By December. Tommy's first Christmas season. He is two months old and he does not know what Christmas is but he is wearing a Santa hat in approximately seventeen photos because Linda and Megan have an unspoken competition to see who can take more festive baby photos. Current score: Linda 43, Megan 67. Megan is winning because she has the advantage of living with the baby. Linda is competing fiercely.
The tree is up. The ornaments are hung. The pierogi ornament, the "Mr. & Mrs. Kowalski" ornament, the tiny house, the miniature kitchen, and a new one this year: "Baby's First Christmas 2026" with Tommy's name and birthdate. The tree tells our story. Every ornament is a chapter. The story is getting longer. The tree needs to be bigger.
At the brewery, the holiday season is in full swing. I'm back full-time, which means leaving Tommy and Megan at 7 AM and coming home at 5 PM smelling like hops and rushing to hold the baby before dinner. The guilt of a working parent is real and constant and I manage it by cooking elaborate dinners that nobody asked for because feeding my family is the love language I know best.
Made gingerbread cookies. Megan iced them while Tommy slept in her lap. She iced a gingerbread man that she said was "Jake" and it was slightly lopsided and had too much frosting on one side and she said, "It's you. Imperfect and sweet." She was joking. She was also right. I am imperfect and sweet and covered in too much frosting and I am loved and I love and the gingerbread is on the counter and the baby is asleep and Christmas is coming.
The small Lakefront Brewery shift-work continues to be the small steady-paycheck. The small forty-hour-week brewery-floor job pays the small twenty-two-an-hour rate that the small Milwaukee-blue-collar-economy supports. The small benefits are the small union-decent. The small ten-year-tenure-target is the small career-anchor.
Megan is from a small Irish-Catholic Milwaukee-suburban family. The small Sunday-dinners at her small parents’ house rotate with the small Sunday-dinners at Jake’s parents’ house. The small in-laws on both sides have been the small welcoming-presence. The small two-family-network is the small extended-support the small newlywed-life rests on.
The small future-kid-conversations have begun. Megan teaches small fourth-grade at a small public school in Wauwatosa. The small adoption-vs-biological conversation is in the small early-discussion stage. The small five-year-plan includes the small kid-or-kids in some form. The small kitchen is the small place where the small future is being practiced.
Megan and Jake married in June 2024. The small newlywed-rhythm is in its small second year. The small two-bedroom rental on the small east-side of Milwaukee continues to be the small first-home. The small thirty-year-mortgage-eventually-someday is the small five-year-goal. The small marriage is the small foundation the small life is being built on.
The small Lakefront Brewery shift-work continues to be the small steady-paycheck. The small forty-hour-week brewery-floor job pays the small twenty-two-an-hour rate that the small Milwaukee-blue-collar-economy supports. The small benefits are the small union-decent. The small ten-year-tenure-target is the small career-anchor.
The small Polish-American heritage is the small kitchen-identity. The small pierogi-recipe-cards from Babcia Helen (Jake’s grandmother who passed in 2018, who had lived two blocks from the small Bay-View family-house) is the small monthly-Saturday-tradition. The small kielbasa-and-sauerkraut. The small bigos. The small recipes that came over from the small Krakow-region in the small 1910s.
Megan is from a small Irish-Catholic Milwaukee-suburban family. The small Sunday-dinners at her small parents’ house rotate with the small Sunday-dinners at Jake’s parents’ house. The small in-laws on both sides have been the small welcoming-presence. The small two-family-network is the small extended-support the small newlywed-life rests on.
The small Milwaukee-winter is the small six-month-condition. The small cold-weather-comfort-food rotation runs October through April. The small soups, the small stews, the small braises, the small heavy-baked-goods. The small Midwestern-comfort-vocabulary is the small kitchen-language.
The small future-kid-conversations have begun. Megan teaches small fourth-grade at a small public school in Wauwatosa. The small adoption-vs-biological conversation is in the small early-discussion stage. The small five-year-plan includes the small kid-or-kids in some form. The small kitchen is the small place where the small future is being practiced.
That gingerbread session with Megan—Tommy asleep in her lap, the frosting lopsided on a little Jake-shaped man—is exactly the kind of quiet December moment I want to hold onto. These Layered Mint Candies have become a natural addition to the holiday counter alongside the gingerbread, because they’re the kind of thing you can make in stolen moments between feedings and tree-trimming and sneaking another look at the baby. Small, festive, and sweet in exactly the way this season has been.
Layered Mint Candies
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 5 minutes | Total Time: 25 minutes + chilling | Servings: 48 pieces
Ingredients
- 2 lbs white candy coating (almond bark or white chocolate melting wafers), divided
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract, divided
- Red and green food coloring
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
Instructions
- Prepare your pan. Line a 9x13-inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving overhang on the sides for easy lifting.
- Make the first layer. Melt one-third of the white candy coating in a microwave-safe bowl in 30-second intervals, stirring between each, until smooth. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract and red food coloring until you reach a festive pink-red. Spread evenly into the prepared pan. Refrigerate 10 minutes until set.
- Make the chocolate layer. Melt the semisweet chocolate chips with the heavy cream in the microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring until smooth. Spread over the set first layer. Refrigerate 10 minutes until set.
- Make the green layer. Melt another third of the white candy coating as before. Stir in the remaining 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract and green food coloring. Spread evenly over the chocolate layer. Refrigerate 10 minutes until set.
- Finish with white layer. Melt the remaining white candy coating and spread in a plain white layer on top. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes until fully firm.
- Cut and serve. Lift the slab from the pan using the parchment overhang. Place on a cutting board and cut into small squares or rectangles. Store in an airtight container at cool room temperature or in the refrigerator.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 95 | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Carbs: 12g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 15mg