Happy holidays! Like you, I think the holidays really snuck up on us this year and I’m running just a little behind. Christmas cards will have to be New Year’s cards. Intricately wrapped gifts are going to be presents plopped into gift bags with tissue paper. C’est la vie; ce sont les vacances!

But increasingly, I enjoy the holidays because of the people I get to catch up with. I’m trading in a little of the pomp and dressing up for Christmas for some simpler pleasures. Like getting to have a longer conversation with someone who I don’t get to see as often as I would like.

Keeping up the tradition of baking treats for dogs

But shorter and more harried schedules don’t mean we leave the dogs out. I just have to be a little smarter this year in the dog treats I choose to make. I love baking for dogs — they’re so appreciative! It’s definitely a tradition I want to continue but if I could be a little more efficient about it, that would be great.

So this year, in baking for friends and neighbors’ dogs, I decided to go with one standard (peanut-butter and pumpkin), one new one (pumpkin and cranberry) and one super-simple (sweet potato) dog-treat recipe.

Here’s a hint for the pumpkin/peanut butter cookies: follow other reviewers’ comments and double the amount of pumpkin . It makes the dough more pliable and if you feel it is too moist, you can always add more flour to the dough. Also flour heavily your workspace to make cutting the dough easier.

The dried sweet potatoes are something I should have tried a long time ago. It’s a very easy recipe and the house now has a great smell in it: there’s a hint of sweetness in the air, a little like a very expensive perfume that you don’t want to overdo.

I’m sorry that I’m just getting these recipes to you now and I realize that you may not have time to crank them out before Christmas day. But that’s just one more reason to love baking for dogs. You can make them the treats on Dec. 26 and they will still love them (and you).

Happy, happy holidays!!