Trade ya some cookies

It’s that time of year where kitchens are filled with the smell of baking cookies. Or so I hear. I didn’t grow up with the tradition of baking cookies for the holidays. I’ve never really been much a baker either. I’m sure my Uncle would love to tell you the story of the first time I tried to bake some cookies for him. Maybe that experience had something to do with me not really enjoying the task of baking.

Now that I’ve entered the land of Mommyville my kids are asking to bake cookies for Santa. I hear other Moms talking about the cookies they are making so I’m attempting to shift gears a bit. I have the supplies all lined up to do some special Santa baking this weekend. I’ll also be attending a cookie exchange.

It’s similar to the soup swap I did last winter. I’ve participated in a cookie exchange before and it’s really the best way to get a beautiful tray of cookies with out having to do all the work your self. Depends on how many people are in the exchange group. Usually 8 to 12 other people. So you pick one cookie to make and you bake enough of that one cookie recipe so that each person gets 10 to 12 of those cookies. The others in the exchange all do the same with different recipes. After you all trade off you end up with several dozen cookies all yummy and looking so festive on your holiday table.

When I first mentioned the cookie exchange to my Canadian friend Mary, she fired back an e-mail with tons of great recipes. (Thanks girly!) I’ll be trying some of those with the kiddos. Another friend (knowing my lack of confidence in this area) also made a recipe suggestion. (Thanks Nancy!)


This year I made thumbprints. Raspberry with white chocolate drizzled on top.

I think they look pretty good, I hope they taste good too. Now if I can just get my Christmas cards in the mail I might start to feel accomplished.

What do you do to get ready for the season?

Cookies and Cocktails

The cookie exchange was a hit! It was a ton of fun to say the least. There were some yummy appetizers and cookie themed cocktails to get things started. Then we played a fun game molding play-doh into the shape of various Christmas words while teams tried to guess. Which is even more fun than it sounds when you get a bunch of women together and give us a drink.

Here’s a look at the cookie table before we all started to divvy up the sweets.

Here’s the cookie tray I put together after I came home. I think it looks pretty nice. These are just a few of them. There are plenty more that are still wrapped up.

Here’s the cocktail menu from the party. You could have a Gingerbread Mantini, a Frosty or an Oatmeal Cookie.

You can see the “frosty” drink sitting there next to the menu.

I put the Gingerbread Mantini together the other night for hubby and me.


1 oz vodka
1 oz hazelnut liqueur
½ oz butterscotch schnapps
a splash of dark rum
fill glass w/ ginger ale (3-4 oz)
Garnish with a gingerbread man cookie

Cheers!

If I don't get back to blog-land, I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Holiday!!!

Tis the Season...

It seems that this time of year more so than any other brings people together socially. I’m someone that could stand to plan a gathering and do something festive all year around. I love to have friends over and have that “party” atmosphere. Sometimes it can be as simple as having another family come over for pizza night. We have the kids make their own pizza then send them outside to run themselves silly while the grown ups talk.

Other times it’s a bigger gathering with more of a theme. I have a pumpkin carving party every October, where the neighbors come over and we eat tons of food and carve our pumpkins then line them up on the step out side to take an after dark pumpkin picture.



You could invite a bunch of people over and ask that everyone brings an appetizer. That always seems to be a hit. I love appetizers, why not make a meal out of them.

Or host a cookie exchange. Get 10-12 bakers organized and each participant makes 10 -12 dozen of one type of cookie. Then you come together and swap so you go home with a tray filled with all sorts of different treats and you didn’t have to spend days and days in the kitchen. This concept works well with soup too. It’s so nice to have a freezer filled with containers of soup all winter.

This past weekend I went to a Gingerbread decorating party (without kids). It was so relaxing to sit back with some wine and decorate our houses while catching up with our gal pals.

Here’s my creation….

To keep the festive feeling going, I had a Christmas party the next day with just my family.
I pulled all the tree trimming supplies out while hubby mad a few bloody marys.

The kids got to decorate their own gingerbread house and since I had already done mine, I was less “type A” about how they did their decorating. Worked out great for all of us.

Hubby strung the lights while the kids and I worked on the gingerbread house and then we all moved in the living room to hang the ornaments.

I guess I was focused on the tree and sadly my house did not survive for very long.

What fun ideas do you have for sharing time with the people around you??