North York Central Library Blog

 Each year in early December my mother begins a baking marathon, churning out 6-10 different cookies for the holidays. The variety and quantity of her delicious cookies not only helps make her an excellent host at this time of year, it makes her a very welcome guest too. She saves chocolate boxes and cookie tins throughout the year to decorate in wrapping paper and fill with a selection of her baked goods. Topping these festive boxes with ribbons, she delivers these goodies to friends and family.

As a child I blindly enjoyed her cookies without questioning the work involved. Now that I am all grown up I can’t help but wonder, “How does she make time to do all of that baking?” For those of us pressed for time, I may have just stumbled upon a solution!  The Great Christmas Cookie Swap Cookbook.

This book has the answer:  host a cookie swap party! Invite friends to each bring a large batch of their own cookies and divide the spoils. If you don’t have your own favourite recipes already this book has over 60 large-batch recipes to get you started.

The Christmas Cookie Club, a novel about eleven friends who get together once a year to bake while sharing wine and personal stories might inspire you to make this an annual tradition!

If your friends aren’t into baking or perhaps you want to invite a younger crowd, you could make a large batch of sugar or ginger cookies and host a cookie decorating party instead. For dozens of decorating ideas, check out Cookie Craft Christmas.

– Nancy

For more holiday celebration ideas, visit the library or if you’re just “Feeling Grinchy” this older post by Viveca might help.