Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a lot of experience with this, as I chose to bake my way through a published list of 30 cakes as a pandemic project. What you need is a roster of your friends, family, neighbours, coworkers, etc. Seriously, make a spreadsheet if you need to. The number of people in each family (because this determines the size/portion you’ll give them) and what their preferred flavour choices are. I have one couple that gets everything because one of them likes chocolate, the other lemon flavours, and they’ll eat nuts, raisins, you name it. Another family won’t take anything they contains nuts. One person hates citrus in desserts, so he’s out where any of those are concerned. If you have a big enough group, you’ll be able to distribute it all without overwhelming people/giving them things they don’t enjoy.

Since then, I’ve learned that the hospices in my area also accept baking for their staff and volunteer break rooms.

Can I ask what list of 30 cakes you baked through? This sounds like a project I would enjoy.

Anonymous wrote:I have a lot of experience with this, as I chose to bake my way through a published list of 30 cakes as a pandemic project. What you need is a roster of your friends, family, neighbours, coworkers, etc. Seriously, make a spreadsheet if you need to. The number of people in each family (because this determines the size/portion you’ll give them) and what their preferred flavour choices are. I have one couple that gets everything because one of them likes chocolate, the other lemon flavours, and they’ll eat nuts, raisins, you name it. Another family won’t take anything they contains nuts. One person hates citrus in desserts, so he’s out where any of those are concerned. If you have a big enough group, you’ll be able to distribute it all without overwhelming people/giving them things they don’t enjoy.

Since then, I’ve learned that the hospices in my area also accept baking for their staff and volunteer break rooms.

Anonymous wrote:How do you handle wanting to bake more things than your family can conceivably consume or that are reasonable to take into the office?

Baking is something I do to relax and I find it deeply satisfying. I'm very good at it and have reached a point where I can tweak recipes and experiment and it works out well. I collect baking recipes and am always thinking up a new idea of something to bake.

But my household is just my DH and DD and we can't eat all the bread, pastries, cakes, and cookies I want to bake. I give things to neighbors and I always volunteer to bake whenever we are invited to someone's house or there's a bake sale or any excuse really. It's still hard! I often find myself choosing not to bake even though it's something I really enjoy because I don't want to wind up with an excess.

Does anyone else have this problem? What do you do? My DH's tongue in cheek suggestion was that I become a professional but I don't think that's the answer . I got a book of savory baking recipes to try and branch out but they are still mostly snacks foods, not dinner, so it's not helping that much.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you for the suggestions for local charities -- I'm going to look into those and reach out to find out when/what they will take and see if I can arrange that regularly to scratch my baking itch.

I am afraid to do the teacher's lounge donations or do lots of baked goods as gifts because I have heard too many people talk about how much they hate being given these sorts of foods as a gift or having it around their workplace if they are trying to watch their intake of certain foods. I used to work in an office where my officemate would complain about this almost daily Halloween through New Years, and also anytime people brought a treat back from a vacation, because she really struggled with not indulging when it was sitting right there. So I try to be very careful to never give unsolicited baked goods. Our friends know I love to do it and will often request something when they host us and I've even had friends ask me if I would make their kid's birthday cakes if they buy the ingredients and I've done that a bunch of times. But I won't just give baked good to someone unsolicited because I worry they will either resent it or just throw them away.

I think most teachers would be thrilled for high-quality homemade baked goods to show up in the lounge.

I don’t know about real life, but teachers on DCUM often say they throw homemade treats away.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you for the suggestions for local charities -- I'm going to look into those and reach out to find out when/what they will take and see if I can arrange that regularly to scratch my baking itch.

I am afraid to do the teacher's lounge donations or do lots of baked goods as gifts because I have heard too many people talk about how much they hate being given these sorts of foods as a gift or having it around their workplace if they are trying to watch their intake of certain foods. I used to work in an office where my officemate would complain about this almost daily Halloween through New Years, and also anytime people brought a treat back from a vacation, because she really struggled with not indulging when it was sitting right there. So I try to be very careful to never give unsolicited baked goods. Our friends know I love to do it and will often request something when they host us and I've even had friends ask me if I would make their kid's birthday cakes if they buy the ingredients and I've done that a bunch of times. But I won't just give baked good to someone unsolicited because I worry they will either resent it or just throw them away.

I think most teachers would be thrilled for high-quality homemade baked goods to show up in the lounge.