Mary E. Pearson is one of my very favorite authors (I LOVED The Kiss of Deception), so I was delighted when she accepted my request for a Christmas guest post this month!
This is not the first time Mary has guest posted on my blog. Did you see the post about the world of the Remnant Chronicles that she wrote for the Beauty of Darkness blog tour earlier this year? She posted some REALLY pretty pictures! Anyway, today we get to read about Mary’s Christmas traditions! She even included a really yummy sounding recipe. :)
Mary E. Pearson’s Christmas Traditions
“The tradition I had eschewed was now all that sustained me. I lifted my hands to the gods, but my songs flowed from that which was memorized to something new, utterances of another tongue . . . my voice rose, braided with the words of a thousand years . . . a prayer woven not of sounds alone, but of stars and dust and evermore.” –The Kiss of Deception
Tradition. The Christmas holiday is rich with it.
At the beginning of the Remnant Chronicles, Lia spurned tradition. I understand that. As we are growing into adulthood and making our own choices, we don’t want our decisions hampered by the expectation, “but this is how we have always done it.” Yes, we do need to sometimes break tradition! Finding new ways of doing things is what keeps our world vibrant and fresh and growing in positive ways. And yet . . .
There is a common history in tradition too, and the best of traditions can recall our past, help us to slow down and reflect even as we are bustling forward, and at no other time of the year, does tradition slow down the speeding train, help me reflect, and bring me more comfort than at Christmas. Sometimes those traditions can be something as simple as baking a cookie, hanging a particular ornament, looking at twinkling lights, singing a carol, watching a Christmas movie I’ve seen a hundred times, or hearing the jingle of a bell outside a store with a red bucket filling with donations, and the message, Peace on earth, goodwill toward men.
Yes, sometimes the memories are bittersweet too—I am reminded of a death, a lost relationship, or profound changes in the world just since the previous holiday, but the same tradition that can cause bittersweet pause can also help me take a breath, regroup, and gain strength for the challenges of a coming year. Making plans to move forward also requires grounding.
In The Kiss of Deception, when Lia was at her lowest point, in the middle of a battlefield facing unfathomable loss, she returned to traditions she had shunned, drawing strength from them in her own unique way, honoring the past while at the same time, vowing to change the future. The traditions gave her grounding and a sense of direction.
Almost twenty years ago, my father passed away just before Christmas. My mother died just a few short years later. They had both loved Christmas and always made a big deal of it and their presence was sorely missed those first holidays without them. As families grow, and blend, and change, new traditions are born, but our family still carries on many of the traditions my parents passed on to us, as their parents had to them, and every year those traditions give me moments of joy, bittersweet pause, and also comfort. I reflect on them as I stir a bowl of fudge, balance on a ladder hanging lights, or address a holiday card, thinking of Christmases past, when times were different, for both better and worse.
One particular holiday tradition that seemed to be uniquely my mother’s was making a holiday treat that wasn’t traditional at all. It wasn’t fudge, or a decorated sugar cookie, or a spiced mulled wine. It was something she called Corn Flake Chews. Yep, nothing fancy about it. But the stranger thing is, it’s made with peanut butter, and yes, corn flakes, neither of which I like, but it is one holiday treat that somehow works a strange Christmas magic to make me love and devour them. It mystifies even me.
Every year as I make up a batch I think of my mother and how small sweet miracles can happen, and that reminds me larger miracles can happen too, and I lick the spoon and reflect, and regroup, and am filled with gratitude for small humble treats, and tradition.
And so with that thought, I’d like share, from my household to yours, this simple but grand holiday sweetness that I promise will be devoured by one and all.
Christmas Corn Flake Chews
1 Cup sugar
1 Cup light corn syrup
1 Cup chunk peanut butter
6 Cups Corn Flakes
1/2 Cup chopped Red and Green M&M’s
(or double this whole recipe like I do—it is that yummy)
Bring the first two ingredients just to boil (do not overcook!) Remove from heat and blend in the peanut butter, stirring until smooth. Pour mixture over corn flakes and stir until flakes are well-coated. Sprinkle in chopped M&Ms (reserve 2T for later)
Pour and spread evenly into greased pan. Sprinkle top with reserved M&Ms. Use a sheet of wax paper to lightly press warm mixture down so it is even in pan. Cool, cut into 1or 2 inch squares, and enjoy!
I wish you all a happy holiday filled with traditions old and new, miracles both large and small, and quiet moments of reflection that will strengthen you for the coming year.
And always the refrain, Peace on earth, goodwill toward men.
xo,
Mary
About Mary E. Pearson
Mary E. Pearson is the award-winning author of The Jenna Fox Chronicles, The Miles Between, A Room on Lorelei, and Scribbler of Dreams. She writes full-time from her home office in California where she lives with her husband and two golden retrievers.
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