Bow Tie and Ties o’ the Day are here to remind you that celebrating Christmas isn’t all about presents and Christmas dinner. It’ about the goodies. And I mean real treats– not any of that bite-size leftover Halloween candy.
No, I mean all-things peppermint. I mean all things sugar cookies with too much frosting. I mean candy that is so rich with sugar, cream, chocolate and other not-healthy ingredients that it will cause you to lapse into a richness coma and give you a tummy ache– because you won’t be able to consume that stuff moderately. You will pig out, and then happily pay for it later. Xmas goodies are THAT kind of candy.
It makes me– and many, many, many others– selfishly sad that Mom has hung up her cooking pans and spoons, especially during the holidays. Part of my sadness is definitely about missing out on all the treats, but my overwhelming sadness is that Mom had such fun cooking treats for every person she knew or didn’t know. She doesn’t have that particular joy anymore.
Although Mom has a great attitude about not cooking Christmas treats anymore, she misses being in the midst of the whole process– which she would usually start around late-September. And she’d begin handing out bags/plates of the delicious stuff almost the day after she began. Mom did not make goodies and store them until December. No, she just cooked the stuff and gave it out from September through February. I guess the holiday season did not last long enough for Mom, so she just made it longer. Sounds like Mom to me.
I’m writing some scratch-and-sniff here for you. I guess it’s really more of a read-and-smell-and-taste thing. Read these words and use your memories to smell and taste the word. If you ever had the privilege to eat even one of Mom’s Christmas concoctions, I know you have never forgotten it. Here goes:
TOFFEE, CARAMELS, PINOCHE, FUDGE, FROSTED SUGAR SANTA CLAUS COOKIES, SUGARED WALNUTS, CARAMEL MARSHMALLOW POPCORN, BAKED POPCORN, and even ETC. Even Mom’s et cetera was incredible. See, those words themselves made your saliva glands pirouette and leap.
BTW No one will ever produce close copies of Mom’s candy. Despite having two kitchen drawers and a number of scrap books full of recipes, Mom did not cook from recipes. She only seldomly took little hints from recipes. For her yummy treats especially, if you wanted a recipe for what you liked, she couldn’t give you an exact one. She would, however, invite you to come watch her as she cooked it. You could take as many notes as you wanted, but it never tasted the same as Mom’s.
FYI I have found one commercial product that bears a similar taste to Mom’s baked popcorn. It’s the Werther’s Original Caramel Popcorn. Don’t get your hopes up too high, but if it reminded my taste buds of Mom’s baked popcorn, that means it probably tastes a smidgen like it .
HOLIDAY TIE TALLY: 15 Bow ties. 34 Neckties.