Snow. Like it or not, February has been our month for snow. We have had more than our share this week alone - and on an AAPS break week for school kids, too - making it necessary to slow down, stay inside and take some comfort.

My family has been in a sort of high-hibernation mode for most of February already. It made for good training for this mid-winter break week and the massive, white blanket brought down on Ann Arbor.

When snow like this hits the city, our life in Pittsfield Village gets a little extra interesting. Driving through The Village in south-east Ann Arbor, you will notice there are no garages or parking lots here. Condo-owners park on the street in front of their units. And when a foot or more of snow arrives all at once, like it did this week, that can literally stop you in your tracks — and in your parking spot — for a day or two.

For my family, it meant we didn't move on Monday. We were snowed — and snowplowed — in. No big deal. A stocked fridge and pantry, some $5 DVDs from Target and an afternoon of Olympic coverage from Vancouver kept us well entertained. Hey, we are Canadians living in the US. We have two national teams we can root for and have been doing just that all week.

Unfortunately, for some of my neighbors, all this snow piling up has meant they are still socked in. We will have to see if we can get this poor soul shoveled out before long.

The contractor who clears our streets has a challenging assignment, plowing the winding, Village connectors dotted with parked cars after just a few inches of snow fall. When the snow comes down fast, the challenges start piling up even faster. Every winter, one or two residents end up drift-bound like this for a while. But the streets need to be cleared. And all of our cars need to be shoveled out - eventually.

Being healthy and able-bodied, this poses no serious problem for me. After nine Michigan winters in the Village, I am used to it. It comes with the territory.

Although I don't have to personally do the snow removal for our walkways and sidewalks — it is handled by the Condo/Co-op Association and its contractor, and paid for through our association dues — we all must shovel out our cars like the rest of Ann Arbor after the plow comes by. I try to clear my usual spot in front of my place. And as a veteran of many more — and many much more severe — Canadian winters, I know that this vigorous winter activity often requires a little extra energy.

Fortunately, this is something I have been spending much of February preparing for. I personally have been calorie-loading for just such a whiteout as this.

This Valentine's Day, I made — and consumed — tiramisu. I have a great recipe for this Italian "pick-me-up" classic, a calorie-rich treat for the ladies in our house. Because of the call for raw, beaten eggs and liqueur in the recipe, however, I opted to try something different, something new.

I picked up two boxes of ladyfinger biscuits from Whole Foods (their 365 variety had a similar recipe to this one on the back of the box) which could be done without using either of these ingredients. Instead of the liqueur, I used a combination of vanilla and decaf espresso, and it calls for no raw eggs at all. (You can find the ladyfinger biscuits in their cookie aisle and the mascarpone is in their cheese case.)

Feeding this stuff to my kids and their friends, this seemed a superior option,— and I went for it, using strong, decaffeinated coffee to keep it from pumping everybody up too much.

The dessert was the crowning glory for my daughter's Valentine's Day Italian dinner with friends. We made some of her favorites — Caesar salad, Italian egg-drop soup and meat lasagna — for her gang of friends and our family that Sunday night.

Fortunately, this new recipe was a hit with all the consumers, mothers and daughters alike. For this particular mother, it was perhaps a little too much of a hit. With its thick layer of whipped cream and flavored mascarpone, it was as perfect as the blanket of snow outside the window tonight.

Our Valentine's dinner, along with the accompanying chocolates, helped add extra insulation to some of us who decided to bulk up this month. These treats — the homemade donuts, cookies, and breads I've been making and consuming non-stop all February — have been providing the extra calories needed to get out there and get the job done. It's been necessary for my winter survival.

And extra comfort for these glowing, snowy evenings of intense, Olympic-caliber hibernation. Not a bad way to spend the month of February.

Ann Farnham is a mother of two, community volunteer, and personal organizer with a love of living large and spending little. Follow her at Ann of Ann Arbor.