Wednesday, December 06, 2017

The Gift of Friendship

Saturday's annual Cookie Bakeoff went off without a hitch, despite initial fears that Jen and the girls wouldn't be able to make it. But make it they did, much to the delight of everyone.

It always starts out the same. A few days before the big event favourite recipes (along with a few new ones) are pulled out and the selection begins.













Christmas tunes were the order of the day and the butter was out in full force.















And Betty started us off with champagne and orange juice, just to see what it might do for productivity.

The gals in 'shipping and receiving' were on their game and channeling John Lennon (we got smart this year and had everyone bring their tins with 4 or 5 waxed paper liners already cut - it saved tons of prep time)...












and decorators were hard at it...
















... til early evening. Those quilting lamps come in handy!

It always amazes us how much we can get done in a day with just one oven.















Drumroll please...this was the tally for 2017 - 153 dozen cookies! Not our personal best, but right up there.














And, by the end of the day - despite close quarters and lots of jockeying for the oven - everyone was still smiling and happy to have goodies for their freezer. Sharing the day together, enjoying the chatter, the laughter and the singing made me realize that the real gift of this get together is a wonderful string of friendships.















As an extra little treat, everyone went home with a handful of stars for their tree.













I have it on very good authority that sampling has already begun in certain quarters (including with the Official Cookie Tester) and the results are more than favourable. I'm already looking forward to next year!....M

2 comments:

Kyle said...

Oh, my! I'm ready for some tea and a plateful of cookies. What a wonderful tradition you girls have. So how many pounds of butter did you use? :0)

Arlene said...

Sounds like the perfect Christmas get together...with treats at the end!