CHRISTMAS COOKIES ARE A WORLDWIDE TRADITION
Christmas cookies are traditional in many cultures, are fun to make ahead of time and give as gifts at cookie swaps. Depending on the recipe, cookie doughs can be either pressed, rolled, molded, dropped, baked, cut into bars or deep fried.
Some cookie swaps have a theme — one fun event is the Ugly Sweater Cookie Swap. Guests are encouraged to not only decorate their cookies with the tackiest, gaudiest sweater designs but to wear their ugliest, decoration-laden sweater as well, all the better with blinking lights. Hosting a cookie swap, unlike a diner party with a long to-do list, is a great way to bring together friends with much less effort. All you need to stage a casual get-together is to send out invitations, decorate a table for displaying the cookies, then prepare hot cocoa or coffee or serve wine.