Every August starts me thinking about the festivities ahead, namely Christmas! Who has started devising their Christmas product list? What have you decided on so far?

Do you have a theme each year for your goods? Any new recipes you'll be trying?

I've recently concocted a spiced chocolate cake with chocca-cherry buttercream filling and dark chocolate ganache covering... it's gorgeous!

Working on my products for Christmas still, finding it difficult to fit everything in to each week, let alone producing more work ideas! ;-)

I just received 30 pounds of nuts from nuts.com. So far, that's my only preparation. I don't sell cakes, so I give them as gifts to family and friends. I'm churning the list of who gets what in my head right now.

My niece's birthday is this Saturday (I'm taking tomorrow off to make her cake) and my sister's birthday is December 31st, so I'm thinking of birthday cakes.

Thinking about cookie trays! I belong to the Hudson Valley Baking Society and we bake together in a commercial kitchen to raise money for our regional food bank. Story here. Last year we donated $1200! But we've made a few changes and hope to raise $2500 this year. Excited!!