What Holiday Treats Do You Keep On Hand, and How Much Do They Cost You?

Do you buy the special “Christmas” blend even though it’s not that different from your daily cup of coffee?

Yesterday, I baked a thing of gingerbread to take to the Greater Seattle Bureau of Fearless Ideas’ Farewell to 2016 potluck. Like pumpkin pie, gingerbread is the kind of treat you could make at any time—especially if you start with a $2.99 Betty Crocker mix, like I did—but, for some reason, is only culturally appropriate two weeks out of the year.

Since I am a single woman who lives alone, I don’t do a lot of holiday baking or treat-buying. Between holiday parties and the annual trip to see the folks, I’ll get way more than enough cookies and cocktails. Making Nutter Butter Rudolphs or buying peppermint bark just to eat on my own would be ridiculous.

Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer Cookies Recipe – Food.com

But I still found myself with a gob of holiday-themed stuff in my cupboards: two boxes of Celestial Seasonings holiday tea—Gingerbread Spice and Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride, both highly recommended—along with a big red bag of Starbucks’ Christmas Blend. I even swapped out my usual after-dinner chocolate square for Ghirardelli’s Holiday Chocolate Assortment, because it was in the grocery aisle and it seemed appropriate.

This stuff isn’t more expensive than what I usually spend on tea or coffee or chocolate, which is also why I gave in to the holiday merchandising. If you can buy two boxes of Celestial Seasonings for $5, why not get the ones that have anthropomorphized cookies on them? Celebrate, or something!

Do you buy special treats for the holiday season? Do you buy them for yourself, or do you only bother with gingerbread or chocolate truffles when you need to bring something to a party or family gathering? Do you find yourself getting the “holiday” versions of everyday products just because they’re there and they cost the same as what you usually buy?

Also: why is pumpkin pie a Thanksgiving food and gingerbread a Christmas food? They have nearly identical flavor profiles!

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