[Sca-cooks] Cookie exchange, again :)

[Tara]

Ok, since there seems to be an outcry from more distant people who can't
travel, and because I realize now that coordinating an in-person
get-together even among those do live locally would be difficult, how
'bout this:

I'll pick a date for an in-person get-together, and anybody who can
attend is welcome to do so.  Anybody else who is interested, no matter
where you are, can send them in.  I'll get more formal details together
later.  The folks who come in person would be a great relief to me,
helping to repackage all the cookies for shipping.  And we'll party,
don't doubt it :)  I'll estimate the cost of shipping the sorted cookies
back to people, and ask for a check or cash for that amount to arrive
with your submission.  If I overestimate, I'll send a refund in the
package.

I won't put an absolute number on the cookies each person needs to
provide, because I understand that some recipes are much more labor
intensive or expensive.  If the number of participants is *huge* then
I'll have everyone send half as many packs of cookies.  Otherwise, we'll
each provide one pack per person.  So, if 30 people sign up, I'll make
240 kiffles and pack 8 each to 30 baggies.  We'll have an RSVP date and
a final count of people a couple weeks ahead of time.  As a general rule
of thumb, if you are making sugar cookies, I'd say make 12 per pack.  If
you are making big decorated gingerbread men, maybe 2 or 3 per bag.

I will reuse the boxes you use to send out your submissions, to cut down
the packaging costs.  So, the only cost should be postage.

Here's a question: Do you want to send the recipes stapled to the
outside of each pack, or e-mail all the recipes to me in advance and
I'll format them into a little booklet and print it out at Staples?
Then you'll just have to write the name of the cookie on each pack with
a sharpie.  Or... I could format them into a webpage, so even those who
can't participate can share in the fun, and people can print them out as
they will.

Finally, we're not limited to cookies - any holiday treat that will
transport well is welcome.  Slices of nut roll, candies, homemade
pretzels all sound promising.

So far, the people who've expressed interest are:
Heloise (Philly area)
Olwen
Chirhart
Kirsten of Blak Rose
maire
A couple other people discussed shipping, but it wasn't clear if they
wanted in.

Here are the steps:
1. RSVP - as those listed above have already.  That'll give us a count
so we all know how many cookies to make.  Once I've checked a calender
and contemplated get-together dates, I'll give a final RSVP date.  It
will probably be the end of November.
2. Make the cookies.  Well, duh.
3. Package them in the predetermined number of packages, write the name
of the cookie on each pack, and ship them to me (or bring them in
person.)  A receive-by date will be posted later, same reason as #1.  It
will probably be mid-December.  If we go with the printed/webpage
cookbook, e-mail the recipe to me also in that time frame.
4. Those of us who are getting together will make an oxcart load of
air-popped popcorn, resort the packages, and ship them all back out to
you before Christmas.  Also, we'll eat lots of popcorn and extra
cookies, drink anything we can get our paws on, and generally get fat
together.  Isn't that what the holidays are all about?

I'd love to try to make this contemporaneous with other winter holidays,
but off the top of my head Channukah falls too early this year.

Any other suggestions?

-Magdalena