The food has been consumed, the gifts unwrapped, trees and decorations put away, New Years resolutions been made and maybe already broken, therefore,  it is safe to say that life now goes back to normal.

I breathe a sigh of relief that the holidays are now finally over.  It seems so much more different to me than it ever did.  Maybe it is me getting older or just that the importance of Christmas is no longer the gifts or the food. Having said that I did buy a few gifts and did receive a few gifts, but the best gift was the one I bought myself.

As I get older I really don’t care about the gifts too much, most often I tell my friends the best gift they could give me was not giving me a gift. I know it sounds terrible and ungrateful, but I have noticed that often we give gifts because it has turned out to be some sort of ritual and no thought is put into the gift giving and it is something that just collects dust in the house or sits unused in the closet.

A friend sent me a t-shirt for Christmas, while I admit and appreciate that she had paid attention to the fact that I collect t-shirts  from countries/cities I have visited, she forgot to pay attention to the correct size and now this gets added to the bunch of t-shirts that are way too big that will sit in my closet.

For the few friends I tend to send gifts for, I generally bake something or ask them if there was something on their wish list I could send. I don’t deny that there have been times that I have picked up something just because I have to and hated those moments as I dislike the pressure of having to buy gifts in order to reciprocate for a gift that I received. I like to send gifts (even if they are baked by me) at random times to show my appreciation for the friendship and not at Christmas because that is what everyone expects from me.

My boy friend’s sister constantly talked to me about Lemon Meringue Tarts, so with my new blow torch in hand, I set out to make her some Lemon Meringue Tarts.

I made cookies for some friends, a Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownie for another and Pecan Bars and Fruit cake and even Creme Brûlée for a friend who lives around me.

Now that Christmas is over and the obligation of giving gifts is over, I can safely say that I can now resort to my regular baking and experimenting.