Christmas nougats and other things worth the wait

I love these things, espcially since I only eat them once a year.

It’s October, and I just ate a peppermint Christmas candy nougat. The kind that is roughly shaped like a rock but tastes chewy and soft. It’s white with red stripes and a green Christmas tree shape in the center.

When you unwrap it, some stays on the wrapper, and each one feels like it has been shaped by the hands of whoever held it before you. It’s October and I like skipping the candy corn for these Christmas nougats.

Seasonal things are always extra special. Like kites and campfires. They are always done and best enjoyed at certain times of the year. Some seasonal things can only be enjoyed for one or two months at a time before they are gone until the same time next year. These kinds of seasonal things are my favorite.

Songs in the supermarket. During the holiday season, these songs are the same as they were the year before. Rockin’ around the Christmas tree is one that never grows old. Then there are those instrumental holiday jingles played from speaker systems in grocery aisles. You can only partially hear them but somehow they stay stuck in the back of your head for the rest of the week. I like those too.

The most potent of seasonal traditions is the roasting of green chile. You can unfreeze it, cook it, stew it, and enjoy it all year long. It’s only during that perfect time at the end of summer, when the days start getting a tad bit shorter, and the leaves are about to turn colors when it can be smelled as it’s turning in a roaster outside of a hometown, family-run stand with a handwritten sign that says Green Chile Sold Here.

Some things have no comparison. Usually, those things happen during certain seasons of the year. Like sweaters and coffee flavors. Christmas lights and tamales. Vacations and barbeques. School buses and homecoming dances.

It’s only once a year that my mom makes buñuelos with syrup made out of piloncillo. It’s a season I look forward to for 12 months long. When the nights get shorter and the evenings cooler, I end up drinking more tea and eating more oatmeal cookies. The kind with the thin layer of white icing. These things don’t taste…