Hi Robin,

I held my 8th Annual Cookie Swap on Friday, December 17th at 7:30 p.m. This year 9 girls participated in the cookie swap (not as overwhelming as last year with 17 girls!!!), 6 participated in the ornament swap (patriotic theme in support of our troops serving overseas), and 7 others attended for the delicious food, fun & festivities! Each of the girls brought their cookies in individual creatively decorated boxes, bags, or store-bought containers. They also brought an extra dozen for the “tasting tray” which was almost gone by the end of the night!!!

As the girls arrived, I pinned a picture of a famous or notorious person on their back. They were allowed to ask each person one "YES" or "NO" question to see if they could guess who was pinned on their back. It’s a great ice-breaker game to get everyone talking! Our menu consisted of the following:

Appetizers:

Beer Battered Zucchini Fries with Ranch Dipping Sauce
Christmas Punch (7-up, Limeade, Lemons, Limes & Frozen Strawberries)
Cucumber Bread (French Baguette Bread topped with a Cream Cheese mixture and a slice of Cucumber)
Hummus w/Crackers
Mini Ham & Cheese Frittatas
Olive Tapanade w/Crackers
Red Pepper Walnut Dip
Shrimp & Crab Dip
Stuffed Mushrooms
Taco Dip
Veggie Chip Dip


Cookies:
Brown Sugar Drops
Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
German Chocolate Cookies (made with Raisinettes)
Chocolate Malt Cookies
Lime Cooler Cookies
Peanut Blossoms (with Hershey Kisses on top)
Peanut Butter & Jelly Thumbprints
Pumpkin Spritz Cookies
White Chip Dream Cookies


Drinks:
Hot Chocolate w/mini marshmallows, Hot Apple Cider, Coffee, Wine, Tea & Soda.



Prizes were given for the following:
I gave my friend Lisa a Gooseberry Patch “Merry Christmas” Book for not missing any of my cookie swaps in the past 8 years. My friend Jessica won the Gooseberry Patch heart-shaped measuring spoons for having the cookie with the most ingredients. I also gave the “swappers” an adorable gingerbread whisk ornament, which my daughter spotted one night while we were out shopping. I don’t feel it’s fair to give a prize for the most delicious cookie because not everyone has the same taste or likes the same type of cookie (just my opinion).

As a token of my appreciation, and because it has become a tradition they all look forward to, I gave them Christmas CDs that I made which included all of my favorite Christmas songs this year. I also made color recipe booklets which included all of the recipes for the appetizers and cookies. As an extra “surprise”, I made snowman return address labels for all the girls who participated in the swap. My daughter made Snowman Soup for all of the guests (she filled a Christmas Ziploc bag with a packet of hot chocolate, mini marshmallows and a few Hershey Kisses and tied a cinnamon stick to the outside of the bag with gingham ribbon for “stirring” along with a cute poem that we found on the web).



When I hosted my first cookie swap 8 years ago, I had no idea how much PRESS it would attract 7-8 years later!!!

Last year I was contacted by Sara Moulton’s Executive Producer after entering my name on Food Network’s website to be on Sara Moulton’s Cookie Swap Special. I was interviewed for the show by the Executive Producer but because of my geographical location in comparison to the rest of the contestants, they were unable to include me on last season’s special. She told me she might be in touch for another year when it is more geographically feasible.

In November, I was contacted by a reporter from The South Jersey Courier Post (one of our local newspapers) because she was writing an article about cookie swaps in South Jersey (she actually found me through YOUR website – so thank you!). She spent 2 hours at my house talking about my cookie swap and was so interested in it, she decided to cancel her own so she could attend mine (I invited her of course)! Thanks to her, there was a beautifully-written two-page write-up in the December 1st issue of the South Jersey Courier Post about my cookie swap along with a picture of me, my daughter, my mom, and two of my girlfriends baking cookies together!!!



And just a few days ago, I received an e-mail from the Associate Producer of CN8 television (The Comcast Network) about my cookie swap. They would like to include me in next year’s holiday/cookie swap special on “It’s Your Call with Lynn Doyle”!!! They asked me to take LOTS of pictures of my swap this year (cookies, boxes, containers, people, group shots, etc.). They are going to contact me next November (2005) to be on the show!

There is nothing better to me than being surrounded by friends and family during the holidays (or any of time of year). I cherish my friends very much and my cookie swap is just another reason for us to get together during the year. I look forward to it every year and hope my friends will continue to participate for many years to come!!! It’s a little about the cookies…but it’s a LOT about friendship & friends – keeping old ones and making new! Good friends are like cookies, there’s always room for more!

So, thanks AGAIN Robin for your wonderful website! It is appreciated by so many of us die-hard cookie swapping fanatics!

I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday and a happy, healthy New Year!

Tracy O’Connell (Sewell, NJ)
tracyscookieswap@comcast.net
www.picturetrail.com/joeandtracy