Christmas Cookie Exchange

I hosted my First Annual Christmas Cookie Exchange at my house on Thursday December 11, 2008. Last Christmas I wanted to do this but didn't get my act together soon enough, so I started planning for this year as soon as Christmas was over last year. My cookie exchangers were my sister Brenda Lynn who could not be here, Sandra Grabill, Joanna Pears, Valerie Quales, Debbie Goodenow, Melinda Mattern, Amy Stratton, and Melanie Thomas. So including my cookies, we had 9 different types of cookies. YUM! Here's what we had: I made Cream Wafers and Brenda's Dipped Gingersnaps, Sandra ~ Rich Double Peanut Butter Cookies, Joanna ~ Thumprints, Valerie ~ Mexican Wedding Cakes, Debbie ~ Delicious Chocolate Chip Cookies, Melinda ~ Sugar Cookie Cutouts, Amy ~ Shortbread Cutouts, and Melanie ~ Peanut Butter Blossoms. Oh, what a spread! My table never looked so good!

I started out the evening with refreshments. I had a couple loooong subs from Wal-Mart, Sunchips, and applesauce. For dessert I had mint wafer cookie and cheese logs. To drink I had Tang, Wassail, and coffee with vanilla carmel creamer.

After our tummies were satisfied, we played a Left/Right game using salt dough snowmen ornaments that I made a few months ago, "Name that Christmas Tune" with Valerie helping me out on my mini keyboard, Christmas Trivia, and "What is in your purse". I had a blast and it seemed like everyone was enjoying themselves.

Finally... the reason we were gathered together ~ to swap Christmas Cookies. Each lady shared why she chose that particular cookie and then we got our extra trays and started going around the table gathering cookies. There were 6 dozen of most, so each lady got to take home 8 cookies of each kind. Oh, how wonderful those "going home" trays looked! And the delight on each face made it worth everything!

Ladies, I am already looking forward to next year with great anticipation and am hoping we can spread the word and have a few more ladies to get in on this fantastic way of having lots of different kinds of cookies with just the effort of doing one kind.

Now, I will have to add a little PS to this story. Although I have been planning this for months on end and have had my invitations out for weeks on end, on Monday I was not sure I was going to be able to go through with it. I started having a pain in my left foot Thursday of last week and it gradually got worse and worse. By Monday I could not walk on it. I went to my doctor and he sent me for X-rays. Said that I probably had a stress fracture. I was unable to do much of anything. I about ready to call off the party. Then My dear darling husband came to my rescue and took a vacation day the day of the party and got the house cleaned and in order. So HE pulled off the party for me!! I am so grateful for his help since I was very limited in what I could do! Another PS. The x-rays showed no stress fracture. Doc says it is a sprain. So it is the "hurry and wait" game of healing and mending.