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Midweek Pick-Me-Ups: November

This cold weather makes me want to stay inside, bundled up under the covers all day. Even my new coat isn’t enough to motivate me to want to get out of bed in the morning. (That would be some coat, right?) Unfortunately, the alarm clock still beckons, and I still venture out every day. So to keep my cold-weather grumbling at bay, I’ll focus on some happy things. Here are a few things making me smile lately. 

Wing Night In. Aaron and I love trying new foods and new restaurants, but sometimes it’s nice to just head to a casual bar and eat chicken wings! We both had a wing-craving over the weekend, but after some errand-running on Saturday we didn’t want to take Jona (or ourselves) back out into the cold. So we had a wing night in instead. We decided to go the somewhat healthier route and oven-bake them, and we tried both a classic and a honey chipotle recipe. Both turned out delicious! I must note that the cooking temperatures are very different, and I thought I’d be able to broil both wing varieties, as in the classic recipe. One small fire in the oven later, I realized that was not the case. After nearly burning the honey chipotle wings, we removed them from the foil-lined sheet, and the remaining glaze on the foil got a little too cozy with the broiler. Lesson learned.



2. Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. Just like every weekend lately, all I want to do is stay inside and bake yummy treats. This weekend I tried this Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe from Half Baked Harvest. It seemed like a strange cookie recipe to me; there’s no butter, instead, it calls for canola oil. Weird, but they turned out oh-so-good! These cookies also turned out to be my failed attempt at a good deed this week. My plan was to take a plate of freshly baked cookies over to our neighbors. However, by the time I got them out of the oven on Sunday, it was already after 8pm. They have a baby younger than Jona, so I wasn’t about to go knocking on their door that late in the evening. So I tried to deliver them Monday afternoon, but no one was home. I can’t leave them on the doorstep, because I failed to plan ahead and get a critter-proof container to put them in. (I have a feeling the aluminum foil-covered plate is no match for the neighborhood squirrels who can carve pumpkins with their teeth.) They say it’s the thought that counts, but I’m afraid thought cookies just aren’t as good as the real thing. 


3. In-house Entertainment. Jona has been hilarious lately, and providing us with lots of entertainment. He’s full of energy, and he sings and talks nonstop. He loves to shout in a language that’s all his own, and he’s very enthusiastic about it. And if we start laughing, he has to join in too. I love this kid. 


4. Cozy Winter Gear. In addition to my cozy red coat, I added a few things to my winter arsenal this month. Although they’re not my usual style, I couldn’t pass up these sparkly sequin slippers (in silver) from Target. While I was there, I also picked up a new hat, scarf (yep, I jumped on the plaid blanket scarf train), and gloves. Other than the scarf, these were all much-needed buys. I swear. 


5. Hot Chocolate Season. It’s that time of year. I’m trading in my bowl of ice cream for a steaming mug of hot cocoa. (Okay, I’ll probably still have ice cream from time to time pretty often.) I usually just go with an easy just-add-water mix, but maybe this year I’ll try something new. Any good hot chocolate recipes that you recommend? It would taste even better out of one of these mugs from Anthropologie too, don’t you think? 

What’s making you happy this week?

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