Got peppermint?

Finished up at the office? Check. Bought last-minute gift? Check. Got haircut? Check. Posted on my blog? Uh oh! And so, now that all is calm (if not so bright) at my house, I wanted to share some quick ideas that have helped me use up all that peppermint that arrives each Christmas. Here, you see a piece of peppermint waiting in a teacup for the addition of some black tea (PG Tips, actually) and then melting into the tea. I'd forgotten how strong PG Tips is, so I actually added another piece of peppermint and enjoyed quite a flavorful cup of tea.

Another last-minute idea for peppermints: Last year, I baked a "cake mix" vanilla cake in one of those new silicone Christmas-tree shaped pans, frosted it with store-bought white icing, and "decorated" this sweet tree with peppermints I pulsed in the food processor. Not only was this super quick and easy, but a day or so later the peppermints sort of melted into the icing and it was quite yummy, far better than I expected an out-of-the-box cake to be.

Finally, I haven't tried this yet, but I wanted to share a tip I saw in the Winter '07 issue of Life:Beautiful magazine. They suggest serving iced green tea with peppermint candy canes hanging on the side of the glass. Sounds pretty good, huh? (But what I really want is that Spiced Apple at right. Wow!)