Sticky Situation
December 25th 2025
My mom had this toffee she made for everything, she was always getting compliments on it.
And for good reason I mean it was delicious.
But what I’m sayin is, this toffee was her signature thing.
Kinda like putting loads of confetti in every card she sent so it dumped sparkles all over the recipients lap and/or car interior when they opened it was also her thing.
Endearing or enraging?
Quirky or calculated?
Who could be sure.
It depends on the day you ask.
But especially during the holidays I tend to think about her making those leaning towers of tins full of that toffee.
Stirring the bubbling brew, giddy, surrounded by Christmas ornaments she’d strung with ribbon and thumbtacked to the kitchen ceiling.
Years and years ago, she called me after attending the Relief Society Christmas Potluck at her church.
“Oh Rebecca… your mommy melted one of her spatulas into her batch of toffee.”
“Oh noooo! Well at least it sounds like you had time to stop and grab somethin’ else on the way-”
“Oh no I still brought it.”
“Brought…the toffee?
“Yeah.”
“…that your spatula melted in? You fed that to the Relief Society?”
“Oh Rebecca stop, it was just a little plastic it’s not gonna hurt anybody…it tasted fine.”
Hope nobody chokes on it…
Oh I saw the aforementioned spatula months after that phone call.
And it was not just a little plastic.
She melted the bottom half offa that thing and served it to those ladies under the Lord’s blessing.
Y’all I bet some of those Relief Society ladies didn’t crap for a week.
What…am I supposed to do…with this information…
There’ll surely be a quick tip in her future holiday cookbook,
“Why spend money on after dinner mints when you can repurpose the bottle caps from those 2 liter sodas you bought for the sherbet punch? Collect the caps and place them in a lovely milkglass candy dish. Give them a light dusting of powdered sugar and sparkles from your holiday cards and voila! Your guests will be delighted by your ingenuity and are guaranteed to ask for seconds! Waste not want not. A King is born.”
The past month I’ve been listening to and then relistening to Joan Crawford’s, My Way of Life.
It’s not supposed to be hilarious…but of course that’s what makes it so hilarious.
It also feels like being with my mom without having to be with her.
And if you too had a mother who loved to put a little homicidal will she won’t she razzle dazzle on the holidays, you may also find it as cathartic as I do.
Here’s a link if you want to “go pick something up at the store” and listen along with me-
Listen to My Way of Life by Joan Crawford on Audible.
Family is complicated and holidays can be a real mixed bag. You’re not alone if you’re taking deep breaths in your car or have an escape plan should you realize you’ve made a huge mistake.
Joan Crawford in all her nose in the air glory may be just the tonic you need.
Merry Christmas! Happy Honda Days!🎁 🎄
I love you.
See you in the new year 🎊
Sleepy sleepy kitties💕 This is what they look like every morning when I say, “So are y’all ready for breakfast ooooor…?” Authors Photo
