Hello Robin!

I held my 9th Annual Cookie Exchange Party at 11 AM on Saturday, December 12th, 2009 with a good sized group of 12 swappers attending. Several of my 'regulars' were not able to attend this year, and half of the group had never been to a cookie exchange party before. We were so busy eating, playing a game, swapping cookies, and having a good time that we forgot to take a group photo!

We enjoyed Cranberry Upside-Down Coffee Cake, Chicken Holiday Wreath, Sunrise Sausage Bake, Cheese & Crackers, Summer Sausage, Sweet & Sour Lil' Smokies, Fruit Salad, Spiced Cider, and Egg Nog.

I borrowed a game that my friends played at one of their past Christmas parties, which proved to be quite a stumper, however I think everyone still had fun. Several items are placed on a table and a sheet of paper with various phrases is handed out to everyone. People then had to match the item to the phrase. For example: item on table - two dice, phrase - "Hawaii, for example", answer - paradise.

The cookies swapped this year included: Magic Mint Chocolate Bark, Gingerbread Men, Peppermint Chocolate Bars, White Chocolate Candycane Drops, Coconut Pyramids, Andes Mint Cookies, Pecan Bars, Russian Tea Cakes, Sugar Cookie Strawberry Jam Thumbprints, and Holiday Cake Bon Bons.

For party favors I made Holiday Split Pea Soup Mix in a Jar and tucked in gingerbread men shaped suckers.

As always, I appreciate your newsletters and am looking forward to your new cookbook! I thought it would be fun to see if there were other cookie exchanges in my area and through your newsletter connected up with a woman who holds her party in July. I'm looking foward to being a guest instead of the host!

Happy New Year!

~ Christine Harpel, Fort Collins, CO