NuMbEr TeN

BAKING DAY!!!!! Yahoo, Yipee, Yaha! Today is the day! My shopping is done. (I think...) And I am going to take a shower, put comfy cloths on, put my apron on and bake into the wee hours. Then as tradition has it, my very outgoing, loving, friendly husband delivers the goods to THE list of people, and if they aren't home then to who ever he CAN find home! He takes a kid or two with him too. My oldest surprisingly loves this, I say surprisingly because he is my most reserved child, but he has been doing this since he was a baby. Ken would carry him to the door and as soon has he could walk he sent him to the door sometimes by himself. I have gone, but usually I am whipped the next day and need to recover from my baking frenzy. And to be honest it's really more my husbands thing. God paired us perfectly, I bake, he gives it away....no problems!

Who is on the list? Well, its not exclusive or anything....It's neighbors first. And since we don't live in a neighborhood, that means any ones property that touches ours. Then we venture out to friends and basically anyone we find home. So if you have never received baked goods, then STAY home! It's all sort of random shmandom so no hard feelings. Believe me if I had it in me I would make enough for everyone I know by name.

What do I bake.........well that has evolved over the years to basically two things. The majority of the baking is cinnamon rolls. THE pioneer woman's cinnamon rolls these days. I used to make a old recipe from a church cook book, you had to knead the dough and everything. But PW's are much easier so I can make MORE! Then I make Stollen Bread. It's mostly for me, because it is my German fix. But I have a good friend who's husband loves it and then our beloved piano teacher who is German. It literally takes me all day to make the Christmas Stollen, I make it while I am making my batches of rolls. Stollen is a very heavy braided bread with dried fruits and rum in it. I used to make literally 10-15 different cookies and candies. One year I even stood at the stove top stirring this Martha Stewart caramel recipe for 45 minutes, and then wrapping them individually in waxed paper with tiny bows. NUTS! clearly that woman does not have 4 kids and a husband that works weird hours in an ER! I still miss some of those treats.....toffee candy, almond snowball cookies, gingerbread cutouts, sugar cookie cutouts, peanut butter balls, white star candy, chocolate covered cherry cookies, thumbprint cookies....hmmmm. Carmel corn too! Oh the insanity of it! So now I am off the bake my bread and drink insane amounts of coffee.