Cookie Swap Horrors...

Cookie swaps sound like a great idea. A group of friends all decide to get together, each baking the mother lode of their favorite cookie, and then everyone gathers at one person's house to socialize over coffee and exchange adorable little packages, recipes, and taste test the goods.

I had tagged along to one in New Jersey with a friend a few years back, as a slot had opened up in their extra large one. I suppose that I was at another time in my life, as my memories were wonderful.

Some of my homeschooling friends decided to give it a try this year. I decided to make my newly discovered best cookie ever: Andes' Creme de Menthe cookies. Last year, I found the manufacturers sold those delicious thin mints as chopped bits for baking. I made four dozen for Christmas eve, and they were gone within an hour.

Determined to share this find, I signed up in October to make this unique cookie. As soon as the stores put out their holiday baking displays, I was searching for my bags of mint bits. I couldn't find them anywhere. It seems that this year, Andes' decided to make a different bit: white chocolate with candy cane bits. This would not do.

As the swap drew nearer, I recruited friends in searching for the bits at their grocery stores as well. My best friend called eagerly sharing that she didn't find the bits, but she did find a display with the recipe using the plain mints, and dropped off two boxes and the recipe. Adding the chopping of the mints really wasn't that big of a deal, right? Relieved, I bought eight more, and set my baking for last Friday morning.

I got started around 8am, figuring I would have enough time to get the 16 dozen batches finished before needing to get ready for the Christmas dance later that evening. I opened the first package and realized I had forgotten a simple fact in my time calculations: each mint is individually wrapped. Ten packages and an hour and a half later, all the mints were opened and chopped.

HoneyGirl came in, wanting to help with the baking. We quadrupled the recipe, and got it all mixed. I remembered mid way through that my MIL had my extra large mixing bowl, so we had to back track and divide the recipe in half into two large bowls before adding in the flour. It seems I wasn't done misjudging my time, as I had forgotten that the dough needs to chill for at least an hour before spooning to bake. I only managed to get eight batches baked and put away before I ran out of time. At least this dough chills well, and I popped it away to bake the remaining cookies later.

Once baked, I filled holiday chinese take-out style boxes with a dozen each. I printed out recipe cards, and tied them to the handles with curling ribbon bows. I decorated each package with a mini-Christmas ball, and filled my basket with my goods as we left for the host's home on Sunday afternoon.

The hosting family has a large family and extra large dining room that was ideal for such an event. Except that a week before, I discovered that they hvae numerous cats. Not a big deal, except to people with cat allergies. I made arrangments to make a quick exit and popped a Benadryl on the way there, but went hoping for the best.

We arrived and the holiday dishes were all laid out, and the cider was warming in the stove while the coffee brewed. Within fifteen minutes, my throat was tickling. A half hour in, I was wheezing. I did my inhaler and drank some strong coffee, and everything seemed to subside. I was having a lovely time visiting.

Once we began the taste testing, I asked each person if there were any nuts in their cookies. these are all friends who know of my allergy, and I told them to just let me know which cookies were for my family, and which I could eat as well. Some were so wonderful to make special batch just for me.

I returned home after being gone only two short hours, feeling a little wheezy but not bad. We watched football, and the fmaily began sampling the cookies. I nibbled on some "safe" cookies as well. After a bit though, I began feeling very ill. I went out to check the recipes, unable to figure out what I had ingested that was making me react so strongly. One of my dearest friends forgot that "almond extract" was actually from a nut, and I had eaten a half dozen of her little Swedish spritz cookies.

Needless to say, I spent SUnday night very ill, over-medicating and purging, to get the nuts out to my system. Luckily it was almond, my least reactive nut. I still was feeling the effects on Monday, as I did Honey's algebra mid-term review from bed, and napped all afternoon. I was able to manage working somehow last evening, but I kept having to sit down and had these flashes of the sweats. I woke today still feeling pretty sick, and decided that after her mid-term, we will just watch movies by the fire. I don't have the time to be this sick.

Of one thing I am certain....I am done with cookie swaps. Maybe this is God's way of mentally preparing me for my upcoming diet in the new year. I can't even look at a cookie now without cringing!