An American Tradition

Sometimes I wish I lived in the United States...

Americans get to celebrate lots of fun holidays such as Thanksgiving and Halloween - complete with the festive foods and over-the-top decorations.

They also seem to celebrate other occasions such as Graduation and Valentine's Day.

I have just discovered a new reason for a gathering in the Festive Season - A Cookie Exchange.

Also known as a Cookie Swap or Cookie Party.

The general idea (from what I can gather) is that everyone makes a huge (6-10 dozen) batch of their cookie of choice and brings them to the party complete with recipe card.

Here

A cookie swap is a social event with a practical side. 
For many, it marks the beginning of the holiday season and brings friends together for more than just cocktails and chit-chat.

WHY ? (I did some research...)

A cookie swap also…

Saves valuable time during the busiest season of the year. It is much faster to make multiple batches of the same cookie, than to track down ingredients for 7 or 8 different recipes and prepare each one.

Provides you with a wonderful selection of homemade baked goods to serve your guests over the holidays.

Introduces new types of cookies to your palate and unique recipes to your repertoire.

Provides a fun, casual social event that is easy to host – the guests bring the goodies!

Offers opportunities for a charitable outreach. Guests can be asked to bring non-perishable food items to donate to a local food bank.

I might be new to this trend.. but I am smitten with the idea! 

And the invitations!!!

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It's not all fun and games though..

There are RULES!!

THE RULES OF THE COOKIE EXCHANGE

All cookies should be homemade, baked and main ingredient must be flour.

No plain chocolate chip cookies, cookie mixes, no-bakes, meringues or bars.

Each guest to bring 6 dozen total cookies.

The theme is "Christmas Cookies" (You can make any theme you like.)

Arrange cookies in a basket or platter and be creative!   

Bring a large container to carry away your cookie, 

Email a copy of your recipe before the party (or bring recipe to the party)

RSVP as soon as you can and let the host know what type of cookies you are planning on baking - no duplicate recipes allowed

If you don't have time to bake, or have burnt your cookies, but still want to attend, you must go to a real bakery and buy 6 dozen yummy cookies.

These can be found at the Official Cookie Exchange Website.

If anyone has ever participated in a Cookie Exchange - 

Please tell me alllll about it! I am dying to know what it's like!

xx

Virtual Celebration

My little blog turned ONE on Saturday.

Care to celebrate with me?

When ? NOW!!!

Would you like some refreshments ?

Here

Seriously though - If I was throwing a party, it would be pink and FABULOUS. Just like the board below that Miss Jodie found for me on Pinterest.

LOVE LOVE LOVE

xx

The Weekend That 'Flew'

So, we had our work Christmas Party on Friday night - The theme was 'Australia'..

And The Cool Pod rocked it.

Our interpretation of the theme was a little outside the square, but you can read more on that over at LukaMish.

Saturday was a very quiet day.. and by quiet, I mean that I barely moved from the couch. Frozen coke was my saviour.

So today I felt like I needed to be super productive to make up for such a lazy Saturday. The days activities included Christmas shopping and lunch with mum.

Then I spent a few solid hours in the kitchen - simultaneously baking, singing and dancing around to my latest and greatest playlist.

The result ?

A candy house and a cake for dessert.

 Not bad, right?

Can you believe there's less than a week left until Christmas now?

There will be more baking, singing and dancing later in the week as I prepare some sweet treats for Christmas Day..

xx

Hen's Day Cupcakes

Miss Morgan hosted a Hen's Party at our place last weekend.

I contributed by baking some cupcakes. Hen's Day-appropriate cupcakes.

Please avert your eyes if you're easily embarrassed...

Oh, there are soooo many jokes I could make. But let's try to keep this clean shall we?

Admittedly, with these cakes, it's probably less about the taste and more about the looks, but I'll share the recipe anyway..

Chocolate and Almond Cupcakes

Ingredients

100g dark chocolate, chopped

50g ground almonds

90g self-raising flour

4 eggs, separated

115g caster sugar

2 tbsp warm milk

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees

Line muffin tray with patty pans

Place chocolate in food processor and process until finely ground

Add ground almonds and flour and process until just combined

Beat the egg yolks and sugar with an electric mixer for 2-3 minutes, until thick and pale

Stir in chocolate mixture

Stir in milk

Beat the egg whites in a clean bowl until soft peaks form

Gently fold whites into the mixture with a metal spoon until just combined

Divide mixture among the cases

Bake for 10-12 minutes

Cool on a wire rack.

And, yes - They were a HUGE hit. 

xx