Shannon and I are thrilled to share some great news with the Cooking With Friends community. We’ve been asked to be on the Cookie Magazine “Word-of-Mom” Blogger Panel and, the way we look at it, this is a chance for all of us to share our insights and experiences with other moms across the country. Cookie will be reaching out to Cooking With Friends, among a handful of other bloggers, for our opinion, involvement and support throughout the year on a wide range of topics. And, in turn, we will be including you, our readers, in this exciting relationship.
To kick things off with Cookie, Shannon and I each hosted a Cookie sponsored School Year’s Eve party in our backyards. Shannon gathered in Madison, WI with her friends and I got together in Montclair, NJ on September 8th with mine. It was a blast for everyone. The moms were busy chatting about school year expectations, while sharing a few anxieties. With some kids about to start Kindergarten and others off to Middle School, the issues were universal and moms had a chance to comfort one another and offer moral support. As for the kids, they were busy running around, playing and having a great time!
My nine year old daughter took charge of the activities and created a raffle with giveaways provided by Cookie. She passed around some index cards and asked the kids to write their favorite mom-made dinners. Tacos, Beef Stroganoff, Peek-a-boo pasta and Spaghetti and Meatballs were among some of the choices. With the dinner time challenge during the school year, it’s nice to know what some kid favorite meals are. And, at Cooking With Friends, it gives us new meal ideas to make with our friends.
Of course, as always at these events, there was a big spread of food brought by everyone and a lot of eating. There was an assortment of delicious home baked breads made (and frozen in advance) by my friend Kathe and I, an Orzo salad, fresh fruit and lots of delicious dips.
Kids and moms left the party happy to have had the chance to connect before school year craziness begins. Everyone agreed that a School Year’s Eve celebration was a good idea and now I believe a tradition has begun. To learn more about School Year’s Eve, and find out how you can throw your own next year, visit: http://schoolyearseve.cookiemag.com/default.asp