1. Cakes - My mom and I both have long histories of making cakes. It's served as a way to ensure our loved ones have something really special while avoiding bakery prices (which really are justified with the time, effort and ingredients required on some of these elaborate creations) and in my case, keeping DD18 safe with her food allergies. We aren't pros and have had our share of cake wrecks. In fact, it's that stress of potential wrecks that kept me from doing much with my cake business. Crying over cake at 4am taught me that there's a lot more joy in baking when it's for my loved ones. So, even grateful for the failures!
2. School Pottery projects - I'm not sure how many other people's schools did this, but from early on in elementary through 7th grade, we always did at least one pottery unit per year. There was always a theme and as we got older, there were also more techniques involved. At the end of the project, after all sculpting, assembly, painting and preliminary glazing was done, our respective art teachers would have the projects sent someplace so they could get baked in the kiln. Everyone was always so excited to see their creations after the baking process. My parents still have some of my pieces to this day.
3. Anything in a casserole dish - Obviously, not all casseroles are created equally, but it's nice when someone brings you one and says, just put it in the oven and bake on 375. It's also nice when you've put one together, maybe with holiday leftovers, and put in the deep freeze for an evening when you want a meal but are short on prep time.
Honorable mention to home baked COOKIES - While I like them year round, there's just something I love about having plates and plates of homemade cookies sitting around at the holidays. It's downright awful for the diet, but it's also SOOOOO GOOOD!
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and "birthday season" in our family
