Yesterday was the big day, the New Christmas Cookie Tradition with my Aunt and her side of the family. I started out with the idea from her brother last Christmas. I asked her if she wanted to join in having a Christmas Exchange and I began asking co-workers, friends and other avid bakers. I had 20 people interested in October. By Thanksgiving we set a date for either the first or second sunday of December. As the date grew closer I have more and more cancellations. Before I knew it - it was down to just me, my mom and my aunt. I then was chatting with (e:springfaerie) and told her how bummed I was that she would not be coming. After a little while my numbers went up to four as the Sunday was arriving by the end of the week.

We all baked at least 4 different recipes, with a doged determination to make things work in a new kitchen. We had problems from the get go, but my mom and I were committed. We kept working. We really had the most fun I have evr had baking cookies. No, it was not your traditional cookies exchange. We baked at our location, mostly family experience. Other family members dropped in to check on our progress. We ate. We laughed. We worked. We baked. We frosted. We did lots of dishes. I can not tell you the final numbers because we were very unorganized. I can tell you all the amazing cookies we baked: The Traditional Anise Polish Cut-Outs; Sugar Cookies with Anise frosting; Anise Pizzelles; Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies; Tree Spritzers; Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies; Mexican Wedding Cakes / Russian Tea Cakes; White Chocolate Macadamian Nut Cookies; Peanut Butter Cookies; Gingerbread Cookies; Chocolate Chip Nut Cookies; Spanish Galletas and Homemade Pizzia to fuel our energy.

We started at 2pm until 11pm. So nine hours later we had so many cookies we had no clue what to do with them. YEAH! We all agreed to give it a go next year.

This morning I awoke with more aches and pains than I knew was possible. I felt like I had gone to the gym for a full body workout! I fell asleep before I remembered to take any pain relief medicine and boy did I pay.

In summation I really decided that Christmas Cookies are a labor of love, but aren't we all worth it? So remember the next time you take a bite out of a homemade cookie the amount of love, work and time that goes into making that delicious moment of pure heaven in your mouth!