How to Host a Successful Christmas Cookie Exchange

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is coming up next week! This year will mark the 10th Annual Christmas Cookie Exchange that I will be hosting at my house! It’s a day for us ladies to get together over tea or wine and have appies and catch up, all while trading our new or favorite holiday cookie recipes!!

If you have never been a part of a Christmas Cookie Exchange, let me tell you how it works!! It’s surprisingly easy and a LOT of fun!! Basically, each person who attends the party brings six dozen of their favorite type of cookie, then we make the exchange and everyone brings six dozen different cookies home!!

Ten years ago when I hosted my first cookie exchange, I wasn’t really sure how it worked, so I googled, and found this page . This site gave me a very specific set of rules that, for the first couple of years I was very specific about following… and honestly some of the rules were a little too much for me, so I have relaxed them into the rules below and things have gone much more smoothly ever since!

Recipe for these beauties

Before the rules, a few tips to make your life easier as the hostess of the cookie party!! First of all, give LOTS of notice! I usually send out my invitations (usually as a facebook event) about a month or so before the party. People have very busy social calendars, and if they know about this event well enough ahead, they can also plan to make time for the baking part of the party!! Although some people get stressed about having to bake 6 dozen cookies, remember: that usually just means two batches of a single recipe, since most cookie recipes make 3 dozen cookies!!

Second: Don’t stress!! This is supposed to be a fun event!! I usually have my Christmas tree up mid-November, so my Christmas décor is the only decorating I do for the party, well aside from the beautiful cookies all my friends bring along!! I buy or make a few easy appetizers, open a few bottles of wine and make a pot of tea and we just sit and chat and catch up with each other!

If you have the time, ask your friends to provide you their recipes ahead of time and put together a Cookie Book. It sounds like a lot of work, but it’s super easy and your friends will thank you! When I hosted my first cookie exchange, I asked people to bring copies of their recipes, so if someone LOVED a cookie, they’d be able to bake it! Inevitably, people would forget, so I try to collect everyone’s recipe the week before and print them all off into a little booklet for my guests to bring home! Voila, ten minutes of copying and pasting into a Word document and all of our new favorite recipes in one place to share!!

Finally, I know that people are busy, but busy people still want cookies!! I allow people to bake their cookies and drop them off to me before the party and I will do the exchanging part for them. Last year I had one participant in labour, and another working and one more that had a different party to attend… but they all wanted to bake and exchange cookies, so they brought them over before the party, prepackaged and ready to go and I exchanged their yummies for them! One last thing that may make your life as Cookie Party hostess a little better… and by no means is this necessary, it’s just my OCD coming out to play… if you have an odd number of participants, and you won’t be able to evenly divide cookies (for example 11 people x 6 dozen (72) cookies = 6.54 of each recipe per participant) whip up an extra batch of cookies.

See how amazing having twelve different types of cookies can be????

As the hostess, you are likely already a baker and have a ton of recipes in your arsenal. In addition to making it easier to divide and package cookies (especially when many of the guests pre-package their cookies), if you bring two entries to the party, you LEAVE with double the cookies!!

So, without further ado, and using guidance from Robin’s Rules to Hosting a Cookie Exchange, here are my…

1. All cookies should be homemade, baked and main ingredient must be a type of flour. This means your guests will bring COOKIES. Not Rice Krispie treats, not meringues, COOKIES. After all, this is a Cookie Exchange!!

2. No plain chocolate chip cookies, cookie mixes, no-bakes, meringues or bars. Anyone can open a package and add an egg, this party is for cookies made with love. We allowed bars one year, and they didn’t cut well, they weren’t evenly sized, and they didn’t package and stack like cookies.

3. Please bring 6 dozen total cookies… well maybe a couple extra to share… but really, six dozen cookies. One recipe baked twice, 72 cookies. It makes it easier for sorting and separating when the actual exchange part of the party, and means that no one is shorted cookies because someone only managed to bake 60 cookies.

4. Email a copy of your recipe before the party (or bring recipe to the party). In addition to putting together a Cookie Book like I do, having everyone provide their planned recipes in advance means that you won’t get duplicates. Not that having four kinds of shortbread is the worst problem to have, but variety is the spice of life!!

5. If you don't have time to bake, or have burnt your cookies, but still want to attend, you must go to a real bakery and buy 6 dozen yummy cookies. This one is pretty self-explanatory! In all of my years, it’s only happened on time that someone had to bring bakery cookies!!

I am so so so looking forward to this year’s festivities!! This year’s Cookie Book already has recipes for Oreo Peppermint Crunch Cookies and Salted Caramel Stuffed Snickerdoodles. I. Can’t. Wait!!!!!! Thanks for stopping by today! I really appreciate it!!

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Sandwiches. When I was a kid, that's what I had in my Rainbow Brite lunchbox. Every. Day. Flash forward so many years into the future and I have two littles packing lunchbags to school every day. BOTH of my small people refuse to eat sandwiches and this mama is running out of options.

I have had a lot of success with sending baked goods with the girls instead of sandwiches, and I wanted to try something other than these (awesome) Banana Oat Muffins that I make every other week. While watching tv the other week, we saw an ad for Robin Hood quick breads and the girls wanted to try them. I hit up my fave recipe site allrecipes.com and searched for a Cinnamon Bread recipe. I specifically was looking for a recipe that didn't include yeast (like a loaf of bread) and could be made with ingredients that I have on hand all the time.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread 
Recipe adapted from AllRecipes.com

Ingredients

1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan with non-stick spray. In a small bowl, combine 1/3 cup brown sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder and remaining brown sugar. Combine egg, milk and vegetable oil. Stir wet ingredients into dry and stir until just combined.

Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan, sprinkle with half of the cinnamon and sugar mixture. Pour the remaining half of the batter on top, and then top with the remaining cinnamon and sugar.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the loaf comes out clean. Let cool on wire rack for ten minutes. Slice into delicious slices and serve warm if you can!!

I plan on making these into muffins next week for the littles to be able to pack along easier when they go to dance class. When I make them into muffins, I'll modify this recipe with the new cook time.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope I've inspired you a little today!

Homemade Shake and Bake Mix

Hello my friends! I’m back with another super easy, healthy recipe to share today. I used to buy store-bought Shake and Bake for breading chicken and fish but one day I looked at the contents on the side of the package. When I found that there were a ton of ingredients that I either couldn't pronounce or couldn't identify, it was time for this mama to find a recipe of my own!

My girls are starting to branch out in the food department (finally!) and since Costco chicken nuggets are a staple in my house, I thought I’d try making my own version of chicken nuggets with chicken breast and a homemade shake and bake mixture. It worked! Both girls gobbled up dinner and I was over the moon!

I always make a big batch of this mix and store it in the fridge so I can whip up dinner quickly without having to measure out the ingredients each time. I served the girls these chicken strips with baked French fries, but I made a beautiful salad with mine. I’ll share that recipe with you next week!

Homemade Shake and Bake

Ingredients

1 ½ cups Italian breadcrumbs
½ cup Parmesan cheese
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp garlic powder (I use this Garlic Aioli dip mix)
1 tsp Italian seasoning (I use this Herb and Garlic mix)

Instructions

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl until well combined. Transfer to an airtight container (like an old salsa jar) and add a nifty label so you know what is inside.

To make the shake and bake chicken:

Preheat oven to 400F. Put ½ cup creamy salad dressing in a shallow bowl (Caesar, ranch, whatever you like…) and put ½ cup (at a time) of the shake and bake mixture in a separate shallow bowl. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Cut chicken into strips or nugget sized pieces. Dredge the chicken through the salad dressing, tapping any excess off. Then dip the chicken into the breadcrumbs mixture, making sure to coat it on all sides.

Place chicken on parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 17-20 minutes, turning halfway through.

Honey Mustard Chicken Salad - recipe to come!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you enjoyed this recipe.

 
I will hopefully be linking this recipe up to A Bowl Full of Lemons, and Joyful Homemaking.

Banana Oat Bread & Muffins

Hey everyone! Guess what!! I was featured!! I linked last week`s Baked Salmon Parmesan recipe up to Joyful Homemaking`s Thursday Think Tank party and they liked it! Woo Hoo!!

So, you know that moment at the end of the week, when you take the bananas that are starting to over ripen and chuck them into the freezer planning on throwing together a quick batch of banana bread? Yeah, well, I had about 6 of those moments, except that I never got around to baking that quick batch of banana bread. So last night, after moving around yet another bunch of frozen bananas, it was time to take action.

I have a great banana bread recipe in my arsenal, but I wanted to try something new this time. Now that we have found another food that Miss A will actually eat in her lunch (she’s anti-sandwich, and pretty much everything else…). I needed to find a way to make it a bit healthier and wanted to find a recipe using oats so I headed to Allrecipes.com. I found this recipe for banana oat muffins and after a few small ingredient modifications, had a delicious recipe that made great use of some of the EIGHTEEN bananas in my freezer.

The streusel topping for the recipe is an optional add-on – it’s super delicious, but the muffins were fantastic without it. I used a mini-loaf pan and a giant muffin pan for my first go-round with this recipe. The second time around I doubled the recipe and it made three full sized banana bread loaves.
 
Banana Oat Muffins (or Banana Oat Bread)
Recipe adapted from here

Ingredients
1 cup oats, ground in food processor
1 cup flour
2 tbsp oats
½ cup chopped walnuts/pecans or chocolate chips
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
½ cup applesauce
½ cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 ½ cup mashed bananas (about 3 medium)
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup greek yogurt or sour cream
 
Streusel topping
1/3 cup oats
4 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp melted butter

Instructions

Using a processor (I just have a mini chopper thingy), grind oats until powdery.

In a bowl, combine ground oats, flour, oats, nuts/chocolate chips, baking soda and baking powder; set aside. With the mixer on low, combine applesauce, white and brown sugar, eggs, mashed banana and vanilla. When well incorporated, add the greek yogurt and mix well.

Mix the dry ingredients into the wet and blend completely. Scoop into a greased muffin pan, mini or regular loaf pan. Mix together the streusel ingredients in a small bowl. Sprinkle across the top of the batter and bake. 

For muffins and mini loaves, bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes clean. 

For full sized loaves, bake for 45-50 minutes.

I hope you enjoy this recipe!! Miss A took two of the mini loaves for her lunch today and asked for more when she got home from school. I think we have a hit on our hands!!

I’ll hopefully link this recipe up to a couple of fun link parties, including Joyful Homemaking, Delightful Order, and A Bowl Full of Lemons.

Thanks for stopping by! I really appreciate it :)

Organized School-time Snacks!

In our kitchen we have a large wooden pantry that contains most of the dry foods we use in our kitchen, like our pasta, jarred sauces, cereal, and of course, our snacks!

I try to keep all of the snacks that we use for school lunches and after school snacks corralled together in one big bin that everyone can access. The girls know what snacks are “freebies” (as opposed to the snacks they need permission to eat, like cookies or candy!), and Daddy and I have healthy, easy snacks at our fingertips.
With summer coming to an end, it’s definitely time to clear out the less-healthy snacks and replenish the healthy lunchtime, school approved snacks! I’ll put the treat snacks into the “candy” container.

Here’s the “before” for this part of the pantry... lollipops??  Jolly Ranchers?? Reese Peanut Butter Cups?? Definitely not preschool and grade one approved snacks!!

And the “After”! All tidied up and ready to pack lunches.

I also grabbed a plastic container to make a lunch stations inside the fridge filled with yogurt tubes, cheese strings, Babybel cheeses and baby carrots (for Miss E’s preschool snack – we all know Miss A won’t go near a vegetable!).

Phew! A couple more things have been marked off my list, too bad the list is still L-O-N-G!!
Thanks for taking the time to read along with me! If you don’t already, I’d love for you to follow me on Facebook! 

Custom Water Bottle Labels

This week is party prep week in our house! Miss A is turning SIX years old on Thursday, and she has requested a Hello Kitty Cupcake Decorating party for herself and 15 little friends.
Along with the variety of flavours of cupcakes that I need to find time to bake this week, and the five crazy bright colours of icing that have been requested by Miss A, there is also a big, bland clubhouse to decorate.
We started our first party decorations project on Sunday, while watching the closing ceremonies of the Olympics as a family. While the hubs controlled the remote, the girls and I got to work making custom labels for the water bottles to be served at the party!

First things first, buy a flat of bottled water and find a helpful assistant. 

Have helpful assistant remove the labels from the bottles. It's alright if the gluey stuff stays on the bottle, it's actually helpful for lining up the labels later.

Next up are the labels - super easy! I removed a label from one of the bottles, measured the dimensions and then created a table in Microsoft word where the label dimensions were the size of the table cells. I found a pretty pink damask design on google image, used it as the background and then added the 6th Birthday info to the front using a text box.

I cut out the labels and passed them to my lovely assistant to line up around the side of the bottle. I used a little strip of scotch tape to seal the paper around the edge of the bottle. Then I did it again. And again. And again.

I think they turned out pretty cute! 

What do you think?

Thanks so much for reading! I really appreciate it!  If you haven't already, I'd love for you to follow me on Facebook!

Just Like A Candy Bar Treats

This week Miss A had one of her besties from school over for a playdate. In honor of her fun afternoon, she requested a special treat for their afterschool snack. After poring through the as-yet-unorganized recipe binder, I came across the perfect play date snack time treat! Homemade candy bars!

One note for anyone trying this recipe: please pay attention to the requested pan size! I used a regular old cookie sheet because I thought it would work – and when it all came together and baked into a tray of ooey gooey deliciousness, it went over the edge of the pan and baked onto the sides and bottom of my oven. It was bad. And smoky. But totally worth it, because the end result was a delicious, fun snack that the kids devoured after school the next day.

Just Like a Candy Bar Recipe (adapted from here)

Ingredients
1 Box chocolate cake mix
¾ Cup melted butter
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup coconut
1 cup Kraft caramel balls, melted
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, mix melted butter and cake mix with a fork until nice and crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over a 15x10x1” jelly roll pan – DO NOT use a regular cookie sheet, it will be a disaster!

Sprinkle with semisweet chips, white chocolate chips and coconut.  Pour the melted caramels over the mixture.

Melt milk chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Add sweetened condensed milk to the melted chocolate chips and stir until combined. Pour milk mixture over all ingredients.

My Little Baking Helper, waiting patiently to lick the spatula

Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes, until all ingredients are melted together. Cool completely (at least an hour!). Cut into bars and store in an airtight container. 

I separated the layers of bars with wax paper to keep them from sticking together.
Enjoy!