I make about 30 pounds of almond roca every Christmas. It’s weighed and packaged in eight ounce treat bags and we give them as gifts for family, friends and teachers. I have learned to give families their own bags, as there has frequently been fighting among spouses over who is eating the most candy.

I used to bring a big plate of the candy to the elementary school’s administrators for them to share with each other. I thought when my youngest daughter left elementary school I would be compelled to go back and help out or at least chat with the teachers I know. I haven’t felt compelled at all, because not helping has freed up my day so I can concentrate on writing.

Lately, I’ve thought of stopping by and handing out my silicone bracelets with my website printed on it. But it poses a problem this time of year, without the almond roca I’m not sure I would be welcome.

I wouldn’t want them to get their hopes up if they see me walking up the sidewalk towards the school; the portion I would normally give them now needs to be directed at a new set of teachers. When my kids were attending the school, the secretaries in the front office would start questioning me in December every time I walked through the door: “Have you made the candy yet? When are you going to make it?”

My husband and I started making almond roca after our first year of marriage, when it became apparent to me he really didn’t know his brother and sister well enough to be buying them gifts. We would spend hours at the mall and he’d end up buying a crystal sleigh with candy in it. I had him call his siblings and suggest they not exchange gifts and they thought it was a great idea.

But my husband still felt the need to acknowledge the season with his siblings. I worked with a woman who brought in homemade almond roca every Christmas and I called her up for the recipe. I had never made candy before and she didn’t use a recipe, nor did she use a thermometer; she went by color and smell. She gave me the ingredients list and then proceeded to explain to me how she made it.

The first year was rather bumbling and we ruined as many batches as were successful, but we didn’t make a large amount; maybe three or four pounds. The kids weren’t born yet so there were no teachers to worry about. After hand-dipping each fragment of candy that year, like my co-worker did, we decided it took too much time and the next year we would just frost the tops and bottoms of the sheet of candy before we cut it up.

The following year we upped our production to include friends, but the recipe wasn’t working out, the butter and the sugar kept separating. I called my co-worker and she told me to toast the almonds to seal in the oil of the nuts; I had used blanched almonds the year before. Then when we finally got some successful batches, we frosted them, but the chocolate popped off when we cut it. Another call to my co-worker informed me we had to thin the chocolate with coconut oil.

Even with all the failures, we have persisted in making almond roca every year. After the third year I got it down to a science and I haven’t ruined a batch since. We had the years when the kids were small and we had to make candy after they went to bed in fear of them accidentally getting burned. Then we had the years when they wanted to”help” frost the chocolate and more chocolate ended up on and in them than on the candy.

Now it’s fully a family affair. I stand at the stove and make batch after batch; usually about 8-10 batches, somewhere in the range of 25 to 30 pounds of candy. My husband does in-between clean up and hot candy spreading and my kids frost the candy as soon as it hardens; although a lot of chocolate still ends up on and in them. By the time I’m done, I’m practically dripping with grease from standing in front of the butter steam. The next day, when it’s dry, we weigh, package and label it all.

Needless to say, it takes me all year to gear up for candy making. I have thought about ceasing the practice. It’s hard work, very messy and turns the house upside down for a week. But I fear after 18 years, I would hardly be well received without the candy.

So by the time you read this, the almond roca will be made and packed and I will once again be welcomed into everyone’s home. Merry Christmas!