Jess, you're not gonna like this one . . .

It's not really a negative post -- more a I'm a student of media and human nature one. I've noticed that since the economy went south, there has been an increase in the number of NPR spots about how making your own Christmas gifts means more than buying gifts. This morning it was one from Germany, which makes me nervous and almost glad that their in the same economic Boot (tricky, huh?) that we are. Misery loves company and this aspect of the world economy makes me think of new connotative value for the word weltschmertzen.

The thing is that I can't make those heartfelt gifts that keep on giving, and I've got the semi-embarrassing track record to prove it. There was the year of Christmas tree ornaments I baked and painted but didn't let dry long enough before painting (moldy), and the time I collected pheasant feathers to glue on styrofoam balls, using a hot glue gun instead of the craft glue the directions called for (messy and slightly dangerous). My relationship with "craft" has included a crocheted hat that resembled a potholder (that my mother insisted on wearing anyway; did I mention it was orange?). When it comes down to it, making gifts requires an attention to detail I just don't have and the ability to sit still for more than five minutes at a time.

I used to be able to make beautifully decorated sugar cookies frosted so colorfully they made your eyes hurt, but that was when Pin and Big were young and they would just eat them anyway, ingrates!

So this year I am turning my limited attention span to one project. On Christmas day I'll be making lemon curd from my grandmother's recipe and hoping that I don't screw it up, what with the eggs and the double boiler and all that. My grandmother, technically Lucy Ellen (aka Nellie) Phipps Murphy McCarthy I suppose, was really the only one in our family who baked and canned. She was an expat from England, and I remember her apartment in the Bronx smelling like pickled cabbage when we went over there. She made plum jelly and her own mincemeat, and once she sent me a recipe for a banana sour cream cake that she'd made and sent home with my father. She also made my father steak and kidney pie, and happily did not send any of it home with him.

So I'm sitting here with her recipe, getting ready to head down the thruway, and of course since it's the holidays I'm nostalgic and excited. I'm still jealous of all those folks who can make a gift (including Big and Pin who must've inherited some creative craft gene that skipped my generation). So, I've got a lot invested in this lemon curd thing. Wish me luck?

Grandma's Lemon Curd
1 lb. lump sugar (that's 2 C granulated sugar)
1/2 lb. butter
2 lemons
4 eggs
Melt the butter; grate and squeeze the lemons; simmer all together until the mixture thickens. Use a double saucepan or a jug in a pan of boiling water, then you are sure of not burning the curd.

Sounds deceptively easy, huh?

Happy Holidays Everyone!

PS: don't pity me because I didn't have those homemade goodie-filled moments as a child. Remember, I grew up in the land of great bakeries :)