Christmas Baking Attack Plan – Week #1
Posted by Hallee on Dec 1, 2009 in Gift Ideas, Hallee's Galley, Holiday fare, Life, menus & menu planning |
As I write this, it’s December 1st and we have three weeks to prepare for our Christmas baking gift giving. This is a tradition my mother taught me, and something I look forward to and plan for every single year.
I love giving my friends delicious homemade treats as a Christmas gift. I used to do it while I worked full time, and would spend and entire Saturday and most of a Sunday baking and cooking and cleaning and mixing. Over the years, I’ve learned how to space the work out so that it’s not so frantic and exhausting. Even if you work, you can do it this way.
For the first week, we just want to plan and make lists. Here are the lists you need to make:
- Who is on your gift list?
- What will you be making?
- What supplies do you need from a store other than the grocery store?
- What supplies do you need from the grocery store?
Here are three of my lists:
What I’m Making:
|
Supplies:
|
| Groceries: Fudge:
Captain Crunch Candy:
Sugar Cookies:
Wreath Cookies:
Cranberry Nut Bread:
Banana Nut Bread:
Individual Red Velvet Bundt Cakes:
Also some staple items: baking powder, baking soda, Kosher salt, vanilla |
As you’re doing your Christmas shopping, start keeping an eye out for the non-perishable items. You’ll need one platter per recipient, and you’ll need to figure quantities of production for each item. (Don’t worry – we’ll do that next week in detail.)
Enjoy this! It is such a blessing to give a gift that is something delicious and beautiful and festive that you’ve made yourself.
Hallee
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Gregg & Hallee
i have started my list too…i tend to then bake one kind of cookie/candy one night a week. i do need to figure out who im giving it too!
Last year, I gave a large platter of cookies to the staff at each of my children’s schools, then a small platter to their therapists/audiology offices. Their therapists have been a huge blessing to us, and I like to remember them at Christmas too.
Last year, I baked cookies and froze them in the weeks coming up to when I would give them, then I assembled the trays the night before I gave them. I taste-tested cookies this way, and they taste fresh and amazing, and I was able to do a larger variety than if I had tried to bake them all the day before giving.
Another gift I’ve done the years past is microwave caramel corn. So much easier than on the stovetop and in the oven – I’ll pass that recipe along if you’re interested!
I’m always interested in a recipe, but I don’t have a microwave. You’re welcome to post it here, though. Or, I can open up a post to Christmas recipes next week!
I’ve been meaning to tell you how delicious the cranberry nut bread came out for our Thanksgiving table and your post reminded me! Definitely something I will make again for the Christmas holidays. :)
I, too, am in the planning stages of the cookie/candy making for the month. Hope to get a good start this weekend as I need to get a box off to my nephew stationed in Okinawa by late next week. :)
I was thinking about you this morning, Di, when I came into my house after running and about suffocated because it felt so hot – lol. I was going to drop you a note when I had a few minutes and ask about your Thanksgiving. I’m so glad you enjoyed that recipe!
That reminds me – I need to do a preliminary batch of everything and get it in the mail to Gregg. His birthday cookies are in the oven as I type this.
You don’t have a microwave? Seriously? I have a stovetop and oven combination recipe too, but while the microwave one takes about 20 minutes, the stovetop one takes anout an hour and a half. I can e-mail you both of them.
I seriously don’t have a microwave – lol.
Which makes having a babysitter often problematic. It’s why there’s usually a crockpot meal on my Tuesdays.
I love the detail! I’m planning to make cinnamon rolls for our friends for Christmas! I’m very curious about your wreath cookies!! Can’t wait to see! :)
Great minds think alike!! I am tackling the exact same thing on my blog today:-)
Thank you for posting this Hallee! It’s always nice to have your organized thoughts jumpstart others (well, I’ll speak for myself anyway :) ). I haven’t done this in years. The last time I made huge batches of cookies and treats was with a girlfriend in 1997 for our blessed coworkers. I think you have helped me get a move-on this year. It’ll be nice to incorporate the girls in the festivities too. You’re awesome! Hugs, M.
Oh, yum! I want to see your Captain Crunch Candy recipe! I love PB Cap’n Crunch and just bet I would love some candy made with it!
Reading your list has reminded me that I, too, need to get busy making Christmas goodies, cleaning house, decorating, etc etc etc :-)
I put a Tweet to your blog on Twitter because I love your organization. it’s inspiring:) Thanks so much for posting to Crock Pot Wednesday; I hope you can join me again this week.
Wow Debbie -that’s awesome. Thank you so much! I look forward to joining you many more times!
I’d love your recipe for the captain crunch candy. My older brother adores that cereal and i would love to surprise him and his family with something new for christmas treats!
Thanks!
Jen
Kelli & Jen:
I’m posting the Captain Crunch Candy recipe next week – on the 8th, along with all of these other recipes.
This candy is just amazing. We LOVED it as kids growing up – it was one of the best parts of Christmas. As an adult, I have had many friends say to me, when I delivered their goodies plate, that they’d been looking forward to the candy. My whole family purposefully only makes it at Christmas so that we can keep it a Christmas tradition that we can look forward to, even though the whole time I’m making it (and eating it) I wonder why I don’t just break down and make it all the time! LOL
can’t wait to see the candy recipe. we do that with peanut butter balls(but i think that’s b/c its more labor intensive) and my mom’s broccoli cheese casserole we only have at the holidays probably b/c its not the healthiest. BUT oh so good…i made it once when it wasn’t the holidays and it didn’t taste as good! lol