Winter blues, but not the foot-stompin', floor-shakin', eardrum-breakin' kind.

Let me preface this post by saying that I love winter. Really, I do! Although the winters in Montréal are intensely cold, windy, snowy, and icy, I find the winter weather refreshing rather than, as many people seem to find it, suffocating. Most days, I am grateful for the cold, because when summer comes along I find the heat and humidity make me feel tired and sluggish. Sometimes, however, winter can really just get you down. Maybe you're prone to Seasonal Affective Disorder, like some of my dear friends. Maybe you're clumsy and prone to slipping on the ice and bruising your knees, like me.

Maybe, just maybe, you wake up at 6 AM to finish your isorhythmic tenor for your Analysis of Early Music class, only to have a massive nosebleed (AGAIN, because the dry weather has been giving you major nosebleeds that last half an hour every couple of days all week), and then when blood stops pouring out of your various facial orifices (because perhaps you keep accidentally swallowing it, choking, and coughing it up), maybe you get into the shower only to realize that your hot water has decided not to cooperate so you get to take an awesome cold shower in your freezing bathroom.

No, I'm not complaining. NOT AT ALL.

My point is, sometimes even I need a little cheering up when it's freezing outside and I'm all bruised and bleeding. Here's a great comfort-food meal that kept me and my sister warm one cold February night:

"Chicken" pot pie pockets with roasted brussel sprouts

These "Chicken" pot pie pockets were the perfect meal on a cold night. Crispy little pockets of dough filled with steaming hot goodness... Mmmmm. All I did was adapt the samosa dough recipe from VWAV, omitting the turmeric and using whole wheat instead of all-purpose flour. Then I made a pot pie filling with all the usual suspects: onions, carrots, celery, potato, seitan, veggie stock (I used the broth from the seitan, which I had made the night before), thyme, sage, and cayenne. At the end I added some soy milk and flour to make it nice and creamy. Paired with crispy roasted brussel sprouts, it was a hearty and delicious meal!

But when you really need a taste of warmth and happiness, you've got to try these cookies! I'm really proud of these; they are everything I love in a cookie, and I came up with them myself! Not too sweet, but full of spicy, cake-y, chewy, goodness, with a hint of lemon to bring a little sunshine into your day! These cookies seem to remind people of Christmas, which, in the depths of February with no end to winter in sight (not here in Canada, anyway!), can't be called a bad thing!

Featuring my sister's hand... Also, I have MAD photo skillz. Not.

Molasses Oatmeal Cookies

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup oatmeal (I actually used barley flakes, which made the cookies super chewy and yummy!)
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup soy milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp lemon zest

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix together the dry ingredients (up to the allspice). In a separate bowl, mix together wet ingredients. Combine and mix well. Drop heaping tablespoons full of dough onto a lightly oiled cookie sheet. Bake 10 minutes, let cool for 5 minutes on the sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack.

Enjoy!

Tiny bananas also make me happy