How To: Hosting a Holiday Cookie Exchange

I have hosted a Cookie Exchange for the last 16 years.

It's been a lot of fun and has totally evolved throughout the years.

When I started, we all had little kids and I had it with my stay-at-home-mom friends.

Everyone would come to my house, and I would have breakfast food, the kids would play and the moms would have coffee and chat.

As the kids got older, I would still have it in the morning, some would be in pre-school/grade school and some were home.  People that came could make with at some point, with or without their kids.

Now, many of my friends have gone back to work, we all have school aged kids or our kids are out of school and we just want to go OUT.

So, for the last few years I have had my Cookie Exchange at my Sister-in-Law (to be)'s Wine Store.

Yes. Wine + Cookies= HAPPY WOMEN

Every year I have good intentions of taking photos of the event, and every year, I start having fun and completely forget.

I did manage to find a couple of photos from last year, and incorporated some cute ways to package cookies for gifts or an exchange.

Links to the yumminess, too!!

So, I will type up here on this post what I do to organize the event, so maybe you and your friends can have one, too!

Hosting your own Holiday Cookie Exchange

The month of December always fills up fast for everyone.  I always try to get my date on the calendar by mid-November.

Since the invention of facebook, I typically do a facebook event, almost all of my friends have facebook, and the one that doesn't, well it just gives me an excuse to chat with her on the phone! *smile*

I always try to select my date as close to Christmas as possible, my exchange typically falls somewhere between the 18th and the 21st.  That way guests have goodies for their family and friends during the holidays.

Each guest RSVP's with what cookie/candy they plan to bring.  I try REALLY hard to not get duplicates, or "all chocolate" or too much mint, or too many things with nuts.

Many of the people that come only bake for this, and when they return home with all of their goodies, I don't want their platter of treats to be all brown because everything is chocolate. *wink*

I want there to be a nice assortment of flavors and colors for everyone's cookie platters.

So, it's a first come first serve thing.  If you planned on making peanut butter kisses, and someone else signs up first, you go back to the drawing board and find something else.

The number of people changes every year.  Some years I have had as many as 15 people, other years there are only 8.  Whatever number of people in attendance there are, that's how many dozen cookies you will bring of your cookie.

Caramel, Toffee and Pecan Fudge boxed with a bow

For example, there are 10 of us coming, myself included, and  I am making sugar cookies, I bring 9 dozen of my cookie to the party.  Friend A brings peanut butter kisses, 9 dozen, friend B is bringing fudge,  9 dozen pieces, and so on.

Great Aunt Vern's Sugar Cookies in a tin

Everyone brings their candy/cookie wrapped/boxed with one dozen per package.  Some place theirs in bags, some boxes, some on plates and some in tins.  Whatever they decide.  On their packages, they attach their recipe for their baked good inside.

gift or bring candies like Peanut Brittle in mason jars with ribbon attached

Up-Cycled Pringles cans I made with recipe attached for my exchange last year

Turtle Bark in a tin

Everyone brings their own baked good (all 9 dozen) in a big box or basket.  I line them up, and at the end of the evening everyone takes one package from each guest (except themselves) and then leaves with 9 dozen different kinds of cookies, and all they did was make one kind.

See?

Everyone is welcome to bring an appetizer to share, and we sip wine and relax.  

Who doesn't need to relax a little by the middle of December??!!

One other fun thing we added a few years back, is we do a gift exchange.

Everyone brings a wrapped gift (dollar amount is about $15) and we place them on a table.  

We draw numbers and start at 1 and that person opens a gift.

Person number 2 can either steal the gift from the person who opened it, or open their own.

If there are 10 people, we play from 1 up to 10 and back down to 1 so everyone gets a chance to steal.

But the gift can only be stolen twice.

It's a lot of laughs!

Toni got a great HUSKER bag...too bad she's a huge Iowa State fan! Ha!

It's a fun activity, and there always seems to be something new and creative!

Fun to shop for , too!! 

So in a nutshell that is how I do my cookie exchange.

I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I enjoy hosting it!

girlfriends cookie exchange 2012

Graduation Party - Theme: Racing, Fishing and Mexican Food

When I started planning for my son's graduation party almost a year ago, the one thing I knew we would have was Mexican food. 

He is truly Mama's boy when it comes to his food tastes!

Maybe it's all of the extra spicy Mexican I ate when I was pregnant?

Our Menu:  Taco/Nacho Bar

taco meat

soft and crunchy taco shells

nacho cheese

Mexican rice

re-fried beans

chips and salsa

and all of the trimmings to top off your creation

(lettuce, tomatoes, olives, shredded cheese, jalapenos, sour cream)

Some of you may know that my husband drives a dirt late model race car.

My son, Spencer, is his right hand in our shop and at the races.

my husband and Spencer in front of his car

We decided that due to Mother Nature and her crazy cold front ways this Spring, that it would be cool to have his party in our building.

Then the rest of my ideas were born!

I played on his love of racing and his other love, fishing.

I wanted some sort of centerpiece, and I wanted it to be fit for a boy.

This is what I came up with:

Do you suppose they know they are about to become a centerpiece??

I bought small fish bowls and rocks in his school colors.

I found fishing lures also in their school colors, and red and white bobbers.

I dug out my stash of scrapbook numbers and added a 2013 to each bowl.

Hung the lure off the side, floated the bobbers on the top and added a gold fish to each bowl.

I also had many black picture frames that I filled with pictures of Spencer at different ages.

Added a few Hot Wheels, some graduation beads and confetti, and my tables were decorated!

Some of the picture frames has a metallic spray with "2013" attached to the back

each table looked slightly different.

I alternated red and black table clothes on the tables.

The head table had a white table cloth with an overlay of a clear one with 2013 in black.

We had a large framed and matted photo for guests to sign and his scrapbook filled with photos from each year of school, Pre-School through senior year.

sign in

his scrapbook

In order to keep guests from bunching up in the doorway, we had the gift/card table inside, close to the drinks and the food.

the gift table

You cannot tell from this photo above, but the gift table and the dessert table were both round.

Last but not least we had the table of desserts.

I decided to do all sorts of bars.  

I did a round table, so people could walk around it.

I used tiered plate holders with desserts, and had back up ones to put in their place.

Keeping with the Mexican theme, I added a large margarita glass filled with assorted M&Ms.

I used the rocks I made for card holders at a past party to show what each dessert was.

I made them for a Peanuts Themed Birthday Party.

They worked great with the fishing theme!

this is a close-up shot of the river rock swirled place card holder I made and re-used.

Here is a list of the desserts, you can click on each one to be taken to it's recipe blog page.

Lemon Blueberry Crumb Bars

Chocolate Brownies with Chocolate Ganache

(I made a box mix brownie and topped with this ganache, they were decadent and the first bar gone!

Nestles Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

(from the chocolate chip package)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Brownies

(box brownies with 1 bag of milk/peanut butter chips and 1/2 bag of peanut butter chips)

Iced Snickerdoodle Bars

Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars

(decorated with his school colors!)

My Mother-in-Law made Rice Krispy Treats, but here's a twist on those:

Cake Batter Rice Krispy Cupcakes with Marshmallow Butter Cream

A view from the front door of the race shop, you can get a better idea of the layout.

All of the food was set up along the work bench.

My son, Spencer, the guest of honor on his last day of High School.

Me and Spencer.  I am so proud of you, buddy!!

Love you SO MUCH!!

xxoo

My Niece's Shower ~ and her An Affair from the Heart Cookbook!

I am finally getting around to telling you about the bridal  shower I gave for my niece, Leah.

The shower was held in August of 2012, and I couldn't have been more happy to throw it for her.

I was also so totally excited to finally give her her gift!!

For the 6 months prior to her shower, I had been working on a cookbook for her, 

based on lots of her (and MY) favorite recipes from my blog.

This is me, with my niece, Leah.

I had a light luncheon, and we served it where the shower was held, at my husband's office.  

There was more room to seat everyone comfortably in his training room at work.

Chicken salad is always a good "go to" thing to make when you are cooking for women, but guess what?

Leah hates chicken salad!!

So in addition to it, I made her something she does love, 

Little King Salad!!

It's a favorite recipe on my blog, you can find the recipe HERE.

I served the sandwiches, the salad, along with fresh berries and her favorite, DILL PICKLES!!

(We actually gave her one of those GIANT Costco sized jars of pickles for Christmas one year!!)

This was the bouquet I arranged for the entry way.

Instead of the guests writing their name on a paper, a friend gave me the idea to buy the bride her thank you cards, and each guest addressed their own envelope.

Later, we drew a name for a door prize!

My dear friend, Tari, over at Sunshine Cookies made these beautiful bridal gown cookies, and I actually purchased those gorgeous brownies at a local bakery.

I did, however dip those strawberries! 

:)

Leah shown here, showing off one of Tari's creations!!  All the way from Arizona!!

My daughter, Josie, was Leah's Junior bridesmaid.  

She LOVES to paint, so she made Leah this painting for her apartment.

I set the tables up so everyone could visit, and Leah sat in the opening at the front.

The centerpieces were fall colored blooms.

This is Leah opening on of the gifts we gave her.

Have you ever heard of a company called 

That's my Pan?

Year's ago, my friend, Candi over at The Devilish Dish

bought me one, and I LOVE it!!

I decided that she needed one of her own!

I bought her the 9x13 with the cover.  The cover and the pan itself are personalized.

Then I gave her the cookbook I made.

A little history here.

Leah has long been a guest at many a dinner at our house.

We actually made it somewhat of a tradition on Monday nights when she was in college!

So, when I found out that she was engaged, I knew she would be getting a cookbook!!

Thanks to my friend, Betsy for the help and instruction on how to go about it!

here are a couple of pictures of the inside

These pages include cookies that are my Mom's, (her "Grandma Jane") recipe, as well as cookies that were a specialty of her Aunt, who passed away in 2005.

The book is full of pictures of her with my kids and with us, each of her grandparents has a page, 

and it includes all of her favorite dishes that I make.

This book was a labor of love.  And I know of NO ONE who deserves it more than Leah!!

She is such a ray of sunshine in our lives, and I hope that she enjoys the recipes, the photos and the memories this book hold for many years to come!!

The back page has a favorite cooking/love quote of mine,

"Cooking is like love.  

It should be entered into with abandon or not at all."

  a peek at the front an back covers

We LOVE YOU Leah!!

where I have been the last two months....

Hi, everyone!!  

I have been missing for a couple months, and I thought I would let you know in a nutshell what 

I have been up to!!

I think my last post was Easter!! 

Wow!! 

That was a while ago....

I love working in the yard in the spring, planting flowers and watching everything start 

peeking out of the ground.  

This year, we needed to have some concrete replaced on our existing patio, and decided to do an addition, adding some more room, a fire pit and a seat wall.

our new sitting area

we added larger wrap around steps to the back of the house

got a great gas heater so we can use our new space longer...

LOVE my porch swing.  

That was made by my husband in shop class in high school.

A couple of years ago for Mother's Day, he had it refurbished and a frame built for it.

(is he great or what?!?)

* * * * * * * * * * * *

I love going to concerts!!

Hadn't been to one in quite a while, then all of the sudden I had three in three weeks!!

my girls and I before the Miranda Lambert concert

my dear friend, Gigi, and I before the Daughtry concert

You have heard me mention my best friend, (my sister!!) Teresa,  in previous blogs.  

Her husband, Kris is the guitar tech for Ryan Peake of Nickelback.

Whenever they come to Omaha, Teresa flies in from California to see her Mom and I (and her hubby!!)

Kris gave us total rockstar VIP treatment this year at the show!

Kris and Teresa, my husband, Brian, and I behind stage (well under it!) at the Nickelback show

my two oldest kids with Uncle Kris and Aunt T

Got their "heavy metal horns" up!! 

I have always been a rocker, friends, and this made me SMILE!!

Spencer and Kenzie meeting Ryan Peake after the show

love my SISTAH!! muah!!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Our God-Daughter, Leah and her fiance, Austin, graduated from college the first weekend in May.  

We are SO PROUD of them both!!

the happy graduates

* * * * * * * * * * * * 

I had a beautiful Mother's Day!  My kids pampered me all day!

That afternoon we had my husband's whole family over and they guys grilled chicken and fed us well!!

me and my kiddos, on Mother's Day

Brian and his Dad manning the grill

ooooooo..... I love me some grilled chicky!!

The twins made me this BIG version of me!!

We refer to it as "BIG MAMA!!"

don't 'cha LOVE her high heels??

* * * * * * * * * 

The next weekend, we hosted an Engagement Party/Couple's shower for Austin and Leah.

It was a summer beachy theme, and it was a "Stock Their Bar" party!!

They all had fun.... and I learned that I am no longer a 20-something! ;)

congrats, Austin and Leah

before they opened their gifts

their gift from us

Brian and I with Leah by the bonfire

* * * * * * * * *

Last, but certainly not least, I would like to share with you a journey I begun exactly 8 weeks ago today.

Now you know I love to cook... but I apparently had no self-control when it came to EATING all of the yumminess I have been sharing with you over the last year.

Slowly but surely, all of my pants got tighter and tighter.

I kept saying that I would do something about it "next week."

Well, next week came and went and I baked more and more.

Finally I decided it was past time for me to be doing SOMETHING!!

So, I talked with my niece, Leah and my sister in law, Sue, and said, if we are going to start losing this weight for Leah's wedding, we have about 5 months to do it!!

(Chop chop, ladies!!)

So, I decided that I would attend a meeting at a local place called

  F.A.S.T.

"Family's Achieving Success Together"

I have known two people that have had major success, one lost 90 pounds

 the other is half way to her goal of 50.

When we went to our first meeting 8 weeks ago, Brian's cousin Amy was there, too.  

So we have a little TEAM going!! 

So far, our team together has roughly lost 85 pounds!!

What appealed to me was that I can eat anything that I want, I just have to keep track of it all.

and EXERCISE!!

Well, once we started, I stopped blogging. 

Not because I didn't miss the heck out of you guys, but I was in the learning process of something I really want to succeed at.

I always envied you bloggers that were disciplined and exercised.

I am happy to report that I have just completed my 56th consecutive day of exercise.

Would you believe I have put 221.83 miles on these tennis shoes of mine?!?!?

Thank goodness the hubster got me some "new kicks" for my birthday!

The others were denigrating!!

I, myself, have lost 27.4 pounds and am half way to my goal.

I feel like I have gotten a handle on my life and my eating, even though I have a ways to go.

So, I plan on blogging again, and sharing more yummy things with you!!

I would like to give you my sincere thanks for sticking with me through my journey!!

* * * * * * * 

Lastly, I celebrated my birthday this past weekend, and enjoyed every minute of it!!

lunch with my Mom for our birthdays, hers is the 7th and mine is the 9th of June

my birthday-eve, I did a wine tasting with my two dear friends, Lori and Toni

my two-dozen GORGEOUS red roses from my sweet hubby the morning of my birthday

After that he did a 4.5 mile walk with me!!

<3

me with my kiddos and my furry kiddos

strawberry shortcake, yum!!

Brian and I before our dinner date

Stay tuned, please, I have two parties and like 5 recipe blogs coming SOON!!

Hugs and Good Health to ALL of YOU!!

Michaela