Come December, it's hard not to think about cookies (especially since today is National Cookie Day). For me, it's usually a vision of a pretty box full of ten different kinds of cookies I can send off to my far away friends. I'm usually lucky to end up with a few bags of toffee.
But Cookie Swap, Julia M. Usher's beautiful new book, offers a better way to have many types of cookies at your disposal (whether or not you'll want to give them as gifts is up to you) - have a party.
Cookie swap parties ask each guest to bring a batch or two of cookies to exchange with friends. Even despite all the eating that will go on at the party, each guest should leave with a variety of cookies.
Usher is a pastry chef and food writer with a multitude of writing credentials, though before pastry she was a mechanical engineer. She decided to channel her lover for baking in 1994 when she enrolled in Cambridge School of Culinary Arts, switching from one type of yellowcake to another.
Cookie parties, believes Usher, don't need to be just at Christmas. They could celebrate spring, a wedding, or Valentine's day. A first flip through the book leaves one thinking, "these are beautiful, but way too complicated to actually make!"
Indeed, Usher's cookies are flawlessly frosted, adorned with perfect roses and nonpareils in just the right places. Upon a thorough reading of the recipes, though, you find that nearly all can be made as easy or difficult as you'd like. Sure, Usher offers excellent instructions on how to apply fondant leaves to pumpkin shaped cookies or make the marbled pattern on the butterfly wings, but the cookies manage to be beautiful and delicious even when the professional touches are omitted.
And, if you're ready to take on the challenges of a pastry cone or fondant, Usher's step-by-step instructions in the back of the book are more than able to get you on your way. Her comprehensive party guides include ideas for decorations, invitations, and
