Cookie Swap

Deciding to make those Melted Snowmen Cookies a day ahead turned out to be a good move … for more than one reason.

Reason 1 being the time it took to decorate the cookies. Had I started baking tomorrow, Saturday morning, there was no way I could have finished the decorations, without pushing and stressing myself, in time for the noon event.

Reason 2 is that the warm cookies smelled great, but the icing and gels needed time to dry, so as to be handled, by those swapping with me, without getting all kinds of tasty goodness on the fingers.

And speaking of “swapping”, I was only required to make a dozen, so a dozen is what I made for the event -- I also made a few for granddaughter to share with coworkers. The point is, with only a dozen to share with participants, I won’t be letting any of the moochers snap the snowmen up, thereby depriving valid participants the chance to snag one.

The plan is to guard the trays.

That’s right, I’m going to sit right by them and, if a moocher approaches, challenge, “What are you swapping with?”

I don’t really want anything; I just don’t want anyone who hasn’t contributed to take advantage of my hard (and expensive) work.

It’s a dirty mean job, but it’s time somebody did it.

What we did at the 2013 Cookie Swap was to swap the first two hours. After that, anyone who wanted cookies could come in and have at it.

Starting off the day not really sure I could do justice to the cookie instructions found at myimperfectkitchen.com, they actually turned out surprisingly well.

Putting little faces and hands on, with frosting from gel tubes, didn’t always deliver the most precise results, or the results I’d intended, but it was difficult to make a mistake because even the mistakes added to the concept of melting snowmen.

For example, when one eye didn’t come out right, I went with it as a helpless looking snowman because his eye was melting.

And when one marshmallow melted a little too much to where I had to put the eyes and mouth on the side, I went with the face as distressed because he had no control over his head.

There was a time I could not resist fresh baked cookies, warm from the oven. I fact, there was a time I was so addicted I'd bring home one of those frozen cookie dough things, pop a few squares in the oven, and that would be my nightly snack for many nights. This time I wasn’t even tempted so, though I do give into a chocolate muffin craving now and then, that getting off sugar earlier in the year is paying off with sugar having less of a hold on me.