Testing, testing ...

It's winter here, of course, and we went camping — in our backyard. (Downtown St. John's. Ha.)

Chose the backyard because we were testing some new gear. A spiffy 4-season tent and, just for me, a sleeping bag. The bag is down-filled, rated to -‍20°C (that's -‍4°F. Brr!) and super snuggly.

We've had a reasonable amount of snowfall lately and it has hung around, the first real chance to enjoy the snow all season. So a great time to trial our new stuff. We're planning to use it farther afield over the next month or two, so being confident about the gear is important.

Anyway, on to the food. Even though I was camped only fifteen paces from my house, I brought along a few snacks.

In part, my stash was simply designed to up the enjoyment factor — nothing says "cozy" like a bedtime munchie-munch. But there was a more practical purpose behind the snacks, as well.

The body needs energy for generating heat (among other things). And you get this energy from food. So when out in the elements, it makes sense to gobble down a pre-bedtime snack and to have extras handy in the event you awake less-than-toasty in the middle of the night.

Here's what I brought:

• peanuts (dry-roasted)
• date square (homemade)
• plus a thermos of fennel tea.

Notice that my snacks contained a high fat-count. Fats are ideal for when you're braving cold temperatures, because fats are relatively slow to digest. That means their energy benefit is played out over a relatively long period (vs. used up all in a burst, as calories from simple carbohyrates tend to be).

But besides all that, these snacks were just yummy. Comforting, yummy and fun.

And what other rationale does one need?