Have you ever taken part in a cookie exchange party? They’re a fun way for friends to share not only great company, but also the benefit of others’ tried and true recipes.
The premise? You invite anywhere up to a dozen friends to your home, with an understanding that each guest will pull out all the stops and make a large supply of their favourite cookie, square or bar recipe. Each guest arrives at your home with a dozen of their treats for each person in attendance. The host will set the tone with great music, some seasonal decor, beverages and (non-sugary!) appetizers for guests to enjoy.
The host will also have a buffet table ready and waiting for guests to deposit their contributions, and each guest will bring an empty tin or container (or two) in which to cart home a dozen of each of their friends’ home baked treats. The idea is that each guest then has a good variety of goodies to share with their families and friends at upcoming gatherings.
It used to be that each contributor would also bring a supply of hand printed or typed copies of the recipe for her or his particular contribution. These days, contributors often share their recipes electronically … which is what I’m inviting you to do.
Favourites to Reflect Your Culture
… and holidays, whether that means Christmas, Diwali, Hanukkah, New Year’s, Thanksgiving or other occasions. We celebrated the Canadian Thanksgiving last month, and Diwali 2015 is also already in the record books. Our American friends are gearing up, though, to celebrate their Thanksgiving this coming Thursday, and there are other big holidays or celebrations coming up for many of us.
Share with Readers Around the Globe
With readers around the globe, it occurred to me that this could be a great way to explore recipes from near and far. You can already find my Gingersnaps, Madeleines, Refrigerator and Sugar Cookie recipes (and more) under the Food tab on this screen.
If you’d like to participate, take a few minutes to go through your favourites and send in recipes that may represent your family, your original home or the country in which you now live. For me, I’ll be adding a shortbread recipe from a long-ago colleague, Marlene.
How to Contribute
It’s easy. Just click on the Contact Shelagh option near the top of your screen, fill in a couple of text fields and drop-down menus. If you have your recipe already stored electronically, you can simply paste it into the “Comments” section of the form. Or, if you wish, feel free to send me your recipe by email, which is ExceptionalEAs@gmail.com.
For Twitter Followers: Share the hashtag, #ExceptionalEAsCookieExchange.
When Might You See Your Recipe on Exceptional EA?
That depends on you, and on how soon you contribute. I’ll begin publishing readers’ recipes the first week of December. Will readers see recipes reflective of your region, province or country?
Peppermint Bonbons
2 c. all purpose flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ c. butter or margarine
½ c. white sugar
1 egg
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 tsp vanilla
Sift dry ingredients together.
Cream butter or margarine with sugar – cream well.
Beat in egg, melted chocolate and vanilla.
Stir in dry ingredients to make a stiff dough.
Roll into 1” balls and place on greased cookie sheets.
Bake at 350º for 12 minutes.
Cool. Once cooled, finish with the peppermint glaze
Glaze
3 c. sifted icing sugar
3 -4 Tbsp hot water
¼ tsp peppermint extract
Red food colouring to make pink or red colour.
Mix all together to the consistency desired. I make a glaze thick enough to run down the cookies and still sticks to the top of the ball. My sister likes a thinner glaze that coats the cookie. Decorate with a silver dragee or slivered almond or your choice if desired.
These freeze well.
I was raised with these Christmas cookies and they are still a favourite with my siblings. Of the five of us, I am the only one that makes these.
Thanks, Dawn. I’ll include your Pepperminut Bonbons – which sound great! – with the other recipes I’ll publish in December.