As per a well designed tradition, Marnie looks forward to the annual Christmas Cookie exchange with eleven of her dearest friends. The first Monday of December, every year… the ladies gather, coming from near and far with thirteen dozen cookies in cute containers… one dozen for each of the ladies in the group and an additional dozen to be given to a local nursing home, children’s group, or homeless program. Besides cookies they are to bring an appetizer to share and a bottle of wine.
Oh and there are a few rules….
- No Chocolate Chip cookies… one year 5 people brought them
- No bars, they stick to each other and crumble
- No paper plates covered in Saran wrap and bows. Try carrying 12 paper plates filled with cookies.
- No more than twelve women in the group
- You can’t miss a year, if you can’t come, send your cookies or you forfeit your place. There are women waiting to get into the group
- It’s always the first Monday in December. Put it on your calendar.
- Bring a copy of your recipe for each person.
As each lady passes her cookies, as per tradition, they are to share the story behind the cookie. Is it traditional? Where did it originate from? Why this cookie?
And each year, more that cookie stories are shared as the evening moves on, there is laughter and tears, glorious triumphs over sickness, and heartbreaking confessions of loss and struggles. The Christmas Cookie Club is more than the sugary residue of cookies and scents of gingerbread… it is the bonding of friends through all else.
It’s no secret that I am not a fan of Christmas books. Mainly too fluffy, too over the top perfect, I am left with a sugary after taste that is not appealing. Yet, I am still drawn to covers and titles… and this one had me at both. 😀
Still… I entered this book cautiously reserving the right to stop reading if after a few pages I decided it wasn’t for me. And then I entered Marnie’s world… seeing a man she was hoping may be permanent, having two daughters – Sky who has tried and tried to have a baby and time after time the baby would not make it to term and today Sky would get news from the doctor about her current pregnancy. And then there is Tara, her daughter who became pregnant at 18, rebellious and young, jet black hair with blue chunks foiled in and due soon… not wanting to get married as that is soooo outdated, and seriously, what does that ensure anyway? Divorced due to a cheating husband, Marnie couldn’t argue with that…
Each chapter starts with a cookie recipe and then the story of one of the women, the one bringing that cookie. AND (also cool) the chapter end with the history of one of the spices in that said cookie, and that was interesting too.
I was actually quite impressed with the Christmas book. It was a nice read and not too overly sweet and neat and all tied with a bow. Lives are messy, and in Ann Pearlman’s book she reminds us that we all come with baggage…. broken people like a broken cookie…. are still a delicious treat to be with! 😀
I wish I would have started this book two months ago… then I would have had time to create my own Christmas Cookie Club. I love the idea of friends gathering over food, friendship, eats and wine. I love that each woman takes a turn to share the story of the cookie, but there is also conversations, and catching up. The whole thing… is awesome.
I am giving my copy of this book away! To enter this giveaway leave a comment here telling me your favorite cookie of the season. 😀 I will announce the winner Sunday morning and send the book as soon as I have the winners address.
The 2011 WHERE Are You Reading Map has been updated to include The Christmas Cookie Club
I purchased this book from our local library book sale
Book Journey 
An oldie but a goodie….Mexican Wedding Cakes
Macaroons are my favorite!
Peanut Blossoms – easy, simple and oh so yummy!
Fruitcake cookies – a basic soft cookie recipe with candied fruit, raisins, dates, nuts, etc. Whatever you have in your cupboard. A good way to use up those little bits of stuff you might otherwise throw away. YUM!
Shortbread cookies melt in your mouth!!
I’m not a big fan of Christmas books either but this one sounds like a winner. I love to eat the butter cookies but my favorite cookie, and the only one I can successfully bake, are Spumoni Cookies.
I would have to say shortbread and gingerbread men. What a fun book.
I have been on the fence about buying this bok…I think you just pushed me off…lol…My favorite Christmas Cookie is my Dad’s Cream Cheese Cookies…they melt in your mouth! I remember in HS one winter we had a bake sale to benefit the Wrestlerettes…I brought those…they went like hot cakes…people kept coming back for more, and each time they came back the price had gone up…and they kept paying it…lol…
I loved this book, not too cheesy, but the perfect holiday read!
I think you’ve convinced me to read this book!
My favorite: a tie between my grandma’s brown sugar drop cookies and my shortbread.
Merry Christmas, Sheila 🙂
Gingerbread cookies cut from an old fashioned cutter and with raisons for eyes and red hots for buttons.
CarolNWong(at)aol(dot)com
I’d love a chance to win this book!!
My favorite cookie is
Walnut Snowball Cookies Recipe
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/walnut_snowball_cookies/
My mom used to make these every year for Christmas along with Buckeyes. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/buckeyes-i/
I try to make them every so many years, but they aren’t as good as the ones she made for some reason.
That book sounds awesome. I might even make cookies if I were in a cookie club! Normally, I hate making cookies, so my husband is the cookie maker in our house. I love his sugar cookies–they are different than the average sugar cookie and more like shortbread. They are not too sweet, thicker than average, soft, and taste great with or without frosting.
Here I thought I was the only one who doesn’t like sappy holiday books. (Strangely enough I can’t get enough of the sappy holiday movies). I am glad that you found this book enjoyable. I wish I’d checked it out from my library!
As a kid, my favorite Christmas cookies were the Kisses (meringues) that my mom would make each year. She added red and green food coloring so they were either pink or mint green colored. Now, I’d have to say that I love chocolate cookies with mint M&M’s, chocolate covered pretzel rods, and mint brownies the most. I’ve certainly been hitting the fudge this year too!
Sounds like a wonderful book! My favorite cookies are Empire Biscuits, a Scottish cookie that my grandmother, who was Scottish, made every Christmas. My family loves them, and Christmas always makes me think of Empire Biscuits.
I love gingerbread cookies and I only make them at Christmas. They are a family favorite and when I didn’t make them last year, everyone was truly upset. Made them yesterday and used my cookie cutters that I’ve had for many, many years. The metal ones work best. The trick, in my mind, is to not overcook them. They are best a little underdone and stay soft and yummy for as long as you need them to. Sadly, they don’t stay around long! LOL
I am opposite of you-I love Christmas books, sweets and all! 🙂 And I have already read this book (and loved it of course), but would love to give a copy to my mom! I SO want to be in a Christmas Cookie Club or any cookie club for that matter. 🙂
My favorite cookie (recently found) is a strawberry cookie that tastes like strawberry cake. Yum-yum-delicious!
Kimberly Cook, one of your followers, needs to divulge that yummy sounding recipe for her dad’s cream cheese cookies!
Merry Christmas!
Shannon
http://extremereadingandwriting.wordpress.com/
I love Chocolate/Chocolate Chip. This is fabulous thank you!!
marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Thanks for the giveaway! Happy Holidays!
My families all time favorite cookies are Pumpkin Chocolate Chip!
Oh, this one does sound good! I like the idea of “messy” lives sweetened by some cookies.
My favorite cookie: chocolate chip. Yes, I know it’s trite.
Thanks for sharing….
My favorite cookies are lemon bars. many thanks.
i love anise seed cookies….
thanks for the giveaway 🙂
Cookies are not a Sri Lankan tradition but since I am in Australia this time, I have done butter cookies with a cherry on top and chocolate lamingtons which have gone down well.
I like a few Christmas books during the season. The cookie club sounds fantastic to me!
Snickerdoodles!
I love books like this! My favorite cookies are cut out sugar cookies with fun decorations on top and cookie press cookies, although mine never turn out right so I have to eat my mom’s!
My favorite Christmas holiday cookies are magic cookie bars.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Magic-Cookie-Bars-from-EAGLE-BRAND/
(they also taste yummy broken up over some vanilla ice cream.
I eyed this book several times but always passed it by…looks like I won’t next time (unless I win!)
Gingerbread, pumpkin, chocolate chip. I do have a couple on my “try these” list and one is a brown mint 🙂
Melting Moment Cookies! Normally not my genre but seems like this is a good one! Merry Christmas!
Just wanted to come by and say Merry Christmas!
“Merry Christmas!” What a delightful sounding book…
I haven’t met too many cookies that I don’t enjoy, but
the Peanut Butter Cookies with a Hershey’s in the middle
are a favorite of mine!
Many thanks to you, Cindi
Merry Christmas! Oh my what a great idea. My favorite cookie for the Holiday Season is called Osso Di Morte. This is a family tradition on my husband’s side of the family. The cookies are made with wine yum. The dough gets mixed and you leave them covered on a cookie sheet overnight. When you bake them the next day they look like they exploded. TRUE STORY. LOL!
That sounds good. I like chocolate chili cookies.
My mom made 100 dozen cookies every Christmas and gave them all away as gifts. She had a wonderful recipe that she called Variables. It was a basic crisp cookie to which you could add chocolate chips or pecans (or anything else, but those were her two favorites).
My mom passed away last summer, so this was a very hard Christmas for all of us. I didn’t bake any cookies at all; it was too emotional. But, I think, next year, I will carry on my mom’s tradition by making cookies for everyone. Though I’m not sure I can make 100 dozen!
Shortbread cookies and lemon whippernappers
Hi! I was wondering who won this giveaway. LOL!