All-Time Top 10: Xmas Treats

So it seems all my children do is ask for treats. Part of the problem with this time of year is that it seems like a very long session of treat giving which essentially lasts from mid-October. There is literally a celebratory occasion every couple of weeks and that includes my three daughters birthdays, classmates birthdays, Halloween, little Xmas, big Xmas, work Xmas parties, school Xmas parties, Montessori Xmas parties and the little known celebration of St. Martins Day. It just doesn’t end.

Now what happens is my daughters think it is ok to ask for a lollipop just after they have eaten their sugary cereal. A lollipop for breakfast? Has the world gone bananas? I think somehow this over exposure to one celebration after another has completely desensitized them to the idea of what a treat is by definition. Without being able to quote the dictionary definition of the word ‘treat’ right now I would suggest that there should be an element of hard work and patient waiting and perhaps even praying so you might get that reward but no. I need a Chupa Chup to stir the left over milk in the bottom of my breakfast bowl. I am greatly concerned that we have been sucked in to what the Joneses are doing instead of doing what we think we should be doing. But hey that’s my problem, not yours.

C’mon Cadbury, get it right! Down with the stragglers!

This post really has turned into a rant. However there is still time to save it. The great thing about Christmas is that for a couple of days a year almost without exception we can allow ourselves to treat others in exorbitant fashion and be treated the same way in return. We should be allowed this time. Not everyone is in a position to spoil their kids rotten and neither should those who are, want to. However at this time of year, if you can, let the season take over and treat the ones you love. With that in mind here are my All-Time Top 10 Xmas treats.

10. Mince Pies – I know, I know. What a terrible start. There are many who don’t like these at all but I am not one. My grandparents made good mince pies. In New Zealand the Mince and Cheese pie would feature higher on the Christmas treats list but then that is something completely different. Whether it was the dusting of icing sugar, the pastry or the filling, they were perfectly balanced when finished with a cup of tea.

9. Terry’s Chocolate Orange – Just really moreish and for some reason people only seem to buy them at Christmas.

8. Rum Balls – Probably the first time I tried alcohol. I started eating them as soon as I was tall enough to reach the dinner table.

7. Trifle – So all the beer and wine has been drunk and all the chocolate eaten. There is some rather empty cupboards with tins of fruit, a box of custard, some two day old sponges…oh and look, aunty left half a bottle of sherry.

6. Biscuit Selection – I grew up with Griffins but then moved to this hemisphere and discovered Fox’s – Nice Bis-quits!

5. Pavlova – A distinctly New Zealand Xmas tradition. My aunties are awesome at this dessert. One year three of them made them for the family do…it was all a bit competitive but I was grateful they did.

4. Chocolate Boxes – There are too many varieties to choose from but it often comes down to Roses v Celebrations v Heroes. All good but I would probably go with….actually I literally can’t decide. There are a few stragglers that are left in the bottom of the box. These are the least palatable varieties and Cadbury should know by now which ones they are and just do away with them. Anyway the trick is to get in early when a box is opened.

3. Christmas Pudding and Custard – I’m not sure if I’ve ever finished a bowl of this. Once a Christmas pudding is released from the incarceration of its bowl it has the ability to grow and grow like some edible expanding foam. You will want to sleep after this.

2. Scorched Almonds – Every year without fail someone (possibly Santa) would get me a box of scorched almonds for Christmas. These are simply chocolate covered roasted almonds but they are a tradition – can’t really get them in this hemisphere. Well if I could they probably wouldn’t taste the same feel free to send me a box.

1. Mulled Wine (or Gluhwein in Germany) – After mentioning all these sugary treats there is only one thing for it. Time for some hot spiced Dornfelder and a lie down.