With dh Mr. GAIN‘s family, there are so many of us that everyone exchanges names. Additionally, there is a spending limit on either the gift or the ingredients of the gifts. There used to be a condition that the gift had to be handmade. That stressed people out (think of a really competitive talent show), so handmade is optional these days but not for the people in my house. No one really wants to quit crafting.
In honor of the Victoria Jackson–Paul Simon SNL Desert Island Skit from 1987, we call the handmade Christmas process ‘smelting’ and the gifts are ‘smelts.’ As a materials scientist and engineer, I fully know what smelting really is, which makes the process all the more humorous to me. As a ‘smelter,’ I identify myself as the Victoria Jackson character. The smelting bar is very high.