Holiday Baking

Hi DoriLentrich, You are very funny! I have been cooking and baking since I was tall enough to kneel on a chair and reach the kitchen table. I loved to cook and bake with my Mom especially for a holiday. I am the youngest of 6 and my Mom only produced 2 that share in her cooking. (The oldest and the youngest). I am glad to hear that you appreciate the love that truly goes into all the baking. I would not do so much if it did not give so much joy to others or to myself. I love doing the baking and the giving. That is what the season is all about, It is a very old tradition in our house as it is in so many. Thank-You for your response and hope you and your family have a great holiday.

Thank-You for your wonderful words and thoughts. I enjoy making these goodies and giving them as gifts knowing that it is a tradition and the recipients love them as well.

How can you not appreciate the care that goes into creating something from scratch? It's a true honor when someone decides to gift you with something from their heart and their hands. Not only did they take the time to make it, but they thought about while doing it. Truly a situation where the thought is what matters. It's great that there are people who are gifted at this. It truly is an art. Getting the right mix, doing just the right amount, all of it factors in to making baked goods. Thank you, sincerely, for your holiday wishes, I hope the same for you and your loved ones.

Hi Quiltedblessings, Thank-You for your response. It is that time of year to get the lists out and to check it twice so we don't forget our ingredients. I love the peanut butter balls, I haven't had them in a few years. I bake a few times through out the year, I make a few birthday cakes for friends and family. They like mine from scratch plus I like to decorate them too. Most of the baking is done at the holidays for every one. I even make candy at Easter. It is fun and rewarding, I love doing it and I love sharing them. Hope you enjoy the holidays and happy baking!

Hi Lilybug, OHHH I love snickerdoodles warm with a glass of milk. I have not started the baking yet, just the list of what I will be making, which I may +/- some before the end of my baking. I used to make several different kinds of candy too, but I stopped many of them. I still make fudge, caramels, choc. covered cherries and mint fondant 1/2 dips. Sounds like you take quite a few orders on your candy. You will be busy too. Happy Holidays and Happy Baking! Thanks for your response.

Wow! That is a lot of toffee! Sounds like you will be busy for quite some time. I see that you make many different flavors too. Good luck to you and Happy Baking!

In the next few days I need to get out 12 pounds of toffee, 2 pounds of toffee popcorn, and 3 dozen toffee pretzels. I mailed 8 pounds of various toffee flavors today, so yeah pretty busy.

Hi Snowy, I like it when someone else brings home baked goodies too. Most of my family doesn't do any of the baking any more but the rely on me. I do have a Niece that likes to bake and last year finally gave me some of her goodies. Sh was always afraid she would hurt my feelings if she gave me some. I straitened her out and now we share. MMMMMM! Happy Holidays and Thanks for your response.

Hi Halynn, I bet cooking with your son is so much fun. It is great the he loves to do that with you. You are making great memories for both of you and that is something to treasure. I would imagine he is quite proud of himself when he gives them away to family too. We love them when they come out of the oven still warm with a glass of milk. A cook has to taste before they send them out. LOLI love it when I can get my Niece here so we can bake together. She does some at her house but loves to come here and help me We are having a family gathering here this year and she wants to help make all the food and goodies. That is the best kind of sharing we can do for the holidays and all year through. I wish my husband had the experience of cooking and baking when he was a child. Hope you and your son have a great time baking and a Happy Holiday.

Time does go by so fast. That is why it is important to have traditions and ways to make memories. Sounds to me that you have a terrific son and a very strong relation with him. Hope he will pass all this on as he grows. Happy Holidays to you and your family.

yes, he is proud of himself after were done & when he gives them to someone he's all like 'Eat one they're delicious, do you like them, are they good?' Its really cute. It is great memories for sure. Kids grow up way too fast for sure. It seems like just a few weeks ago i was bringing him home from the hospita. Time slips away from you quickly.

Hi Morningstar, I am so very sorry to hear that you lost your home. I hope things will be better for you soon. We tried again this year to grow our pumpkins but right before they were ready to get picked, a varmint thought that they were tasty and chewed on them. My niece and I did cook our Halloween pumpkins and made bread with it. I do love a good fruit cake. My Mom used to make one every year and it would set in the cold room wrapped with plastic with a shot glass of rum placed inside the whole made from the tube cake pan in the middle of the cake. I am sure I would love your fruitcake as well. There are not too many people that like it, and many that have never had it. I am not too sure why fruitcake got such a bad reputation as the worst treat of the season.

They sound delicious! As I was reading, I was remembering my Mom's wrapped in cheese cloth in the beginning too. Then she would wrap in plastic and fill the shot glass. Now I am not to sure if she used rum or brandy. I hope you get to make them again some day. I wish you the best.

I would make individual small loaves and wrap them in cheese cloth soaked in Brandy. The first several weeks I would resoak the cheese cloth every week. Then I would back off to 2 times a month. I tried to make them ar least 3 months before I wanted to give them and boy were they good. Just keep the kiddies away from them. Boy I miss them!!!!

Hi Ravenladyj, Wow, your list sounds as long as mine. I love mince pies, I am the only one here who likes it so I do not make it. I am thinking of making it this year though, I have a sis in law that likes it now too. I do a little baking through out the year for birthdays, picnics and family gatherings. I am the know baker in the family. If I have the party here, they all come hungry because I go all out. That is the way my Mom was too. "Traditions". Happy Baking and Happy Holidays.

Hi Di1159, Thanks for your response. I give most of them away and leave very little for the house. My husband and I will have a few as a batch may cool down and we will have a war cookie with milk. I can not manage to bake and substitute ingredients especially around the holidays. Maybe that is why I give so many away, so I wont eat them?! Happy Holidays

Hi Trickiwoo, I would imagine it would be hard to figure out what to make for everyone with the different food allergies. My husband and I do not eat too many of the cookies either. The most we eat are when they are still warm and we share a large glass of cold milk with them. I give away most of the treats I make and leave just enough here at the house for when visitors stop by through out the holiday season. My husband calls fresh vegetables his "candy", we are not big sweet eaters. Thanks for your response and have a great holiday!

Hey Cjowen, I am really glad to hear that so many people still carry this tradition on of giving home baked goods for the holidays. It is a great way of sharing from the heart. You can not beat the delicious smells that come from the kitchen this time of the year. They try to duplicate them in a candle or spray but it never smells quite as good. Hope you and your family have a great holiday!

Hi thecreative1, Thanks for your response. Do you have anything special or favorite that you bake?

Hi Astrohui, Thank you for your response. The steamed bread sounds delicious and a wonderful tradition too. Is it like a bread pudding or sliced like regular bread? Our steamed bread is very moist and almost like a heavy and lumpy pudding. I have had some with the same texture of a moist sweetbread also. Homemade foods is a great gift to give. It is true here too, some people get too busy in life and buy these types of goodies at their favorite bakery. That is why it is important to keep these traditions going and to pass them on to the next generation.

Hi Random28, Thanks for your response. What kind of things would you put in your pudding? Sometimes I would put in broken cookies, marshmallows and maybe some nuts. Have a nice holiday.

Hi Creativedreamweaver, It does keep me busy, that is for sure. It is just my husband and I here too, we have his 22 year old nephew living with us, but no little ones. I just do this for my sisters, in laws, nieces and friends. There are about 18 people on my cookie list not including what we will take to work to share or family gatherings. I love pumpkin bread. My nieces daughter (who is 12) and I just made some last weekend. She wants to earn how to bake so we cooked our pumpkins down and made pumpkin bread and pie out of them. I just may "pass the apron" down to her. LOL

Hey Theonerm, Thanks for your reply. Thanks for the compliment and you didn't even taste them! LOL My husband brags that he gets a "Sunday Dinner" every night of the week and goodies on the holidays. It is just something I love doing and put my heart into it. I always thought I would open a restaurant or bakery, but then I may not enjoy it so much. Happy Holidays