The Christmas Cookie Club ** with extra sprinkles for the recipes
I’m joining Jain with my Edible Book Review at Food for Thought, a delicious blog for readers with an appetite for the written word.
“Mark your calendar. It’s the Christmas Cookie Club! Every year on the first Monday of the December, Marnie & twelve of her closest girlfriends gather in the evening with batches of beautifully wrapped homemade cookies. Everyone has to bring a dish, a bottle of wine, and their stories.”
I spied this at the bookstore right before Thanksgiving. I thought, “What fun~ light holiday reading to set the mood for baking cookies” while I was preparing for an upcoming cookie exchange. The concept for this book was promising, with each chapter beginning with a recipe and short history of the main ingredient used in the cookie.
Instead of sweet & light, it turned out to be a baker’s dozen of drama~ the completely wrong recipe for me for happy holiday reading. A death of a son (with details that were almost more than I could stomach), financial woes, infidelity, miscarriages, drug use & spousal abuse were not the ingredients I was looking for~
Reading this over Thanksgiving weekend after a cozy family holiday was not the way I wanted to kick off the Christmas season, so my rating is slightly lower than the average on Amazon. Some of us like nuts in our cookies & some of us don’t. . . As my mother-in-law says, “It’s a good thing we all don’t like the same thing, there wouldn’t be enough to go around.”
Despite a disappointing read for me, the seven of us had an evening of food & fun at our cookie exhange~ with two attending making more than one kind of cookie, so I want to thank everyone for helping me ‘cook my book’ for this edible review. (Is that considered cheating on your homework? :-)
I made one of my husband’s favorites~ Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies with White Chocolate, recipe courtesy Southern Living, here.
Marnie has rules for her cookie club~ one of which is the containers have to make an attractive gift and can be reused. I found these adorable vintage-inspired buckets at World Market.
“I love this part of the evening, when my friends arrive bustling with excitement and armed with goodies. They bring warmth in spite of the cold and convey the season’s thrill. Once again we feel a child’s for Christmas. I’ve set the stage, but they fill it with action, the emotion, the event that is by its very nature best because of serendipity. Well, and the love we all have for one another. And our shared history. Every year, I can hardly wait for them to arrive, thrilled to see each one.”
We met at my gracious friend, Annie’s lovely home~ with the Halls all decked out in Christmas finery~
We filled her beautiful cookie jars with greenery for centerpieces~
Party favors of a Christmas Cookie Deck, silicone whisk, decorative spatula, candy canes & a miniature gingerbread house, wrapped in a cello bag. . .
Thank you to Annie, Ann, Carolyn, Lynne, Pam & Nasrin for making such pretty & tasty cookies and helping me with my homework :-)
Here’s hoping your cookies are just the way you like them this Christmas season~ with or without nuts :-)
Thank you for your “sweet” post this morning. I think I’ll skip reading the book though :-( I adore those holiday whisks! Christmas Wishes to you and yours.
Sorry to hear the book was a bummer but this sounds like such a really fun gathering at Annie’s beautiful home! I enlarged each photo to get a better peek. Sooo pretty! I would have loved to be invited to such a wonderful event. I can’t be sure which I like more…the decorations or the cookies!!! Both look DELICIOUS!
I think I need to buy myself a Christmas cookie jar.
I’m thinking “cookies for breakfast now “…beautiful cookies and decorations!!! Merry Christmas!!!
Mary,
You are so talented. The cookies you baked were scrumptious and the centerpieces you created were beautiful, which you managed to reflect in these photos you’ve taken — another incredible talent! No fair one person can do all that! Thank you for sharing it all. Happy Holidays.
What a beautiful party! I would love those cookies with the red and green icing on top! Your packaging is just adorable, too! I think I’ll skip the book, though…it sounds kind of depressing.
Lucky lady..so much fun..I love the round offering boxes..so so beautiful!
What wonderful Monday morning yumminess! Everything looks delightful — love the cookie jars filled with the greenery. Those cookies all look wonderful too — thanks for visiting my table and leaving your sweet comments.
What a beautiful party ….. the food , Decorations, tablescape, and the wonderful tasty cookies in their cute containers!!!! Loved it all
Oh my goodness, I’m practically squealing with delight at looking at this! Your photos did come out great…well done. I had a fabulous time at our gathering & than you for all this beautiful work to show it off. Merry Christmas with love, Annie
I AM squealing with delight checking out these delicious cookies!!! Oh MY! I’d have to try one of each….I have a terrible weakness in cookies!! Your friend’s house is beautiful!! The cookies…terrific! Have a wonderful holiday Mary!!
oh i am so excited to see YOUR cookie exchange, how fun fun fun! i read this last year, thumbs down from me too, but darling cover!
you little pails are so cute… i am jealous of all your fun! we used to have a neighborhood cookie exchange 20 years ago, 40 women, was so much fun with MOUNTAINS of cookies!
your party favors could not be any cuter~
what a fun fun fun review for a dud book, and of course, thats what makes food for thought so fun, THE HOMEWORK!
your girls all made such pretty cookies :)
What fun and the cookies all look so delicious. And I love the cute containers you found for your cookies. Thanks for the warning on the book. I wish you and your a very Merry Christmas!
As I viewed the lovely photos, I must confess, I just ate all of the cookies that you baked, and I was definitely, not under duress. What would Christmas be like without a big plate of freshly baked and colorful Christmas Cookies! I was one excited gal who entered eagerly to the wafting aroma of hors ‘oeuvres baking in the oven. A unbelievable array of tasty bits awaited the eager guests.
Annie and Mary, a pair extraordinaire! Annie, your sugar rimmed glasses were amazing. Here’s to Snow on Christmas. CGE
Mary, I haven’t attended a cookie exchange in many years, but this post has me wanting to host one for next year. Just this afternoon I spied “Cookie Party Recipe Tags” on sale at Crate and Barrel. Perhaps I need to go back and get a set. Your party favors are darling and those cookies are all spectacular. Love the idea of using the cookie jar filled with greens as a centerpiece. A big thank you to you and each of your friends for sharing the joy.
~ Sarah
Beautiful photos of a very memorable evening. There’s no better way to start off the holiday season than with good friends, good food and cookies!!! Your talents continue to amaze me. Merry Christmas!!