No Potion

Pennsylvanians have an assortment of things they love, namely Donuts, Diners, and Hot Dogs - we call it the "Three D's". Dunkin Donuts boasts a perfect donut and coffee (they say better than Starbucks. I laugh.) . But, perhaps there is something to that because there are 33 (!!) of them within a 15 mile radius of our little apartment. Diners are everywhere, but are all the same except for the names - Starlight, Clearview, Hometown, Bear Swamp (huh?), Queen's City, Bandit, etc. The last of the D's - Hot Dogs. Here they are a meal in themselves and do not belong in stands, but in their own small restaurants. Since moving here we have both found our observation of the three D's mildly entertaining, but not this time. Not when it interfered with our annual ice cream tradition.

We were concerned we would leave empty handed when we saw the Baskin Robbins was combined with a Dunkin Donuts store. An (ahem) ethnic man eyed us as we came in and Ryan might have mumbled something, but I quickly walked passed him, keeping my mind on the prize. "Hey, do you have Love Potion 31?" He squinted his eyes and furrowed his brow, indicating to me that he was completely puzzled by my inquisition. I slowly and nicely repeated my question. The man seemed to catch onto one phrase, Love Potion, because he interrupted me and rambled on about the weather being too cold for ice cream. I could barely understand the man, but what I did understand was that we were leaving without our potion. 

I suppose I feel short changed given the options we have in our area. Are we the only ones that love ice cream? Why couldn't the Baskin Robbins store house more than 3 flavors of ice cream?  Why would BR have seasonal flavors, if they do not make it to the stores? 

BUT it's too cold for ice cream?? HUH? It is an ICE CREAM STORE. 

It's a strange, strange world people.

Fun in the Kitchen

What's worse than spilling a bottle of vinegar across the kitchen floor? Spilling *balsamic* vinegar in a glass bottle ALL over the kitchen floor. 

I have a headache. Our apartment reeks. The grout on the kitchen floor is now a lovely array of browns. Ryan just ordered pizza. Thank goodness for a wonderful husband.

Love Potion

Every year around Valentines Day, Ryan and I splurge in this amazing ice cream from Baskin Robbins called Love Potion 31. I believe Ryan's parents originally told us about it like four years ago and insisted we try it. Now, if you have the means, then we insist that you do, too.

Here's the official description:

Love Potion #31

A seasonal favorite. Cupid’s White Chocolate and  Raspberry ice creams swirled with a raspberry ribbon and loaded with raspberry-filled chocolate hearts and chocolate chips.

May I be so bold to say it is love in a pint? I am very much looking forward to tomorrow when we buy ourselves 5 gallons of this stuff. Okay, Ryan probably won't let me, but maybe if I remind him that it is seasonal then he'll agree to stock up. So, if you wanna try it, you've from February to end of March to dig in.

Of course, it can't trump mint chocolate chip, homemade peach mango ice cream (made with Philippine mangoes - the best mangoes. period.), or any type of fudgy-brownie-chocolate-type ice cream, but it won't disappoint. 

Just remember, it is LOVE in a pint.

Snoverload

It's been relatively boring around here. There is not much to report except for a couple feet of snow that dumped yesterday. From the time we moved here, I've heard so many people say things like 'There hasn't been any snow for years and years' and 'We never get any snow'...Ahem. Should I even mention that people have deemed this the winter of "snoverload" or "snoverkill?"

Yesterday, we got between 18- 22 inches of snow over about a 12 hour period. After this storm, news stations reported a grand total of 71.6 inches for the whole winter, making it the the worst winter since records have been kept (1885? 1895?). There are a couple more things that I would like to point out:

• The second worst snow in recorded history for this area was the blizzard of '96
• The third worst storm was December 2009

Let me tally this up for you. I have been (a victim?) involved in 3 out of 4 of the biggest storms/winters since the late 1800's. Yup, I was living in New Jersey during that blizzard of '96 and I certainly do remember it.

I am just that lucky, I guess.

Sigh.

At least I got to play hours of Mario Kart and other wonderfully engaging Wii games. I made a delicious Vanilla Fudge Marble cake. I drank copious amounts of warm liquids. I might have had some diet Cherry Coke, too. I cooked up some chili for dinner. I'm fairly sure there was a nap in there somewhere. Oh! How could I forget the homemade pesto pizza?YUM.

....I was going to end this on a high note, but....

The evening news just told me we are in for MORE winter weather on Monday?

I might need to go lay down now.