Givings gifts is hard. The commercial infrastructure seems set up for spending more than $50 per person, even and especially if you’re buying things homemade or eco-friendly. As much as I want to escape Christmas materialism, my non-materialistic ideas aren’t always feasible. Donating to a good cause, for example, seems weak when the contribution is only a dozen or so dollars, and then there’s nothing tangible to wrap up and hand over. Such a gift would still leave me feeling empty-handed.

I plan to make a large number of gifts myself, but I’m afraid most of these will be have to be mass-produced just to free me up to focus on a few special items for a few people on my list — and I mean no offense by doing this, though I feel a tad guilty not being able to think of “that special something” for everyone. The problem is that I still can’t think of special somethings for many on my short list, either.

There is stress in not giving, and stress in giving, and the only way to do away with this Christmas stress is to do away with gift-giving altogether — a plan that will never work, of course, because I’ll never get all my family and friends on board, and I’ll be left feeling a bit selfish every time someone else goes out of their way to be generous. Perhaps the best solution is to bake vast numbers of cookies to pour on people’s heads with holiday cheer and warm thanks.

Or maybe I’ll pile on Satsumas instead, if Peaches doesn’t eat them all first. We’ve already gone through a five-pound box of them in less than a week, bought at one of my favorite places to shop: the People’s Food Co-Op. It’s a friendly, inviting place with Seussian architecture and piles of fresh produce. It feels so wholesome just to walk inside! Being local and organic, things tend to be more expensive, but it’s worth it when you’re saving the world (via Swiss Miss). Heck, if more people I knew only lived in Portland, store credit would make an excellent Christmas gift.