'Tis the season . . . decorated trees, tiny lights on houses and landscaping, bell ringers with red metal kettles outside the stores, presents and bows and wrapping paper and--most important of all--COOKIES! OK, so maybe not Most Important, but they run a close second, right?

Today two very nice friends were co-hostesses for a Cookie Exchange, to which they kindly invited me, along with nine other ladies of their acquaintance. If you've never been to a Cookie Exchange, the idea is that each person chooses a favorite homemade cookie (or candy), submits the recipe to the hostess, and commits to making a dozen cookies for each of the attendees, plus an extra dozen on a plate for sampling at the party. In exchange for making a few batches of my own recipe, I received a dozen each of 11 other kinds of scrumptious cookies to bring home, along with delicious refreshments and a copy of all of the recipes printed up and distributed by one hostess, PLUS prizes for the super-fun games supplied by the other hostess. I also saw some friends I'd not seen in a while and made a few new ones. It was a blast!

Two other ladies I know once had a different experience with this type of event. (They shall remain nameless to Protect the Innocent).
Here's how it went:
Lady One was invited to a Cookie Exchange.
Lady One doesn't really care to bake and didn't have time to do so, anyway.
But she has a neighbor who bakes (quite well, I might add), and asked said Neighbor to pinch-hit for her on the project.
"What cookie do you want me to bake?" asked Neighbor.
"Snowballs" said Lady One. "I just love those Snowball cookies you bake every year!"

So Neighbor baked the Snowballs and Lady One took them to the Cookie Exchange, where they were such a great hit, everyone requested she bring those again the next year. The process was repeated when the calendar rolled around.

Then comes the third year, when, once again, Lady One is invited to the Cookie Exchange. She opens the invitation and her husband sees it.

"NO" he says. "Not this year."

"What do you mean?" she asks.

"Why do you keep taking 156 cookies that you love and trading them for other cookies, half of which you don't even like?" he counters.

He had a point! She stayed home, and she and her Neighbor shared a wonderful plate of Snowballs together.

So what's the moral of the story? (Does there always have to be a moral??) Well, I guess it's just this: Be Honest. If you don't like to bake, it's ok to say so. I happen to know Lady One is extremely good at other things like organizing and decorating and assembling things that come in boxes with insufficient instructions. She's one of the most helpful people ever. So if baking's not her forte, hey! that's quite alright.

On the other hand, having cookies in the house that you don't like can be good, too. At least you won't be tempted to eat them all before the holiday guests arrive!

Now it's your turn. What's your favorite holiday treat?