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Post by Robin on Nov 27, 2006 22:21:27 GMT -5
Dear Carol, Cindy and Jeannie, Thanks for all the great party games ideas!
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Post by Robin on Jan 4, 2006 20:08:27 GMT -5
That's why it's important to have ground rules.... for instance "all cookies must be baked and contain flour as main ingredient." Otherwise you get people bring short cut (cheap) items like meringue puffs (egg whites) and/or no bake cookies which is simply balls of peanut butter and whatever else they found in their cabinets. The playing field is leveled by the rules I decided to use. This was after I lost a few of my best bakers by too many people bringing non quality items.
Then in the next invitation announce prizes, some suggestions are: BEST PRESENTATION BEST LOOKING COOKIE BEST TASTING COOKIE BEST HOLIDAY ATTIRE
Give people a reason to go all out!
Right now, after Christmas is the best time to pick up your parting gifts and prizes for next year while everything is 50% off! I got lucky at Target and found enough for the next two exchanges.
Good Luck next year!
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Post by Robin on Nov 20, 2004 12:04:24 GMT -5
Hi Kelly, I'm glad you're finding useful information on my website and message board. We do have a thread regarding Party Games, but it got lost a few pages back. I just went to it and put a "sticky" on it, so now it's permanently tacked to the top of the message board. There's a lot of creative women sharing ideas here, --Thanks to all!
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Post by Robin on Sept 10, 2004 10:58:54 GMT -5
My cookie exchange went very well last year. My friend and I were very 'anal' with out invitations which explained all the rules in detail..... See Jennifer... sometimes 'being anal' is a good thing! ;D Glad your exchange went well!
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Post by Robin on Sept 5, 2004 11:47:37 GMT -5
Every year during the holiday season, I get hundreds of emails from women telling me all about their cookie exchange experiences. (Good and Bad!)
Instead of emailing me, I would request that you share your experience with others here, so that we can all learn from everyones experiences, instead of it going into my email box and stopping there.
This post is open to both hosts and attendees. Thank you!
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Post by Robin on Aug 9, 2004 0:03:45 GMT -5
You're welcome, Cathy... I hope their email addresses are still current.
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Post by Robin on Jul 29, 2004 10:29:38 GMT -5
Hello, I am new here and I think your annual cookie swaps are just a wonderful idea. I was looking through your game ideas and they are great also but I also looked through the pictures of other peoples swaps and noticed games they said they played but these arent in your game area. Are you going to list instructions to these or are you going to leave that up to the people who posted the pics? Some of them sounded interesting. ) I am looking forward to holding my first swap this holiday season and am going to try to incorporate a fundraiser for our local salvation army Christmas Angel tree. Looking forward to hearing from you. Cathy Cathy, I only put on the page exactly what they send me to post in that section. Some of the people have email addresses listed, feel free to contact them about their games, maybe they'll share with you. Good Luck.
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Post by Robin on Aug 24, 2004 10:19:58 GMT -5
Last year I received a cute invitation to an event through EVITE.COM. It appears to be free, too. I have never done this, let me know how your attendees respond to it. Check it out.... www.evite.com
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Post by Robin on Sept 16, 2004 23:23:42 GMT -5
The holidays can be crazy enough and I think we need and deserve an afternoon that is just for us. That is exactly why I do it.... It takes a lot of work to make Santa come down that chimney. And Bonnie, thanks so much for all the games in your other post. I know a lot of women will appreciate that, I know I do!
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Post by Robin on Aug 12, 2004 10:31:43 GMT -5
My advice is to not have kids or husbands at this party. YOU will enjoy your own party better if you're not worried about what other peoples kids are doing to your house. (Such as spilling soda or juice on your new carpeting!) You're going to spend the next 25 years or so hosting kids parties for their birthdays, sports activities and graduations. I am a mother of three, my kids are 21, 18 and 11. I've given them combined, 50 birthday parties. The Cookie Exchange is the only party I give for myself. My family has no problem with this. My husband always takes the kids to the movies. Then they come back home all excited to attack my take of the cookies!
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Post by Robin on Aug 24, 2004 10:24:11 GMT -5
Specifically, what kind of "holiday greenery" are you putting in your ice rings? Thanks.
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Post by Robin on Aug 9, 2004 0:01:10 GMT -5
This is sort of an open question... what is your crowd like? What age group are they? I always serve sodas, (reg and diet), wine, and have a pot of apple cider brewing on the stove. (Makes the house smell nice, with the nutmeg and cinnamon.) You could offer beer too, depends on what type of food you're serving.Good Luck at your next exchange.
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Post by Robin on Aug 12, 2004 10:33:03 GMT -5
Thanks for sharing your resources.
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Post by Robin on Aug 9, 2004 0:06:19 GMT -5
Hi Jennifer, I love your idea of a "golden spatula", is this a spat you painted or can you buy this somewhere?
Good Luck in your new home with your next exchange and congrats on the new baby!
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Post by Robin on Feb 7, 2004 12:07:14 GMT -5
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Post by Robin on Jan 10, 2004 16:36:37 GMT -5
Hi Ronda, Let us know how your cookie exchange goes... it's the first time I have heard of one being done not during the Christmas Season...(besides my televised version, which was actually filmed on September 26, 1999! during a major heat wave, no less.) I've never announced that before -- LOL -- Everyone assumed it was filmed during the holidays. All the Specials on FoodTV are filmed months before they're on TV. I don't see why you'd have a problem having your party then, Feb is usually a slow month (unlike December!) so maybe you'll have great attendance!
Lastly, thanks for stating you're from Wyoming... I was making myself crazy trying to figure out your screen name after you joined, but before you posted!
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Post by Robin on Dec 29, 2003 19:13:51 GMT -5
Hi Brenda, I second Michelle, can you tell us how you did it? Thanks!
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Post by Robin on Jul 29, 2004 10:22:36 GMT -5
I don't have a stone cookie sheet, but I do frequently use the stone baking pan (Cassarole 13x8) which I bought at a Pampered Chef party in 1994. I love that, especially for baking brownies, bakes evenly. (I use it for cassaroles, too.) Parchment paper gives a superior result over just putting on a plain pan. The cookies bake evenly, top and bottom. Less chance of the bottoms burning. It gives a professional finish to your cookies, so they look better. IE, the bottom of the cookie is the same color as the top. Hope that explains. Did you see my page which is linked above: www.robinsweb.com/cookies/silpat_vs_parchment.htmlPlus, the results are more dramatic when baking white or light colored cookies, such as butter cookies.
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Post by Robin on Jan 12, 2004 19:51:43 GMT -5
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Post by Robin on Dec 29, 2003 19:11:06 GMT -5
I have some pics to upload soon to show the difference between baking on parchment VS Silpat. The edges of the cookies 'burn' a bit on the Silpat. They don't do that on the parchment. The other thing is I never feel like the Silpat cleans thoroughly, it always feels a bit greasy. (I'm a squeaky clean kind of a girl.) Parchment is also definitely easier, you just throw it away when done.
To each his own!
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