While I hate to blog on the same topic many time in a row, I’m going to talk about cookie baking *yet again* just because that seems to be the dominate thing going on in my life right now. Note that this post isn’t complaining in any way, shape or form — I love doing this and even though it is exhausting, it is the “perfect Christmas thing” for me and I can’t imagine not doing it. I love it, even though my back hurts and I am already feeling sleep deprived and I am only 4 days in.
I’ve got about one-third of the cookies done, which is right on schedule. The schedule this year is compressed by three days (normally I take 12 days to do this — this time I am trying to bake all 3100-3500 cookies in 9 days). I was up this morning at 4 to do a batch of “catch up” so as of now, I am on target to finish next Tuesday. That, of course, will also require a 12 hour day on Saturday and Sunday. If nothing else, my legs and lower back are getting quite a work out.
I think the thing that is most difficult is that each of the cookie types require 3 or 4 steps: dough making, dough resting, baking, and in about half the cookies, final assembly. I have this all accounted for in the schedule, but every year, I think that I forget it until I start.
I want to thank my mother for something that has been a god-send and I had forgotten that was so imperative to the process: my new Kitchenaid stand-mixer. I had one while I was in Seattle, but it stayed on the West Coast. A few weeks back when I was up visiting my parents, she bought me a new one as a very early birthday present (in green, no less!). She figured, and rightly so, that it would be of more use to me in December than waiting until January for my birthday. So, thanks again, Mam!
