Well I've jumped the gun a bit. Usually wait until the day after Thanksgiving to get in baking mode. However, since the gifting seems to get all bunched up around Christmas week, I'm calling it Holiday Baking and have started.
I've narrowed my offerings down to 4: spiced pumpkin bread, spiced chocolate chip cookies (classic Tollhouse recipe + warm spices), Linzer rspberry bars, and baklava. I've been using calamansi as the citrus in the baklava for the last couple years and my source reports that her two trees are positively exploding with juciy fruit. I might have to include a jar of calamansi marmalade in her gift basket.
Yesterday I made the bread and cookies. I will pick the calamansi next week and do the remaining baking the following week; planning to give to my friends around the 15th.
I am baking in stepmother's kitchen - baking powder "best by" date is February 2012 and soda looked tired but I tested them and they were lively.
Everything pretty "brown" so far but hiuse smelled wonderful. It was undr 70F so that made it a bit more seasonal. Will post the baklava glmour shot and the fuit tree.
