Baker's Dozen

If you have come around my house at Christmastime then you know that I bake and bake and bake throughout the holiday season.  This Christmas was no different.  Actually,  I even added a few things to my baking list.  As I was baking I kept thinking, "My goodness.  I am making a baker's dozen of types of things!"  Little did I know how wrong I was.  I actually made 19 different goodies.  I made:
1. Crinkle Cookies
2. Dipped Pretzel Rods (decorated by Boog)
3. Candied Noodles
4. Dipped Ritz
5. Peanut Butter Cookies
6. Gingerbread Men
7. Toffee Cookies
8. Butterscotch and Chocolate Chip Cookies
9. Chocolate Mint Chip Cookies
10. Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies
11. Chocolate Fudge
12. Peanut Butter Fudge
13. Dipped Crinkle Cookies
14. Peanut Brittle
15. Mint Chocolate Bark
16. Painted Sugar Cookies
17. Candy Cane Cookies
18. Party Mix
19. Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies
Over the course of this years baking I actually learned a few things.  See, even an old dog can learn new tricks! 
1. I ADORE parchment paper!
2. Publix parchment paper is better than name brand!  The name brand would brown up quickly but the Publix parchment paper kept going and going!
3. You can use parchment paper when making peanut brittle.  My whole life we have greased the pan so the peanut brittle would come out.  On a whim I decided to try the parchment paper.  Oh, how wonderfully it worked!  And there wasn't any of the extra grease to deal with afterwards!  Woot Woot!
4. Never try to just split an egg yolk for two different cookie paints.  Just use two eggs, even if that means going to the store to buy another dozen!
5. Unbleached flour is wonderful.  I always figured it would make my cookies darker than I like them to look.  I was WRONG!  Seriously, it made them beautiful and has the added benefit of being unbleached.  I bought it by mistake because I was hurrying but I will always buy it in the future!
6. Nothing at all sticks to parchment paper.  No seriously, all the things that I used to have to scrub forever just brushed off the parchment paper.  It was glorious!
7. I always have to automatically make double batches of each cookie, otherwise there aren't any left from boys "testing" them.
8. Always use the Ulu to cut the fudge!  Hubby says the fudge has never been easier to cut straight out of the fridge.  He loved it, so I love it!
Overall, I used; 40 eggs,17 pounds of sugar, 12 pounds of flour, 10 bags of baking chips (6 different types!), 8 pounds of butter, 7 cans of milk, 6 boxes of cereal, 5 pounds of nuts, 4 jars of sprinkles, 3 bags of pretzels, 2 jars of cherries and an entire bottle of vanilla extract.  That could almost be my own version of the 12 days of Christmas! 

But Christmas is over now.  The oven has gone back to cooking more dinners than desserts.  My stove cooks more soups than candies now.  At least for a while!