Of all the preparations for Christmas I think Baking Week is my favorite. I love to give homemade gifts and gifts I have baked myself are right up there as one of my favorite gifts to give. As we get into the busy holiday season you don’t have to feel stressed if you just do a little planning for the Christmas countdown.
Set aside the time needed to compete holiday goodie making. The first step is to make a list of all the people you plan to give gifts of food to. Once you have your list jot down the ideas of what you plan to bake. The third list to make is your shopping list. The last thing I want to do is spend my time running back and forth to the store. I like to make sure I have all my baking supplies on hand. Thus usually means making sure my pantry is well stocked with flour, sugar, eggs and butter as well as any spices I may need.
By being organized you can plan the days you want to do your holiday baking and know that you will have everything you need on hand. Before you run to the store to buy your supplies do a pantry check and make sure that you don’t have supplies on hand that you have forgotten about. A quick checklist will ensure that you aren’t wasting money by purchasing duplicate items.
Gather all of your holidays baking recipes and put them in ne spot. Don’t think that baking has to be a chore. Make it a family tradition to bake cookies together. Invite some friends over to bake cookies while the kids are in school. Another way to get a variety of cookies is to host a cookie exchange. Everyone bakes a couple dozen f their favorite cookies and each person gets to go home with a wonderful assortment of holiday cookies.
Once your baking is done wrap the baked goods in some sort of fancy package. Stumped as to how to wrap your cookies? Check out Pinterest where you will find more than enough ideas for creative gift packaging.
I enjoy baking and love giving gifts from my oven. By planning ahead and being organized I can enjoy the Christmas countdown and know that my friends will be receiving homemade baked goodies this year!
Nancy on the Home Front 