Candy Cane Christmas

I don't know why, but I can tell it is going to be a Candy Cane Christmas! They are so simple and yet festive - almost whimsical. They make wonderful decorations for the tree and packages, and I find myself munching on them with great regularity.  They taste so good!

While the peppermint flavor of candy canes is not a popular one with small kids, I've always had a fondness for them. My sister Rosa's birthday is December 26th, and somewhere along the way Mom would make Rosa a white cake with fluffy, white frosting and chopped up pieces of candy cane on it. It set her special day apart from Christmas and the fruit cakes, applesauce cake and other traditional holiday treats.

Dolly Parton wrote a song called "Hard Candy Christmas" a number of years ago. Some people might not have known what she was referring to, but I sure did.  Most years my Mom would have enough sugar to prepare luscious confections - seafoam candy, chocolate and peanut butter fudge, and peanut butter pinwheels that we called Martha Washington for some reason. When money was scarce, though, so were confections. The free Christmas stockings we received in our town had Brach's hard candies in them - crimp ribbons, raspberry drops, orange or peppermint disks - some filled and some not. A six-year-old's sweet tooth must be satisfied, and the hard candies in our stockings, along with an orange, apple, Cracker Jack and some toys, went a long way in doing so.

So while you're out and about this holiday season, pop that candy cane you got when donating or standing in line for Santa, in your mouth and let your tongue experience just a little bit of Christmas Cheer. Then smile as the memories flood back in from more simple (and perhaps festive) Christmases past.