Hosting a Cookie and Candy Exchange

A NEIGHBORLY cookie and candy exchange saves you lots of time in the kitchen while giving you a chance to gather with family and friends. Hosting such an event is easier than you think with these timely tips:

Select a date and send out the invitations about 6 weeks in advance. Weekday evenings or weekend afternoons work well because people may be less busy. Schedule the party to be about 2 hours long so guests aren't required to set aside a lot of time.

Invite 8 to 12 people, keeping in mind that having more guests results in more variety of treats. Make the same kind of cookie or candy, allowing 1 dozen for each person participating. You might also encourage them to bring an extra dozen for sampling at the party.

Ask what each person is making to avoid duplicates. Theres no point to the exchange if everyone arrives with sugar cookies.

Have participants bring empty containers or resealable plastic bags to collect their goodies. If the gathering is small, they may want to bring the batches already individually wrapped. Also have guests bring a copy of their recipe for each person.

You can keep your menu to a minimum by focusing on the sweet treats. Simply serve a selection of beverages and the extra cookies and candies. Or if you prefer, offer a few hot and cold appetizers.

As people arrive, set out the cookies and candies on a long table, leaving enough room for folks to walk around. Label the containers with the recipe name.

Near the end of the party, have guests fill their containers with a dozen of each kind of cookie and candy.

For party favors, gather all the different recipe cards into bundles, tie with festive ribbons and hand them out as guests leave.

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Sandra Lee on Hosting a Stress-Free Super Bowl Party

Sandra Lee stays one busy woman as the editor in chief of Sandra Lee Magazine; TV show host on Food Network, Cooking Channel, and HGTV; and cookbook author of over 25 titles, including her upcoming books Every Dish Delivers and The Recipe Box. When she's not in the kitchen or behind the camera, she's the spokesperson for LG. Sandra, who is currently in New Orleans on her LG Satellite Media Tour, took time out of her schedule to chat with me about how to set up a stress-free (yet memorable!) Super Bowl party at home.

Lay out a sandwich buffet: "Instead of trying to premake all the food, set up a buffet so people can serve themselves, even if it's just on the kitchen counter. Set up a muffuletta bar. Put out things like hard salami, provolone cheese, pepperoni, proscuitto or ham, basil leaves, butter lettuce, roasted red peppers, diced olives. You could do an olive tapenade and mix in a little mayonnaise so you have the creaminess. Depending on your budget and the availability of the grocery store, you could put out sliced avocado."

Set up a bloody Mary bar: "The most popular cocktail to make for the Super Bowl is a bloody Mary, so you can set out a bloody Mary bar. All you need are pitchers of tomato juice, a vodka, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce or cocktail sauce, lime or lemon juice, celery salt, celery seasoning, and pepper. For the garnish, put out lots of celery stalks with the leaves, pickle wedges, and green olives.

Put chocolate-covered potato chip footballs on the coffee table: "Everyone loves Lay's potato chips. They have a baked version; dip each entire potato chip in melted chocolate chips and let them dry. Then beat together confectioner's sugar, a little bit of heavy whipping cream, and some vanilla. [With this icing] pipe on the laces of the football, and you have chocolate chip footballs."

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Hosting a Super Bowl Party? Everything You Need Under $25

If you're hosting a Super Bowl party but don't want to break the bank, we have everything you need - under $25! - to serve up the perfect spread. From sturdy beer glasses to chic appetizer plates, these hosting essentials make for the perfect Super Bowl bash and can be used well beyond game day.

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