swish!

Today I went snow-shoeing at Willamette Pass (note in the photo on linked page, they're not actually doing anything) with some new friends. out down the trail, in the middle of the mountains, standing on a 70 inch pile of snow, surrounded by huge snow-covered firs, and with more snow slowly falling, one of my new friends stopped and pulled a ziplock baggy out of her backpack. "Would anybody like a peppermint patty?" she asked. hell yes!

so, do you remember those peppermint patty commercials from the 80s? A dowdy secretary, cooped up in a windowless office, or something like that, takes a peppermint patty out of her desk, looks to the camera and announces: "When I take a bite of a York Peppermint Patty I become a world class skier, racing down the slopes in the Swiss Alps." and >poof<, with one bite she is indeed whisked away to her choice destination. so, we're all standing together on the trail in the middle of this winter wonderland and it was like we were at the conclusion of a peppermint patty commercial! it was so weird! so we took a picture.

later that night, at dinner at some of my new friends' house, the other new friends served this awesomely midwestern dessert: brownies with melted peppermint patties spread atop. hello! fantastic sweetness! one day when i pull together my midwest potluck, they are so invited!