Well I haven’t bought anything for Christmas in 10 years so I’m doing my bit to not be part of the problem!
My spouse and I stopped buying Christmas gifts for each other ages ago, as in what’s the point? We are constantly buying what we need, want, and afford thiughout the year. And honestly, if I don’t get an opportunity to specify what I want, it’s likely these days I’ll return it, because it’s not what I wanted. 😐
I buy gifts through the year to eliminate the financial end of year strain and propensity to use someone else’s money ie: credit and I put those gifts in my safe as to stop prying eyes.
My parents (74 & 81) buy gifts because I think for them it allows them to participate in Christmas with their grand children. For themselves my dad usually gets my mom a piece of jewelry, dark chocolate and flowers - usually red and white roses which symbolize long term love, commitment and passion which I think is important for many women regardless of age and what they might say. As retired people though they focused mostly on shared experiences like going places to bird watch together. My dad is slowing down and I will be helping him (if he needs it) with that trio of gifts he gets for mom. Oh yeah he always gets her a card too. Sometimes a very gushy sentimental card and sometimes a funny one poking at age. We’ll get that too.
We’ve not celebrated (or acknowledged Christmas) in a long time. Really reduces the stress (not that that is the reason).
True story. I’ve been married for 27 years and I’ve never bought Mrs AFB flowers. She doesn’t like cut flowers.
My mother (who was a superb gardener and had the proverbial green fingers) also loathed cut flowers as a gift.
but it is quite the curiosity to me. Interpreting the kind act of taking the time out of one’s day to think of and create a gift for another as somehow a social faux pas - I do not get this but you guys do you I guess
I can certainly understand that. Loss of faith can happen for a multitude of reasons.
if you reconcider,
I distributed milk for years and the best tasting organic milks on the grocer refer shelf were 99% of the time UHT, so unless you have a cow in your closet or have a local cream top option, OG UHT is the best you’re going to get in terms of flavor and shelf life.
lol. Pretty sure Mrs AFB would appreciate that about as much as cut flowers!
UHT can be and is more often than not refrigerated in the US. I don’t know where you are located but here in the states, all the major organic milk producers have transitioned to UHT from HTST because of the two noted improvements I stated earlier:
No I have never done that, and I continue to refuse to participate in the annual retail frenzy.
I find the opposite to be true. It's the fat that goes rancid first. Skimmed milk is all we have in our household and even fresh stuff keeps for a couple of weeks. That never happens with full fat.
Ppasteurization & filtration methods are likely the most influential in extending shelf life & quality although my own belief & experience is that fat content protects the proteins/casein in dairy & slows spoilage. Bacteria consumes lactose (the sugar) thus spoils first. This is why heavy cream for example has a much longer shelf life than skim. Simply put, the butter fat retards bacterial growth. Regardless, If we are both experiencing longer shelf life in our dairy, likely it is due to the shared commercial production process advancements like UHT & filtration that both skim, whole & creams now go through which improves stability & flavor across the board when exposed to inconsistent temperature controls via handling. Our own preferences/biases are then attributing that improved shelf life & quality to the dairy type we buy - perhaps incorrectly so.
