Thanks to everyone!

Yesterday was a tremendous success! Before I start my plan to remove all of the extra weight these yummy cookies/candies/treats are going to add to my kiester, I wanted to send out a quick note of thanks to everyone, and to float some things out for future events.

Extra super special thanks to Taylor and Good Shepherd Church. Taylor, without you we wouldn't have had a location, and I'm so grateful for your help. The facility was simply fantastic. It's a must-use for future days. And the wonderful staff and parishioners at Good Shepherd also receive my gratitude. They were all so welcoming and excited to have us there--and most importantly were willing to have us back in the future!

Thanks to everyone who could make it, and for all of your hard work. Because of your time and effort, I will have to buy new pants by the end of December (but it will totally be worth it.)

Some ideas were floated at yesterday's event, and I figured I'd put them out in the ether for future discussions. If you feel inclined to put your thoughts in the comments, feel free. If you prefer to email me, feel free to do that as well. I'd really like to hear everyone's thoughts on the things that were floated around as we baked like fiends (this goes for those of you who couldn't make it, too.)

One idea that was thrown around was how to better communicate with the group. Evite was mentioned, as was Facebook, Tumbler, Google+, and just plain email. Any thoughts on how best to communicate so we can share information and ideas? I'm open to any and all options. Based on the chats yesterday, it seems like the blog may not be the best option.

Another idea that was floated was setting up a planning dinner or casual event in late summer or early fall to set up the basics of the event. Basically we'd all get together, discuss possible dates and locations, figure out any other necessary details (e.g. game day for the boys), and generally visit over food and drinks. I love this idea, and not just because it would prevent last-minute planning and coordination among all bakers. Thoughts?

Someone asked if it was time to set up a bin/ storage box that hold some of the kitchen essentials for cookie day that may not be needed at other times of the year. For those of us who all camp together, we have these bins already (Ru & I have huge ones, others have smaller supplemental ones). I'm curious to hear what you think about this. I really only bake around the holidays, but I know some of you bake year-round so I don't know if you think it's worthwhile to do something like this. I also don't know what the bin would contain. I don't recall who brought this up, so if the originator of the idea could share their thoughts, that would be helpful.

Finally, Taylor mentioned that the church administrator had asked how often we did this, and she mentioned only once a year. Which begged the question...why? Is there any interest in getting together more than once a year to share yummy goodness? Tina brought up the idea of a pie day in the summer that would use fresh fruits, and I thought maybe a bread day would be fun. Cooking classes and special menus were also mentioned. So should we do this more often? What kinds of events would we want to do? How frequently?

Thanks again to everyone. As I mentioned yesterday, Cookie Day is one of the days I look forward to most, not only at the holidays but all year long. I have such a good time baking and chatting with everyone. Here's to Cookie Day (raising my cookie and milk to the group!)
Diane