IlluMyFi

Candy canes, peppermint bark and minty mochas are signs the holidays are here – but how did it come to be?

Peppermint has been the reigning flavor of winter since before pumpkin spice conquered the autumn season. Candy canes, peppermint bark, and Starbucks peppermint mochas – now, they’re all clear signs that you’re overdue to start your holiday shopping.

But the association between peppermint and the winter holidays is still somewhat of a mystery. After all, peppermint is an herb commonly harvested in the spring and summer months. Pumpkins and apples are both autumn harvests, so their historical connection is clear. So, how did a minty herb become the icon of the coldest months of the year?

Sentiment

0.11

Bearish/Bullish

26.12.24 10:00

by theguardian.com

So Gloucester services is the best in Britain? Let a true pitstop connoisseur be...

With its herb garden, deli counter and ‘living roof’, the M5 stop-off is definitely swish. But I’m a Monster Munch man at heart

If you know me, you’ll know there is nothing I like better than a good old-fashioned service station. Where else can you jump out of the car for an overpriced Burger King, a go on a driving arcade game from 1993 and – most importantly – a wee? Service stations are mini utopias, housing everything that a human being needs for basic survival. Come the apocalypse, you’ll find me happily holed up in my nearest Moto.

Rightmove recently published a list of the happiest places to live in Great Britain, and I suppose I can see why that might be of interest. But it was a survey of the UK’s service stations by the consumer group Which? that really caught my eye, partly for its ludicrous claim that “no one visits a motorway service station for fun”. What nonsense. Although with all the hassles of Christmas travel, I suppose some people may fail to find them quite so entertaining. In any case, ranking service stations is old news: my friends and I have been doing so for years.

Rich Pelley is a freelance writer

United States of America