Friday, December 05, 2008

Baking

Last year I totally understood the passage, "And Mary, who was great with child..." I can say that because I was great with child and all I did in the month of December was work and then come home and sit in the bathtub, gazing at my enormous pregnant belly. I probably walked enough the month of December to to equal the walk to Bethlehem, and I can happily say I did not give birth in a stable, there was room for me at the inn.



We did not "celebrate" Christmas last year in the traditional sense, either the SoCal way (tamales) or the deep fried Southern way (fried turkey, divinity, anything with pecans or marshmallows), nor did we celebrate in our German heritage way (springerle, lebkuchen). We just sort of skipped over all of it, because I was too busy sitting in the bathtub, working, and not getting the baby's nursery ready because, well, I was working or sitting in a bathtub. We skipped lights, the tree, and anything involving getting out decorations. The only thing we did do was pull out a tiny advent wreath and set up a nativity I bought that was made in Mexico. Unfortunately, I did not check the nativity very carefully because all of the pieces are made of pewter, but one of the shepherds is four times the size of everyone else and he just overpowers the whole scene. When we set the nativity up, we put him off to the side, at a distance, so that he just looks the same size as everyone else. It is not a very effective special effect, but it makes me feel better about spending $40 on a nativity set that is missing an important part of the nativity account. At least baby Jesus wasn't four times too big. That would have been embarassing. A resounding focal point, but embarassing just the same.



Well, well, well, it is now a year later and we have a son who is obsessed with anything that twinkles or resembles a tree. Of course, it is his first Christmas! Of course we must pull out all stops! I must make tamales! I must bake! I must decorate the house in an age appropriate manner for an 11 month old! So, tonight I have started the baking: spice stars and coconut macaroons. The problem is that there are too many recipes and not enough time. Tamales are an all day project, and a project that is handicapped by a baby who only naps from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on a good day. Baking can be done at night, but once dinner is made and the kitchen is cleaned for the 89th time, I really don't want to pull out the flour and sugar and make another mess (conveniently, just like the one I have in the kitchen as we speak). And did I mention I am still working full time? Sitting in the bath tub and staring at my post post-partum belly sounds good right about now. So, I will have to cull and I will have to decide what to bake and what to file away for next year. Maybe it will only be chicken tamales and not chicken and beef and pork. Maybe it will be springerle and not lebkuchen. Maybe I should just go to Trader Joe's and empty the boxes of store bought cookies into my cookie tins and pretend to wipe sweat off my brow and then go sit in the tub.

Oh, but then I eat a homemade macaroon, still warm from the oven and my nature that just adores all that is homemade won't let me. So I will have to get organized and make lists, not excuses and get the baking done and get the decorating done and get the nativity set out and then leave it all out until Easter.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home