Holiday Cookie Swap or Exchange Party

eat as much as you can
Image via Wikipedia

I hate to think that the “holidays” are right around the corner, but this is the time to be planning your cookie swap party. My link below, with lots of great ideas for hosting one of these types of parties, says to not wait too long since the holiday season gets busy quick.

I had never been to a “Cookie Swap” party until a co-worker at the elementary school, where I worked in Florida, hosted one. As I recall, there were only a handful of people who attended, but we had so much fun.

I don’t remember exactly what the rules were, but we all baked our own special Christmas cookies (they don’t have to be “Christmas cookies”, but they must be homemade!) to bring and then shared with everyone. I can’t even remember which recipe I made to share. I think we drank cocoa and ate cookies all afternoon in an air conditioned house..!

I know that we did have to bring copies of our recipe to share and a certain amount of cookies so that everyone would have some to take home. I guess it depends on how many people are attending. The point of the party is to give each guest a variety of cookies to take back home with them. At least that was the point of our party.

I still make the cookies my friend Kathryn brought – she named them after her daugher Rosie because as a young girl she loved to help make them. There is lots of rolling to make the cookies into little balls, but the end result is worth it.

Date Balls (aka “Rosie’s Cookies”)
2 sticks of butter
1 8oz pkg. chopped dates
1 cup sugar
1 cup chopped nuts
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups Rice Krispies
Powdered Sugar

Melt the butter in a large saucepan, then add the sugar and dates. Cook over medium heat until thick, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and add nuts, cereal and vanilla.
Let cool.
Make into balls and lightly roll in powdered sugar. Keep in a coverred container.

If you are having a party, I’ve made some new invitations that are for sale in my Narrow Road Store, and if you need more advice about how to host a Cookie Swap party, check out the links below these products.

Cookie Swap Party Invitations, Tall invitationChristmas Cookie Swap Party Invitations postcard
Cookie Swap Party Invitations by pamdicar
Read more about hosting a Cookie Exchange party here:

Christmas Cookie Exchange Tips

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Antrim’s Home and Harvest Day Parade

Official seal of Antrim, New Hampshire
Image via Wikipedia

Last weekend we attended the home town fun in Antrim, New Hampshire. The weather was nice, even a bit cool when the sun went behind the many clouds, but that made the day very comfortable.

Fire trucks in a parade
The Parade Begins

I went downtown with my daughter and her boyfriend and his daughter and my youngest son. We parked by the schools and walked down into town where the sidewalks were crowded with people waiting for the parade to begin.

I love parades, even very small ones like this one. We saw some kids in the high school band that we knew and all the people on the floats threw candy to us and I never realized that Antrim had so many fire trucks!

I have more photos but don’t have the time right now to add them all so I will later on this week – hopefully.

I’ve only lived in Antrim for a little over 5 years, but I am impressed with all the activities and the dedicated natives who take pride in their home town.

Antrim, NH town hall
Antrim's Town Hall

The Artist’s Conk Mushroom

I recently purchased a good mushroom book and found out that this set of mushrooms I had found last Fall is called the “Artist’s Conk” (Ganoderma applanatum).

I almost spelled it “conch” since I am so used to doing seashell research on the conch (pronounced the same as conk).

It can be etched or painted and will stand up on a table for display. Sounds interesting, but they are very much attached to the trees they grow on and very difficult to remove. I half tried to do so without luck. I guess I need a knife. Or better yet, just take a photo!

See more photos and a picture of a carved drawing at Mushroom-Collecting.com

mushrooms
The Artist's Conch

Update on My Stair Climbing

I know you have been wondering how I am doing at my “Brilliant Idea for Getting In Shape“… No?

Well, I thought I’d be doing a lot more stair climbing than I ended up doing, but I am doing it.  I had hoped to get up from the computer once an hour and do the stair thing for 3 minutes.  Doesn’t sound too difficult does it?

The trouble I’m having is that I set the timer, get busy working on something in one of my Zazzle stores and when the timer goes off I think, “Okay, just let me finish posting this product for sale” , or “I’ll just finish up this drawing first”, and then I totally forget – for hours – that the timer was calling me to walk!

So I end up climbing my stairs only about 2 or 3 times a day instead of the hoped for 6.

But I am doing it, and I am convinced that it is doing some good – even if it’s a tiny bit.  I’m not too worried because with the cooler Fall air comes the lugging of firewood, which is plenty of exercise.