Wreath

Well, the season is fully upon on us, and I, for one, like the hustle and bustle that this time of year engenders.

So, this weekend, I plunged into the melee with gusto. While walking through a store, I suddenly was confronted with what I only can assume was a misguided attempt to add a bit of novelty to the traditional. Four figures, a bear in a Santa suit, a neon green Grinch also in a Santa suit, a snowman with a maniacal grin and a Santa that in no way even vaguely resembled Edmund Gwenn, were all gyrating and “boogalooing” to some really bad renditions of “I saw Mama Kissing Santa Claus,” “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and two other tunes that were unrecognizable.

The resulting effect was chaotic, like watching slightly insane characters on steroids.

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All of which got me to thinking about traditions and how important even the smallest ones are to us. It was tradition that brought me to this store in the first place. Along with all the regular trimmings of the season, when I was growing up, our family always had a “Treat Wreath” that children (and adults) were welcome to sample.

A large evergreen wreath would be studded with all kinds of the wonderful hard candy that only is available at this time of year. Candy canes, ribbon candy, rock candy and decorative nougats all were tucked in between the juniper branches and sprigs of holly. The colorful treasures were to be ogled and eventually eaten.

I have never particularly liked sweets, but I am absolutely enchanted by this candy.

This year, I decided to re-create my memory of this delightful decoration. Now, when you are doing a wreath of this sort, it is important to only get those candies that have that certain, old-fashioned “Christmas Candy” look. It’s hard to describe, but like the saying goes, “You’ll know it when you see it.” I had to go to four or five stores to find a large enough variety, but eventually, I came away with four bags of loot: little round candies with ruby-red blooms in the center, square “pillow” candies with colorful stripes in rainbow hues, jewellike ball candies, snowy nougats with Christmas tree images, and, of course, candy canes. Naturally, I had to have some of the traditional red and white striped variety along with the other fanciful combinations.

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The only thing I wasn’t able to find (my search time was limited to a couple of hours) was the large ribbon candy that I remember from Christmases past. Little ribbon candies, yes, but not those fabulous, 1- and 2-inch-wide works of art that I wanted.

Unlike a candy bowl my mother brought out every Christmas with the same candy rotated year to year for decoration, the “Treat Wreath” is for eating, and it is as fun to make as it is to nibble on later.

If you want to make one for your home, buy a large evergreen wreath. Juniper works especially well for this, and it smells WONDERFUL! Add a few berries and sprigs of holly for texture.

Then go out and find as much of the old fashioned hard candy as you can. Variety counts here, so if in doubt, go for more rather than less. You always can put the excess into a dish for easy grabbing.

The larger candies, such as the candy canes, the nougats and peppermints usually will come in clear cellophane wrappings. Leave this on so that the candy stays fresh and edible. The smaller candies probably will not be wrapped, and those will stay on the wreath, just be sure you have extra to go in the dish. We wired on the larger, heavy striped

candy pillars; everything else was popped into the wreath with a dot of hot glue to hold it. The candy canes and wrapped candies easily can be pulled off or out, or you can just be sure there are plenty of extras if you don’t want the wreath plucked.

I think you will be enchanted by the results, and the work is calming and reassuring after watching a singing Christmas tree with blinking google eyes sway and twist to “Jingle Bells.”
December 17, 2004