Vicki Baker
There is nothing more fun than a home full of friends around the holidays. Because everyone loves cookies this time of year, in place of our monthly Bunco game we celebrated the season with our annual cookie exchange. For those unacquainted with the concept, a cookie exchange is essentially a potluck based on trading cookies. Everyone was told to get out the cookie trays, tie on those aprons and start baking delightful treats that would get everyone in the Ho Ho Ho holiday mood.
To properly execute our cookie exchange, the Bunco buddies baked a million cookies, then brought their cookies on huge platters. But before the swap began we all enjoyed a “Friendship Salad” lunch buffet. The story goes that the big bowls of salad greens represent the big group of friends, and each topping represents each friend individually. Hosts Vicki Baker and Susan Hebert supplied the salad greens, and all the others contributed a variety of toppings including ham cubes, diced grilled chicken, cheeses, seeds, nuts, radishes, cucumbers, tomatoes and more.
After lunch the swapping began. There were cookies, cookies everywhere with the counter laden with hundreds of treats! Stories emerged with tales of failed batches of cookies, recipes handed down from grandmothers and confessions of having felt the need to impress just a little with their cookie contribution. The cookies were elaborate and simple, decorated and plain, gooey and crispy. No two batches were the same, and the variety of cookies was wonderful. During the exchange everyone took several cookies from each plate as the room filled with laughter, warmth and chatty conversations.
To top off the afternoon everyone enjoyed a raucous game of Christmas Toys through the Decades, matching a much sought-after toy with the year it was most popular. Two teams competed aggressively, and in the end there was one declared winner. But despite being on the winning team or not, everyone left with their containers brimming with cookies, their bellies full and their spirits high!