Depends on the situation, for me. I love to bake German Chocolate cake and Red Velvet cake from scratch..... also love a chocolate cake mix with ready made frosting.... I never bake pies... a restaurant called Village Inn makes them too well for a fantastic price. Cookies always from scratch... wait - scratch that - my four year old son is wild about those cookies that come in a log - you cut slices off and bake them - and they have rudolph or casper or some other holiday character on them.... yes, I admit I've helped him make a lot of those in the last year. Also made several batches of home made gingerbread cookies last week. These were from scratch, a bit complex with the refridgeration and the rolling and the cutting - I made small men (3 in. tall) and decorated them with white powdered sugar frosting. I gave them little sweaters in polka dots, plaids, stripes... mittens & boots... they were darling little cookies! Saved some of the dough in the fridge for the Annual Gingerbread House Making Saturday that my sister & I hold for our kids each year. These are the kinds of things I want to be special... Sometimes the children see how much passion and effort you put into a food, and it makes an impression even greater than the taste alone. It makes it all worthwhile...
In general though, the more formal the occasion, the more trouble I'm willing to go to. I like my food to be as dressed up as I am!
