FOOD: Bake, mingle, get a jump on the holidays. Tips for a great cookie swap.
Websites like SignUp Genius are handy for this, and let you send invitations, reminders, and changes in plans, too. Ask your guests not to duplicate a previous signup, so you have a lot of variety. . Give a deadline for signing up, so everyone can lock in their recipe and shop for ingredients.
Let guests know if they should bring their own serving platters and/or take away containers, or if you will be providing them. In either case, you’ll want to have extra containers on hand. Keep the cookie buffet simple, using the containers people brought, or if you want to get fancier, put out the treats on plates, platters, maybe tiered stands. Think about creating labels for each cookie offering. You can ask guests to submit their cookie name and ingredient list ahead of time, and create the labels yourself , or tell each person to bring a card with the name and ingredients clearly written out. Have some extra blank labels available.Do offer other food or snacks.