I saw a post on facebook from a friend complaining about holiday TV ads being aired on the first day of November. And while I sympathize when I see Halloween decorations being taken down and replaced with Christmas trees, I love the winter holidays so much, I welcome all the extra days we get to see sparkly lights and fake snow! It’s my favorite time of the year because not only does my baking obsession go into overdrive, but it requires my deadline averse personality to suck it up and get organized.
Being unemployed last year really helped me strategize my Holiday Cookie Box Plan…which is great because this year I’m gainfully employed and won’t have the luxury of baking whenever I want. If you’d like to do some holiday baking this year, it’s not too early to plan, to ensure spectacular results. Here are some tips I’ve found helpful:
Last Year’s Cookie Boxes Still Look Tasty
1. Determine your goals. I like to make batches of a lot of different cookies. You might prefer to make one type of cookie to give to lots of people, or just one batch total for one special recipient.
Don’t Toss Those Holiday Mags!
2. Review your recipes. I like to keep actual physical copies of all the November and December cooking mags I subscribe to. I usually buy the special editions filled with cookie recipes and keep those to. I’ve tried a few different apps for saving recipes, but I haven’t found one I like. So I keep it analog, with post it notes marking the recipes I use year after year.
Look At All Those Days For Baking!
3. Look at your calendar. When can you bake? When can you decorate? When do you want to deliver you gifts? Are you out-of-town at all? Filling it all in will help you figure out what’s reasonable so you don’t end up twisting candy cane cookies at 2am (Sorry about that, Kevin).
The Goods
4. Start buying ingredients on sale. Butter, sugar, flour, it all adds up. Plus, close to the holidays, there can be runs on sparkling sugars and vanilla beans, so better safe than sorry. Butter can be frozen till you need it, too, which brings us to…
Moving On Out…
5. Clean out the freezer! You’re gonna need that real estate for all the goodies you make in advance because you’re so organized.
6. Start baking! Let the fun begin.
Honesty, all the organization and focus required to go from zero to cookie boxes helps me be more organized and focused in every area of my life. I hope these little tips help you feel that way, too. Any tips for me?
shawnalogue 