My dad has always said that in Minneapolis, you can never have too many coats. There’s a spring coat and a rain coat for summer. A coat for the early fall and one for when it starts getting chilly but it isn’t that cold. A coat for outdoor sports and a puffy vest that takes you from season to season (or in the case of my husband: the entire year).

Right now we are smack in the middle of full-length-down-parka-coat season. The driving may be slow and schools may be delayed but sitting in what feels like a giant snow globe is quite lovely (especially when half your office stayed home so you have the place to yourself).

This cake makes me think of snow. This cake also makes me think of the horrible taste my daughter has in cake flavors: she wanted chocolate cake with chocolate chips, marshmallows…and peaches.

I slipped in tiny chopped up peaches in the center of the cake so that I could say I both honored her request and also my dignity. Of course she hardly noticed them because she at three bites of the gigantic slice and threw the rest away.