Look at how happy this woman is, to my left. Why do you think she’s so happy? Her perfect gray hair? Her soft gloves? The fact that she has inherited wealth, I assume? No. She’s happy because she put a candy cane in her coffee, which is a delicious treat anyone can enjoy — even if you aren’t from old money.
We are already more than halfway through the December holiday season, exceedingly close to the darkness of non-holiday winter. It is up to us, now, to make every moment of our day a festive delight. The easiest way to do this in the morning is to (after you’ve turned on your various holiday lights, pressed play on a Netflix yule log, and lit either your holiday incense or candle) stick a candy cane into your coffee.
If you’re wondering whether that even works, or if you should instead just get a candy cane–flavored creamer or K-cup, I’ll tell you that you can do those things, but also, yes, the candy cane works. You can trust me. And you can buy candy canes at: the grocery store, the drug store, online grocery stores, or candywarehouse.com.
This morning, however, I attempted a candy cane maneuver that did not work. I have no problem admitting it. I’m imperfect, as we all are, save for (of course) Santa. I broke up a candy cane and put it into my Mr. Coffee’s coffee filter, along with my standard amount of coffee grounds. I thought this would spread the candy cane taste evenly throughout the batch of coffee. Instead it did: nothing. I did not taste candy cane. I tasted coffee. Then, in my second cup, there were little candy cane pieces that somehow did not dissolve. Please learn from my error.
What you do is, you put the candy cane in the cup. It’ll dissolve pretty quickly, and it’ll look festive hanging there. Then when the skeleton body is gone, you throw in the candy cane hook head.
I’m begging you: Put a candy cane in your coffee. Before it’s too late!
1 cup of coffee prepared the way you like
1 candy cane
Stir the cane throughout until only its hook remains.
Then, drop in the hook.