Veni Vidi Cookie Party 2011

This was early in the evening. Eventually pretty much every surface in my kitchen and dining rooms were filled with cookies. Of course, I took only three or four pictures all night long.

I spent most of Sunday on the couch recovering from Cookie Party, which turned out to be another successful one for the books. I'm glad I restarted this tradition. I feel like it gets better every year.

I am really sad it's over, even though by the end, at 2 a.m. when Hen and I were  I spent literally weeks getting ready for it, and it's over now, just like that! But that means I can start planning for Cookie Party 2012!

I had about 45 people in my house over the course of six hours or so. My cats hid under the spare bed once their preferred maximum of ten people was met within twenty minutes of the party being "on."

I'm always impressed by the stuff people come up with, and the range of skills my friends have. One friend whose husband is Dutch made Speculaas. My friend Kate made spicy brownies. There were lavender meringues! And several varities of savory cookies, which was a nice treat. Another couple fucked up Pillsbury sugar cookies and brought a bottle of wine instead. It happens.

The crowd favorites were my friend Pete's bacon-sweet potato sandies and a group effort bacon-frosted cookie. So apparently people still love bacon. It's a winner!

I made bourbon balls, per usual, and mocha meringues (for the gluten-free crowd -- there was actually a surprising array of gluten-free cookies from different people this year) and Martha Stewart's Chocolate-Caramel Sandwiches:

These cookies taught me that I am very good at making caramel. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I have at least one skill.

Overall, I didn't feel as well-rested going into Cookie Party 2011 as I did last year. I kept angling for an afternoon nap and a trip to the gym but those things didn't happen. I just kept finding too many things to do. Which was fine -- my house was almost spotless by the time the party started, there was more than enough food and drink, and an organized party plan. I had tags for the cookie trays, signage, and (kind of) a system for greeting people.

I found a new party drink of choice: prosecco, pear vodka, and St. Germain. Delicious. Try it.

My friend Beki made two delicious cheese balls: a proscuitto and parmesan one, and a variation of Amy Sedaris' Lil' Smoky cheese ball. I'm thinking of making a cheese ball competition a standard for next year. Although truth be told, I don't think there would be room for it.

We gave out actual awards this year, with voting for crowd favorite and everything. I printed out "ribbons" from the Internet and assembled a prize committee consisting of me, my friend Spoosan and Sarah. I chose Spoosan and Sarah because they have both won ribbons at the county fair for their cookie recipes; Sarah, as you may recall, won a blue ribbon for her oatmeal cookies this summer. However, Sarah has been courageously battling bronchitis and had to skip the party, so we named an award in her honor at the last minute:

Which did not get handed out because we failed to realize there were oatmeal cookies present and accounted for, oops. The important thing to remember here is that Sarah has an award named in her honor and you (probably) don't, so there.

I bought my veggie trays (and a small cheese tray) from Appetite again this year, and will continue to do it. It's not cheap but beats buying and chopping up veggies and cheese anyday. More time to futz with punch or bean dip or whatever other last-minute crisis arises.