For those of you who give baked goods as gifts...

[Anonymous]

How do you package them? I love receiving food gifts and would like to do the same this year with cookies, bars, etc. but want a festive and fun way to package them. Or at least one that won't let the cookies and bars dry out! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Also...how many items do you give to each family, for say a family of 4?

[Anonymous]

I typically do boxes b/c the tins from the craft store (which help with freshness) are so darn expensive. Container Store always has great boxes for treats that are affordable and come in different sizes (so, for example, I have a medium sized holiday print box for $1.39 right now). I have also used those holiday gladware type containers but don't think they're as "cute". What I do is bake the treats, keep them in airtight containers or frozen if longer than 3 days and then package stuff on the day I plan to gift. That way they arrive fresh and hopefully the recipient eats them right away! I also use really pretty patterned tissue inside the box and white or silver muffin tin liners to keep the different types of cookies separate. Can you tell I do this alot!?

[Anonymous]

For you teachers out there: what kind of baked good would you like (or do you not like to receive such gifts)? I was thinking of some kind of breakfast bread that you could have on Christmas (or another holiday) morning. Something freezable? Or what about a frozen roll of cookies that you could bake when you need them?

[Anonymous]

A friend always puts them in plain chinese take-out style boxes. It's cute!

[Anonymous]

Glad also makes holiday-themed plastic containers. I just bought some at Target.