Yesterday afternoon New York-area bloggers and new media friends got together for the Annual Holiday Cookie Swap, a charity fundraiser, hosted by Bloggers without Borders and friends at the amazing Hill Country Barbecue. It’s always fun to get together with friends who have a common love of food, but it’s even more fun when you’re doing it for a cause. This year we were raising money for Cookies for Kids Cancer, a non-profit which raises funds to support research for new and improved therapies for pediatric cancer through community bake sales and cookie swaps. Cookies for Kids Cancer was founded by Gretchen Holt Witt and her husband Larry Witt after their son Liam lost his battle with an incurable pediatric cancer. Inspired by their son, Gretchen and Larry hosted a bake sale where volunteers, friends and family baked 96,000 cookies and raised an astounding $400,000 for pediatric cancer research in a day. That was the beginning of something much larger – Cookies for Kids Cancer – which has raised 4 million dollars to date! The blogging community was proud to come together to share cookies, ‘cue and some holiday cheer while raising money for this very worthy cause.
No surprise that Gail Dosik’s cookies stole the show! There was no shortage of ooh-ing and ahh-ing at her festive Christmas “Fa La La” cookie tree.
No shortage of smiles either! Love this shot of Stephanie Fourie (courtesy of Amber).
One of several gorgeous, cookie-laden tables! We also had a gluten-free table and even a savory table.
I sneaked a shot of Sarabeth’s loot while she was off writing down the names of some of the cookies she had snagged.
People were only temporarily distracted from cookie heaven by the delicious barbecue buffet put out by Elizabeth Karmel (Owner and Executive Chef at Hill Country Barbecue).
The venue was perfect – plenty of space for eating, swapping and catching up with friends, old and new.
Abby Dodge was thrilled to win a brand new, 7 quart KitchenAid stand mixer. You’d think that the Baking Queen herself would have a dozen stand mixers. But she told me hers was on its last leg, so this was the best Christmas gift she could have received!
Wonderful friends!
At the end of the afternoon Andy and I walked home – simply happy. This holiday season, I am grateful for so much. But I am constantly amazed by the blogging community and the incredible space it fills in my life. For all you do on your blogs and beyond, thank you!
I am sorry I could not make it. Looks like a great event!
Such fun! I’m so glad I got to be part of this. Added bonus: I’ll be eating cookies for days!
Great summary and pictures! Wish I could’ve been there. And savory cookies!?! Who knew?! Warm fuzzies & good food for charity. A great mix for the holiday season.
What a great event! Loved meeting all of you in person. It was a wonderful afternoon of sharing, eating, laughing and best of all giving . I love that it benefits Cookies For Kids, a cause very dear to my heart. Happy Holidays, Maggy!
Thanks to all for such a fun festive event. Loved every minute of it, although I did come home saying I felt like little sister in the Bernstein Bear’s Too Much Birthday!
What a great way to have met so many wonderful online friends IRL for the first time and to also have been introduced to a whole bunch of new folks!
The icing on the cookie: The money raised for an important cause! Priceless!
Thank you so much for pulling this together, Maggy–I had a blast! And boy, are my husband and son happy with my haul. Add in the fact that together we raised a pile of money, and I’d say this was a raging success.
Great round up Maggy. The event was wonderful, delicious and heart warming!
and an unexpected treat in there for me 🙂
good for you, maggie! what a great idea, eating great food, meeting old friends and making new ones and raising money to battle kids cancer. merry christmas, indeed!
There’s no description of how wonderful this event was. All the love in that room made me so proud to be a part of this wonderful community.
Wish I could have been there! But I was still stuffed with cookies from my own event. =) Looks like fun was had by all!
One of these years I am going to get down to the city for this event! So glad it was a success.
Looks like so much fun…wish I could have attended! Lots of lovely cookies too!
Hoping that everyone will share their favorite cookie recipes on the Virtual Cookie Swap at http://romeocucina.blogspot.com/p/virtual-cookie-swap.html and help raise even MORE money for Glad to Give and Cookies for Kids’ Cancer!
Well DONE! I love your passion Maggy. It was a wonderful event. So much love in the room. Love of each other… Love of cookies!
I was behind you when you and Andy were walking down the street and my heart was FULL!
XXOOJAX
I’ve been reading tons about this event…..it sounds like it was a blast, a great place to spend some time with friends, and for a very good cause. Hope that there will be another next year, I think I’d come all the way to NYC to go to it!
Such a great event – I was honored to be a part of it. Already thinking about next year!
I concur with Gail. The warmth and love in the room was overwhelming and wonderful doesn’t even begin to describe the magnitude of the event.
What a fantastic event, so glad I was able to be a part of it. Great seeing old friends and meeting new ones. It was an amazing way to start the holiday season. Congratulations on hosting such a wonderful charity event.