The Dead of Winter

17 degrees Farenheit, with a "Real Feel" of 5 degrees. OUCH!

It's very dry and bitterly cold here in NYC on January 30th. No matter what Punxsutawney Phil will reveal on Groundhog day, seeing his shadow or not, we'll be in winter for at least 8 more weeks. You can bank on a gross, sloppy snow in early April, too. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

"What the...?"

Aromatherapy is crucial to me...to bring about a sense of calm and to evoke warmth. I have a cinnamon candle in the kitchen, an evergreen candle in the living room, and a pear spice soy candle in my master bedroom. Ahhh!

How does one prepare to face 5 degrees? I use coconut shampoo and a citrus shower gel--it's a temporary fake-out but it makes me feel good and I dream of my vacations. This morning, I bundled up and headed out on my errands. Within a few minutes, the bones in my fingers were aching, even in heavy gloves. There was no pump-jockey to be seen at the gas station, of course. My fingers were already shaped like the steering wheel when I got back into the car. In the supermarket I passed some pale and wan navel oranges and tomatoes that were pink rather than tomato-red. *Sigh*

Lo and behold, my salvation was waiting for me at home...little did I know that Cindy and David had handed me a bag of heaven when they came by to go to dinner last night. We all know you can get oranges shipped from Florida...but I thought there was a blight due to the US-wide frigid winter. 

The bag contained 4 HoneyBells, sent north by Cindy's mom. She warned me that I'd better eat them over the sink. After a season of underwhelming, dry navel oranges and not very sweet clementines, I was looking forward to trying these!

Oh, my word! May I just say that HoneyBells are so, so juicy to the end, that for the first time in my LIFE I slurped juice from the rind like liquor from an oyster shell. And I do love to do that!  I'm S-O-L-D.

This is my new and never to be altered request for a Christmas present from my sainted mother who resides in Florida. Mommy, are you reading this?!

That's right, I call my mother Mommy.

Here's the skinny. Although touted as "the sweetest oranges in the world" HoneyBells are actually tangelos, a hybrid between a tangerine and a grapefruit. But there is no hint of sourness. They are only available for a few weeks in January...so if you've missed the boat for this season, get on that ole interweb and put in your order for January 2011.

Thanks Cindy and David, for warming up the coldest night of the year!