Caroline, Rory, Stephanie, Jessica, Mom
Jen, Loden, Lisa, Jamie
On Saturday I hosted my annual cookie party. As was the case for several of the past years, the Roundarch holiday party was the night before. Luckily I was able to just about everything for the cookie party in the days leading up to it. That helped me let loose at the party, I was able to sleep in kind of late and still be ready in time. Also, I made sure alternate my drinks with a lot of water at the holiday party and then drink more water and more water when I got home! Unfortunately, my coworkers didn’t do this and none of them made it the next day! Six hours of open bar will really put you out if you don’t plan it right!
Rory
This year there were a few cookie party first-timers, so that was fun. The people who’d been to my party several years in a row helped them along, though. Put out your cookies, label them, EAT! Last year Raiden was the only baby at the party and this year it was Rory! He was totally the life of the party!
Emily, Jessica, Sara. Not posed. Totally candid. I swear!
To counterbalance all of the sweets, I also served dill dip with vegetables (no MSG!), goat cheese with roasted red pepper sauce, olives and pickles. Oh, and some almonds I roasted with chili powder and rosemary (recipe coming up!). If you’re interested in the dill dip, it’s here. As always, we also had hot apple cider (spiked or not) which Stephanie made and kept stocked. I think she might have been stocking it mostly for Jessica, though! It’s pretty much her favorite thing ever and she drinks at least a gallon! Also, I’m still using Julene’s Chicagoist recipe for the cider!
Do we look taller? Older? (2011, 2010)
These were all the tasty treats we sampled:
Caramel Cashew Cookies (Jessica & Stephanie)
Chocolate Chip Cookies with Nutella and Sea Salt (Loden)
Chocolate Walnut Crunch Bars (Caroline)
Chris_mas Cookies (Lisa)
Christmas Kisses (Mary)
Cranberry Swirls (Sara)
Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Crescent Cookies (Jen)
Meltaway Cookies (Jamie)
New York Times Best Chocolate Chip Cookies (Emily)
Outrageous Chocolate Mint Cookies (Rachelle)
Pumpkin Pie Shots – With and Without Rum (Jessica)
Salted Chocolate Caramel Cookie Bars (Emily)
S’mores Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars (Amy)
White Chocolate Covered Cranberries (Rachelle)
Me, Jessica, and Stephanie tabulating the winner!
Someone commented that last year there were a lot of cookies and candies that were very rich and decadent. This year there were more cookies that weren’t super sweet and that helped balance it out. Don’t get me wrong, though. There was still rich and decadent!
Emily
Emily won homemade vanilla extract and a cookie party cookbook.
And how did it all come out? This year every single cookie (except for my white chocolate cranberries) was written down at least one time as a favorite! So cool to see that everyone’s tastes vary so much. Some people love the thick and gooey cookies, some love the light and crisp kind, some love fruit, some love chocolate. But there were still clear favorites. Lisa brought her first cookie this year, and people loved her cookie, which she named Chris_mas Cookie, after her husband, Chris, who helped her make them. I thought Stephanie and Jessica were going to win with their caramel cashew cookie. This was the second most favorited cookie. But in the end the winner went to Emily, who was attending for the first time. Everyone loved her Salted Chocolate Caramel Cookie Bar. Congratulations, Emily! For winning, I gave Emily some vanilla extract that I made and a book I got printed of recipes and photos from past cookie parties.
I’m declaring the party a success again this year! I’ll post the recipes for the cookies soon!
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