Many years ago while in college, my
mother suggested that I host a “Christmas Cookie Swap” party. A
what?! I looked online. No mention. I looked in cookbooks. No
mention. What on earth are you talking about. My mother explained
that her mother (my Nana) and her friends use to have them all the
time.
So I hosted my first Cookie Swap party.
The next year I found a book Betty Crocker's Christmas Exchange Book
(http://www.bettycrocker.com).
It was like a minimag at the checkout at our food store. Hmmmm, there
it is! Then the next addition was the Wilton line at Michael's Arts
and Crafts (http://www.michaels.com
) started carrying Cookie awards and cookie boxes and more. It seems
after about my fourth yearly Cookie Swap party suddenly they have
come into vogue again. Everywhere you turn someone is talking about
ideas for a “Cookie Exchange” as the magazines now refer to it.
Love that my mom was ahead of the time. I have honestly lost count at
how many Cookie Exchanges I have hosted. But I have loved them all.
So here is the recap of this year's party – with a Sleigh
bell/Country Christmas theme.
The inspiration for this year's theme
came from a gift last Christmas from a friend. She gave me a large
container of red sleigh bells. The brought to mind all those lovely
Currier and Ives scenes that so beautifully represent the holiday
season. So after several stages of visual word association in my head
– I conjured up mental images of sleighs, sleigh bells, vintage
parcels of brown paper with beautiful ribbons, mason jars of cinnamon
and sugar, and more. So the party prep began.
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| Fete Avec Moi |
At the dollar store I found a great
brown and white gingham printed table cloth. Grabbed one for each of
our tables. Add a little greenery – things are simply decorated. I
wanted brown and red gingham ribbon. This year I could not find it
anywhere. My husband joked that he is beginning to believe that the
manufacturers are reading my blog and borrowing ideas the next year.
(Isn't he sweet!) But watch next year, when I no longer need it, the
correct ribbon will be available. So I settled for a nice green and
red plaid ribbon from the Christmas Tree store. At $2 a roll they
couldn't be passed up.
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| Fete Avec Moi |
Along the way I found a slightly nicer ribbon
(red and beige gingham). This now adorns our Christmas tree. From an
ice tea party (see former blog post), I still had plastic orange and
lemon slices. I made a small slit in each and added them to the
branches of the Christmas Tree. Our Christmas Tree Store had brown
sleigh bells with gingham ribbon ties on a garland of old fashioned
style string. Of course several of these were immediately purchased
at $3 a garland.
At a Michael's Arts and Crafts, I found
a lovely gold sleigh. I filled it with greenery and mason jars
containing greenery, salt (to look like snow) and a gold faux candle.
At the Christmas Tree Store I found snow blankets $2.99 a bag. And
each bag when unrolled really has quite a lot of “snow” in it.
They are perfect.
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| Fete Avec Moi |
Now what party is a party without
favors. Of course since this is a Cookie Swap (Or Cookie Exchange as
others like to call it now), the was the obligatory box for cookies.
This year's was beige with mini gingerbread on the pattern. A large
tin of Cookie cutters served as another favor. And then I visited my
favorite dollar store, The 1$ Zone on Central Avenue. They have such
great items. There I found
(http://www.merchantcircle.com/business/One.Dollar.Zone.914-793-7640
) wooden spatulas (serving utensil kind), plastic mini spatulas (the
removing batter from a bowl kind), and aprons. One for each of my
friends was purchased and tied up with cinnamon sticks and ribbon.
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| Fete Avec Moi |
Since it was expected to be a chilly
afternoon in the forecast, I made a big crockpot of vegetarian chili
and another of cheese tortellini in chicken broth. Of course we had
to have some snacks. Gingerbread flavored popcorn was interesting
find. Regular popcorn. Cheese platter. The usual.
Then it was party time. My friends
thankfully arrived despite the threat of snow and the cold. They each
brought cookies to share. And recipes – or information about the
bakery. And we sat around enjoying a hot chocolate bar, chili, pasta
and warm thoughts. Thanks for coming girls. Hope everyone had a great
time!
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| Cookies Galore - Fete Avec Moi |
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| Favors - Fete Avec Moi |
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| Facebook inspired Front Door Decoration - Fete Avec Moi |
