Why is it that a time that should be peaceful, joyous, and magical almost always winds up feeling stressful, annoying, and frustrating? With parties and gatherings and dinners and gifts and decorating, it's amazing some of us enjoy our holiday at all.
So, take a tip from my mom: participate in a cookie party with some friends and get rid of some of your stress!
The idea is simple. Get some friends, family, and/or co-workers to agree to a cookie party. We'll say you get 10 people including yourself to participate (but the number could be anything you decide is manageable). Every attendee picks one type of cookie to provide for the party. No duplicates!
Here's where it gets interesting. Calculate how many cookies you need to make: 1 dozen for every attendee (perhaps 2 if you're adventurous!) PLUS another dozen for the party. Make sure to include yourself in your calculations! So, if there are 10 attendees including yourself, 12x10 = 120+12 = 132 cookies.
Gather/purchase the ingredients needed to make the alloted number of cookies. This is where the cookie party really shines: you save money by buying only a few ingredients in bulk and save time by making the cookies super assembly style. Also, make sure you have materials to package up the cookies by the dozen.
The next step, obviously, is to set aside some time and make/package your cookies.
Fast forward to the day of the party. Don't forget to bring your cookies, a bag, and maybe a beverage! All the attendees swap the cookies they brought and get to taste-test since there is an extra dozen of each floating around.
Ready for the best part? After our imaginary cookie party you walk away with 10 dozen cookies, all different kinds, just ready and waiting to hit your desert tray for any event you might have coming over the holidays. Not to mention the great time you can have at the actual party itself!
Beat Holiday Stress with a Cookie Party!
December 1st, 2006 at 08:21 pm
December 1st, 2006 at 08:30 pm
So this year I am just orangizing a christmas cookie basket raffle. I think so far I've got 7 or 8 people bringing me a dozen or half dozen cookies from whatever they are baking and I'll be raffling them off to raise money for a Christmas charity.
December 1st, 2006 at 08:56 pm
It really does ease the baking frenzy one can get into during December. Makes me wish I had one going for this year!
December 2nd, 2006 at 05:02 pm
*One anybody with a cookbook could figure out!!
December 4th, 2006 at 07:35 pm
This year we are combining it with a Bunco party. I'm trying to start a Bunco league and I thought it would be a good chance to introduce everyone to the game. I think there might be some wine involved too...