Twelve Days - Day 9...

*laughs* Well, over here, the more important part of the holiday season is really New Year's. We don't do much, but we do do the food aspect. Thankfully I don't do the cooking for it though. That's the male parental unit's job. :P Also, there's not much in the way of *sweets* for New Years (thankfully!)

Ah the Yule Log... I've never made one before, but I've seen cooking shows and magazines with them. I think it was Martha Stewart who did a yule log with meringue mushrooms (lightly dusted with cocoa). That was cute. ^_^

Okay... tell! What on earth did you do last weekend that's got you off kilter on baking? The cream puffs??

I'll agree, the bakery is much easier than baking yourself, and taste-wise is often better, but not always. It really depends on what's available, what's particularly good locally, and on your own tastes. Over here, it's hard to find good pastries, and cookies / cakes tend to be overly sweet IMO. Doughnuts though, I love Tim Horton's for doughnuts. ^___^ France, image-wise for me, strikes me as having lots of good bakeries and baked goods (*pastries... *___* ), but it's still fun to create on your own. Plus you get to make things your own way. Buying from bakeries won't give you the fun memories, the crazy memories, or the "oh my..." memories. ^___^

If you enjoy baking, and have fun creating, the yule log can be a good chance to get back into the groove. :) I sometimes stress myself out at this time of year because I sometimes try for too much, but if I'm having fun, I don't care. You get to try different things, make mistakes yes (those burnt almond wafers this year for me... :P ), and learn from them, and some mistakes can be tasty too (burnt sugar is really bleah). :P I'm not sure how much work a yule log is though, so I can't say about that. ^^;