Well, most of you who know me, know that I love to cook. That being the case, I often peruse through web sites in search of new and yummy recipes. One of my favorites is the Nestle website. They even encourage you to write reviews for the recipes you've tried, good or bad. Well, I guess I've done enough of them that a while back the Nestle people invited me to be in their Advisory Panel for the new chocolate chip line they were launching. That was a lot of fun. I basically tried new recipes using their new products and share the opinions of my family and friends who tried it. But that only lasted a year.
So then, a couple of months ago, they contacted me again asking if I'd be willing to host a Cookie Exchange Party. I don't know if you've had a chance to ever go to one, but basically this is how it works: each guest bakes several dozen cookies of one kind of cookies (however many dozens depends on however many guests are coming). Then at the party, each person walks away with a dozen of each variety of cookies that were brought.
Needing an excuse to put a deadline on certain house projects around here (I'm shameless, I know) I set it up for the last possible option the Nestle people gave me, which was December 6. That worked out great! My dining room tile floor got done by none other than DH, which saved us a ton of money and looked fabulous! I tell him, I cannot recommend him to my friends only because I cannot afford the time, but he does fabulous work! It took him a week (well, in all fairness there was a Thanksgiving weekend in there that we needed to go to IL for and also he does have a regular job he must attend to) but it was done just in time. I had a small group of 5 ladies coming which meant each of us baked 5 dozen of one kind of cookie but went home with 5 different kinds: Russian Tea Cookies, Peanut Butter Kisses, Molasses, Sugar & Candy Cane Cookies. We had a great time just sipping coffee and cider and trying a few samples and having good conversation. By the way, it was during that conversation that I learned about fleece lined jeans and remote control starters (to warm your car) among other things I wish I had known before we moved :-) Now that I'm not a newbie anymore, I think I'm gonna have a bigger group next year! For all my trouble of hosting (as if!) the Nestle folks sent me several cookie tins and recipe booklets to distribute to my guests. That was a nice touch.
If you ever want to host one, it is a lot of fun. It doesn't even have to be Christmas but that is as nice a time of the year to host as any. And don't worry about going home with too many cookies that you can't possibly eat. You can always take them to the office or send them to your kid's school, or even a nice treat for Sunday School. It's just as much fun passing it forward as it is to eat them! Another great reason to do it is to also make someone's day by shipping them to distant relatives, friends, kids who are away in college or even in the military overseas (just remember to pack them well and ship priority mail)!
Go ahead! Nibble time!!!!!
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