Girl time, cookies and wine= good times. If you're thinking of having something more low key with friends this year instead of a full on soiree, I highly recommend a cookie exchange. It's laid back, no pressure, and allows you to just BE for a bit. Nobody needs a thing from you for a couple of hours. You get to eat yummy cookies and chat. I participated in one over the weekend, and it was so nice to hang with some girls for an afternoon.
I've only participated in a couple in my whole life, so I'm no expert on this or anything, but it's as simple as it sounds. Ladies each make a cookie of their choosing and then get together and share, everyone coming with at least 24 of their chosen cookie, and everyone leaving with a few of each of the cookies brought by everyone else. And you get to munch on the tasty treats while you gab and drink wine or tea or cocoa. What's not to love?
I did learn a couple of valuable lessons on this front:
1. Make your cookies ahead of time and not day of. As awesome as it sounds to pull cookies straight from the oven and have ready to serve, it puts you under unnecessary pressure. And if something goes wrong in the baking process, you're pretty much screwed. And after all, the whole point is that this is supposed to be a laid back event. I made three types of cookies: 1 turned out perfectly; 1 was good, but the texture was not on target because I didn't have time to let the melted chocolate completely cool as the recipe called for; and 1 was a fail.
2. Do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT fall into the trap of making a new recipe for a get together, regardless of how awesome the pictures are. You need to have tried and taste tested the recipe ahead of time (which reinforces lesson #1). I decided to make a recipe I had seen going around on Facebook without testing it out ahead of time. Not a good decision.
3. A skinny version of any recipe usually means a less than tasty version of that recipe. You probably should just stick with the original. Low calorie is not ideal for a cookie party. My cookie fail was a new recipe that I hadn't tested, but it was also a skinny recipe. But that's not why I chose it. The ingredients sounded very close to a no bake cookie (which I love) with the added bonus of banana (which I love). Sounds good, right? Umm, the end result was a no go. Did.Not.Love.
I've only participated in a couple in my whole life, so I'm no expert on this or anything, but it's as simple as it sounds. Ladies each make a cookie of their choosing and then get together and share, everyone coming with at least 24 of their chosen cookie, and everyone leaving with a few of each of the cookies brought by everyone else. And you get to munch on the tasty treats while you gab and drink wine or tea or cocoa. What's not to love?
I did learn a couple of valuable lessons on this front:
1. Make your cookies ahead of time and not day of. As awesome as it sounds to pull cookies straight from the oven and have ready to serve, it puts you under unnecessary pressure. And if something goes wrong in the baking process, you're pretty much screwed. And after all, the whole point is that this is supposed to be a laid back event. I made three types of cookies: 1 turned out perfectly; 1 was good, but the texture was not on target because I didn't have time to let the melted chocolate completely cool as the recipe called for; and 1 was a fail.
2. Do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT fall into the trap of making a new recipe for a get together, regardless of how awesome the pictures are. You need to have tried and taste tested the recipe ahead of time (which reinforces lesson #1). I decided to make a recipe I had seen going around on Facebook without testing it out ahead of time. Not a good decision.
3. A skinny version of any recipe usually means a less than tasty version of that recipe. You probably should just stick with the original. Low calorie is not ideal for a cookie party. My cookie fail was a new recipe that I hadn't tested, but it was also a skinny recipe. But that's not why I chose it. The ingredients sounded very close to a no bake cookie (which I love) with the added bonus of banana (which I love). Sounds good, right? Umm, the end result was a no go. Did.Not.Love.
After the first batch came out of the oven, I realized they looked like some weird little meatball. Not appetizing. And after tasting one from the first batch, I realized they tasted like dirt. Oh no! What was I to do? I was running out of time, so I thought, I know, I'll mix some chocolate chips into the remaining dough so that it's a little sweeter. Second batch came out: still tasted like dirt, but with an occasional chocolate surprise. Ugh! Screw it, I thought. I'll sprinkle some sugar on top of the rest of them as I put them in the oven, and if they still don't taste good, I'll just leave them out. I do have two other cookies to lean on. And that was the end of that. Because the sprinkling of sugar did not help. At all.
I did include a few on a tray, but just as a divider for the other two types of cookies I was offering up. And don't worry, I did the right thing. I warned all of the gals not to eat the little dirt clobs. Before the magic cookie hour, I had Ella try one, just to check to see if perhaps it was just me. She twisted her face and quickly shot a wounded look my way, as if to say Mommy, why? I thought you loved me. Yep, that settled it.
Ethan, however, absolutely loved them. Of course he did.
I did include a few on a tray, but just as a divider for the other two types of cookies I was offering up. And don't worry, I did the right thing. I warned all of the gals not to eat the little dirt clobs. Before the magic cookie hour, I had Ella try one, just to check to see if perhaps it was just me. She twisted her face and quickly shot a wounded look my way, as if to say Mommy, why? I thought you loved me. Yep, that settled it.
Ethan, however, absolutely loved them. Of course he did.