Our crazy cold snap is supposed to go through tomorrow at noon and then, the temp swings upward. It’s so cold right now. Late post as I ended up working today.

Somehow, my work did not close the past couple of days and yet, we are canceling family night on Thursday because of the weather. Make it make sense! So much more I could (but will not) say about my work lately.

Anyway, on my stay home days I made hot chocolate twice this week! Two kinds.

Kind of Normal

Okay, so I did say kind of normal. I made my normal hot chocolate packet but then, did this to it:

Had some leftover marshmallow creme buttercream frosting and thought it might make a nice hot chocolate topping. Slight problem, if you take it straight out of the fridge, it sinks! So, I added some whipped cream and then, added the marshmallow creme buttercream. It was good but I probably need to try it some time with marshmallow creme (or the frosting) at room temperature when I add it to the hot chocolate.

The next kind of hot chocolate was the true winner this week!

Oreo Hot Chocolate

I’ve discovered I need to be careful with the hot chocolate recipes as sometimes more than one of the same type exist out here on the Internet (imagine that). So, after my Nutella disappointment, I carefully curated the Oreo Hot Chocolate recipes out there and settled on this one called Creamy Oreo Hot Chocolate.

Oreos happened to be on sale at the grocery store last time I went and so in addition to snagging a package for lunch treats (my husband and G both usually take their lunches to work, I do sometimes), I knew an Oreo hot chocolate was happening.

I pretty much followed the recipe exactly this time. Only thing I did different was skip the food processing part. A sandwich bag and a rolling pin worked well for me.

This made for a delightful dessert! Perfect for an overly cold and snowy night. Reminded me a bit of the Italian hot chocolate as it got thick but not quite as thick though I did mostly use a spoon for it as opposed to taking sips.

Of all the hot chocolates I’ve tried so far, this one I can absolutely see myself making again!

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Now, not related to my hot chocolate experiments, I just want to share that my husband is doing one of the most Midwestern activities ever. He’s grilling hot dogs in 8 degree weather! He brushed the snow off the grill to do this. No further comments from me at this time.

Maybe I’ll ask if he wants a hot chocolate for dessert.

Happy Homemaker Monday, Presidents Day

February 17, 2025

jehdld

HappyHomemakerMonday 7 Comments

Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine’s Day weekend (if you celebrated). Mine was okay. Honestly, I’m glad my Galentine’s Day was so much fun because this weekend was just kind of blah. Nothing terribly wrong but I was just in a funk for most of it.

Quick weekend synopsis:

Friday at work was a hard day leaving me so fed up at the end of the day. Thankfully, I ended my day in my favorite classroom which probably saved my sanity. We did nothing at home Friday evening although my husband did fix the waffles and bacon for dinner. I’d left him a Valentine’s Day card earlier in the day.

Saturday, he brought me flowers and eggs from Sam’s Club. Can you guess which one cost more? If you said the flowers, you’re wrong!

Sunday, my mood didn’t really improve despite it being a sunny but very cold day. Ran lots of errands to try to be out in the (cold) sunshine but my mood stayed pretty grumbly until last night.

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Moving on to today, the lovely little gray cat woke me at 4:00AM for who knows why. She didn’t leave me alone until I was out of bed either. SIGH. Let’s just get to our Happy Homemaker Monday categories and link up with the host of this lovely community, Sandra over at Diary Of A Stay At Home Mom.

The Weather

Mood partially explained! Dusting of 1-2 inches of snow today with a high of 20 degrees, currently 11 degrees with a windchill of 0. Still snowing right now though supposed to stop. Winter storm warning from Tuesday at 12:00 AM until Wednesday at 3:00 AM. Also, cold weather advisory from tonight at 9:00 PM (apparently 20 degrees isn’t cold) until Wednesday at 6:00 PM. Oh, and let’s not forget this one: Extreme Cold Watch (I’ve honestly never even heard of this one!) from Wednesday at 6:00 PM until Thursday at noon. And it’s supposed to be 50 degrees by Sunday, of course. Welcome to the Midwest Weather Roller Coaster.

As I Look Outside My Window

Think we covered that in the weather. However, I did want to share this photo of my Flicker woodpecker from last week. He (or she?) is still visiting my suet feeders and I was excited to see some of the yellow tail feathers showing from this angle.

Right Now I Am

Working on this post in a slightly chilly basement (it’s usually warm).

Something Fun To Share

I made grocery store Valentine’s cookies on Saturday that I filled with marshmallow creme buttercream for part of our Valentine’s Day weekend. G said they looked like “Walmart brand macarons” which he said was not an insult when I asked if I should be insulted or complimented. LOL.

Thinking And Pondering

Work. I said on Friday that I was going to find another sub to cover me for a certain classroom on Thursday but I’m torn. I feel like I’m giving up if I don’t go ahead and work my day but I can’t have another experience like rest time on Friday. The teachers in said class will understand either way, I know. They’ve been nothing but supportive.

And I do love the kids, some of them just…honestly, need a different environment than that classroom. They’d probably thrive with a smaller class and more structure.

On My Bedside Table

Same stuff, lamp, phone charger, book

On My TV

Still working through Brooklyn Nine-Nine though I did watch the SNL music special on Saturday night and enjoyed it. Missed the big program last night, might stream it later today just to see.

On My Reading Pile

If you want a completely creepy and engaging read, I suggest Someone in the Attic by Andrea Mara. Couldn’t put it down.

Listening To

Forgot to cancel my Amazon music trial, must do that this week, so had on some classical music while I read on Saturday afternoon.

On The Menu For This Week

Well, I had it all planned out in my head while grocery shopping but I’m struggling to remember…

MONDAY: hotdogs, French fries, cantaloupe

TUESDAY: Maybe minestrone, rolls

WEDNESDAY: Pork chops, sweet potatoes

THURSDAY: Mexican casserole (corn tortillas, taco meat, ect)

FRIDAY: No idea

*All subject to change

On My To Do List

Need to pay a few bills, laundry, water plants! (forgot this yesterday), not really anything pressing (unless I’m forgetting something, highly possible)

Happening This Week

Snow. SIGH. Depending on the storm timing, Bunco on Tuesday night but I’m thinking it’s going to be a no-go. Maybe work on Thursday from 7:45-2, see thinking and pondering section, suppose that also depends on if I can find a sub for myself as that might not happen anyway.

What I Am Creating

Nada

My Simple Pleasure

Fresh flowers. Warmer weather and sunshine.

Lesson Learned The Past Week

When things are bothering me at home, I need to speak up a bit sooner and not let them simmer so long. Also, never agree to come into work in the middle of a holiday party. I will never do that one again, shouldn’t even have been asked to do that. Beginning or end is fine but not the middle, so disorienting and confusing.

Looking Around The House

Another part of my weekend mood, might have uttered words to effect that I’m not the hired help. I think the walls are closing in, actually it needs the usual cleaning bits and a whole lot of declutter work.

From The Camera

Combo of phone/”real” camera pics in this post but this one’s from the phone. Doesn’t she look all cuddly, cute, and innocent and not like a furry, demanding 4:00 AM alarm clock?

Prayer List

Family, friends, coworkers, neighbors, all the kids in our school. Anyone struggling with this crazy cold winter.

Quote For The Week

You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. (Leviticus 19:18 ESV)

Galentine’s Day Fun

February 14, 2025

jehdld

Happy Valentine’s Day! We don’t do much for it around here. Today, it’s just a normal workday for most of us though the preschool kids have their “party,” a pretty understated affair at the school. A special treat and then an exchange of Valentine’s day cards using brown paper bags the kids decorate themselves mostly with stickers.

Here at home, I planned on a simple dinner of waffles (they vetoed the idea of chocolate waffles!) and bacon. However, my husband was mentioning something about pizza last night so who knows. I did pick up some slice and bake cookies on sale so probably going to make those into cookie sandwiches (Why do we have so much marshmallow creme in the pantry??) along with some chocolate covered pretzels I promised J. Maybe we’ll all watch a movie or have a game night, clearly our Valentine’s Day is not planned out very well.

What is usually somewhat planned out is the annual Galentine’s Day adventure with my close friends! So I thought I’d share about that for this week’s Five on Friday hosted by My Creative Life.

ONE: Friendship Gift

While the gift of having a group of amazing friends for almost 25 years is certainly enough, we usually exchange small token gifts of friendship at our annual Galentine’s Day dinner. Here’s a glance at what I gave:

What’s in the bag?

Chocolates (Of course!) and some photos, one of which I framed. Then, I wrapped the framed photo in some Valentine’s Day tissue paper before putting them in the cloth bags.

TWO: Outfit

I like to dress in something somewhat Valentine’s day related if only through the colors. I picked my red sweater (Chiefs fans tend to own lots of red, LOL!) and some black velvet pants.

THREE: Location

Since we’ve started celebrating Galentine’s Day, we’ve met at The Cheesecake Factory on the Country Club Plaza. It’s expensive, yes, but typically we only go once a year. J gave me a gift card for Christmas so that was nice. And it’s always been very good. I typically get the spicy vodka pasta, a cosmopolitan, and a slice of classic cheesecake with strawberry topping.

An added treat this year, they decided to leave the Plaza lights on until Valentine’s Day so we also got to see those.

(Dear Cheesecake Factory, you need to clean your windows!)

Thankfully as well, the weather held off until late Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning as a winter storm moved into our area.

FOUR: My Amazing Gifts

A funny thing happened this year as 3 of us had the exact same idea to do photo related gifts, framed photos and a picture coffee mug!

The other friends went a self-care route, we know each other well after almost 25 years! And some of us are very talented on top of that, look at the beautiful cardinal print my friend made for me.

FIVE: Thankful for Friendship

I’m thankful for all the friendships in my life whether they are new or life-long, work, in person or blogging friendships made over the Internet. I hope all of you reading this have many great friendships of all kinds as well!

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Happy Valentine’s Day, Friends!

Another Snow Day Plus Hot Chocolate Review

February 12, 2025

jehdld

Winter Wednesday 2 Comments

Kind of a clunky title up there but that’s exactly what this post is about today.

Really thought I was going to have to work (we don’t get snow days quite as often as the public schools) so super excited when that message showed up on my phone.

Got my snow day list ready instead of trying to figure out what to wear:

Pajamas. Check!
Latest Paula Hawkins book loaded on my phone. Check!
Hot chocolate. Check!
Not needing to worry about driving in the snow. Triple check! (For the record, I can do it but it’s nice not to have to do it)

Hot Chocolate Time

I’m happy to report I enjoyed this Chocolate Covered Cherry Hot Chocolate. And it was easy enough to make, could be an occasional repeat around here. Seemed like a good choice for Valentine’s Day week.

Mostly, I followed the recipe exactly with a few exceptions: I cut it in half so just made one cup. Didn’t want to dirty a pan for one cup of hot chocolate so I warmed my milk in the microwave and then just mixed in the hot chocolate mix. Also, I only had regular hot chocolate mix with marshmallows (though I do only buy Swiss Miss brand so that part was the same). I find the little marshmallows just melt into the hot chocolate anyway so doubt it impacted the flavor.

Clearly, I also didn’t take the time to make a chocolate covered cherry opting instead to just add some cherries on top of the whipped cream (Reddi-wip over here) and garnished with a bit of regular cocoa powder.

Final thoughts: This had good flavor and would probably be truly amazing with the extra chocolate in the garnish. I think a shot of amaretto might really enhance this hot chocolate if you were so inclined (though maybe not at 8:a.m.). Might consider simply adding in a teaspoon of almond extract as well if I make it again.

It’s got enough cherry flavor that if you for some reason do not like cherries, you will not like this. I liked it as I like cherry flavor. The only flavor I really despise is grape so I won’t be trying any grape hot chocolate not that I’ve see a recipe for that anywhere.

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Are you a fan of cherry flavor? Are there any flavors you intensely dislike? What flavor do you think would be a good addition to a hot chocolate?

What about snow days? Do you get those? And if so, how do you spend them?

Hope if you are in the path of this latest snowstorm, you stay safe and warm!

Happy Homemaker Monday, Blue Monday

February 10, 2025

jehdld

HappyHomemakerMonday 8 Comments

Or rather a green Monday. Congratulations to the Philadelphia Eagles fans! Your team outplayed the Chiefs big time.

Still love my Chiefs though. Can’t knock a team too much that’s made it to the Super Bowl 3 years in a row. Who knows maybe it’ll be a re-match (hopefully, with a different outcome!) next year.

Joining in with Sandra over at Diary Of A Stay At Home Mom for Happy Homemaker Monday. She’s changed up the categories so I’m trying to play along a bit.

*Headings in Green in honor of the Eagles* Just for today.