Well you just knew I'd have a story for this.
I'm artistic. I love cookies. Although lately? I have been doing the no sugar low sugar thing so cookie exchanges save to say for me and my house are a thing of the past. Unless I would want to have a pants exchange in January. I had a friend or so-called friend that I dearly loved. I thought the world of her and then one day for no particular reason she just switched gears and had a new batch of friends, started dodging me, and I got the hint. UNTIL Christmas time. I felt a little vindicated, but upon arrival at her enormous home I see many, many new cars in her drive. I thought perhaps relatives? Nope...new friends. Interesting as she had told me months prior, she had NO time to do the things we used to do, but here I am invited to a cookie party.
Now the part that you are probably interested in. The house was decorated to the nines. There was festive music, decorations, Wassail (I thought that was cool as no one had ever smelled it let alone tasted it), hot cider with cinnamon sticks. Unusual things that made it memorable so that when you left and years later if that item was mentioned your mind went back to HER party. Still does. I can actually say I've had Wassail. I have WASSAILED. I went a wassailing. (snort - sounds a holidayish doesn't it?) Okay so beyond the incredible smell there was finger foods like hollowed out bread loaf with spinach dip, parmasean and dill crackers (very easy to make and very addictive) a candy tier with holiday chocolates -again stuff you hardly ever see and things that she had made - dipped pretzel sticks white and chocolate with drizzled red and green chocolate over them. Home made candy canes, and she had bags - colorful gift bags and tins for all of us to take home our cookies in. Lunch meats, summer sausage, mustards - cheese sliced, cubed - It was a lot of variety. There was about 20 of us there. Nothing hard to clean up - Easy-Peasy she kept saying. The pre-and set up was the hard thing.
So we all bring our own dough. Enough to make at least 5 dozen cookies. That way each person got a variety of cookies. (she had 2 ovens going all the time). We started at I think 4:30-5:00 and got done around 10 - cleaned up and dishes dried.
When it came time to color and decorate the sugar cookies? Like I said - I'm artistic and everyone was asked to bring at least ONE decorative topping. Silver balls, or sugar shake, or snow flakes, whatever - So there was a bakery variety that you would not have unless you were a gozillionaire. And I went to town. Well - you could tell which ones were mine. (not braggin just sayin) and as they hardened and dried (tables set up in the garage) there was a crew that was packing the tins (everyone had a place-card in front of where their cookies were hardening and drying and their tins had names on them so the packing crew was boxing and wax papering them). They were done baking first.
I go out to get MY cookies - and there was my so-called friend taking MY cookies, and replacing them with HERs and I just stood there. She was NOT an artist I said - "Whats up?" So she turns and hands me my tin and says "Well I know that your family is just going to gobble these down right away.....and I wanted to take yours, because they're so pretty and display them because I have guests coming to my house." I honestly didn't know what to say. Her attempt at flattery was flat at best and pathetic at worst. The other new friends just stood there, looking at me, then back at her, and so I took the tin and to add injury to insult she said "Well what? They all taste the same." and walked off.
That's the last time I went to her house. I did get invited once more for a white elephant gift exchange.....but after that cookie debacle I just couldn't think of ANYTHING more white elephant than her attitude - so I declined. I also heard that another friend I got dumped for went to her house shortly after and let her have it with both barrels about what kind of a mean, overbearing, manipulative, me, me, me person she is. So she called me and asked me "Do you believe her?" I said "Do you really want to know? Or do you want me to continue to love you for the way you are?" Haven't heard from her mmm in almost six months. Ever since she was called and asked to take my job, and I overheard the conversation just before I was let go of my job - and when I confronted her about it? She lied to me.
So that's my cookie exchange story - but it won't be yours. Highly recommend looking for and sharing the odd things - The wassail was awesome. Smells the whole house up nicely. The variety of pre-made cookie dough cuts down on time too.
I hope yours is an awesome evening. PS - even a toaster oven offers one more way to cook - AND you can always have someone bring NO - bake cookie dough or rice crispie goo.
Hugs