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It's rare that I'm truly impressed with the quality of writing in Seattle's alternative weekly newspaper, The Stranger, but the cover feature this past week really hit home. Megan Seling wrote a powerful piece about baking cookies to deal with winter depression, titled, "The Long Winter". It's a very enlightening look at depression from the point of view of someone who has to deal with it, and the Seattle/Everett setting makes it all the more real. And the writing style kind of reminds me of my friend ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kadyg: wry and sardonic and very wise. (That's a compliment, Kady!)
But what's most interesting is... lately, I've been thinking about baking cookies.
Seriously. (For proof, see this comment I made in my friendkennapea's journal on Nov. 26th)
With the holiday season upon us, I've been thinking about what I should do for gift giving, and who I should give to, and why. I've been trying hard over the past couple of years to strengthen my social support system (it was one of the things they really impressed on me when I was in hospital back in 2004, that I was too isolated for my own good), and I know gifts go a long way towards making people think well of you.
But the truth is, I hate Christmas gift giving. Really. I am not a Christian, I am not materialistic, and I have just about no money. It feels like a waste, going into debt, spending money on gifts that people that might not really like anyway. I know I always feel uncomfortable when I am given gifts that don't fit into my life -- because I try to own as little as I possibly can (yes, I know, this is a heretical idea in today's North America). I am always trying to reduce the amount of materialistic crap I have to be responsible for in my life. ("Do I really need this to be happy?" is a question I often ask myself when shopping). I'm a big fan of regifting, and more than once, gifts given to me have ended up on Whatcom Potlatch.
And I hate shopping.
When it comes to gifts, there are few things that I really feel good about giving and receiving. First and foremost is money, which I can use for anything I want (and usually it's cigarettes.)
But I don't have any money, and most of my friends don't have much, so this is out of the question. And almost as good are gift certificates and gift cards, but again, we're back to money.
Clothes are good - *if* they fit, and are functional. There's always a chance that you'll get the wrong size (I'm very hard to fit), or a colour or style will be chosen that the recipient will hate. This is why socks and underwear are always safe choices. Or shoes, size 16 wide (hint hint).
Then there's food. This is far and away my favourite gift to receive, and I feel pretty safe about giving others -- so long as I don't violate any food taboos, like nut allergies, veganism, or religious prohibitions against eating pork. But if I know someone well enough to give them food, I probably know what they can and cannot eat. Me, I'm completely omnivorous.
So here we come back to the cookies idea. It started when my friend & Kennapea's friend Zach went off to basic training in Chicago last week. We were talking about sending him a care package, and I was thinking about how cool it would to be to send cookies to share with the guys in basic training during the holidays. From there, it was on to "who else could I make cookies for, and weasel out of any holiday gift-giving obligations?"
Which actually isn't fair, to say it's weaseling out. First, it sidesteps the money issue, because most everything I need to make cookies I can get with food stamps. And also, it's all about the making and the giving, and how it makes me feel... which is good. Which, for someone who is depressed, is a desirable thing.
Giving makes you feel good.
Sometimes, I think maybe the whole Christmas gift-giving frenzy is all about the givers, more than the receivers. The capitalists and merchants and credit card companies are counting on this sense of guilt and obligation to get people to spend spend spend on junk this year.
Cookies would be a great way to give without being crass.
Of course, we come now to the most important question: what kind of cookies should I bake? I'm not going to go out and make 106 kinds of super elaborate Martha Stewart cookies, the way Megan Seling did. But I am looking for a good recipe. (Any suggestions, that are relatively EASY to make? Chocolate Chip comes to mind, but it's not very holiday.)
More importantly, how do I ship these cookies? The cookies must be pretty sturdy to survive a trip through the mail. Suggestions for how to handle this are more than welcome.
Anyway, all of this was going through my mind, when I came across the feature in The Stranger. It stopped me cold, because this was exactly what I had been thinking about doing... using cookie baking and cookie giving as a way to get through this next month, and the inevitable depression.
Which, when you think about it, isn't a horrible way to spend December!
kadyg: wry and sardonic and very wise. (That's a compliment, Kady!)But what's most interesting is... lately, I've been thinking about baking cookies.
Seriously. (For proof, see this comment I made in my friend
kennapea's journal on Nov. 26th)With the holiday season upon us, I've been thinking about what I should do for gift giving, and who I should give to, and why. I've been trying hard over the past couple of years to strengthen my social support system (it was one of the things they really impressed on me when I was in hospital back in 2004, that I was too isolated for my own good), and I know gifts go a long way towards making people think well of you.
But the truth is, I hate Christmas gift giving. Really. I am not a Christian, I am not materialistic, and I have just about no money. It feels like a waste, going into debt, spending money on gifts that people that might not really like anyway. I know I always feel uncomfortable when I am given gifts that don't fit into my life -- because I try to own as little as I possibly can (yes, I know, this is a heretical idea in today's North America). I am always trying to reduce the amount of materialistic crap I have to be responsible for in my life. ("Do I really need this to be happy?" is a question I often ask myself when shopping). I'm a big fan of regifting, and more than once, gifts given to me have ended up on Whatcom Potlatch.
And I hate shopping.
When it comes to gifts, there are few things that I really feel good about giving and receiving. First and foremost is money, which I can use for anything I want (and usually it's cigarettes.)
But I don't have any money, and most of my friends don't have much, so this is out of the question. And almost as good are gift certificates and gift cards, but again, we're back to money.
Clothes are good - *if* they fit, and are functional. There's always a chance that you'll get the wrong size (I'm very hard to fit), or a colour or style will be chosen that the recipient will hate. This is why socks and underwear are always safe choices. Or shoes, size 16 wide (hint hint).
Then there's food. This is far and away my favourite gift to receive, and I feel pretty safe about giving others -- so long as I don't violate any food taboos, like nut allergies, veganism, or religious prohibitions against eating pork. But if I know someone well enough to give them food, I probably know what they can and cannot eat. Me, I'm completely omnivorous.
So here we come back to the cookies idea. It started when my friend & Kennapea's friend Zach went off to basic training in Chicago last week. We were talking about sending him a care package, and I was thinking about how cool it would to be to send cookies to share with the guys in basic training during the holidays. From there, it was on to "who else could I make cookies for, and weasel out of any holiday gift-giving obligations?"
Which actually isn't fair, to say it's weaseling out. First, it sidesteps the money issue, because most everything I need to make cookies I can get with food stamps. And also, it's all about the making and the giving, and how it makes me feel... which is good. Which, for someone who is depressed, is a desirable thing.
Giving makes you feel good.
Sometimes, I think maybe the whole Christmas gift-giving frenzy is all about the givers, more than the receivers. The capitalists and merchants and credit card companies are counting on this sense of guilt and obligation to get people to spend spend spend on junk this year.
Cookies would be a great way to give without being crass.
Of course, we come now to the most important question: what kind of cookies should I bake? I'm not going to go out and make 106 kinds of super elaborate Martha Stewart cookies, the way Megan Seling did. But I am looking for a good recipe. (Any suggestions, that are relatively EASY to make? Chocolate Chip comes to mind, but it's not very holiday.)
More importantly, how do I ship these cookies? The cookies must be pretty sturdy to survive a trip through the mail. Suggestions for how to handle this are more than welcome.
Anyway, all of this was going through my mind, when I came across the feature in The Stranger. It stopped me cold, because this was exactly what I had been thinking about doing... using cookie baking and cookie giving as a way to get through this next month, and the inevitable depression.
Which, when you think about it, isn't a horrible way to spend December!
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From:
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5 best cookies for mailing.
a big list of cookie recipes
another site with cookie recipes - i love this site (it's where i got the muffin recipes).
a video on how to pack cookies before shipping.
i love making people things for the holidays.
a couple years ago i made pomegranate jelly and snickerdoodles and put them in small baskets.
last year we made TONS of brownies.
this year i'm...i haven't decided yet =D
From:
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Seriously, McKenna, let's get together SOON (this weekend?) to make a bunch of cookies to mail to Zach and his training partners, and eat a lot of oranges and write on the peels for him!
Thanks for the info!
From:
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i've been trying to get ahold of her to see if she still wants to (and if so when and such), but she's...not answering my messaging.
i'd have to ask george about sunday, though, since it's his only day off.
i mean, he wouldn't have to come, but he might want to spend it together.
i really do want to get together, but i have to figure things out and get back to you.
i will do so, though!
From:
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