Christmas goodies

I haven't gotten a tree.  Yet.  I don't really plan on it, but if one should present itself to me, I'd probably grab it.  
One of Cliff's favorite Christmas treats is those pretzels dipped in melted almond bark; it's a goodie I had never made in my life, easy as it is; but this year, for the first time, I did it.  Then there's this:

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CRACKERS  from COOKS.COM 1 box Ritz or Wheat Thins 1 (12 oz.) bag semi-sweet chocolate chips 1 pkg. almond bark 1 jar peanut butter Spread peanut butter on 1/2 box of crackers. Top with remaining crackers. Melt chips and almond bark over low heat. Dip crackers in chocolate/bark mixture. Let cool on waxed paper. Refrigerate.

Since I was playing around with almond bark anyhow, I also did this one.  I only made half a recipe, because my underwear is already getting tight, and Christmas isn't even here.  These things are REALLY good!  I know you can buy chocolate almond bark and simply use that, but the chocolate bark I've seen in the store is imitation, so I used the above recipe.  I always feel cheated when I get a taste of imitation chocolate.  
I intend to make a cheese ball tomorrow, and some cranberry bread.  That will probably be the end of my Christmas cooking.  This will, of course, be followed by our annual tradition of starting our New Year's diets, which will last, at best, until the Valentine candy shows up on the shelves at Walmart.  
You may recall that I wanted to get Cliff something to unwrap on Christmas Eve, since a stranger sent me a gift in the mail.  I ordered his gift on Sunday, it was shipped on Monday, and I received it yesterday, Wednesday.  And that's with FREE shipping!  It is wrapped and I placed it in the corner beside my gift.  Now we each have something to open.
Here's the bad part about gift-giving, and one of the reasons we dropped out of that scene:  I showed Cliff his package and said, "Now you have a present to unwrap."  
He said, "Oh great, now I have to go out and get you something."  


And that, my friends, is what's wrong with Christmas giving.  Once you feel obligated to get somebody a gift just because they gave you one, the whole spirit of the thing is ruined.  


But that's just my own humble opinion.    


You know, it just occurred to me:  What if that gift in the mail is from a stalker that actually HATES me?  What if it's a stink bomb or something AWFUL?  
Oh, wait, the person put her return address on the package.  I think I'm safe.  


Note:  Cliff read this post and said, "All right, I'm not gonna buy you a present then!"  
He got the message!


Now you can read an anonymous comment on this post where someone called Cliff a Scrooge.  Either that person isn't too familiar with my blog, they are pulling my chain, or they are as bad as me to "open mouth, insert foot".   My longtime readers know Cliff is all heart.