The Christmas Tree Frosting Board.

Coming Out In April, 2023:

     "Tropical Depression," the final episode of the "Equal and Opposite Reactions" Trilogy," will be released on APRIL 27, 2023 by Black Rose Writing.

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​
​THE CHRISTMAS TREE FROSTING BOARD.

     I first heard of the concept of a frosting board from my grand daughters, who heard their mom exclaim that this edible objet d'art, 

... that she'd seen on Instagram, was what she wanted for Christmas.
       (Here's the link to the frosting board post in case anyone's interested or doesn't believe such a thing actually exists.):
       https://www.instagram.weom/reel/Ckt4uwDJzBn/?igshid=ZmMyNmFmZTc%3D
​      Now, when my daughter made the declaration that she wanted a massive mound of frosting in which to dip cookies for Christmas she was doing so tongue-in-cheekily.
       Or perhaps wishful-thinkily, as my daughter, a dessertitarian with a prodigious sweet tooth, comes from a line of dessertitarians  with prodigious sweet teeth: this trait she inherited from me,

...just as I inherited it from my mother before me,

...then passed it down to my daughter,

...who then passed it down to her sugar-loving daughters.

​     People like myself, my mother, my daughter, and my grand daughters see our plate of meat, potatoes and veggies as the gateway we must eat our way through before reaching what it is that we really want: our dessert. We may at times deny ourselves the sweets we crave, but we crave them all the same.
     But even I, who love frosting above all, would never dream - well, except in my dreams - of slathering icing on a platter, scooping it up with a cookie, and boldly daring to call it a legitimate dessert. Surely that sort of thing couldn't possibly be acceptable. Leastways not in the grown-up world.
     But then, my grand daughters, who showed me the frosting board Instagram post, have not quite yet left the portals of childhood's joyland,

 ...where such wondrous things as Christmas trees made of frosting and sprinkles that you scoop up with a cookie seem perfectly acceptable.
       But now hear this! Scooping up a gob of frosting with a cookie has just crashed the world of the acceptable: It's on Instagram. Complete with step-by-step video instructions given by a lady with nice hands and the no-nonsense tone of a Home Ec teacher.

       The frosting board, having received the breath of life on Instagram, is now undeniably a thing. 
      And, it being a thing, my grand daughters and I decided to make one for Christmas Eve.

       The first step was to make the cookies for dipping, which we did early in the day.

      The girls made a batch of Toll House cookies with M&M's,

...and I made some sugar cookies.
         Per the instructions of the Instagram Home Ec teacher, who gave the warning not to make the frosting board far in advance as the frosting would dry out, the girls and I waited until after the first course of Christmas Eve dinner was finished.

      We then exhorted everyone to stay at the table while we zipped into the kitchen and whipped together the Christmas tree frosting board.
​        I was permitted to add the green food coloring to the frosting (only because I pressed the issue), but the girls insisted on making the rest of this sugary chef d'oeuvre by themselves, sans my asistance.

     We forgot to buy a candy bar to use for the tree's trunk, however we did have some Nutella on hand, so the girls fashioned the trunk from Nutella, which worked fine.

      They laid the frosting on extra thick.

      My daughter couldn't believe we actually made her Christmas tree frosting board. Actually none of the grown-ups could believe it. Actually I couldn't believe it myself. And when we all gathered 'round the frosting board and started diving in with the cookies we couldn't believe we were actually doing that, either.

        But dive into the frosting board we did, though I served it with ice cream, whipped cream, and fruit salad, just to make it seem more, I don't know, legitimate.
​         Anyway, it was incredible, delightful, delicious, delovely, not to mention a turbo-charged sugar high. And by the time it was over we'd really put a hurt on that Christmas tree.

       "Should I save the left-over frosting?" I asked my daughter.
        "Get rid of it," she said. "We need to pretend this never happened."