I've started baking sweet breads and cookies for the holidays and stashing them in the freezer. Over the years I've found that recipients of my baking efforts want familiar sweets. My fudge delice bombed around here. "What is this?" was the best response I got, and my fudge delice was greeted with cries of delight up north. So, gingerbread men, butterscotch pecan cookies, apple walnut bread, etc. are accepted with smiles and "ooohs" here. Do you try "exotic" sweets for the holidays, or stick to the familiar?
Ditto re the fudge delice. I make Christmas cookies for everyone. All our relatives have their favorites and I try to remember who likes what. Now that you bright up this topic, I should probably get going on the cookie making.
Mart, fudge delice is a chocolate cookie that has a filling (coconut or marzipan or honey and ground nuts) and takes quite a while to make. "Delice" simply means anything that gives pleasure. I have searched and cannot find my recipe! Frustrating, since I'd like to pass it along. Cayuga, it's never too early to start holiday baking. My husband teases me about starting so early, but he is still willing to be my official sampler!
Oh,, Like a moon pie or whoopie pie ! I make something similar with a devils food cake mix ! Can add anything to the mix and my crew likes marshmallow cream in between then drizzle with white chocolate to stripe the top ! Its a soft cake like cookie !
Sadly unfortunately I don't bake or make Christmas treats anymore. In the good old days I used to spend hours baking Dark Christmas Cake, Light Christmas cake, Mincemeat Pie and Scotch Short Bread by the mile. I spent hours icing Sugar Cookies in holiday motifs. About 5 years ago it dawned on me that nobody was really eating much. I was tossing out more than using so I gave it up and it is actually very freeing to know I never have to bake again.
Mart, the fudge delice is like a decadent Moon Pie--good analogy! Islandlife, you don't have to give up your holiday baking. Contact a homeless shelter, nursing home, an organization that delivers meals to shut-ins and see of they could use some homemade goodies. You could set your own limit (say 5 dozen cookies) and enjoy the baking without all the pressure and ultimate disappointment. Believe me, the two of us don't eat all the baked goods coming out of our kitchen. So many friends either don't bake or truly don't have the time, so I have almost unlimited outlets for as much as I want to make!
I bake cookies for all our relatives. It's my thing. They all look forward to my cookies. I get special requests for specific ones. But MG, it sounded like islandlife is really feeling freed up but not having to do all that baking!
Cayuga, sometimes I get the "I wanna be free" feeling when canning so I understand Islandlife's reaction of relief, but wanted to offer a few alternatives if the baking urge hits.
My daughter came over this morning and we spent the morning baking Christmas cookies. It was a lot of fun, chatting and getting flour everywhere. I now have 5 batches in the freezer. Not a bad start!