When I was growing up, the Krull/Cordes/VanDeest girls (basically the ladies on my mom's side of the family) would all get together and make cookies. I remember baking in my grandma's huge kitchen and seeing sprinkles and frosting go everywhere. My favorite moments were cracking the eggs, decorating the cookies and then eating as many cookies as my mom would let me...DUH!!!! Anyhow, now that I live a ways away and am not surrounded by nearest and dearest people, I decided to start this tradition with my girlfriends and added a little twist....the twist being we drink copious amounts of wine while we bake, decorate and get caught up!! :) The tradition actually began last year while we were living in Chicago, however I brought it West with me and continued it in Denver this year.
So last Wednesday a houseful of my best girlfriends in Denver came over and we baked, decorated, chatted, drank and kicked off the holiday season with some laughter and cheer!!!
The idea was everyone bring cookie dough and the cookie fixins (frosting, sprinkles, red hots, candy canes, etc) and we baked the cookies in my kitchen and then decorated/frosted together. As I was preparing for the party, I went to my recipe book, given to me by my momma in hopes I would some day honor the art of cooking/baking (it worked...finally!!), and I found my two go-to recipes that remind me of Christmas...Chocolate Drop cookies which are like chocolate cake but in a cookie (YUMM-O!!) and peanut butter star cookies (now known as peanut butter chocolate kiss cookies b/c you can no longer find the chocolate candy stars). At one point, I called my mom (okay lets be honest, at a few points, I called her) and requested her secrets...and she responded with, "well great grandma always used margarine instead of butter because it leavse the cookies softer!" I instantly teared up thinking of my little old Grandma Krull mixing these cookies, rolling them into balls and baking them in her kitchen 30-40 years ago. It was one little moment among many that made my heart happy. And little did I know that evening would bring moments just like that....I heard many 'o times, "ginger bread cookies remind me of Christmas" or "cornflake christmas wreaths make me think of my grandma's on Christmas!" I think for a group of girls who are primarily from the Midwest, the cookie exchange 2012 was a success and a way to bring a little piece of home to Denver!!!
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| a little dark, but you get the idea!!! |
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| we got wine, cookies, frosting, girlsfriends....boom!!! |
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| pretty ladies! |
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| lots of smiles and wine....where are the cookies??? |
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| jen said, give me your biggest smile....i think we all listened!!! ;) |
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| group shot....i love this!!! |
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| one more looking down!! |
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| and then the evening turned late and all of a sudden the disney songs were blaring....and. I. MEAN. BLARING!!! |
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Such a fun evening with some of my favorite girls. We missed the ones who could not make it and I obviously missed the ladies that instilled the baking genes in me, but for now the Denver girls did the trick. And on top of that everyone left with a box full of goodies and happy hearts!!!
#lovetheholidays!!
