Use food-safe silica gel in care packages

Here’s a tip for holiday bakers from Chef Heather Chittum, prize-winning pastry chef at the Washington, D.C. restaurant Hook:

Store or ship baked and decorated cookies with a small packet of food-safe silica gel, which will help retard moisture.

The packets can be purchased online, or you can reuse the ones found in several packaged food products. (Do not use gel packets found in nonfood packages.)

The gel packs can be restored for reuse by placing them on a baking sheet and baking them in a 170-degree oven for 15 minutes.