Are you ready to switch into Christmas mode yet?

It seems like we have barely finished with Halloween, and now the stores are bringing out all the Christmas stuff.  Don’t get me wrong. I love Christmas, I just wish there was a little bit more of a transition time in between the holidays. I find that more and more it takes me a little bit longer to get everything put away from one season/holiday in order to get ready for the next and I am not ready to move into Christmas mode yet!

I still have all my fall decorations out – it is such beautiful fall weather out there, I can’t bring myself to put away all those lovely hues of brown, orange, red and yellow.  The cold weather and the snow will come soon enough, so I want to try and keep one of my favorite times of the year around a little bit longer if I can.

Christmas is always in the back of my mind though…as I shop through out the year, I will see something and think that it is the perfect gift for a specific person.  So I buy it; my problem is if I buy too early, I sometimes end up forgetting where I have put certain things and that ‘perfect ‘ gift doesn’t always get found in time to be given.

Christmas Baking

 

I also like to get a head start on my baking so that I am not rushed once all the Christmas parties start and I have something to serve in case people pop in

Years ago, I used to be involved in a cookie exchange, there were 6 of us in the group, and we all made 6 dozen of one kind of cookie. We would then meet and divide them so we all went home with 6 different types of cookies, a dozen of each. It was great, we all had several different cookies for Christmas time and we were able to sit and enjoy each other’s company before the season got into full swing.  And all our baking was done!

Of course, that was before we went Gluten free, so it has been a few years since I have participated in the exchange. Now I experiment with different flours and try to come up with a Shortbread recipe that is as good gluten free as the regular recipe is. The one I tried last year was very good – the cookies disappeared very quickly, so I will try that one again this year along with a couple of new ones.

I will post the recipes once I have baked and tested.      

I do miss the exchange – wish there were more gluten free bakers around so I could get another one going!

Do you participate in cookie exchanges?