Could This Be Your Favorite New Christmas Tradition?

Robin Patubo loves to make others smile.

She also loves to bake, and she's found a rather unique way to combine those two loves into an annual event that her friends and family look forward to every holiday season.

READ MORE: Where to Find the Best Christmas Cookies in Mid-Michigan

Patubo calls it her "Annual Christmas Bake-A-Thon".

What Is the Annual Christmas Bake-A-Thon?

"It started well over 20 years ago with just a few recipes I grew up on — buckeyes (peanut butter balls), peanut clusters and whatnot," Patubo says. "I started to share them, and the following year I would get questions if I was making Christmas treats. So they would get them again."

For the past decade, Patubo has turned her Bake-A-Thon into a two-part game.

How “Catch Me If You Can” Works

She calls the first part "Catch Me If You Can". She takes to social media to announce a day that she'll be out running errands, checking in online whenever she gets to a new location — but offering no other clues. The first friend or family member to track her down gets a pound of her homemade peanut butter fudge on the spot.

"Catch Me If You Can" is great for those who live near Patubo about an hour outside our nation's capital, but she's devised another fun way for friends and family who live far away to potentially enjoy the fruits of her labor.

Surprise Sampler Boxes by Mail

Every year, Patubo mails out two sampler boxes featuring all of her seasonal treats to friends or family who have sent her their addresses for consideration. No one knows they were randomly selected to receive a box until it arrives. Patubo's only request is that recipients post a selfie with their sampler box on her Facebook Bake-A-Thon event page when they get it.

READ MORE: You've Heard of 'Elf on a Shelf', Now Try... Michigan Version!

This year, I got one! (Robin and I have known each other since high school.) The sampler box contained nearly two dozen different varieties of holiday treats, including puppy chow, double chocolate chip cookies, butterscotch spice cookies, and that famous peanut butter fudge.

"It brings me joy to see faces light up when receiving a sampler," Patubo says. "To hear stories of who shared — and who kept their treats in the glove compartment in their car so they could have them all — makes me laugh every year."

She seems to get as much joy out of the event as the recipients of her goodies do.

"To be able to make something that people want and get excited to receive is very rewarding," Patubo says.

Get our free mobile app

Take a look at some of the other Christmas treats from this year's sampler box!