Christmas Pepper Nuts 

3 cups brown sugar
1 cup corn syrup 
1 cup cream or evaporated milk 
1 cup melted margarine 
4 eggs 
1 teaspoon soda, dissolved in 2 Tablespoon hot water 
1 teaspoons ground cloves
3 teaspoons cinnamon 
3 teaspoons ground star aniseed 
8 - 10 cups white flour

Mix in the order given and prepare for a few hours of family bonding.  Beware that it's hard to find ground star aniseed, secondly, the dough when prepared properly is very stiff and takes a strong arm or dough hook to process.  Then, chill everyone, including the dough.   Once chilled,  gather round the table to divide the dough and roll it into finger sized snake shapes. Adolescents in the family will compete to roll snakes that are long enough to drop on the carpet, dad will win that round.   Then chop the dough snakes into tiny nuggets, about a half centimeter long.  Drop dozens of these nuggets onto a ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 325°  degrees for 8 minutes, just until brown.  Recipe makes a few hundred nuggets which can be packed into decorated jars or bags as a gift for friends and teachers.  Or, the family can eat them all by noon the next day. 

Christmas really is a complicated recipe of hopes and history and about now anxiety starts to bake.  This results from another list of ingredients: 

4 cups mixed values 
1 cup syrupy expectations 
1 cup condensed kindness 
1 cup melted dreams 
4 eggheads
1 teaspoon in laws dissolved in 2 tablespoons hot criticism 
1 teaspoon ground relationships 
3 teaspoons bad choices 
2 teaspoons pity 

Mix in order given, beat with emotional anxiety at high speed and pour into a large pan greased with regret.  Chill until firmly set, and use a backward look to remove for serving.  In most of our lives, there are some difficult recipes coming this Christmas.  Mix any two or three generations during gathering season and you have a clash of values. Those born in the 1920's cherish family as the ultimate source of value.  Those born in the 30's were deprived of almost all security and came to value it the most.  They were careful with money, and treasured lifestyles that promoted virtue.  Then came baby boomers, kids who knew nothing but the good life. Selfish consumers greatly influenced by a world of TV.  Those family ingredients baked up Generation X, a group of young adults who grew up in broken homes, many who struggled to survive financially.

The X'ers cooked with the new spice of Latchkey kids, children arriving home to empty houses.  Their lack of nurturing means they are a group who now value relationships, and once they learn to trust, can be loyal and demanding of love. With a good dose of self control,  it's wise to enter the holidays with understanding and acceptance of our differences, and with forgiveness over what is behind us.  We also need to be thankful that our longing for meaningful relationship is a sign that there is a great gift buried deep within our own individuality.  It's a gift that comes from the creator God and it can never be filled by human relationships.  It is the
gift of connection to Almighty God.  This Christmas, amid the messy recipes of  human failure, cherish your connection to the one who has promised, "Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you."  Hebrews  13:5