12 Snow Day Recipes + “Something To Keep You Warm” Giveaway!

Menus, Miscellaneous / Sunday, December 12th, 2010

Oh, look! It’s that Candy Manor Peppermint Hot Chocolate I made last year. The one topped with a big dollop of peppermint-infused whipped cream that I would eat with a spoon if no one was looking.

And if the hot chocolate is here, you know what else is.

Snow!

I know, some of you are probably sick of the stuff (say, the population of Wisconsin), but here in Nashville, a Snow Day means big fun. Rushing outside to have snowball fights. Rushing inside to get cozy and warm. Making twiggy, grassy snowmen with the half-inch of snow on the ground. Yes!

It also means Snow Day food. Hot chocolate, breakfasts with lots of cinnamon, snacks, soups, and baked pasta. Here are some of my favorite Snow Day foods. You probably have the ingredients for most of them right now.

Quick Cinnamon Biscuits. Oh, yes. You get the cinnamon roll experience without having to deal with yeast or wait around for hours. Instant gratification! We love it!

My mom’s Monkey Bread. Think Caligula meets canned biscuits. Biscuits bathed in butter, rolled in cinnamon sugar, and baked until they’re crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside. It’s ridiculous and ridiculously good.

Caramel Peanut Popcorn, the Official Snack of Indoor Snuggling. Crunch away while you’re watching Christmas movies, playing games or finishing your online Christmas shopping. (This is also a fun snack to take to holiday parties. If you don’t have time to make paper cones, use some dollar-store party hats!)

Who doesn’t love a Snow-Day Skillet Cookie? Chocolate chip cookie dough pressed into a cast-iron skillet and baked until it’s crisp around the edges and ooey-gooey in the middle. Always a good idea.

Wouldn’t this also be a great day for making Sugar Cookies? These get puffy, so your shapes don’t stay boringly perfect. They take on personalities of their own. Sweet and buttery. No frostings or glazes required.

If you love gooey chocolaty things, you need Hot Fudge Pudding Cake in your life. Seriously, it couldn’t be easier. Just stir it, bake it, and eat it.

I should say here that Snow Days aren’t about sugar comas. You’ve got to have some real food.

For most people, that means chili.

I love Beef, Bean and Corn Chili, because you can make a huge pot in about 30 minutes and feel good about it, since the secret ingredient is … V-8® juice! The chili doesn’t taste like V-8®, but it benefits from all of the spices that are already mixed and mellowed in the juice. Plus, you’re getting extra vegetable servings from your chili. Our secret.

I’m also a huge fan of Light Loaded Potato Soup. A big bowl of warm creamy potato goodness topped with bacon, cheddar and sliced green onions. Packed with flavor but totally guilt-free. This can be our secret, too.

But if you don’t mind a little guilt, baked pasta is where it’s at. You can make it by combining your favorite pasta and sauce in a baking dish, adding a few handfuls of cheese, and baking it at 400 degrees F for about 30 minutes. My favorite variation is this Baked Ziti with Italian Sausage. Melted cheese. Spicy sausage. Pasta you could sink into and take a bath in. A dirty pasta bath.

Mmm, Instant Tamale Pie. Beans. Corn. Cheddar. Salsa. If you can’t get your hands on any polenta, make some cheese grits, pour them into a greased 9 by 13-inch baking dish, and chill them for about an hour. Then use a biscuit cutter to cut the grits into rounds. Or just cut them into squares and toss them in the skillet.

Vegetarians might be on to something.

How do you end a Snow Day?

With something warm. And preferably boozy. Like a Southern Comfort Barn Burner. Warm apple cider, SoCo, a cinnamon stick and a lemon peel. Because nothing counterbalances V-8® like Southern Comfort.

We strive for harmony.

So, let’s get ready for your next Snow Day with a “Something To Keep You Warm” Giveaway!

The Prize:

Daybreak Farms, a gourmet marshmallow shop, and Sugarbaker’s Cookie Co., are offering one lucky winner a $75 gift pack that includes:

•6 bags of gourmet marshmallows (one of each of the following flavors: Madagascar Vanilla Bean, Chocolate-Covered Cherry, Chocolate Overload, Marbled Mint, Mexican Hot Chocolate and Rocky Road) from Daybreak Farms

•6 snowflake cookies from Sugarbaker’s Cookie Co.

•6 cranberry-oatmeal dunkers

•6 Bellagio Gourmet Hot Cocoa mixes (two of each of the following flavors: Caramel Praline, Chocolate Truffle and White Chocolate)

To Enter:

Visit Daybreak Farms’ menu of marshmallows, and name your favorite flavor in the Comments section of this post!

Karen Day, of Daybreak, sent me several bags of their gourmet marshmallows, and they’re as good as they look! Karen’s husband (and Daybreak Farms partner) Everette is an executive chef, and many of the marshmallows are created using organic ingredients. Most are gluten-free, and the ones I received were also corn syrup-free. Gingerbread? Yes. Mexican Hot Chocolate? Oh, baby. 

Here are the rules:

1. One entry per person.

2. Enter by 10 a.m. CST on Monday, Dec. 20. The winner will be announced on Tuesday, Dec. 21 – the first official day of winter!

3. The winner will be chosen randomly using Random.org.

Good luck, and stay warm!

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196 thoughts on “12 Snow Day Recipes + “Something To Keep You Warm” Giveaway!”

  3. I want to make my own marshmallows over the holidays, but the Sea Turtle marshmallows could provide good inspiration (and a nice sugar high!)

    Thanks for the recipes and the contest!

  5. Mmmm, Cranberry Orange is by far the best flavour!
    And I can't wait to greet my husband at the door with some of that hot fudge pudding cake. Mmm, mmm!!

  11. dude, toss up: spiced apple cider or the madagascar vanilla bean marshies. they sound SO good!!

    jpinnick86 AT gmail DOT com

  13. I have to pick just one? Can't do it! Real Madagascar Vanilla Bean… Mexican "Hot" Chocolate… Cookies & Cream…

    The real answer is almost all of them!

  18. I'm a very Vanilla person, so mine would be the Maagascar Vanilla bean! The giveaway sounds wonderful…Happy Holidays :)

  19. Oh god, what flavor *don't* I want? I'm leaning towards Peanut Butter Bliss, but the Cookies & Cream also looks fabulous!

  26. Cinnamon, Ginger, Mexican "hot" chocolate, toasted coconut, Madagascar vanilla bean…Man, so many amazing choices.

  33. Since I have recently had to give up coffee and replaced it with hot cocoa, this is the perfect time in my lift for fancy marshmallows. They all sound amazing, but I want the Mexican Hot Chocolate ones the most!

  35. WOW! There were so many great ones to choose from!! It was hard to pick just one! But I guess to start it would be the Chocolate mint! {Then the chocolate bliss…Oh! Wait The turtles..Ummmm!….}

  41. Definitely the peanut butter bliss…I can just imagine those dropped into a cup of cocoa, or melted on a smore…look out, Reese's!

  42. Those are some good looking 'shmallows, but I think that the classic Madagascar Vanilla Bean is where I would START…

  44. hmmmm, not ever having the pleasure of tasting any of these, and thinking they are all very good, I believe I would have to go with the Mexican "Hot" Chocolate. I am definitely a fan of spiced chocolate.

  56. OH MY GOODNESS!!! I have never seen so many wonderful looking marshmallows!!!
    Chocolate Overload, chocolate mint, cookies and cream, Red Hot cinnamon….I'd like a truck full please!! YUMMY!! Thanks for the FANTASTIC giveaway, love your blog.

    Almost forgot since you made me go look at all of those wonderful marshmallow…..Can I spend the weekend with you???!! OH, MY!! The post today looks so good!!

    Thanks for the efforts that goes into the blog….

  63. Southern Pecan Pie all the way! Being a southerner, no holiday dinner is complete without this traditional dessert! I can't even imagine how could it would be in marshmallow form!

  64. Oh my, how would I choose one favorite? With the gloomy winter days Mexican Mochas are my go to drink so I'll pick Mexican Chocolate!

  66. How do you pick just one? Can I just say "not the cappuccino?" If I really had to pick, probably the apple spice because they are so unique. And what a great list of snow day foods! I can;t believe you got snow before I did here in New Hampshire! I think New England might be broken this year…

  73. They are almost impossible to choose from! All look amazing but… I'll pick the cookies n' cream variety!

  90. ooh! They all sound fabulous, but for some reason the toasted coconut is particularly appealing. It seems like the coconut would offset the sweetness a little bit. This is an awesome giveaway, by the way!

  91. I would have to pick the Real Madagascar Vanilla Bean although I was close to picking the Chocolate Mint as well.

  94. I am all about chocolate and cherries, so my favorite would be the chocolate covered marshmallows. And now I want baked pasta! Wow that sounds good right now… even if it hasn't snowed in my part of AZ for 3 years now.

  98. I sure do miss snow days since moving to California! I think we should get "heat days" during the summer instead.

    I would definitely love to try the spiced apple cider marshmallows!

  101. I honestly don't like marshmallows but my experience is with the white puffs in the bag at the market. Those look yummy! Especially the souther pecan pie ones. :)

  125. Holy smokes! Wanted to do chocolate when I first saw the contest, but am intrigued by the cranberry orange! Yummy!

  126. Oooh… I was all about the red hot cinnamon, but then I saw the turtles. They all look so wonderful though. I'd be happy to try any.

  134. Toasted Coconut look and sound AWESOME!! Thank you for the giveaway. Marshmallows are my uncles favorite and this would make for the best Christmas present!!

  137. Peanut Butter Swirl, Please!!! PS – I made the Snow Day Skillet cookie last year, during one of our PA Nor'easters…. yum!!!

  143. That tamale pie recipe has become a weekly family staple at my house. I'd love your blog forever just for that–but you keep on giving the goodness.

    All those marshmallow flavors look wonderful, but I'm a real sucker for any chocolate/cinnamon/cayenne flavor blend, so I'd go with the Mexican "Hot" Chocolate.

    On that note–the new place in Nashville, Hot and Cold, has a similar ice cream flavor, Queen City Chocolate. If I don't win the marshmallows, I'll comfort myself there I guess!

    1. Hey Cara! Thanks for checking out my website, I wanted to let you know that they are available locally, as well as on my website. You said you were not far from Gastonia, where are you from? Karen Day, Daybreak Farms

  147. apple cider? cinnamon? pecan pie? these are all extremely unique and appealing flavors, and i'm more than a little excited! great giveaway!

  148. Holy moley. Spiced apple cider ON warm apple cider spiked with Snap liquor? I've just invented myself a new fantasy drink. The vanilla bean would also be awesome….

    Wonder if I'm related to Karen? My last name is Day too!

    1. We may not be related, but we certainly think alike! Warm apple cider and a Spiced Apple Cider marshmallow….definately awesome.

  152. Oh man, this is HARD. As I scrolled down the page, I kept changing my mind about the best flavor. I think I'm going with Chocolate Mint.

    Oh and they're made in North Carolina? BONUS!

  158. My son would love the Madagascar real vanilla marshmallows. He is crazy for them and he might be getting some homemade ones for Christmas.

  159. Southern Pecan Pie "mallows all the way. Isn't it crazy that until I started blogging I thought I didn't like nuts in desserts or as dessert?! Thanks goodness I saw the light before it was too late! :)
    ~ingrid

  162. oh gosh….. I almost can't pick one flavor. I'd have to order several. I want all of them. Ha Ha. But, I guess if I had to choose one, I'd go with classic vanilla. Thanks for allerting us to these. They look wonderful!

  172. Oh… Gingerbread marshmallows…. my mind is whirring. How can I try to make these on my own? Ohhh, I Think I feel an order coming on…..

  178. Holy. Cow. Those sound SO yummy! I'm traditionally a vanilla fan, but the I Want S'more would be worth branching out into.

    Thanks for the chance to win!

    –Liza

    ejm6x (at) yahoo (dot) com

  179. Argh! So hard to choose! Either cookies and cream, Mexican hot chocolate, or s'mores. I'd have to do eeny-meeny or something to figure out which one to get if I could only get one… ;)

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