At this time of year there is always the quandary, "What are some great gift ideas for all the moms on my Christmas gift list? We bought spa gift baskets and Chapters gift cards last year..." If you are looking for something a little different this year, why not consider including a gift basket of baking and cookies that will save mom some work and help out with her holiday preparations - great for busy, working moms who don't have time to bake.

I first heard about "The Great Christmas Cookie Exchange" when we arrived at the home of our nephew and his wife one evening in late November. The kitchen counters and dining room table were covered in dozens upon dozens of delectable cookies all fresh from the oven and set out on racks to cool.

The heavenly scent of warm chocolate, raisins, cinnamon, and icing sugar was enough to conjure visions of sugar plums. I remember thinking what a lovely addition a dozen or two of these fragrant morsels would make to any Christmas gift basket.

Our nephew explained that the teachers at the school where his wife taught did this exchange every year. Each teacher made two or three different kinds of cookies - one dozen for each participant plus one extra dozen (to remain at home with them). This year twenty-two teachers were taking part in the exchange.

In December, all the teachers would arrive with their cookies, and the exchange would begin. Each would set out neatly labeled, brown paper lunch bags that each contained a dozen of one variety of their wares. Then each teacher would pass down the impressive line-up and collect one bag of each variety. This year, with twenty-two participant bakers, each making three or four varieties, most folks needed a laundry basket to hold all their loot.

Almost all the cookies were of kinds that kept well in the freezer, but some were more perishable. We were delighted to be invited back to partake of "their haul", as our nephew referred to their share of the exchange.

It was a veritable feast. We had been warned in advance to have a light lunch, and I am so glad we followed those instructions. Actually, we skipped lunch altogether.

Dinner was a light but delectable warm chicken Caesar. Then over fresh, hot lattes, we got down to the serious business of the evening - Cookie Tasting.

In that one evening, we tasted:

• Pfeffernüsse (also spelled pfefferneuse in English, in Danish: pebernødder (plural) and pepernoten in Dutch; singular Pfeffernuss) are small, hard, crescent shaped spicy, peppery cookies dusted in icing sugar
  
• Thimble cookies, also called "Thumb Cookies" after the jam-filled impression in the center of each cookie made by pressing a thumb or thimble into the cookie dough ball
  
• Shortbread from Scotland, England, and Canada, iced, plain and decorated with a Maraschino cherry-half
• Butter Cookies from Denmark
• Toll House and Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Chocolate Meringue Cookies
• Chocolate Coconut Meringues
• Hershey's Kisses Cookies that feature a delish-kiss in the center of each melt-in-your-mouth round
  
• Sugar Cookies, plain and edged in slivered toasted almonds, as well as iced and decorated with Christmas characters
• Broomstick Lace, also called Broomstick Cookies or Lace Cookies, rolled while still very warm to form a tube that can be later filled with rich whipped cream or a light custard
• Almond Cookies, of two kinds. The first were small, thick almond-flavored rounds crusted with toasted, shaved almonds. The second was a Toblerone-shaped cookie similar to shortbread, that contained hazelnut paste as well as ground almonds.
• Chocolate Sour Cream Dreams, a delightfully light, chewy cookie
• Cannoli - fruit, pistachio and ricotta cheese-filled Italian delights
• Butterfly Cookies - delicate pastry layers shaped into butterflies, sliced thin, baked, and drizzled with honey
• Arabian Baklava, dense with chopped pine nuts and pistachios
• Chewy Chocolate Haystacks, also known as Chocolate Drops or No-Bake Chocolate Cookies
• Peanut Butter Marshmallow Bars
• Bite-sized Butter Tarts, with and without raisins, some with pecans
• Sour Cream Apple Tartlets - tiny, bite-sized morsels of custard and apple-filled heaven
• Tiny Mince Tarts decorated with pastry holly leaves
• Home-made Maple Fudge in the shape of tiny Maple leaves
• and Snowballs, a home-made marshmallow rolled in plain, red- and green-tinted shredded sweetened coconut
  

We were in Cookie Heaven! All those delicious, crunchy, chewy, sweet and spicy cookies.

Even one of each would have been too much, but our hosts had wisely cut the cookies into small, bite-sized morsels so we could have a taste of each kind. Good thing, too!

The tartlets were left whole though - they were already quite small, and who could eat only half a tiny butter tart, I ask you?

It was a wonderful evening, and, as we rolled home much later that night, replete with goodies and lattes. As well, we were carrying away our own paper sacks full of Christmas goodies for the holiday season.

I decided to make up a few Christmas gift baskets to share with a few special friends...but not the tartlets - definitely not the tartlets.