#52: Host a Cookie Swap

In general, I feel like I’m getting a slower start to my 101 in 1001 list than originally planned.  Nevertheless, I recently managed to check one of the items off my list.  I hosted my first cookie swap.

The cookie swap idea was originally born out of the fact that in December 2010, I attended 2 cookie swaps and had a great time.  I love having an excuse to bake.  But  this year, just a week or so before Christmas, I realized that I hadn’t been invited to any.  Granted, that changed the following day, but by then I’d already posted on Facebook asking some of my local friends if they’d like to attend a swap after the holidays.  The idea was born and I had to go through with it.

In addition to giving my friends and I an opportunity to hang out and relax, the cookie swap also allowed me the chance to use my dishes, show off my tea collection and put my Laurel Thatcher Ulrich quote napkins to good use.

Around 7:00 last Friday night, 8 of my closest local friends from school, church and blogging came over bearing delicious cookies.  We watched excitedly as my once ample dining room table filled up. 

I had a really great time playing hostess and watching other people enjoy themselves.  Several of my friends commented that February is a much less stressful time to have a cookie swap and I feel like the weekend before Valentine’s Day was especially nice.  Maybe I’ll make my post-holiday cookie swap an annual event?

If I do, there are a few things I want to remember:

• Not everyone is going to take home their allotted amount of cookies.  Whatever’s leftover is going to belong to the host.  In some ways, this is awesome, but we have a lot of cookies in our freezer as a result.
• Having guests bring their recipes with them them is an awesome idea, especially if not all the invitees know each other.
• People are going to understand if you don’t have everything in the world available, but it’s easy to make sure you have some things, like ice cubes.