Grandma came to our door this weekend with a gift and a smile. She unrolled her handcrafted masterpiece and explained to our wide-eyed little boy what she had made for him: his first advent calendar.
She decorated the piece with a little blue truck and all his barnyard friends in their Santa hats and scarves, a scene from one of his favorite holiday books, all painstakingly made with felt and glue and thread. All 24 numbered pockets were already stuffed with tiny, wrapped gifts for him to look forward to every morning until Christmas day.
The next morning, he woke up earlier than usual and peeked his head out of his room to ask if it was morning. He came out and ran straight to his calendar, pulled out his first gift, and went back to his room to place it, unopened, under his little decorated tree. “Santa will be so surprised,” he said, “when he gets here and sees I already have presents under my tree!”
I handed it back to him and told him that the presents he gets from his calendar are meant to be opened straight away, one per day until Santa comes, and his face lit up.
He quickly unwrapped his first gift and held up a new car. The rainbow lights of his little tree shined off the hood and twinkled in his eyes as he rolled his new toy across the floor of his room, humming a song about a frosty snowman.
Advent calendars are a beloved tradition for many families at Christmastime, and although they weren’t a part of my childhood, I’m so thankful to my mother-in-law for taking it upon herself to make one for our little boy to enjoy this year and for years to come.
The gesture inspired me to dig around for old-fashioned holiday treats to share with you all in the hopes they might provide some nostalgic joy. These traditional southern Christmas treats are soft, extremely sweet, and were a favorite of Grandma’s mother. Enjoy with black coffee or milk.
Divinity Cookies
Ingredients:
2 ½ cups sugar
½ cup light corn syrup
½ cup water
Pinch salt
2 egg whites
Splash of vanilla extract
1 ¼ cup chopped pecans
Extra whole pecans for decoration
Directions:
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan combine the sugar, corn syrup, salt and water.
Set the pan over medium high heat and cook until the mixture boils. Turn the heat to medium and attach a candy thermometer to the pan. Continue to cook, undisturbed, until the sugar reaches 260 degrees.
While the sugar is cooking, use a stand mixer with a whisk attachment to beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Hold until the sugar comes up to temperature.
When the sugar has reached 260 degrees, turn off the heat and turn the mixer back on.
Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks, turn the mixer down to medium, then slowly pour in the boiling sugar in a steady stream down the side of the bowl.
When all the sugar has been added, turn the mixer up to high and continue to whip for 15 minutes. The bowl of the mixer should be warm to the touch, not hot, when finished.
At the last minute add the vanilla extract then turn off the mixer.
Use a rubber spatula to fold in the chopped pecans.
Use two spoons or a cookie scoop to portion out balls of candy on a lined cookie sheet. I would recommend not making them much bigger than a ping pong ball.
Press a whole pecan onto the top of each piece then let sit uncovered for 2 hours to dry and harden.
Transfer to an airtight container and store for as long as they last. They also ship very well and make an excellent addition to a holiday care package or cookie box.
