Wednesday, January 4, 2012

The Frozen North

It was 8 this morning. Which was actually an improvement from the low of 5 last night. I'm actually kind of excited to say that 8 is by far the lowest temperature I've been exposed to. I'm pretty sure that when I was out and about last night (I had pizza for dinner) and it was 17, that was also, at the time, the lowest temperature I'd been exposed to.
I'm excited about this because all things considered I've been pretty comfortable. It's not like I've dawdled outside or anything, but I think that the winter wear I own is definitely good enough to keep me warm in this kind of weather. In general, the only part of me that's cold is my knees b/c my coat comes down to the top of my knees and I'm unwilling to wear leggings under my pants if I'm going to be mainly indoors b/c I'm worried I'll be too hot.
So as for shoes and clothes, I've been kind of wearing the same few things over and over again, especially at home. My bean boots are my go-to for when I'm going outside, and inside I'm living in my fleece lined mocs. Outside, my long down coat has been perfect (if not a little too warm- I was sweating while taking down the trash and recycling today, but I needed it when I walked the dogs), and inside I've been living in  an Under Armor hoodie and pair of sweatpants that one of the groomsmen from the wedding sent me for Christmas. (The hubby got a similar pair.) He said it was to preserve my marriage because otherwise I'd leave Maine once it got cold. Haha! Of course I may need to buy a second set so I can disagree when the hubby accuses me of wearing the same thing every day. :)
In honor of the cold snap, I have a nice, warming meal planned this evening. It's based on a recipe for pasta with sausage, tomatoes, and mushrooms from Smitten Kitchen (it's the last recipe on the page) but I'm planning to add some chopped carrots and white beans to the mix to make it a bit healthier and to ensure that I'll have plenty of leftover sauce to freeze.

In other news our NYE party went really well. I ended up serving meringues, baked brie, rotel dip, red pepper jelly dip, smoked salmon deviled eggs, bacon wrapped water chestnuts, chicken salad bites, and a chocolate tart with cinnamon and cayenne, a biscoff cookie crust (ganache loosely based on this recipe and crust loosely based on this one), and Kahlua whipped cream.
For drinks we went with Poinsettia cocktails, Moscow Mules, and Sazeracs.

What are you go-to cold weather coping mechanisms?

7 comments:

  1. Do you have a fireplace? They're the best part of winter. Well, that and the gluhwein.

    Also, if your girlfriend keeps it at subarctic temperatures in your apartment because she apparently has some sort of irrational fear of running the heater... If that is the case, the cats will constantly cuddle you no matter what you are doing, as you are the most radiant source of warmth in the apartment.

    Hypothetically speaking, of course.

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  2. Sadly, we do not have a fireplace. I do, however, have a giant box of merlot that was left at my house after our party that is just begging to be made into a few batches of Gluhwein.

    The cats are all about stealing my warmth these days, at least until Benjy gets home b/c even though it's his fault it's cold- they still love him more. :)

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  3. Wait, the coldest you've ever seen, like, ever?!? How nice!! And yeah, it's so cold. I struggle with the leggings under pants idea too. Haven't gone there yet. I just got new kickass UGG boots for Xmas (like snow boots, not like fashion UGGs). Be warm!

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  4. Haha yep! It's my first winter outside the south! But I am enjoying it so far. :) I just wish there was snow! The hubby and I each own a set of snowshoes that we haven't been able to use!

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  5. I love the Moscow Mule! Particularly when adulterated with muddled mint and chipotle vodka. :)

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  6. My cold-weather coping mechanism is living in CA! hahaha It's been 60 and sunny here!

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