Hints From Heloise

Dear Heloise: I recently had a holiday get-together for a department of 50 employees. These people worked different shifts and had varied interests, and it was hard to estimate the number of people who would actually participate.

The following idea solved all problems. All employees were invited to participate in a holiday cookie exchange. They were asked to bake a fixed number of cookies (in this case, six dozen) and package them in 12 bags with six cookies in each. They then placed the packs of cookies in a brown paper bag with their name on it.

On a workday in the middle of the week, they came to my house over the lunch hour. I set up a pizza and soda buffet, and everyone dropped in for lunch, leaving their cookies. After the luncheon was over I sorted out the cookies so that everyone received 12 bags of six cookies (none of their own). I delivered the cookies back to the office, where they were picked up.

Afterward, the recipes were assembled in a pamphlet and distributed. We decided to make it an annual event. - Michele J. Simon, West Lawn, Pa.

Yummy! A cookie exchange would be a great idea for large families, too. Thanks for taking the time to drop us a line, and you are a sweetie for organizing the first event. - Heloise