Mamacita says:

1.  We’re supposed to be on the receiving end of a mighty and majestic ice storm tonight.  I hope not.  I’ve got candy canes for my students tomorrow.  I am hoping, since so many of them didn’t do well on the final, that when they look at their test and the “This sucks!” begins, I can then hand them each a candy cane and say “Suck on this.  It’ll make you feel better.”

2.  Cocoa, coffee, hot cider, and hot tea are all better when stirred with a candy cane or a cinnamon stick.

3.  Want to give your child a cool snack?  Take a candy cane and stick it right through the peel of an orange.  Tell the kid to start sucking.  After a few minutes, the orange juice will start coming up the candy cane as if it were a straw, and when it does, it’s delicious.  We call these “stabbed oranges,” because we are classy people.  Unless your child cheats and pulls off some of the peeling, this snack lasts a long time and isn’t a bit sticky or messy.  Unless your child cheats.  It’s also good for you, and demonstrates how much air is in a candy cane.  (Answer:  a lot.)

4.  Speaking of really good cocoa. . . pour some vanilla into a teaspoon, then pour the vanilla back into the bottle.  Stir your cocoa with the vanilla-coated spoon.  It’s illegally good.  You can also dip plastic spoons in Wilton’s chocolate and let it harden.   Put Saran wrap around the spoon’s bowl and tie it with a festive ribbon.  Voila!  Really inexpensive gifts, placecard holders, favors, or whatever you want.

5.  Speaking again of really good cocoa, coffee, or any hot drink. . . put ribbon candy on strings and dip it like a tea bag into your hot drink.  Yummy.  Have “whose colors will melt off the quickest” contests.

6.  Sometimes, the very best recipes are found on the backs of packages and boxes, and in cookbooks compiled and sold by church ladies.

7.  I think I would get along famously with LuAnn’s mom.

8.  I am Val Stone.

9.  My oven is full of homemade bread.  Six more loaves are in the wings, waiting their turn.  I haven’t got any money right now, and I wanted to give the people in my department a little something for  Christmas whatever holiday, or not, they might be happy about this month.  Most people seem to like homemade bread.  Except for my kids; they prefer 99-cent Kroger bread.

10.  You know how some people claim that online friendships are not real friendships?  Well, those people are wrong.