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If you were to arrive from another planet in Metro Moncton during the month of December, you might write in your field notes that a unique part of the celebration of Christmas appears to consist of eating and drinking as much as possible.

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Besides the turkeys and all its trimmings there is a whole ritual of baking that surrounds the season. That tradition hasn't changed for generations, but how we execute it has.

With more and more people fighting schedule constraints, yet still determined to introduce time-honoured treats into the home at Christmas, the savvy Christmas baker must be prepared to take shortcuts when needed.

We all know someone who has frankly just given up trying to win the race and purchases all the best homemade baking offered at the slew of Christmas bazaars and sales that fill church halls from now until the week before Christmas.

They take the home-made squares, the breads, and the pies, and wrap them prettily, attaching home-done labels, and cheerfully pass them off as their own.

And we are not scornful of that. People have to survive Christmas any way they can. But for those who want to have a closer experience to the traditional days of baking for the holidays, we offer some tips and recipes to get you started.

If you have the will but not the time, you could just bend the tradition a little bit by buying slice-and-bake cookies so readily available at all supermarkets and decorate them yourself with personal touches, like walnut halves, candied orange peel, miniature marshmallows, raisins, and jams or your own frosting designs done with tubes of prepared frosting.

Or, for easy gingerbread men, Jo Robinson and Jean Coppock Staeheli in "Unplug the Christmas Machine," suggest adding just enough coffee or rum to gingerbread mix to moisten it (the batter should be very stiff).

Form it into a ball, roll the ball out on a generously floured board, and cut it into shapes with a gingerbread cookie cutter. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 Celsius) for 10 to 12 minutes.

From the same source, the suggestion for easy bar cookies is to use a cookie mix and follow the directions on the box for bar cookie variations. To make them festive, add mincemeat, candied fruit, or nuts.

And if you purchased the jars of mincemeat but never really got around to making the tarts, remember for a festive but very easy dessert, add a little brandy or rum to prepared mincemeat and serve it with vanilla ice cream.

Now here's some of our best ever recipes from traditional Maritime sources to get you started early on your Christmas baking. Special care has been taken to select treats that can be made ahead and either stored or frozen for the weeks to come.

Divinity Fudge

Christmas isn’t Christmas without fudge. Here’s a time-honoured favourite. This recipe was offered by Rebecca Jones in a local cookbook put out by the Coverdale United Church in Riverview. It’s simply the best.
Ingredients:
2 cups sugar 500 ml
½ cup corn syrup 125 ml
½ cup water 125 ml
2 egg whites
1 ½ tsp vanilla 7 ml
½ cup walnuts, crushed 125 ml
Red or green cherries, cut into tiny pieces

Method:
Combine all ingredients expect eggwhites, walnuts and cherries in a saucepan; stir until
dissolved. Cook. Occasionally test for hard ball stage by dropping a small amount of mixture into cold water. Do not stir. When mixture is ready, pour over stiffly beaten egg whites. Beat steady until mixture holds its shape. Add vanilla and walnuts or cherries. Pour into pan; cool and cut into squares.

Brandy Balls

These are so easy to make, there’s no baking involved. Create an assortment of them but rolling the balls in different coatings, from icing sugar to finely chopped nuts to cocoa.
You could also press a candied cherry or half a nut into some of them for variety.

Ingredients:
3 oz semisweet chocolate 90 g
½ cup granulated sugar 125 ml
1/3 cup brandy or run 75 ml
¼ cup corn syrup 50 ml
2 ½ cups finely crushed vanilla wafers 625 ml ¾
cup mixed candied fruit or chopped crystallized
ginger (optional) 175 ml Granulated sugar

Method:
In bowl set over pan of hot (not boiling) water, melt chocolate; stir in sugar, brandy and syrup. Stir in wafer crumbs, nuts and fruit (if using); mix thoroughly. Chill until firm enough to shape into one-inch (2.5 cm) balls. Roll in sugar. Layer between waxed paper in airtight container and store in cool, dry place (not refrigerated) for a few days before serving. Makes about 50 balls.

Cranberry Pecan Tarts

Ingredients:
2 Robin Hood flaky pie crust mix packages
3 eggs
1 cup corn syrup 250 ml
2 tbsp butter, melted 30 ml
1 cup white sugar 250 ml
1 tsp vanilla 5 ml
¾ cup fresh or dried cranberries, chopped
175 ml ¾ cup pecans, coarsely chopped 175 ml

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius). Prepare pie crust mix according to package instructions.Roll out and cut into 24 (4-inch) rounds. Fit into muffin or tart pans. Beat eggs lightly in mixing bowl. Add syrup, sugar, butter and vanilla, mixing until blended. Sprinkle cranberries and pecans in tart shells, dividing evenly. Pour filling on top, filling twothirds full. Bake in 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 20 to 25 minutes or just until set and golden. These freeze well.

Basic Vanilla Refrigerator Cookies

Ingredients:
¾ cup butter 175 ml
1 cup sugar 250 ml
1 beaten egg
1 tsp vanilla 5 ml
2 cups flour 500 ml
½ tsp salt 2 ml
1 ½ tsp baking powder 7 ml

Method:
Beat the butter until soft, add the sugar and mix. Add the egg and the vanilla. Stir in the flour, salt and baking powder. Form into a two-inch roll, place on foil and refrigerate. After 12 hours, slice into rounds and bake in a 400-degree oven (205 degrees Celsius) for eight to 10 minutes. Variations: For butterscotch cookies, substitute brown sugar for white sugar; add coconut and/or cinnamon. For chocolate cookies, add 3 oz (85 g) of chocolate, melted and cooled, to the dough and ½ cup (125 ml)of chopped walnuts. You can make all three versions, freeze the dough and bake the cookies straight from the freezer as needed. In addition, you can vary the shapes, dust some with sugar before baking. Use ¼ cup (60 ml)less flour to make dropped cookies; or spread layers with a fruit filling (like apricot jam) for a filled sandwich cookie.