why can't it be christmas every day???

so today . . . starbucks has played another evil holiday trick on me.

i have this love/hate relationship with starbucks--i love their peppermint white chocolate mocha drink. i hate that it is loaded with sugar and fat (because, of course, i also have to have whipped cream on top!) i hate that they call a small drink "tall" and charge more than a mcdonald's happy meal for it. but most of all, i hate that they only serve it at christmas time.

starbucks is not the only one who is guilty of this seasonal torment. just ask my mom. she has become somewhat addicted to dark chocolate peppermint jojo's--trader joe's entry into the "let's torture america with delicious goodies they can only have for one month out of the year" club. last year before we made the trip north, she called me to see if our trader joe's had any more in stock--because her trader joe's was completely out, and christmas was only two weeks away! (i kind of think her trader joe's was out, because she had already bought so many!) being the good daughter that i am, i sent rollie to trader joe's for dark chocolate peppermint jojo's, and enabled her addiction :)

and we can't have a discussion about limited holiday treats without including walmart and their peppermint sticks...

but today, i was inadvertently suckered into another seasonal food, thanks to one of my students.

it is not uncommon for at least one of my students to bring me a starbucks gift--either a gift card or a cup or a specially packaged treat--and this year was no exception. i opened a gift bag to find six biscotti sticks and a bag of christmas blend coffee from starbucks. "hmmm," i thought, "here is a gift that i will be sharing with someone, since i don't drink coffee and i don't eat biscotti." but as the days wore on, there came a day when i needed a snack. and all i could find was that gift box. i realized i was just desperate enough to give the biscotti a try...

... yes, a try! because i have never eaten biscotti before. it was not a food that even remotely appealed to me. it looks hard and dry and tasteless, like if i tried to eat it i would find myself covered in biscotti crumbs and craving a sip of coffee. which i don't drink. but apparently when i have the munchies, i will try anything.

each biscotti was individually wrapped. i took one out, opened it up, and took a bite, expecting the flavor of sawdust. instead, my tastebuds said, "what is this and why haven't we tasted it before?!?!?" it was delicious! it was crunchy, but also light and airy. did i mention how delicious it was?!? i looked at the packaging and saw that i was eating gingerbread macadamia nut biscotti. i wanted to eat another one, but i only had six and i was sure they were at least 500 calories each--yes, they were that good--so i was going to wait...

...and then i made a big mistake. i actually looked at the calorie count and found that one biscotti was only 100 calories! so i ate two more. i figured those were sort of "free," since i thought the first one was 500 calories.

and now, i have no more.
i know it is january and the red cups are gone, but i may have to cross over into enemy starbucks territory soon just to see if there are any gingerbread macadamia nut biscotti left in their big glass jar. because i didn't know how much i liked them until now, which means i didn't get a chance to stockpile any. you know, for a rainy day... and so now it is all i can think about... gingerbread macadamia nut biscotti... manna from heaven... how long until christmas????

curses, evil marketing people! you win again!!