Some of the questions I’ve answered over the years:

“Wait, you’re still doing this?”

I am. This edit to the FAQ comes at you in December 2021. Trust me, *I* can’t even believe I’m still doing this. That two year-old I had in 2004 when I start this is now a sophomore. In college. I’ve had a lot of adventures along the way, heartbreaks, struggles, and changes. And yet, I’m still doing 24 Days of Cookies. Hell, since this site began (in 2012), I’ve gained two masters degrees, switched husbands (okay, I technically have an ex-husband and a fiancé now), moved four times, and now live 15 minutes from where I grew up. Things happen. But cookies remain constant.

“You must really like to bake, huh?”

-Well, I guess I do. The first thing I ever bought with my first paycheck ever was a cookie cookbook at Cracker Barrel. It was November 1994, and I took my mom out to breakfast. My job didn’t last (I was fired because I was 15, not that they didn’t know this when they hired me), but my cookbook did. I like baking, and doing the cookies every December generally cures me until the next year.

“What do you do with all the cookies?”

-Many are given as gifts, like to neighbors and teachers. Many more are consumed by my taste-testers at home. What’s left over goes to my family Christmas get-together.

“Why the F do you do this?!”

-I generally ask myself that same question on or about December 18th. I don’t really know why I do it. When my eldest son was little, we didn’t have a lot of money, so I started baking as a way to celebrate Christmas. It also probably had something to do with my massive sweet tooth. I started doing this 24 days thing in 2004; I suppose was just that bored.

“Hey! Can you send me some cookies?”

-Probably not. It’s not that I’m not generous and kind, but that I’m so very bad at getting to the post office. I don’t know why. But if you stop by, I’ll gladly pack you a plate of them.

“What’s your favorite cookie?”

-I don’t have a favorite cookie, per se, but some definite favorite flavors. I love caramel and lemon, so anything with these flavors are good in my book. And in the same vein, I can’t stand black walnut flavoring or brownies with nuts. So you probably won’t be seeing any of those here.

“Do you make the same cookies every year?”

-I like to mix it up. I have my favorites, but I’m always looking for new recipes to try. As I go, I find some good ones and add them to the rotation. I do about half old recipes, half new ones. And some leave forever like a beloved sitcom, but then may make a special appearance years later, also much like a beloved sitcom.

“Do you ever have cookies that don’t turn out?”

-Generally, I have one batch a year that fail. And one year, I made Earl Grey cookies that I thought were amazing, but my friends may have declared a human rights violation.