Christmas Clock

It's a holiday tradition. The week before Christmas, a clock is half-baked. The housing is gingerbread, the gears are hard candy, and special “toothed” long peppermint sticks protrude from the top. It has a gold-wrapped chocolate pendulum.

Elaborately decorated for the holidays, the entire clock is enclosed in a transparent display cover. Various delicious items are on a tray atop the peppermints, as weight to operate the mechanism. Bon-bons, dates, nuts, custard-filled eclairs, even small toys -- each day has a new surprise.

At a certain time each day, remove the “weights” and distribute them to the children, reset the peppermints, and start again. On Christmas morning, the clock is disassembled and consumed.

The intricate parts are available at the local candy shop. Put a little corn starch or flour in the workings, to keep parts from sticking, as needed. Perhaps a gear (or one for each member of the family) of a more permanent material is used over & over each year.