mid winter...

i feel as though we have barely passed the christmas season...january simply flew by. today's feast day on the liturgical calendar...feast of the presentation(image source) has always felt like the true end of celebrating the nativity of the Lord (which technically ends much earlier in january, on the feast of the baptism of the Lord). one of our traditions is to put the nativity scene carefully away for the year & replace the old candles around the house with new ones. also referred to as candlemas, this is a traditional day to have candles blessed in rememberance of Christ as the Light of the World...

for all those prognosticators out there eagerly awaiting the vernal equinox & hoping for some weather that pushes crocus blooms...today is also groundhog day! my home-state hero...punxsutawney phil sadly predicted 6 more weeks of winter (isn't this always the case!), but i don't believe him! i downright refuse to believe him! he's wrong~!! definitely...

after the disappointment of that varmint in a top hat & his furry opinion (yes, i'm miffed at him this year!) we moved on to superbowl sunday preparations. in boyworld this is a very. BIG. deal.

i'm just the cook.

Big Bro's favorite team is in the super bowl year & so it's become quite a party here. i decided to combine another celebration with our feast preparation & thus, our dessert falls in with the nutella theme for tuesday...world nutella day! the recipe will follow tomorrow or the next day... be sure to catch all the sure-to-be-yummy nutella posts on february 5!

i think the timing of world nutella day is superb because it is also mardi gras. my fat tuesday fun usually includes a chocolate indulgence! it also includes daydreaming of the year that i might spend this time in venezia...for carnevale! check out britt-arnhild's recent post & her glorious links...

following on the heels of all this celebrating...ash wednesday, the beginning of the season of lent.

but now, it's back to la cucina for me...!