Angels By the Dozen

It doesn't feel like Christmas around here unless I'm frantically turning out dozens of cookies. B's ballet school requires each family to donate treats for the Nutcracker, and both Voci and Sacred & Profane need treats for their receptions, so I try to bake the same thing for everyone, and time all my donations for the same weekend. This year it's going to be angel cookies, as the Voci concert theme is fire, angels, and peace, and the Nutcracker has little angels in it. Yes, I know I could just bake some brownies from a mix (and that would probably be the smart thing to do, given my time constraints at this time of year), but they wouldn't be as pretty or fun as the decorated cookies.

Baking at this time of year does require some advance planning. Since I don't have any rehearsals on Tuesday or Thursday this week, those have been set aside as my baking and icing nights, respectively. This is what my dining table looks like right now, with eleven dozen angels waiting to be decorated:



Naturally, since I had everything carefully scheduled, something else came up. This week's was M's choir party, which turned out to be TODAY, rather than tomorrow as I was hoping. Since there was no hope of having any angels iced in time for second period today, I whipped up three dozen Christmas trees yesterday afternoon. They're not fancy--just sugar cookies (leftover dough from the angels that I put in the fridge), sprinkled with green sugar before baking.

Next week will be the second round of cookies. Holiday gifts for all kinds of people: the kids' teachers, their piano teacher, the mailman, and the family members with whom we've agreed not to exchange gifts with this year. And an extra tin or two, because I'm sure I've forgetten someone on that list!