We finally got some of the winter that Montreal has missed this year. The snow we got was nowhere near what parts of Ontario got, but at least the snow plows and sidewalk cleaners got to come out.

Despite the fact that the snow is really not that deep, it did wreak some havoc on drivers for awhile because we had some crazy-ass winds, especially last night where the walls were rattling, and it blew snow around on the highways and stuff. The biggest thing that is currently waving and shouting, “hello, it’s WINTER!” is the temperature. The base temp isn’t so bad, it’s only -8C (17F) but the windchill is currently making it -22C (-7.6F), which I also like to call MinusHolyCrap. It’s the kind of weather where you walk outside and your nose runs for two seconds, then freezes shut. Fun times.

Which would explain why we decided not to go out to play in the snow; instead, Hayley and I spent some time lying on the living room floor, making up fart songs while Breanna applauded.

How long until Spring?

Right. So some people asked me about things, so here you go.

The banana and chocolate chip cookies. Very delicious, very easy, and very difficult to keep around for more than a few days because it’s so easy to say, “I’ll just eat one more”.

2 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
2/3 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
6 oz. chocolate chips (at least; I dumped in a whole bag, minus the ten or so that I ate first)
1 cup mashed bananas, the ones that your kids won’t eat because OHMYGOD they’re brown

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Cream together butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Add dry ingredients to your creamed ingredients and blend well. It will be a little dry at this point. Stir in chocolate chips and bananas. Mix well.

Drop by tablespoons onto greased cookie sheets and bake at 400 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.

Don’t expect them to come out pretty and perfectly round, they turn into giant mounds but they’re delicious. Don’t overbake them either, once they start turning brown on the bottom, they’re done.

Please don’t lick your screen.

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A couple of people emailed me to ask about the button flowers. I saw them online a week ago when I was looking for crafts. The instructions said to use floral wire but I had none so I used pipe cleaners instead, which worked out quite well. Take one small button to use as the center of the flower. It needs to have at least two holes. Thread the pipe cleaner through one hole, pushing the button about 1/3 of the way down; then bend the pipe cleaner and bring it back through the other hole. Pull to tighten. Take a bigger button for the flower part and do the same thing. Pull as tight as possible so the small button sits in the center of the bigger one. Twist the pipe cleaner to make a stem. Bend a leaf into it if you want. Ta-da!

I found it here.

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I have absolutely no interesting plans for the weekend other than maybe getting all crazy and watching some of the episodes of “Criminal Minds” from last season that I missed. What are you doing this weekend?