In baking, little things can make a big difference! Using quality ingredients such as real butter, and freshly milled whole wheat pastry flour will also improve your baking results. Here are some good tips and reminders:

* Read through the entire recipe to be sure you have all the ingredients and equipment you need on hand before you get started!

* Measure and assemble all ingredients before baking. Small glass custard cups and ramekins make great "staging" ingredient containers.

* Pack brown sugar firmly. Use dry measuring cups for dry ingredients. Liquid measuring cups for liquid ingredients. Be sure to level off the cups with a spatula for accurate measurements.

* Preheat your oven for 10 to 15 minutes before you bake. Use an oven thermomter to check the accuracy of your oven if you have doubts about how accurate the oven dial is. Adjust accordingly. (The biggest cookie baking failure I had was when my oven wasn't maintaining steady temperature and needed repair.)

*Remember that one stick of butter equals 1/2 Cup. Best mixing results will be obtained when butter is brought up to room temperature. Don't use margarine or whipped butter in cookie recipes.

*Cream the sugar and butter well; once you add the flour, be careful to not overbeat. Too much mixing can cause the flour to get tough.

* Large eggs are preferable and produce superior results in baking to small, most recipes are based on large eggs.

* An easy way to grate lemon and orange peel is to store leftover citrus peels in the freezer. Frozen citrus peel grates readily. Use only the colored portion which contains the oils and flavors.

* Recipes calling for "ground nuts" means a fine powder. A food processor or grating blad for a slicer/shredder does a good job. If you use a blender, be careful to not over do it and get nut butter.

* Fresh spices are best. Be careful to store spices in airtight containers away from heat and sunlight to promote shelf-life.

*Most cookies should be removed immediately from the cookie sheet, unless otherwise stated.

* Save butter wrappers for greasing cookie sheets when needed. A mixture of two parts oil and one part liquid lecithin spreads readily with a pastry brush and makes an economical and more healthy means to grease baking sheets. Thiese are the same ingredients as Pam, without the propellant.

*To save time and energy, place 2 cookie sheets in the oven at once. Rotate halfway through the baking time.

My favorite Christmas cookie recipes are quick and easy with a variety of shape, colors and flavors.