One of our Christmas Traditions

 ....... has always been to have a tin or two of Quality Street, or Roses or in the day when they did them the jars.  This has been going on for 60+ years of my life.  My Nan always had a tin although the tins were always far smaller then.  One of my button tins is in fact an old Quality Street tin that came from her home so it may well be the tin that she had when I was a child.

This year I have not been rushing to buy in bits like I normally do probably due to the Covid influence and the fact that we will not be having visitors per se this year and partly because my Pantry has had to be sorted out which meant I could not get anything in to store properly.  This Christmas it will just be the two of us which means hopefully I will get a little time to play and relax as well. 

One of the perks of having something in the tins was that you always had some nibblies to hand a guest with a suitable Christmas aperitif to greet the season.  Not only that we used to recycle the large tins for storing baking in during the year and at Christmas so there was always truly something in the tins to offer unexpected guests i.e. good home baking like a home made Victoria sponge, a batch of flapjacks or shortbread  Nan's Chocolate, Cherry and Coconut slice or pastries such as Coconut cheesecakes, School Boy's earholes (jam tarts), or sausage rolls and at Christmas mince pies.

Yesterday I bought a couple of tins of Quality Street. and decided to sample one or two as you do.  I wish I had not bothered.  Even more so the chocolate is far too sweet and sickly.  It used to be  a pleasure something to look forward too but these sweets are now for me not enjoyable.  I think this may be the last time that I will buy them as I am not impressed.  One of our little Christmas traditions slipping by the way side after so many years it is such a shame, but for me the chocolate is not what it used to be and the tins are no longer tins but will just add to landfill at the end of the day, I wish they would stop faffing and "improving" things.  They are not just sucking the life out of what was an excellent product.  I think I shall probably next year not buy them and if I get time this year, is to make a few home made sweeties like I always used to when I was a lot younger.  

I think I am jaded with a lot of things this year and fed up with my not being able to do what I would normally do. I am not really moaning when I say this as I am very aware that I am extremely lucky and that my everyday may well be someone else's Utopia however merely state this as a record of fact. There are though hidden bonuses/"Silver linings" to every situation. For me, at this time I am appreciating more traditional ways of doing things that are more organic and that happen naturally. 

I always have appreciated certain things, but I seem to have come to a deeper understanding of why and what I would like to achieve. The making of something simple without all the packaging at home and enjoying the mindful moment is for me the bonus.  

The realisation that I am getting more pleasure out of the actual doing rather than just buying stuff which has no soul. Making use of what I have around the house or in boxes!

Needless to say I already have a lot of plans as to what I am going to try and achieve for the New Year.  I want to regain the JOY in everything again rather than feeling lack-lustre and below par and of no use. I need to have a focus and also to feel a sense of achievement and a sense of belonging.  No doubt there will be other things to add to the list, as I go on but it is a start.    

At low times like this I try and remember the things my family always did.  The simple things that helped, things that would not immediately scream out that they loved you, but which indeed were made of LOVE. Especially when my tired mother after working all week used to make sure that we had a hot meal each night and who always did a big bake each week so that we ate well at all times no matter that her budget was not always what it should have been, she made it work.

So me mumbling on about Quality Street not being what they used to be is neither here or nothing in the greater scheme of things.  However there is a sadness in that for me yet another one of the family traditions seems to be slipping by the wayside after all this time.

Surely I am not the only one that feels this way about the Quality Street, Roses and other sweets that are available for the general public.  Let me know how you feel.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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