrrrr. My city isn't used to any snow at all so when we get some, the whole place falls apart. Roads close, stores run out of milk and eggs, people don't leave their houses for days on end. Our local weather reporters go nutty, working people into a thick and delicate froth before such storms hit. I got stuck in a large one-stop shop on the eve of the snowstorm. I was trapped in line for nearly an hour behind a couple with 20 loaves of bread and 10 gallons of milk, "stocking up". People ate their dinner in line fresh out of their shopping carts, talked on their cell phones, and caught up (as I did) on all the tabloids and crazy cookie recipes in Woman's Day and Martha and everything in between.

I haven't been out of the house since, and that was about 10 days ago. As I write this, I have about 12-14 inches of snow at my house and that's a record breaker in these parts. Our roads are a mess, and we can't even get out of our driveway. I'm slowly feeling the effects of Cabin Fever set in, and it is not pretty.



On my plate. Being trapped inside has its advantages, I suppose. I baked my little heart out the week before Christmas. I think I averaged one baked good per day. Just today (as I was baking scones) my measuring spoon scraped the bottom of my baking powder tin, which was new about 2 months ago.First up were the delicious Outrageous Chocolate Cookies from Everyday Food (pictured above)


Next were Almond Macaroons from the Martha Cookie Book.


Then I made Nordy Bars, my mom's recipe. These are a throwback to my teen years. Nordstrom department stores used to sell these (although I don't remember where since they didn't have espresso stands back in the day). But I'm wondering if they will ever bring them back? They are so freaking good. The kind of cookie that tastes better about a day after you bake them. They contain butterscotch chips, a stick of butter, chocolate chips, and marshmallows, just to give you an idea of their goey goodness. You can find the recipe here. My mom's version uses 1 3/4 C flour rather than the 1 1/2 listed here. Things that were baked this month that didn't get photographed? Oatmeal Cookies, New York Cheese Cake, Apple Pie, and a terrible batch of cornbread.



Font of the Month: I purchased Anisette by A.M. Cassandre. I love this font, it is so bold and has a lot of fun ligatures to play with. Plus, as a lover of anise (the spice), I just couldn't resist it based on its name. I'm hoping to use it in some upcoming poster projects.

On the Needles: Still working on my Flair sweater. Knitting in the round is awesome, but I'm getting kinda bored, I have to admit. 100 plus stitches in stockinette stitch over and over and over paired with cabin fever is just not a good thing. Hopefully I'll finish the sweater before next fall. In the meantime, I've started (and dare I say nearly finished) a project for a dear friend of mine. I can't show it yet, but am feeling very satisfied with it so far.

In My Ears: I'm so sad that Mixwit is going away. I just loved those little vintage tape graphics. Sad! So, I'm back to updating my playlist. Not a bad thing, just not as cute!

"Not Even Jail" is a fitting song for my housebound state this week. I like its dark, pop sound and these lyrics "Remember take hold of your time here / Give some meanings to the means / To your end". "Carry Me Ohio" is a song that reminds me of warm, lazy summer days that seem so long gone now. "Blue Eyes" is just a simple tune that you could sing to anyone you love, and they'd probably think you were pretty sweet. "Nite and Fog" is what it looks like outside my window most recently. I really like Jose Gonzales' acoustic guitar and voice, and this song is one of my faves.