No . . . it's NOT TOO LATE!

. . . for Christmas delivery. At least that's what the latest catalog from the Abbey of Gethsemani tells me. The third catalog from them that I've received, by the way. At least three each from Holy Cross Abbey, the Wisconsin Cheeseman, Hickory Farms, and Collins Street. At least one from Harry and David. I'm awash in them.

I do dearly love the Abbey of Gethsemani, but their catalog is a bit funny. It makes me think of Taco Bell, a bit. Taco Bell always seems to be coming out with a new food item, but it's really just a re-combination of beans, meat, lettuce, tomato, cheese sauce, and hard and/or soft tortillas. The Gethsemani (and actually, the Sausage'n' Cheese places, too) catalog takes all their products (Gethsemani offers fabulous fudge and yummy cheese, too) and combines and recombines them. A half fruitcake with a half wheel of cheese. A full fruitcake with a half wheel of cheese. A whole wheel of cheese with a full fruitcake. A full fruitcake with a full wheel of cheese with fudge. A half fruitcake with . . . you get the picture.

And why not, really-- I'm sure the variations bring them more money. But it only takes a couple flips of the pages for me to start getting frustrated. OK, all I really want is half a fruitcake and some if-I-eat-one-more-piece-I'll-catch-a-buzz Bourbon fudge. What page is it on? Will they have a quarter wheel of cheese thrown in with it?

Ah, catalogs. At least I haven't gotten another English muffin catalog again. They know when to stop.