The Christmas Candy Book by Lou Seibert Pappas

What happened to my energy? It wasn't that many Christmases ago that I put together homemade Christmas candy boxes for all my friends. Not only did I spend two days in the kitchen making chocolate clusters, nutty nougats, candied citrus, and several other goodies, but I also drove around town looking for small candy boxes, wired ribbon, and paper candy cups. It was that year that I discovered the most incredible store in Berkeley called Spun Sugar, selling all things dedicated to the art of making candy and edible decorations.

It was also a Christmas not long before that crazy December that I had spent two days baking several different kinds of cookies. I purchased snowflake dinner plates from Crate & Barrel and gave each friend a plate of cookies wrapped in cellophane (which, again, is not easy to find these days).

What happened to me? I can't even muster up the energy anymore to send Christmas cards, much less run all over town looking for ingredients for that special recipe or a particular type of box. Recently, the approach of Christmas makes me feel tired just thinking about it. I wish I still had the enthusiasm to make even a single one of the incredible-looking treats in my Christmas Candy Book.

Instead, I'll just browse through and look at the full color photographs and dream about someday tackling a recipe or two. Maybe when I have kids I'll make the Macadamia Chocolate Crunch, Maple Pecan Caramels, or Apricot-Almond Chocolate Clusters. Or maybe when I have kids I'll be even more tired.

The Christmas Candy Book by Lou Seibert Pappas

Tags: cookbooks Christmas candy Spun Sugar Lou Seibert Pappas