Virtual Cookie Exchange Fun

This is our second year joining Carol at Just Let Me Quilt for the Virtual Cookie Exchange.  Isn’t that just the best idea for a blog hop??!!  Virtual cookie means no calories to worry about, and there are lots of great recipes to see and even some giveaways!  This year, the hop is limited to only three days starting yesterday, November 27th.  A full list of all of the participants is shared below.  Pull up your favorite cuppa and join in!  I take the definition of ‘cookie’ to the edge.  Okay, it’s really not even close to a cookie at all!  While I am sharing a delightful recipe for the 2018 Virtual Cookie Exchange, I’m also sharing a non-cookie item.  Before I get to those delicious details, let me take you on a short walk down memory lane.  

Holiday Memory Lane Excursion

The holiday season has always been my favorite, and that love has only increased as I’ve aged.  I used to get sick every.single.year from excitement.  Excitement at the decorations, at singing in the choir, at going shopping and finding special gifts just perfect for everyone, and the possibility of Santa coming.  Add to that a huge family gathering with loads of cousins to play with, and life could not have been any better.  Now fast forward a good 50 years, and I’m even more excited.  Why, you might ask?!  We have our sweet boy, Dominic, who just turned one (see I Love Thursday #59 for a fabulous slideshow of his antics).  We have Baby Girl (here’s a link to her quilt that we’re working on) to look forward to in four weeks or so.  Our family cookie bake is coming up on December 15th, and I’m scouting for next year’s inspiration!  I could go on and on.  No really.  I could.

This Year’s Inspiration Cookie

We live in Wisconsin (Go Packers! – they need all the help they can get), and we have many traditions that are deeply rooted.  One of them is the Wisconsin Electric Cookbook, honoring 90 years of publication this year.  Of course, they have changed their name over time as they are now WE Energies.  Whatever.  Same great cookie cookbook that I used to lay on the floor and pour over when I was eight.  This year’s recipe is an oldie but goodie from 1966, and I have no doubt we tried it the first time from their cookbook.  Raspberry Meringue Kisses are, as the name implies, made from egg whites.  They melt in your mouth and leave you with a few chocolate chips to enjoy before reaching for another.  I suspect they are gluten-free (are they??? I don’t know for sure) and so very easy to make.  YUM!

Not a Cookie Recipe

We have a new, recently acquired tradition with this second recipe I’m sharing.  Our niece, Andrea, got married to her husband, Chris, in 2014.  Boy how time has flown by so quickly, and we thank them for Dominic and Baby Girl to-be.  Chris is a HUGE coffee lover.  A man after my own heart!  Sue and I had already been making this dessert for years and years – yeah, we’re that old.  But now it comes out for any and every occasion, and even non-occasions.  I’ve talked about it before on the blog, but I have been remiss about sharing the recipe.  Ta-da!  Today is the day to share the Mocha Coffee Cheesecake recipe.  We have taken a few liberties with the original, and that is noted.  Purists may not like our changes, so do whatever floats your boat!  The picture may does not do it justice, as it is decadent, and so very worthy of the calories.  Even Sue, who does not like coffee one bit enjoys this lightly flavored dessert.  Click for a .pdf of both 2018 Virtual Cookie Exchange recipes!

One Last Cookie Delight

Before I let you go on your merry way, let me just share one more thing with you.  Last year, during the virtual cookie exchange Day Three – Virtual Cookie Exchange/Giveaway Blog Hop we shared different recipes.  Also, different memories that you may or may not enjoy.  But the sugar cookies and fudge will definitely be making an appearance for our cookie bake in December.  The fudge is really, really, REALLY good.  Let me know if you try any of these recipes!  Last year’s giveaway is over, I’m sorry to say.  Now check out our friends’ posts who are sharing their favorite recipes and fun.

November 27

• Kwilty Pleasures
• Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats
• Songbird Designs
• Creative Latitude
• Ms P Designs USA
• Gray Barn Designs
• Alycia Quilts
• Happy Cottage Quilter
• Sew Many Yarns
• For The Love Of Geese

November 28

• Creatin’ in the Sticks
• Vroomans Quilts
• It’s A T-Sweet Day!
• Domestic Felicity
• That Fabric Feeling
• Home Sewn By Us – you are here!
• Karrin’s Crazy World
• Adventurous Applique and Quilting
• Bumbleberry Stitches
• Melva Loves Scraps
• Beaquilter

November 29

• MooseStashQuilting
• Pieceful Thoughts of My Quilting Life
• Kathleen McMusing
• DesertSky Quilting
• Life in the Scrapatch
• Ridge Top Quilt
• Cynthia’s Creating Ark
• Bejeweled Quilts by Barb
• Pumpkin Patch Patterns & Quilting
• Operation Domestic Goddess
• Just Let Me Quilt

Our other Linky Parties can be found by clicking the link or along the sidebar on our website for more quilting fun – check out what our friends are up to.  Like/follow us on our Facebook page and you can share your photos of what you’re working on.  We would love to see them!