Personal Reflections of a Middle-Aged Man

There are few things that compare to baking with friends and family, even from afar.

This evening my friend Jennifer hosted a holiday cookie zoom. Although an annual tradition for her, this was my first being able to join in. As you might imagine, those in the past were in person, this one was via Zoom.

Jennifer set it up last week, sending out a list of the ingredients needed for each of the four things we were going to be making: Snickerdoodles, Biscotti, Paula Dean’s Monster Cookies (with lots of butter of course!), and sweetened pecans and walnuts. The recipes were sent out earlier today, which let me get my mise en place ready. I will admit I was getting a little anxious waiting on the recipes because my organization imp just kept whispering in my ear, “Things aren’t ready yet.”

Getting things ready ahead of time, and during the baking, let me use several of my Pampered Chef wares (Jennifer is also a Pampered Chef Host). I got to use my egg whisk, variety of prep bowls, and a variety of spatulas. The one thing I think I’ll need to order next will be stackable cooling rakes if Pampered Chef has them.

As the group listened, Jennifer led us through the recipes step-by-step, while helping to keep the conversation going; her daughter was a great help too. All of us were able to either bake as we went, or put the dough away for another day. Since my plan is to send care packages to friends and family, I chose to bake as we went. Thank goodness for my two ovens and my two mixer bowls and beaters. After today though, I may have to get a third set, then I don’t have to stop and wash in the middle of a bake—and yes, I bake enough, as you all know, a third bowl would come in quite handy.

The 90-minutes of baking went by very quickly. Each of us contributed some tips, techniques, and asked several questions. Our host with the most was very helpful and entertaining. We even got to see several of her Christmas trees. The only downside was not having a cleaning elf as they would have come in mighty handy after!

At the end of our time, I was excited to hear she was going to host more baking demos, with new recipes for the next two weeks, with the final week being a round of hors d’oeuvre one can make in 15-minutes. Handy items for when we can entertain again. If you’d like to join us, have some fun, and get some treats ready for the holidays, let me know and I’ll tell you where you can go for the invite—you do have to have Zoom to participate.

I’m looking forward to a new baking adventure next week.

Thanks Jennifer!