THE RULES OF THE
COOKIE EXCHANGE PARTY
and a
SAMPLE INVITATION

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YOU'RE INVITED
TO THE
18TH ANNUAL
COOKIE EXCHANGE !!!

Take a break from the holiday rush
and share the Christmas spirit
with old and new friends.

Come and enjoy an appetizer buffet,
hot spiced cider and sample all those
delicious cookies!

We look forward to seeing you
...and your cookies, of course !


 DATE: Sunday, December 9th, 2007
TIME: 1:30 - 4:30 p.m.
PLACE: Your address
RSVP: 555-555-1212
by December 3rd
Given by: You

On a separate piece of paper include
this information below with your invitation.



RULES OF THE COOKIE EXCHANGE

  1. All cookies must be homemade, baked & main ingredient must be flour.
    No "no-bake" cookies, meringues or bars are allowed.

  2. Please bring 6 dozen total cookies. You can split 2 recipes into 3 dozen
    each, if you wish.      (NOTE! Most asked question: WHY 6 dozen?)

  3. The theme is "Christmas Cookies" - no chocolate chip cookies allowed
    - unless they are really different! No "no-bake" cookies.

  4. Arrange cookies in a basket or platter (be creative!) & a large container (i.e., Tupperware) to carry away cookies and a copy of your recipe.

  5. Christmas attire is encouraged!

  6. RSVP as soon as you can and let me know what type of cookies you are planning on baking - no duplicate recipes are allowed.

  7. If you cannot attend but would like to exchange cookies, you may
    deliver your cookies the day before the party. I'll exchange them for you.

  8. There's a prize for the best (most outrageous) Christmas outfit.
    First, second & third place!!

  9. If you don't have time to bake, or have ruined your recipe, but still want to attend, you must go to a real bakery and buy 6 dozen yummy cookies.


THE RULES OF THE COOKIE EXCHANGE
- Explained

  1. All cookies must be homemade, baked & main ingredient must be flour. No "no-bake" cookies.
    The "must be baked and use flour rule" was started when three participants brought no-bake cookies to one exchange. Most of them were terrible anyway and were just thrown away. (One of them had the main ingredient of being saltine crackers! Eeew!) Another mom proclaimed; "My kids helped roll these cookies (dirty lil' fingers and non baked cookies = a lot of germs in my book!) Couple that with the fact that another attendee spent 3 days making her cookies. They were a 'work of art' that she really spent the time on. As I recall, it was multi-layered apricot filled delicacy. The playing field just wasn't level! I needed to see that everyone made the same effort, time commitment and spent approximately the same amount of money. I also do not care for meringue cookies. It's too simple (heat oven to 350, turn off and leave overnight) and most people don't care for them anyway.

    :::IMPORTANT NOTE::: Even though I post all these rules on my website and in my invitation, people don't always pay attention and bring items that they shouldn't. I NEVER say anything to them. It's not my intention to make people feel bad, we're having a party and the main reason is to have fun and get together. I just make available the guidelines, so that the majority will hopefully follow the rules and a few bad cookies can get lost in the shuffle without major consequences. It becomes a problem if people go home and throw away all the cookies due to a lack of quality. Also, the stories at the swap are not nearly as interesting as with the "real" cookies anyway.

  2. Please bring 6 dozen total. You can split 2 recipes into 3 dozen each if you wish.
    This is an oft asked question from the web.

    Question:     "Why 6 dozen? I went to an exchange where we only had to bring 1 dozen."

    Answer: My primary reason? I knock myself out for this party. Not only is my house completely decorated by the first week-end of December, but on top of baking cookies for the exchange I also make a spread of hot and cold hors de oeuvres and usually spend about $150.00 on the food and drink. I'd rather not go to all of this effort for only 12 cookies !

    As it is, 6 dozen usually only lasts 2-3 days in my house. I have three kids and a chocoholic husband. My kids, (especially the boys!) can inhale 12 cookies in about 2 minutes! I really don't think my attendees would be so excited about making childcare arrangements, getting all dressed up and driving to my house for 12 cookies either.

    The table would look so sparse with only one dozen, the party is a feast for the eyes --as well as taste! (We don't eat the cookies at my party, we only swap.)     Six dozen is only one batch of a large yield recipe, or two batches of a smaller one.     That's why I suggest people can bring 3 dozen of 2 types of cookies, if a particular recipe doesn't yield enough.

    The only time I would suggest one dozen is if:

    1. You were doing an office cookie exchange and the cookies were only going to be eaten by the attendees.

    2. A Children's Cookie Exchange

    3. The attendees do not have children or others to feed and share their cookies with.

  3. The theme is "Christmas Cookies" - no chocolate chip cookies allowed - unless they are really different!
    I really don't want 7 types of toll house cookies showing up, as much I love them! Story time would be pretty boring, don't you agree?

  4. Arrange cookies in a basket or platter (be creative!) & a large container (i.e., Tupperware, basket, box) to carry away cookies and bring a copy of your recipe.
    Please think "portability". Have you used gooey icing? Cookies with icing need to sit out, air dry and harden before a Cookie Swap. I tell my participants to separate the cookies when they get home, so the flavors don't mix.

  5. Christmas attire is encouraged!
    This helps sets the mood. Not too dressy, just casual holiday wear, you know what I mean!  

  6. RSVP as soon as you can and let me know what type of cookies you are planning on baking - no duplicate recipes are allowed.
    No duplicates are allowed because invariably one person baked a better version of a cookie and then another person feels bad. No one wants to find out that their cherished family recipe is being done better by another family somewhere else.

  7. If you cannot attend but would like to exchange cookies, you may deliver your cookies the day before the party. I'll exchange them for you.
    If people want to participate and can't attend for whatever reason, I'll do this for them. I gather their cookies before the group swap begins. They usually pick up their cookies the next day.

  8. There's a prize for the best (most outrageous) Christmas outfit.
    This encourages people to dress festively. The person with the light up earrings usually wins! :)

  9. If you don't have time to bake, or have ruined your recipe, but still want to attend, you must go to a real bakery and buy 6 dozen really yummy cookies.
    What you lack in time spent baking --you must make up for in expense!

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The Invitation and Rules for our Cookie Swap
was invented by:
Holly Murphy and Robin Olson ©1989


You may use our sample invitation and rules for your party.

If you are using our rules for your online invitation,
please link back to this page and give credit where credit is due:
Cookie Exchange Rules and Invitation Courtesy of
Robin's Cookie Exchange
http://www.robinsweb.com/cookies/cookie-invite.html

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