The poinsettia can be found everywhere right now — florists, nurseries, grocery stores, large-scale retailers, even hardware stores. As common as they are, you might wonder how to choose plants with confidence and care for them so they won’t droop before Santa drops down the chimney.

Growing up, it was a Christmas tradition in my family that Mom and Grandma would make a batch of mincemeat. I helped — which meant, I tasted it frequently and added spices here and there. “Is there really meat in it?” a friend of mine from Topeka asked when I told her of our pseudo-annual fa…