Perfection! – Destination Wedding, North Georgia Mountains

Just a few puffy white clouds, perfectly blue sky, and a mild 80 degrees in the North Georgia Mountains at Waters Mill – who could ask for a more perfect setting for a wedding?

Beautifully preserved country farm touches nestled in rolling green hills.

  A Koi Pond, with the neatest water feature!  Water droplets slowly trickling down from the roof!

  The sweetest, perfectly natural little touches all over the place!

The ceremony is set right in the little valley just beyond the tree.

     An exquisite arbor for the vows, with a babbling waterfall just behind.

    A few pictures before the ceremony (I just love taking pictures of people taking pictures!)

 

 

Guests arrive …

Everyone is seated …

Flower Girl and Junior Bridesmaid – Ready!

Groom and his posse waiting on the hill …

 

Cue the strings!

Cue the procession!

I love this part – Mom and Dad gave the bride away.

And after an exquisite service and a brief prayer ….

Our Brookie became a Mrs!

Now I have to apologize.  From this point forward, I dropped the camera and just enjoyed the reception.  It was time to celebrate!

Here are a couple of pre-ceremony pictures of the reception decorations.  (Note:  wedding favors at ready!  Serious ooohs and ahhs over the super cute engagement photos encased therein – I saw some people sneak out with TWO!)

  

Here’s the skinny on the reception – while post-wedding pictures were underway, guests retired to a gorgeous setting under a 300 year old oak tree to enjoy cocktails and hors d’ouvres passed on silver trays.

Pictures done, we all drifted inside for the official introduction of the happy couple, followed by their first dance.  Then on to the buffet which was FABULOUS!  The menu?  Best I can remember (cause I was so busy just enjoying it) –

• Beautifully grilled seasonal vegetables
• Vidalia Onion Casserole (OMG, OMG, OMG how perfect!)
• Candied Yams
• A gorgeous breast of chicken served over rice pilaf topped with something creamy and delicious and a tad bit lemony
• Simply delightful home made rolls
• Two cakes – A three-tiered-square white brides cake with lovely fondant green trim, the hot pink and orange fresh flowers, and a gorgeous monogram rendered in royal icing – and the groom’s cake – a special surprise for Trent.  One bright yellow, Catepillar earth-mover of a tractor rendered in lucious Red Velvet – so cute!

A fabulous DJ got the crowd moving quickly after dinner.  Who would’ve thought we all knew the perfect moves for Brick House?  LOL!

Celebrating the newlyweds, Mr. and Mrs. Trent Plott, today!  (they’re off on their South Florida Island Honeymoon – yea!).

Please remember to Celebrate Something Everyday!  🙂

 

 

You’ve been waiting for it!

Knee-deep in Shower Planning – The Finale.  Tah Dah!

And a Good Time was had By All

A while back I told you about planning a Bridal Shower for our friend Brooke, who’s marrying Trent in June.

Well, today was the day – and if I must say so myself, it was FABULOUS! 

So now you know you’re going to get to see the pictures, right? 

Warning – there’s going to be a whole lotta gushin here!

 

St. Ives Country Club, Duluth Georgia, on an absolutely PERFECT spring day, high noon! 

Let me tell you, not only is this a beautiful, beautiful venue, I’ve never worked with a more hospitable, efficient, personable, and caring staff of professionals!  Oh my,  where do I start?

When we drove up with flowers and favors in tow, it took all of two seconds for a nice man to show up at the entrance with a cart to load everything up.  One trip from the car, with help, and we were on to decorating.  Our staff person brought in the chef, who had taken an extra and unasked for step of creating praline baskets to hold the chocolate dipped strawberries on the cake plates, but he wanted to make sure we were happy with them.  What do you think?  OF COURSE WE WERE!

While we decorated, they brought us beverages and every single solitary thing we asked for (and some things we just had to think about and they were right there with them, amazing!).

So if you’re anywhere near Atlanta, and you need a venue for a shower, a corporate meeting, a wedding, whatever – CALL THESE PEOPLE!  They are awesome!

Click  here for the website link.  Choose “Guest” and look through the pictures and all the wonderful options.  I’m telling you, AWESOME!

 A mixture of friends, co-workers and family – not a huge group, but a truly warm and wonderful crowd it was.  Here’s a sample …

     

It was a Kitchen Shower – so of course – Kitchen was the theme!

Centerpieces for the table?  A spring mix of wonderful flowers in Colanders! 

Place card holders?  Why, rolling pins, of course!

(I’ll tell you later where you can get ’em)

And the favors?  Well, the cutest coffee cups and saucers from IKEA, with an interesting little succulent tucked inside.  You can see a few of them in this pic. What a hit!

Yum!  We started with a lovely tomato basil soup, accompanied by a crusty little slice of St. Ives Parmesan Toast.  I was bad, I didn’t take a picture BUT – I did catch the main course …

A trio of delicious salads – shrimp, chicken and tuna – with beautiful fruits – oh swoon!

And you’re going to want kill me again, but I didn’t take a picture of the cake plates with the praline basket of chocolate dipped strawberries – I ate ’em before I thought about ya’ll. 

But here’s the cake …

Yes – it was just exactly as tasty as it looks.

I thought this was a pretty clever game.  The guests enjoyed a PowerPoint show, titled …

Brooke and Trent provided answers to 20 random questions, like “favorite color”, “most embarrasing moment”, “if I was a dessert, what would I be?”.  Each guest received a card with two numbered columns, and they guessed who answered what – I’ll give you a sample slide so you can get the “flavor” …

The Mamas provided the pictures, which made it even more fun!  By the time the show/game was over, everyone knew a little bit more about both Brooke and Trent, and the game gave everybody a chance to enjoy a few of The Mama’s memories of their babies!

Miss Brookie enjoyed opening her presents, and she got some pretty nice stuff …

And after hugs and thank you’s, we all rode off into the beautiful spring afternoon, full of happy memories.

Oh – I promised you a link for the rolling pin place card holders.  Click here for super-great kitchen shower favors (including the rolling pins).

Celebrating the upcoming Trent and Brooke nuptials!

Please remember to Celebrate Something Everyday!

Wedding Weather

Back in the day (which really wasn’t that far back actually), I somehow got “nudged” into being a shade-tree wedding director for a short spell.  And when I say short, I mean it – because I fairly quickly realized that I didn’t have the attention span nor the patience to deal with all the glorious minutia of planning  Life and Death Events.

I say “life and death” because, during my short wedding directress tenure, I watched normally sane people go from happy to completely psychotic in less than a second, over such consequential and truly weighty issues as the color of the melba toast as compared to the hue of the dip for the reception.  Oh my! (and don’t get me started on butter mints – pastel or brilliants for you?)

  The little kiss of spring weather today brought all this back to mind (as it does during the Dawn of Spring every year – so you probably can feel the impact of my decision NOT to become a wedding planner – kinda like – well, do you still have nightmares about showing up for an Econ 101 final naked?  I think you catch my drift).

 So on to my story.  Hang on – there’s a benefit here somewhere …

    Nancy and Kyle met in the choir at Forest Park Baptist, a small church I attended on a semi-regular basis (mostly during guilt-holidays such as Christmas and Easter).  They fell in love over green bean casserole during a sundry Wednesday Night Dinner in Fellowship Hall, and decided to marry. 

I’ve yet to figure out why, but they approached me to be their Wedding Director (and it was not like I knew what one did).  “Can you help us with our wedding?  You’ve always been such a good friend (oh really?) and we need a wedding director to help pull everything together, you know – the reception and stuff”

At that point in life I didn’t know you could charge for these services.  I just thought it was the Christian-bretheren thing to do.  So I said yes.

Duh.

 

Oak Park, established in 1886, first hosted a small zoo with monkeys, bears, deer and the like. Then came a swimming pool with dressing cabanas loaded with many frolicking 1940’s families. Then nothing, as it was closed after a fair-thinking federal-type judge ajudicated that the segregationist policy for swimming in the city pool (no people with more than a sunburn allowed) unfair.  So the forward-thinking leadership of Montgomery, Alabama did the best thing they could think of – they closed the park.  Tah Dah!  No park, no problem.

  

Reopened in 1965, the City made an apology of sorts by diving head-first into a gardening frenzy around the old oaks and ponds in the park.  The result was absolutely magnificent – with huge blooming azalea bushes in the spring, blooming beds of gorgeous color almost year-round.  Perfect little wedding venues everywhere!

Nancy always dreamed of getting married in the park.  And only of getting married in the park.  That park.  This spot.  Right here. Nowhere else, ever.

 

Needless to say, it rained – for the first time in months – on the wedding day.  The bride completely fell apart and disappeared while her Wedding Director (that would be moi) rushed up the street, decorations in arms, back to the church to establish an impromptu ceremony in the autere surrounds of God’s House at Forest Park Baptist.  Compliments of one of the bridesmaids, we procured voluminous cascades of potted ferns from the ceiling of a local “gay” bar, and arranged them tastefully atop Baptist hymnals on the alter for a “garden-like” backdrop. (Drawback – bar ferns smell bad).

The bride was “resurrected” for the ceremony, albeit it with puffy eyes, and the Wedding Director got everyone down the aisles properly (including the lone groomsman who insisted on wearing a bright crimson pocket fold – a fact we discovered only when the wedding picture proofs appeared).  Nancy and Kyle are still married to this very day.

So there’s a moral here – always have a Plan B.  If you’re smart, a Plan C and D would also be good if you’re planning to marry outside.

And – here we go with the point … The fine folks at the Weather Channel are providing a Wedding Weather tracking program just for you sharp and sassy brides (and family of brides and grooms and bridesmaids and anyone else who has a stake in an outdoor wedding, like a Wedding Director).  Sign up here …and follow along to your heart’s content until D-Day.

Oh!  And if you are planning a Wedding in the Park – you know I have just the right favors to add that exquisite little touch!  Look at these (and click the pic if you’re interested, of course):

Celebrating Wedding Weather today!

Please remember to Celebrate Something Everyday!

A cautionary wedding tale …

compliments of the experience of Jade Puckett, a recent Houston, Texas bride, and the fine folks at the Houston Chronicle Online (who provided the photos).

Updates at the end of this post!

Jade got married in Houston a week ago this past Saturday (on or about the 14th of March).  She and her new husband, Billy, exchanged vows in a lovely church ceremony, then headed off to their reception, where a good time was had by all (we are going to assume, since we weren’t invited). 

 (scene of the wedding ceremony – compliments of GoogleMaps.com)

The happy couple made their exit at the end of their celebration with friends and family after allegedly having enjoyed a few celebratory drinks (the exact number unknown since, as mentioned before, we were not invited), waved goodbye to their guests, and drove off – no, not into the sunset but into the waiting arms of local police officers participating in a March Madness DWI sting operation.  Talk about bad timing.

Billy, who was driving, was arrested on suspicion of  DWI.  Jade, according to police, got a tad bit belligerent – so they hauled her in too for suspected public intoxication and, well, we guess, being belligerent in a wedding dress.

Not having taken the time to change into a “going away” type ensemble, the bride was taken straight to the courtroom in all her newly-wedded glory.  She looked very nice and we are amazed that her makeup did not run during this whole debacle.

She was placed in a cell with a bunch of other women, and according to the new Mrs. Puckett (and we must rely on her statement here as, well, we weren’t invited), the jailers made fun of her.  So she’s filed a complaint.

Now, you would think that an ordinary person would just lay low from embarrassment and wait for the storm to blow over but oh no!  She’s posed for more photographs (since the courtroom photos did not do her justice) and is speaking out to any news reporter who’s willing to listen (and on a slow news day, there are billions of those critters lying in wait). 

Because of the above, we’re going to assume, yet again, that she wants you to enjoy the below photo, compliments of the Harris County, Texas Sheriff’s Department …

(Seriously – good make-up, no?).

So the moral(s) of this story (and there are many – so we will be brief) is/are:

• Cut some corners on the wedding celebration and hire a chauffeur.
• If stopped, be courteous to police officers, who are only doing their job.
• Absolutely, positively, never, ever EVER drink and drive!  EVER! (not that we’re sayin these two did.  I mean, innocent until proven guilty, right?)

OH!  Wait – I have another moral.  Early reports say that the original reason police decided to stop the car was that they noticed a passenger in a  “Vee hick uhl ” (Texas Police Translation for “Car”)apparently opening and closing the passenger side door while in transit.

So one more moral:

• Never open a car door while allegedly intoxicated in your wedding dress in a moving vehicle.

Have I covered all the bases here?

More links for this story below:

http://www.khou.com/topstories/stories/khou090315_tnt_dwi-arrests.39d8862f.html

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6322610.html

http://celebgalz.com/jade-puckett-puckett-arrested-in-wedding-dress-photo/

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,510042,00.html

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=6713634

Celebrating cautionary wedding tales today.  Let’s all learn something together, now, shall we?

Please remember to Celebrate Something Everyday!

Cute, no?  Click here to purchase.

Update 03.31, compliments of Click2Houston.com …..

It seems Mrs. Jade Puckett isn’t done with the Harris County Sherriff’s department.  Click here to read more!

Update 04.09

Oh my!  Youtube!  Click here

Cherry blossom crazy!

I’m loving the cherry blossoms in bloom right now!  Such lacy, soft-pink exquisiteness on delicate branches – a burst of happy against a blue sky and the cause for much celebration even here at the foothills of the North Georgia mountains.  They even decorate the ground beautifully after a good hard rain, which we just had compliments of the latest round of thunderstorms last night.

Macon, Georgia, just south of us, had their annual Cherry Blossom Festival last weekend.  Click the picture below to see the website – if you’re in the area next year about this time, it’s a fun weekend!

Did you know that the Chinese culture views the cherry blossom as the symbol of power and love? 

The Japanese culture looks at the cherry blossom as a symbol of the brevity of life, but it a good way!  These delicate flowers appear in all their majesty for only a short period of time, but what a brilliantly beautiful interlude it is!  The Japanese look upon this as reminder to enjoy everything to the fullest every day, because one will never know when the opportunity will vanish.

Not too shabby symbolism for a little burst of flower glory from two of the oldest cultures on the planet!  Power and love, enjoy life to the fullest everyday – kinda what we try to do here on this blog, one little favor at a time.

If you’d like to add a little symbolism to your next event – you know we have the perfect favors :).  Click the pictures below if you want to learn more!

Celebrating Cherry Blossoms in a big way today!

Please remember to Celebrate Something Everyday!

Fun at the Fickle Pickle!

If I’m crazy, please let me know – but I think I told you a while back that this is the year of “Twos” at the office.  Two New Babies and Two Weddings! 

We’ve talked about Brooke and the plans for her shower.  But today I want to introduce you to our other “Blushing Bride”, Skippy.

Skip’s a New York State native transplant to the South, a tiny, petite little doll who’s managed to blend right into our culture of shrimp and grits just beautifully, thank you very much.  And her wonderful Southern-gentleman fiance is, in our opinion, straight from the Rhett Butler mold – sharp, handsome, considerate, and quite the romantic!

Here’s just a little taste, and I think you’ll get the picture really, really quick …

Yep, that’s the engagement picture.  Is that not simply THE most exquisitely-charming setting you have ever seen?  Oh, it just gets better!  A little background for you:

Skip and David had been planning and saving for a very nice vacation to the Caribbean for a quite a while.  We all had fun discussing different islands and locations at work during the planning stages, with everyone pitching in with their favorite stories and tips.  Skip and David finally settled on a great resort location in the Dominican Republic last May, and we all had a little vicarious trip ourselves, pouring over the websites and the pictures pre-vacation.

David, sly devil that he is, was busy making some behind-the-scenes plans as well – arranging for a surprise romantic dinner on the beach, complete with a ring and a proposal – and a photographer/waiter on hand to capture the scene!  He told Skip, in advance, that a first-night dinner on the beach was part of their “vacation package”, and that they’d need to dress up for the occasion.

Is that not just the coolest thing?  Seriously!

So today is Shower Day – Fun at the Fickle Pickle down in Roswell.  Click the link for the website – it’s the perfect location! 

I promise to file a full report later today.

Today we’re celebrating Skip and David and the countdown to their June wedding.

Please remember to Celebrate Something Everyday!

Oh!  BTW – click the pic below if you see anything you like!  😉

                 

Here Comes The Bride Part III – Knee-Deep in Shower Planning!

 

 

(Disclaimer:  I recently had a blog-maven of much readership and knowledge advise me that my blog posts were too long.  My blog-esteem dropped many levels at that point.  But I’ve picked myself up and dusted off – and I’m providing you with yet another waaaay too long blog post.  There’s guilt in every excess word, but that’s just how I roll.  So please accept my long-winded blog-apology!)

You would think, with all the bridal showers I’ve attended and given and studied-up-on that planning Brooke’s Kitchen Shower would be a snap.  You know, “easy-peasy”, “simple as pie”, “could do it blindfolded with my hands tied behind my back” (and other myths).

Nope, this one comes with the added pressure of the attendees – most of which are industry professionals (and I do mean THE Wedding Industry).  These people set the trends and make the plans and all that good stuff.

Talk about pressure!

So I have to keep reminding myself over and over and over again that we will all be coming together with one simple focus – to gather together to celebrate our mutual friend and the beginning of her new life as Mrs. Trent.  Oh!  And we will stock up her kitchen so she can delight in all things culinary with her new husband.  (I did mention that Trent loves to cook, didn’t I?)

Let me clear something up – I’m not the one “giving” this shower.  Angela is.  But somehow or the other I’m the decorator.  Such is life.

We made a site visit a couple of weeks back – that’s a picture of the front of the venue up there at the top.  It’s really pretty, it’s a big room, and there will only be 20 of us.  So how to add an appropriately festive air?  We’re still thinking hard on it (we have until mid-April).  Here are some handy phone-cam snaps of the blank room.  If you have any brilliant ideas, I’d love to hear them!  We’ll have three tables of 8 set up, a cake table and a gift table.  The linens are blah and the room is neutral.  Oh – and we don’t have an endless supply of money (thought I’d throw that in).

         

 

Last Sunday we took off to IKEA, looking for cute, different, funky ideas for table decor and something to add to our favors.  We’ve already picked out the favor, but we wanted to add a bit more “punch” and personalization to our offerings – kinda mix it up a bit since we’re favor-professionals (sorta).  We found the cutest little cups and saucers, and we’re going to add a little plant and somehow make them into our place card holders.  Here’s a shot of the empty vessels just waiting for the muse to strike …

 

And our other take-home favor is perfect – Whisked Away!  There’s a heart in the middle – is that not the Just The Best?

 

By the way!  Last Sunday was special in more than an IKEA-shopping kinda day.  We had SNOW in Atlanta!  The biggest, clumpiest, cotton-ball kinda snow we’ve ever seen!  It started after we’d settled into IKEA-heaven, and continued on until, while dining on their lovely Swedish Meatball special, we decided we might need to head on home, since we could no longer see the streets.  That and the fact that Trent was calling Brooke about every 15 minutes with a dire update on accidents, road closings and white-out conditions on I-285.  We drove home with the sunroof open!  Yep – at every stoplight, we were inundated with snow in the car!  I know we’re crazy, but we’re Southerners – both of us.  What do you expect?

   

I’ll keep you updated as Shower Planning travels up to Neck-deep.  Meanwhile, if you have any ideas for decorating that drab room – send them along in a comment!

Celebrating upcoming showers and weddings and SNOW IN ATLANTA!

Remember to Celebrate Something Everyday!

Here Comes the Bride!

Remember I mentioned that I work with two brides-to-be? 

Today I’d like to introduce you to Brooke.  Brooke, meet my Blog readers; Blog readers, this is Brooke and she’s agreed to share the next few months of wedding prep with you!

I’ve known Brooke about two years, and I guess the best way to describe her would be to call her ” a vivacious graduate of Georgia State right here in Atlanta”.  A Macon native, Brooke met Trent (who’s also a Georgia native) on February 14, 2004 at a Midtown gathering spot for the social set.  (Seriously!  On Valentines Day!)  He spotted her across the room and, well, the rest is romantic history.  You just can’t make this stuff up!

Brooke and Trent share a love of of the countryside and often set off on a weekend Trip to Nowhere with their dogs Jackson (a six pound Alpha-Yorkie), and Marley (a rather friendly complex mix of breeds) – stumbling across B&Bs and craft fairs and lovely mountain vistas as they just drive and experience.  Listen up ladies – Trent loves to shop with Brook, enjoys a good arts and crafts festival or a gallery tour, and he cooks and knows how to can and put away fresh summer vegetables!  But remember now, he’s taken!

Trent’s a Sneaky Devil. When  Brooke’s beloved Grandmother passed away in December of 2007,  Trent conspired with Brooke’s Mom to have Grandma’s engagement diamond secretly reset in a beautiful ring.   He popped the question in his usual low-key way on January 3rd, 2008 at their home, on the sofa, after a lovely dinner (which he cooked, by the way), surprising her with the sentimental ring capped with the very precious stone.  Dropped to one knee he did! 

Yep, she cried.  Wouldn’t you?

They’d originally planned to marry late summer 2008, but Trent was having bad headaches, and in the Spring of 2008 they began to get worse.  An MRI revealed a cyst in a very critical spot on his brain.  So surgery was scheduled, and Brooke stayed by Trent’s side during his entire ordeal.  Thanks to the excellent doctors and medical professionals at Northside Hospital, his recuperation was short,  and there were no complications or resulting disabilities, which is Truly Amazing!

So they began to plan again.  The Big Date is now officially June 6, and they are both so excited!  Trent’s right in there with Brooke making arrangements and planning for their guests.  It’s just so darned cute listening to them talk about who’s coming and what’s being served and how things are going to be done and arranged just so.  They’re just the neatest couple! 

So stay tuned for more wedding details!  The next time you see a Brooke Blog, we’ll be talking about how she picked her wedding dress (very smart move she made) and checking in to see how the plans are progressing!

Today we’re celebrating Brooke and Trent – a cosmopolitan couple with a little country twist!

Remember to Celebrate Something Everyday!

Fast Food Fiesta – A Taco Bell Wedding

Is it just me, or do Fast Food Weddings seem to be All The Rage these days?  No, I’m not talking about the marriage of Colonel Sanders and Root Beer.  I’m talking about real people performing real weddings in Fast Food Joints.

Remember the Waffle House Wedding back in July of last year (immortalized right here on this blog – https://everydaycelebrations.wordpress.com/2008/10/25/waffle-house-wedding/ and of course, on YouTube –http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3HcaIiTmDc)?  If you’ll recall, we tastefully recommended lovely and practically clever food-related wedding favors for the occasion.

And we Rise To The Occasion again with this beautiful favor (which we believe to be of  perfectly serendipitous, yet tasteful bent for the happy celebration) …

  

Yes ma’am or sir!  A Perfect Pair of Red Hot Chili Peppers immortalized as a cute kitchen magnet – and it’s even packaged in a “kitchen-setting” gift box!  And Red Hot Chili Peppers are just perfect for this couple because (tah dah!)

They just got married at Taco Bell! 

In Normal, Illinois, no less.  So does that mean that Fast Food Weddings are normal in Normal? 

Enough philosophical musings – on to the details!

Dateline – January 9, 2009 – Normal, Illinois

Paul Brooks and Caragh Brooks (two singles with the same last name at the time), met on an online dating site more than a year ago.  They corresponded via emails and on the phone for a while, since Caragh, 20, was in Australia and Paul, 26, was just being normal in Normal (or whatever passes for normal in Normal).  They fell totally and virtually head over heels for each other, and Caragh moved to Normal about six months ago. 

When they decided to legalize their love, they chose Taco Bell in Normal, where they enjoyed hanging out (a now 21 year old and a now 37 year old – which, I guess, is what passes for normal in Normal). 

The ceremony is chronicled with pics in the local newspaper, The Pantagraph (a quick search of the dictionary reveals no discernable definition of “Pantagraph”, btw – just another normal Normal thing I guess).  Enjoy the juicy details at this link:  http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2009/01/09/news/doc49681e80735c5391961609.txt.

Celebrating Fast Food Weddings today! (but somewhat perplexed as to why we seem to be doing so frequently).

Please remember to Celebrate Something Everyday!

PS – The Whole She-Bang only cost $200!  Might be a thought for the economical bride in these economical times.  Just remember to order the Value Meals! 😉

Christmas Cookies – The Oven Kind

Do you feel like crawling up in a dark cave, covering your head, and hibernating like a smoky black bear this holiday season?

Have mercy!  Between the Retail sector shoving pre-Halloween Christmas ads down our throat, and the “Happy to Make You Sad” main-stream-media broadcasting from their Doomsday Soapboxes about the economy, something gets a little lost, doesn’t it?

We have the neatest tradition at work that I’d like to share.  It’s my Virtual Christmas Ornament to You from Me this season, and I hope you find it to be a little nugget that you’ll share with others, who’ll in turn share it with others, and then maybe in our own little way, we can shut out all the noise from those nasty folks I mentioned above and get back to what really counts this time of year – Sharing.

Hang on here – I know we’re all sophisticated, cosmopolitan and worldy people (or so we thnk) who barely have time between work and family obligations to take a free breath, but stay with me please.  I can assure you this little exercise brings us all together on a level playing field, and kinda separates the wheat from the chaff when it comes to Sharing.

The Cookie Swap

(stop laughing, I’m serious)

The announcement goes out before Thanksgiving.  A little email with a few seasonal cliparts and a reminder of the date, time and location.  Since we use Outlook at work – it gets sent as an appointment – and everyone accepts and puts it in their calendar.

Regular reminders are posted once a week, and updates provided on the number of people accepting. 

On Meeting Day, we offer up two types of coffee and all the accoutrements, a hot chocolate, and hot water for tea (with assorted tea bags – this year I think we’re going with Earl Grey).

Everyone assembles around the conference room table and yes, both genders participate – it’s amazing! Cookies are lined up in the center of the table.  Everyone samples, and everyone brings a bag, box or some other contained to take some home for their holiday celebrations. 

But the centerpiece aren’t the cookies – Oh No!  The centerpiece of this celebration is the “story”.  Everyone is required to bring in copies of their recipe, or if they don’t “recipe”, they are required to bring in directions to where they purchased the cookies (we are an equal opportunity cookie bunch).  And everyone is required to tell a story about their cookies.  Yes, even the store bought ones.  Just to listen to these disparate stories and to hear the common  threads in all is such a wonderful, no frills bonding experience.  You hear things like:

If it’s Mama’s recipe, we talk about the Holidays and Mama and the recipe.

It it’s one we just found in a recipe book, we share why it caught our eye.

If it’s one we bought at a store or bakery, we tell why we chose that bakery (“It was close an I was in a hurry”, “I just found them and they make everything from scratch!”).

You’ll be amazed at the stories that come out.  And the laughter and the sharing, and the sparkle.  That guy who always wears Brooks Brothers – who knew he loved …? She doesn’t talk much but she’s always nice – did you know her mother won a Betty Crocker Cookie contest when she was little? She may have three kids under the age of 12 (two in diapers), but she’s sharing a new bakery we didn’t know existed! Or my personal favorite – Why I love Publix – by the IT Guy.

Last year I hosted the family Christmas here on the outskirts of civilization as I know it, and believe me, those cookies were a centerpiece of our celebration and yes, I shared some of the better stories with my family.  Pay it forward!

Now, if you want to start this tradition at your workplace, don’t be disappointed if the initial response is small.  This concept works just with 5 people or 50 people.  Let me share what we’ve discovered:  3 years ago we started with 8 interested parties.  2 years ago we had 17.  Last year we had 30.  This year we have 45 people joining in.

This tradition grows. And it’s wonderful!

Now, I’m going to share my favorite family recipe to get you started.  My honorary Aunt Francis never had any children of her own and I don’t know why, but she was the greatest bearer of old family tradition I’ve ever seen!  This is her Grandmother’s recipe and by now, counting multiple times on my fingers and toes, I believe this recipe, in it’s same, pure form, is officially 136 years old.  And it’s good, it’s very good.

Aunt Francis Wilson’s TeaCakes

• 2 sticks butter
• 2 cups plain old white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup buttermilk (yes, it’s still out there in the dairy case)
• 1 tsp. soda (baking)
• 2 tsp. extract, 1 vanilla and 1 almond
• 6 cups all-purpose flour

Cream butter and sugar, add eggs 1 at a time and mix with butter/sugar combo.  In a separate, small bowl, mis the buttermilk and baking soda.  Add this to the other mixture.  Add extracts.  Gradually add flour.  Mix until smooth.  Roll mixture out on flat surface and cut and place on a cookie sheet (don’t grease the sheet – the butter in this mix does its own greasing).  Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes, or until lightly golden around the edges.  Yields about 3 dozen.

Feeling crafty? Google Up a butter-cream frosting recipe, dash in a couple drops of your favorite holiday food color, and frost!  Yum!

OK – one more, cause nobody that I know makes these anymore and they’re quick to make, tasty and memorably fun…

Church Windows

• 1/4 lb. butter (that would be two regular sticks, by the way)
• 1 package colored miniature marshmellows
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 12 oz. packages chocolate bits
• 2 cups angel flake coconut (or any shredded coconut – fresh is even better!)

Have three rectangles of waxed paper sitting on the counter sprinkled with the shredded coconut.

Melt butter and chocolate chips over low heat.  If you’ve got a double boiler, even better.  Just melt slowly and stir regularly so nothing burns.  If it starts smoking, yank it off the burner post haste! 

Cool slightly once the mixture is smooth and blended.  Fold in the marshmellows.  Fold in the chopped pecans.

Divide the mix into three equal parts.  Roll into tubes (about 2 inches in diameter).  Then roll the tubes through the coconut to coat.  Wrap the tubes individually into wax paper and stick in the fridge until mixture becomes firm (about 10 hours or overnight). 

Remove, unroll, and slice into wafers.  Voila!  Church windows!  Makes a bunch, depending on how thinly you slice them.

By  the way – cookie cutters make wonderful, useful and affordable party favors!

   

Click the pic if you’re interested! 🙂

Celebrating the holidays, cookies, and most importantly – Sharing!

Please remember to Celebrate Something Everyday!