Jazz Up Your Christmas Cookie Exchange
Everyone loves a good Christmas cookie exchange, so put in a little bit of extra effort to make sure the event is as delicious as the cookies.
Looking for ways to jazz up your Christmas cookie exchange? Believe it or not, it can become the social event of the season -- or just a fun way for some people in your neighborhood to get together and save themselves some work. The following tips will help you make sure your Christmas cookie exchange is exactly what you want it to be.
Ready... Set... Bake!
-Establish participants early. You're going to need to let people know how many cookies to make (at least a dozen per participant, and don't forget the person baking!). You don't want to phone people up and say, 'By the way, could you add another 24 cookies to your total?' Set a deadline for participating and stick to it.
-Think about a party. A Christmas cookie exchange party is a great way to get everyone together, swap cookies, and have fun. If you decide to do that, ask each guest to make an extra cookie for each participant. That way, you don't even have to come up with refreshments for the party: everyone can sample the cookies instead.
-Exchange recipes, too: Encourage guests to print off one copy of their Christmas cookie exchange recipe for each guest. That way, not only will the guests get a fantastic assortment of Christmas cookies, they'll have all the recipes to use on their own next year.
-Consider allergies and dislikes: If someone in your group is violently allergic to walnuts, or gags at the taste of coconut, try to factor that into your instructions to the group. Obviously you can't accommodate everybody's preferences, and most people aren't super picky when it comes to cookies: just check with the cooks to see if there's anything you should be aware of.
If you follow these tips, you'll be well on your way to the best Christmas cookie exchange ever.