Friday, December 9, 2011

Holidays are Hectic times!!

Sorry for the last few days - too much to do and too little time.  If this sounds familiar I may be able to help.  If you have cookies to bake and other treats to make for parties or work gatherings; I always try to plan out the cooking and baking schedule so a friend can help.  Yesterday a good friend came over and we baked cookies. LOTS of cookies.  Instead of doing just a single batch we did double batches and worked in tandem to bake and decorate.  By the time she left we had baked about 20 dozen cookies.  She had her work done for all the gifts she wanted to give.  Now she can package and deliver them early and have more time for other activities.  We had both of the Kitchen Aid Stand mixers going making dough. So at one time we could make 3 batches of cookies. We did the cookies that needed to chill first and put them in the refrigerator while we made the drop cookies. It worked like a charm! My oven can bake three dozen at time. (We used the convection setting to help speed up the process.)

With a little planning and a place big enough to work, you can produce a lot of cookies or cakes or whatever you need to make those home made gifts. Having a friend help makes it easier!!

Now if you have a small kitchen  then do one type of cooking at a time. For example - Make three batches of sugar cookie dough and warp each one in plastic. I suggest rolling the dough into a log and then wrapping it.  That way you can slice cookies rather rolling them out.  The dough will keep for up to three days or can be frozen until you can work on it. If you want to roll it out and use cookie cutters, then form into a disk and the wrap. You can also make drop cookie dough and refrigerate it. The biggest mess is making the dough,  if you have some ready then you can pull it out and make fresh cookies.

That is a few ideas,  I hope they help in this hectic time.