A few things I have learned.....

.....while making holiday treats and decorating for Christmas.

1. Fraser Fir trees do not shed as badly as Scotch Pine trees do.

2. Decorating with live greenery and live fruit is not as easy as it looks like it would be.

3. Wax paper and parchment paper are NOT the same thing, and cannot be interchanged when baking.

4. You cannot bake with wax paper in the oven. It will catch on fire. (Ask me how I know this.)

5. Do not wait until you're getting tired to start dipping candy in almond bark you have just melted. The almond bark won't re-melt properly. (Ask me how I know this too.)

6. I probably won't make cookie cutter cookies again. It took about six times longer to make them than if they were just round cookies. And a few gingerbread men ended up being amputees by the time they were packaged.

I spent all day Saturday and most of today making treats for our neighbors and a few others. I am not sure but I think I baked around 6 dozen cookie cutter cookies--and iced them ALL, 3 dozen chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, 1 dozen mini pound cakes, 2 dozen lemon pound cake mini muffins, 6 dozen pretzels dipped in chocolate, 2 dozen ritz cracker and peanut butter dipped in chocolate, and a tray full of rice crispy treats. And yes, I sampled everything. A few times. You know, just to make sure it was good. Mark helped me tie up and package all of them. Now they are sitting on our kitchen table waiting to be delivered tomorrow. I just don't have the energy to do it today!