Last Call: Welcome, Holiday Foods

We are now officially less than two weeks away from Thanksgiving, which means that all the Halloween merch has been completely swept out of the stores and replaced by Christmas...stuff. (Yes, there's Thanksgiving stuff, too, but that feels really half-hearted compared to the other two holidays, doesn't it? There is no real Thanksgiving candy except for Turkey Dinner Candy Corn, and can we all agree that's an abomination?)

The Holiday Season, to me, means lots of chocolate mint and gingerbread. Those are two flavors I happen to love, and I quite happily eat them all year round. But, alas, Peppermint Bark Oreos and Candy Cane Joe-Joe's only show up in stores in November and December. Ditto gingerbread lattes. And Mint Dark Chocolate Nestle Kit Kats, which I stumbled across last year at Cost Plus World Market. This year, word has come that there will be Gingerbread Oreos and Peppermint Oreo Bark, a deconstruction of my beloved Peppermint Bark Oreos, plus the (American Hershey) Mint + Dark Chocolate Kit Kat Duos in snack-size form—meaning you can eat more of them without feeling guilty.

There will be no holiday gatherings this year, which will definitely put a cramp in my holiday baking, but I will still be making Laurie Colwin's damp gingerbread with pears and maybe a kringle, too. And pie. Definitely pie. And hot buttered rum. And also latkes and sufganiyot for Hanukkah. Everything is terrible, and I will be going nowhere, but I will still be eating. Always eating.

What holiday seasonal foods are you most looking forward to?