Cookie hooky

I took a day off work yesterday to do some power baking. In past years my holiday baking has been squeezed into after dinner work nights and weekends. Circumstances were such that this plan would not work this year. The solution, to take a weekday for baking, was such a rousing success that I plan to make this an annual event.

What does baking have to do with gardening? My satisfaction with the results of a long baking marathon is comparable to the pleasure I feel after a day of early spring garden prep and planting. I laid out the seven large plates of cookies, left the room, and returned for the viewing. They looked darn good. This leave and return method works equally well for a newly planted bed or a freshly cleaned room. Tired but happy, I sealed each type in its own bag. Now comes the enjoyable task of making up tins, plates and bags to distribute or mail.

Another similarity between cookie baking and gardening is the selection process. I have certain standby recipes that I bake each year, much as I plant certain tried and true tomato, lettuce and potato varieties. And part of the baking fun each year is finding new recipes to try. I enjoy this almost as much as browsing my seed catalogs for new varieties to plant in the spring.

This year’s finalists:

Sugar Cookies (not cut out, a melt in your mouth round cookie)
Orange Sable Cookies with Candied Ginger
Almond Crescents
Soft Ginger Cookies (a new spice cookie recipe in the ongoing search for the perfect one, this one is very close)
Cardamom Butter Cookies
Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies
Chocolate Peppermint Meringues