Celebrating with friends

Is there anything more revitalizing then spending some quality time with your girlfriends? I think not!  Sometimes it's just what the doctor ordered. 

I had been toying with the idea of organizing a cookie exchange party for a while now, to be honest, probably for 2 years.So about a month ago, I decided that there is no better way to beat that January blah then organizing a fun afternoon, where friends can meet, chat, have a few glasses of bubbly, and sample an assortment of lovingly home-made cookies.

To my relief everyone was on board. Or maybe they just indulged me because it was my birthday. Nevertheless, I hosted everyone yesterday. 

It was a lot of fun preparing for this event. I had a Pinterest Board set up to gather all of my ideas and poured over recipes and pictures. I decided to make a light lunch of Quinoa salad, Spanish chorizo, with avocado-chickpea mash on baguette, and an onion tart. I figured that would leave room for dessert. 

To accompany the cookies, I  had coffee, cappuccinos and home-made hot chocolate. It was delicious if I do say so myself, you have to try and make this hot chocolate!  We started off healthy with Oatmeal Raisin cookies (with walnuts and chocolate chips thrown in for good measure), then delighted in biscotti (great with coffee or hot chocolate), magic squares (a first for me, and oh so yummy), a Romanian cookie similar to rum balls that I adored as a child (still do), chocolate chip cheesecake cookies (my son's absolute favorite) and last but not least deliciously nutty cookies called Nutcrackers. 

It was a great afternoon! I feel lucky to have such sweet (pun intended) friends!