Okay, so I didn’t really need a fortune cookie to tell me that my Christmas would be a busy one- last year, I felt like I couldn’t stop to breathe for the whole of December.

This year, I’m doing things differently. This year, I’m preparing for Christmas. Here’s how: I’m using my freezer.

A few weeks ago, my freezer just upped and died. We had it repaired, and now it’s running like (almost) new- something I’m extremely grateful for, because it’s not even December yet, and I’ve already packed the following in my deep freeze:

• Two rolls of Sugar Cookie Dough.
• Four sets of Homemade Pie Crust.
• A gallon-sized freezer bag filled with about two dozen frozen Chocolate Chip Cookie balls.

… all of which, of course, will make my December so much better. Consider: my husband, friendly guy that he is, invites a bunch of people over “for coffee”. In about fifteen minutes, I can serve them their coffee with freshly baked Sugar Cookies or, better yet, Chocolate Chip Cookies hot from the oven. Or I could suddenly have a hankering for rockin’ Apple Pie. Since I already have the crust chilling in the freezer, all I need to make is my recipe for Rockin’ Apple Pie Filling.

While it’s not yet December, start planning ahead. Use your freezer. You’ll be glad you did.