As October continues to rush by and the stores start getting all glitzed up with Christmas decorations, I am starting to get a bit....well,.....apprehensive about how to handle the foods of the holiday season.
In the past I have been the signature 'sweets' maker at Christmas time. There are about 5 specialties: butter cream caramels, divinity (3 flavors: peppermint, English walnut and french vanilla, standard fudge with and without nuts, peanut brittle, and English toffee and a few other easy batch things like coconut haystacks, puppy chow mix,and of course the 3 different cookies: standard Amish style sugar cookies, old fashion lace cookies and gingersnaps that I make and package up as my gifts.
They get shipped worldwide. Last year I had tins going to Anchorage, Dallas, Detroit,Key West, Santiago Chile and Dubai (Thank goodness that package would go to Bismark now!) etc, as well as more local friends.
So many of these friends (whom are like my extended family) are not aware of the more recent changes with my life. I never thought about it before surgery....I was concentrating on just getting myself healthy. I know that being the sweets maker has always brought me joy and I love the work and aromas . I have always started the craziness about 2 days after Thanksgiving. So my timeline is creeping up on me....
but right now, the idea is NOT setting with me! I am still have sensitivities to various smells, I still get situational scent based nauseousness and I know I 'tested' way too many sweets while creating in the past.
So thoughts from everyone?.....should I send out non-food gifts? Scale back to just a few items? I can't get my head around testing 'healthy' candy recipes. Suck it up and do what I have always done? (there are 2 cousins that have gotten these tins since I learned from our shared grandmother when I was 16, ....hmmm I am 44 now.. one tin to Oceanside, CA and the other to St Louis)
I know I probably should have put some thought into this before....and I am just looking for some advice. I know ultimately I have to decide for myself, but some input is helpful.
Along the same lines, how are you all planning on handling the parties, and the big dinners? Are you cooking all the holiday traditions of your family?
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