Abbev. Baking Day

Today, I had grand plans of making a number of things.  Grand plans turned into somewhat lackluster results, but results, nonetheless. 
With the holidays approaching, I am preparing in a number of ways.  One of these is baking and freezing some things ahead of time.  I tend to make lots of food gifts for friends and usually end up baking myself into a stupor mid December.  Well, this year, we are going out of town for the holidays; so I will need to bake myself into a stupor in a more methodical manner this time around. 

On the list for the day:
Cheesecake (for a friend - long overdue)
Vanilla Scones
Smoky Pecans
Coconut-Pecan Cookie Tarts

What made it to fruition?  Sadly, only the Vanilla Scones and the Smoky Pecans (both recipes from Southern Living Christmas Cookbook, latest edition).   Sorry, long overdue, cheesecake deserving friend and family.

Here's the rundown:  I got started on the pecans first and after getting them in the oven realized I should have doubled the batch because they could not be easier to do.  The crazy thing about this recipe is the aroma knocks you back when you go to stir them while they are in the oven...Whoa!  Step back!  The resulting flavor is not nearly as knock your socks off (thankfully), but it is distinct.  These will work well packaged in small bags for my gift baskets this Christmas. 

While the pecans were in the oven, I got started on the scones.  Pretty easy recipe to throw together.  I got them prepped for the oven in the time it takes to make the pecans and get the oven to preheat a little higher for the scones.  I am not the most scone friendly person out there, but I tried these to make sure they were edible before throwing them in the freezer.  They were pretty good and I could see myself sipping some warm beverage whilst nibbling on one.  Better yet, I could see various friends of mine doing this as well.  They make the Christmas food gift list.  I did make them into mini-scones, if you could call them that, instead of what must have otherwise been scones for Frankenstein's monster.  The recipe says they make 8, I made 16.  So if you want to call them Mini Vanilla Scones, go ahead, but I don't think anyone will be complaining about the small portion size. 

Could I have done more today?  Yeah.  Did I?  No.  And that, my dear friend, is why there are seven weeks to Christmas and many more baking days available.