treats!

I have been spending a fair amount of time recently planning for my holiday baking. Every year I bake a bunch of goodies and use those to fill treat "baskets" for the girls' auxiliary teachers (math teach, social studies, art, PE, spanish, and the principal are all on the list). ANd then, if you've been reading a while, you know I like to knit something for the teachers.

This year one of my daughters has a male teacher, which means lacy scarf is out, but warm scarf remains a possibility. The other daughter has a very hip young teacher, and I have been racking my brain for some hip knit scarf. I have not made any progress with this, and had resigned myself to gift cards and maybe making each of them an ipad holder (since the school has provided ipads to the teachers and students ). You know though how sometimes something just comes along that blows all your plans out of the water in a totally cool way? Well that happened today when the girls each brought home a letter from their teachers, suggesting that in lieu of holiday gifts, they'd like to suggest a donation to a charity.

Ok not just any charity. Their classes have all been reading A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park, which tells two stories, one of Salva in 1985 and Nya, in 2008. Both stories highlight the need for safe secure drinking water in a region often fraught with conflicts, sometimes over this very water. It is a really good book, and if you have never read it, I would encourage you to do so. Anyway Salva is a real person, who after escaping Sudan (sorry spoiler!) started a foundation to dig wells in South SudanWater for South Sudan is that charity, and the one the teachers would like to encourage. So even though there must have been a bunch of dust hitting us, as the kids told me this, I managed to choke out that yes, indeed we could do this. Knitting problem solved!

However, both girls were all sad about not giving teachers something. "Can we still bake?" they both asked. Oh yeah we can. If we didn't what would I eat all through December? This time, I think I'll make a more sizable portion for each of their teachers.

So now, I am concentrating on that list. So far, I have:
Hard candy in either a variety of fruit or peppermint. Or maybe fruit and peppermint, I have no idea.
Peppermint Marshmallows I made these last year and by the end, I was hoarding them.
Sea Salt carmels yes, this recipe was in Oprah magazine. I don't care. I made these last year and they didn't set so I ate them all myself to save anyone from eating them. They were particularly good on a trefoil cookie, covered in one melted dove dark chocolate. I think I need to cook them a little more this year
Truffles. Last year I wasn't happy with how they turned out. This year, I may dip them in milk chocolate. I'll try to update with this recipe and the recipe for the next item
Spiced Pecans. The recipe is from my husband's grandma, and I was sure I had shared it before, but I can't find it. Anyway, I love these, I have a batch in the freezer now because oatmeal tastes oh so good with them.

When I think about all these things, they are all good but the tastes don't really form any sort of theme. This, I tell you, bothers me. It really does because it feels like what it truly is, which is--here is a bunch of stuff I love making and eating--Merry Christmas! I suppose I shouldn't let that bother me, no one has ever said--yuck these don't have a theme. I couldn't get a hold of any trefoils this year either. Maybe I'll make a shortbread if the caramels don't come out again. Sound be a fun December.