Second Annual Cookie Swap - an Entire Season Later.

I can't even start with my list of excuses reasons why this was not up in late December. I just thought to share a few photos from my second cookie swap. This one had more attendees, which meant more cookies. It also meant more recipe books to put together. I never actually ended up giving these out and they are still sitting on my desk - halfway done. I plan to get to these soon, but well see!

I used a beautiful wrapping paper I got from Target (don't even get me started on how upset I am about that...) as a table runner. I also used plain white dishes to hold the cookies as well as a cute tiered tray that I've had for some time now which coincidentally matched the themed signage. I actually printed these from the Creative Bag blog. Creative Bag in Toronto is a wonderful store to find great supplies for parties and gift-wrapping. I love putting together fun tablescapes and having it all tie into a single theme. 

I also prepared a very rich sipping chocolate and made a whipped topping in little mini cups for those who wanted to top off their drink. The whipped topping was quite easy - vanilla and whipping cream in your stand mixer with whisk attachment on high for a few minutes and that's it!  To balance all that sweet, I put together a cheeseboard with some spicy goat cheese, brie and of course - cheddar and mozzarella. 

The colours I worked with this time around were light blue, red, gold and white. Recipe for a quick and easy sipping chocolate is at the end of the post.

Enjoy! 

Sipping Chocolate

Ingredients

1.5 cups whipping cream

1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk

6 cups milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups of chocolate chips (milk chocolate OR semi-sweet depending on how sweet you like it. I have a heck of a sweet tooth, and I love the milk chocolate, but others prefer the semi-sweet)

Instructions

Stir together the whipping cream, milk, vanilla, and chocolate chips in a tall and deep pot.

Cook on low for 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until mixture is hot and chocolate chips are melted. Stir again before serving. Garnish as desired.