Baking, Baking, Baking!

In preparation for the Monday I had set aside for baking, I tried to sort through all of the needed ingredients and make sure there'd be no emergency trips for groceries in the midst of the 10-12 hours spent in the kitchen.

You'd think, upon looking at this table, that all would be covered.  And, yes, this year it was.  A lot of the ingredients returned to the pantry, and indeed, I'm thankful that I spent many months accumulating these ingredients as they went on sale at various stores instead of buying them all in one very expensive shopping trip!

After Michele's high school girls left on Sunday afternoon, Mikayla donned her apron to help me prepare all of the cookie dough for the five different recipes I'd be preparing so they could chill in the fridge.  She was an excellent help - each year she gets better and better.  Cookies are something "I can do" - and it's neat to know that I'm teaching her how to carry on the legacy =)

Unfortunately, as I just wrote about in the other post, Monday - the designated day set aside for baking (and taken "off" from spending with Whitley) was instead spent at my mom's and on the couch - and eventually in the bedroom with a headache.  It was not a fun day for me.  I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how I'd make everything work as Tuesday was one INCREDIBLY packed day (and originally a day I'd committed to have Whitley - not conducive to baking - fortunately, Grandma and Grandpa were able to take her).

Blessedly, the headache began subsiding around 10pm Monday night and I set my alarm for 4am hoping I'd had had enough rest to have the energy to begin very early in the kitchen.  As it turned out, I woke up at 1:45am and decided to get started.  By the time I dropped Brayden off at 8:45am, my pain had dissipated almost completely - THANK YOU LORD!

The baking went from about 2am to 11am with a 3 hour break for a ladies luncheon (next post) and then continued from 2pm to 6pm.   At 6pm, the following two post subjects began happening, so I wasn't able to return to the kitchen until about 10:30pm.  These pics were taken around midnight....when all was finally complete.

I asked myself a lot at two in the morning if it was all worth it to make so many baked goods to pass out to John's co-workers and good friends.  (Well over 1000 treats were made....9 different varieties of goodies*).  But, by the end of even that evening, and certainly after the feedback from the staff of Tyson Steele - I realize it really is worth the effort.  Especially, when I'm at full capacity to make it all happen. 

* This year's treats included:
- Mounds Bars
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Bark
- Fudge
- Saltine Toffee
- Brownie Mint Chip Cookies
- Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Frosted Sugar Cookies
- Molasses Cookies