Food for Thought on Holiday Cookie Exchanges...

Yes, it is that time of the year, gifts for everyone, decorating, Christmas parties, and lots of Cookie Exchanges! If you are anything like me, you enjoy these evening or afternoon events, if you can muster the energy to get out and enjoy yourself after a day of work or a day of chasing after your little elves. Here are a few tips I have figured out to help the Cookie Exchange season run a little smoother.

1. Pick recipes that require only a few ingredients that are special. (Too many special ingredients require a pretty big grocery bill)
2. To make the most of your time, bake a few times for one event and freeze them (I try to do it during nap time for Ben and Collin).
3. Make your cookies or candies smaller so that they will go much further.
4. After you go to the exchange don't feel like you have to share all of these goodies in your home, take them to church and school programs and parties, so that you don't have to keep baking.
5. If watching your waistline is important to you, remember that the freezer is your friend. I know I am much less likely to take the rock hard frozen sweet treats out of the freezer and bite into them than thawed out ones...don't get me wrong, you will try this, but after a time or two your teeth will hurt too bad!! Plus your husband won't eat them all this way.

Here are a couple of recipes that I am going to use this year. I have 18 dozen cookies to make, and the ones I am doing this year are the same as last year because...we moved...so all of you Louisiana people haven't had them yet!!

English Toffee Cookies--------------This is my grandmother's recipe

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
2 giant Hershey Bars( I use the Symphony Bars with Toffee bits )

Cream together butter,margarine, and brown sugar. Mix in egg yolk, flour and vanilla. Bake at 375 until it is a golden brown, about 18 minutes. Spread Hershey Bars on top while hot and let cool. I double this recipe and make it in a half sheet baking pan. It makes quite a few depending on how small you cut them, and they are rich.

Oreo Truffle Balls

1 Package of Double Stuff Oreos
1 Package of Cream Cheese
1 Package of White Almond Bark
1 Package of Choc. Almond Bark

In food processor, mix together the oreos and cream cheese. Roll them into small balls and then put them into the freezer to let them get hard. Next, get the oreo balls out of the freezer, and follow the microwave instructions on the Almond Bark package, and dip them into one of the Almond barks and completely coat the balls, then after the dipped ball has set a little, with the other color, dip your spoon in it and drizzle over the top for a decorative finish. This is a great one to let the kids help with the dipping of the Almond bark. Then you just freeze them until the day of the party!! They are really tasty!

So anyway, hope you enjoyed the post. I would love to hear anyone else's easy and inexpensive holiday tricks!!! Have a good week!!
Carrie