Open gathering and chat post!

[capri0mni]

(Consider this journal entry properly bedecked).

This "Christmas season" is hard on everyone -- even those who enjoy & celebrate it can find it exhausting. And for those of us who don't -- or can't -- celebrate it (for whatever reason) it can be especially isolating -- particularly for those of us whose primary social connections happen through these here Interwebs.

So:

I'm posting this entry as an open discussion/chat thread, so that we have a place to chat and commune through the comment threads.

Come sip a warm (or cool, depending on your season) spiced beverage of your choosing, and grab a plate full of virtual goodies.

I'll be checking back in frequently over the next 72 hours or so.

Welcome! Welcome!

Edited to add:

I also can't forget (or, rather, I can, but should not) that today is also the first day of Hanukkah. So have a video that ysabetwordsmith posted a couple of years ago:

Watch on YouTube

Because I also know many are over saturated with Christmas songs, by now...

Comments

[alatefeline]

Hooray for snow outside and cozy inside and friends and fun plans!

Clearly, all possible combinations of coffee and cocoa and other hot drinks that blend well with those should be tried, separately and in combination, until one arrives at The Ultimate Holiday Beverage.

(This was a hobby of mine at one point, in fact...I may pick it back up again.)

[capri0mni]

Yes -- impromptu confectionery is one of my hobbies.

Off the top of my head, I'd steer away from coffee and apple cider, though... just on a hunch.

Oh! You know what I like? Gingersnaps lightly dusted on the bottom with unsweetened cocoa powder -- it starts out bitter, but then, as you chew, the cocoa blends in with the sugar and spices.

[jesse_the_k]

Mmmmm. Brilliant idea -- and I have the ingredients.

We had ginger snaps with mango sorbet and it was surprisingly delicious.

[capri0mni]

Considering that mango and ginger are classics together where both are native, doesn't surprise me in the least...

[alatefeline]

Yeah, I've tried mixing cider with various things, and it just doesn't go with coffee or chocolate - anything bittersweet brings out the unpleasant woody bitterness of apple, while the fruity sweetness and acidity of the apple juice doesn't necessarily play well with the subtler flavors of other things.

We didn't end up making the eggnog, but we had scrambled eggs instead, and I made mulled cider a couple of times. ... Also ... I put Bailey's in my coffee when we ran out of milk the other day. *grins* That was tasty.

[capri0mni]

Well, that sounds very much like the original Irish Coffee, as my memory is confirmed by Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_coffee

Have you ever had black cherry juice (unsweetened)? In my opinion, that makes a nice carrier for cocoa powder, if you want a sans milk version, for whatever reason, once you add sugar to taste.

[alatefeline]

Oooooooh. That sounds delicious. I'll have to try that!

(Though unlike a lot of people, I can do dairy. I still need to find delicious non-dairy things to have and to share!)

[capri0mni]

I love dairy.

But sometimes, it can be cloying. And it can also blunt some of the flavor of chocolate/cocoa. So having a non-dairy alternative is also pleasing.

[alatefeline]

Precisely! The more Good Things I know how to make from real ingredients, the more good (as opposed to meh) meals and snacks I can have ... there is no drawback here. :)

[capri0mni]

Precisely!