Christmas Baking

Baked treats are gifts made with love, I must have read it in some foodblog (I'm addicted to reading foodblogs now). This Christmas, I decided to give packages of have rock buns (seems to be the winning recipe amongst the folks at work), the mixed fruit version and the chocolate chip version which incidentally turned out nicer, I felt. But there were votes for both camps, so I guess it is a matter of personal taste. So I did round 1 of my Christmas baking really early last weekend and distributed the rock buns packed in pretty boxes which I had picked up in a bookstore in Manila last month. I have this tendency to plan in advance when it comes to gifts and I buy things as I see them and especially so, when something in my mind clicks as to how I am going to use them in the future. So the boxes of rock buns were received very well.

I then realised in the middle of the week that my Christmas packages were insufficient and I had to do round 2 of baking, so I did a smaller batch this evening, only of the mixed fruit version. I packaged 1 in 1 of the pretty boxes bought in Manila and the other wrapped in grease-proof paper and with a festive picture cut out of a magazine and pasted on the package, I think it looks very cheery. Popped it into a matching paperbag I got from the $2 shop last weekend - another well-planned purchase.
I think tonight is the night to completely put to bed any doubts that I might not be an analytical person who plans ahead and makes full use of the circumstances, because I baked a lasagne (leftover ingredients from the last time as my loaf tin had a limited capacity and couldn't do all at once) as well, knowing that I would be firing up the oven and I might as well bake it at the same time and not let the heat go to waste. I am quite proud of myself really... in more ways than 1.