A Hanukkah Party!

Told you I'd be back... and I am with a bang.   My hubby and I decided to host our first big family party in the new house.  We weren't quite ready for Thanksgiving, but a Hanukkah brunch seemed like more our speed for our first event.  It was a typical Jewish feast, tons of bagels, lox, latkes, kugel... and I had to put a cookie queen twist on it of course. 

Wondering what this is?  Well, my family loves games.  Especially cookie games.  The whole reason I got into baking and decorating sugar cookies is because of my family's annual "Chanukah Cookie Contest.'  We would all submit a batch of cookies, and we even had "judge's" who rated the cookies based on taste, creativity etc.  Yup.  We were serious about our contest.  This year, since I was hosting, I decided to kick it up a notch.  Each person had a cookie to represent them.  Guests had to fill out a sheet to figure out which cookie was theirs!

The game was a hit.  The hungry guests forgot about all the brunch food in order to play the game before they ate (not the plan!)  And they all won... their own cookies haha.  

And as for gifts, I whipped up a few extra Chanukah cookies for everyone to take home. 

 Phew!  It took three nights straight of serious cookie baking... and I think I reached a new level of my "quest." 

Here are some close ups of the game cookies.  

Happy Hanukkah!