I have a tendency to over promise, putting myself in unnecessarily high pressure situations. As well meaning as my ambitions may be, I fail to remember that I only have so many hours in the day and that I don't have the ability to function on less than seven hours of sleep each night. Around Halloween, I asked Steve if he would like me to make gift baskets filled with homemade baked goods for his clients. He thought it was a wonderful idea, but cautioned me not to volunteer for the job unless I could really follow through. I assured him that it would be no problem, I could pull it off in my "free time".
Factors I neglected to consider when making this promise:
Steve's office manager originally asked for 27 gift baskets. After the first delivery, Steve requested six more. I decided to make one loaf of pumpkin bread for each basket, along with eight different cookies, a pouch of mulling spices and some homemade chocolates. I wanted a range of flavors, and a variety of cookies. I began making dough and freezing it the weekend after Thanksgiving. This worked well, but I grossly underestimated how much dough I really needed. Storage of finished cookies also proved to be a challenge.
I borrowed my mother-in-law's KitchenAid stand mixer so teamed with mine, I had double the mixing power. My KitchenAid celebrated it's 20th year of service recently without even a moment of trouble. After two weeks of putting it through an endurance marathon of double batches of cookie dough, it waved a white flag when one of the tines on the wire whisk sheared off. I gave ol' Faithful a loving pat and ordered a replacement whisk on eBay.
The last month was a real education for me. I learned some tough lessons, honed unfamiliar techniques and leaned on my improvisational skills. Ingredient conservation was critical, so I tried new recipes to prevent waste. I became addicted to Martha Stewart's website, and incorporated a couple of her "Cookie of the Day" recipes into the basket. If I dare to undertake this Herculean effort next year, I've got pages of notes and a better plan to make the gesture less stressful and more efficient. Too many nights were spent taking catnaps on the couch after midnight between batches of peppermint meringues drying in the oven.
The grateful feedback I received made the project worthwhile, but the game plan will be tighter next year, and I suspect the project itself will be grander in scope. I plan on testing recipes earlier in autumn and storing cookie dough starting at Halloween, rather than waiting until Thanksgiving. The weekend prior to delivery, I will take two vacation days and have four days dedicated to efficient, nonstop baking. My apologies to my family for the lack of attention since Thanksgiving, although I think you have all enjoyed the fringe benefits. To my friends in both real life and the blogging world, I've missed you and will be back in touch now that the holidays are behind us. Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to take a nap. For the next week.
Here's what made the final cut for inclusion in the baskets:
I had intended to only use baskets to hold the treats because of the delicate nature of butter cookies, so around Thanksgiving I began visiting thrift shops and buying baskets that were $3.00 or less. This ended up being an exercise in frustration. The random pricing of Goodwill employees and the inconsistent selection prevented me from accumulating enough baskets, so I used gift bags to make up the difference. Next year, I'll collect baskets year round and store them for later use. Further complicating my supply issues was the closure of my baker's supply store, Sweet Sensations. They had a fantastic selection of pastry boxes and bags, cookie cutters in every shape and sanding sugars in every imaginable hue. Michael's and JoAnn's were only marginal alternatives. The plan for 2009 is to locate a new supplier.
