I. AM. DONE.

I know I'm going to sound like the baking Grinch here, but I'm through with holiday baking! I simply can't handle the pressure.

After a horrendous disagreement last night with my stove while baking cookies for an upcoming cookie swap, I was left covered in flour, a room filled with smoke, and the countertop lined with bits of smashed pecans, while the cat was licking up chocolate sauce from the floor and leaving little floured paw prints everywhere.

And I can't even use what I baked because it's scorched!!!

Time to start the holiday baking if you haven't already. And the holidays, with all the wonderful cookie baking and sweets making, are a perfect time to get the kids involved too.

Cooking and baking are valuable skills for kids to build as they grow. Start now and maybe they'll be doing all your holiday baking by the time they're teenagers. This is a good master plan, isn't it?

I Get No RespectFruitcake just sucks. It's filled with candied fruits and nuts that could break your teeth and tastes more like something that's good for you than a dessert.

Which is why I have no idea how I found myself searching for a "delicious" fruitcake recipe, since I thought it as likely that I would find a unicorn.

But Martha Stewart brings it home (of course she does!) with this amazing recipe for Layered Fruitcake With Creme Fraiche Frosting.

The traditional fruitcake in America is a far cry from the original fruitcakes, which became extremely popular in the Victorian era. Those contained fruits preserved in alcohol, which I'm guessing the Puritanical founders of our country frowned upon. Another fantastic addition used today in a typical UK fruitcake recipe is icing. Martha gets it, and I approve.

Sure you can bake up snowflakes and Santas for your friends and relatives, but wouldn't you rather shock and awe everyone with some truly fascinating Christmas-esque cookies? Or even, non-Christmas cookies? Yes, I knew you would.

Your mailman won't know what hit him, with the best non-traditional cookie cutters to rock your Christmas cookie world.

With the bustle of the season, it's easy to lose track of all your holiday obligations. So what happens when your child forgets he's got a holiday party the next day and you're bringing treats? Need something quick to take to the office potluck? Forgot a hostess gift for an imminent holiday party? No time to run to the store? Try these simple, delicious holiday treats that require little else but common ingredients you probably have in your pantry or refrigerator.

Merry Cookies, I mean, Christmas! It's hard to imagine Christmas without all the cookie baking, isn't it? Well, believe me, kids think so, too.

Many of you parents will be baking a lot on your own, but if you're looking for a few cookie baking recipes that are easy for kids to make, look no more. We've compiled three easy recipes that combine three of the most important aspects of the season: powdered sugar, peppermint, and chocolate.

Of course, when it comes to baking and hot ovens, we can't leave kids on their own completely, but these three recipes each have seven or less ingredients and minimal, simple instructions, so the kids can take a big part in the making that comes before the baking.

When it comes to baking pleasure, size doesn't matter -- flour does.

Maybe you've seen recipes that call for pastry flour or cake flour and wondered, Do I really need a special flour for this? What about whole wheat flour? What's the big deal with flours?

The short story is that if you're new to baking and don't want to invest in 7 different kinds of flour, you can use all-purpose flour. It's a good-enough flour. But if you want to step up your baking game for the holidays, here's the DL on why you should consider special flours.

After all, you don't want to make Santa angry with tough or crumbly cookies, do you?

You may still be picking at what's left of the Thanksgiving pumpkin pie (unless your hubby already ate all of it), but let's face it, the holiday season marches on, meaning pie is out and cookies are in.

Right around the beginning of December, my grandmother would always stock her kitchen with all of the necessities for cookie-making: pounds of sugar and flour, chocolate chips, oatmeal, raisins, etc. For the next month, her kitchen would constantly smell of fresh baked cookies that she would then box up and gift to neighbors, teachers, church members, and everyone in between.

While I really love the idea of baking cookies for others, I'm just not that ambitious (sorry, Grandma). That's why I am a huge huge fan of the cookie swap.