Soup, Meal, Cookie or Christmas Candy Exchange

I thought of something fun that you could do with those sisters you visit teach.  This is the perfect time of year to do it too, so get hopping and set the date.  Here are my ideas for a Soup exchange.

1.  Invite your Visiting teaching partner, and those sisters you visit teach to come on a specific date, to your house for a Soup exchange.  Let's just say you have 2 sisters that you Visit Teach, so the total that would be coming would be 4. 
2.  The hostess will provide the French Bread or Rolls, butter, and the disposable soup tasting bowls & spoons.
3.  Each person should make an extra large batch of soup. ( It must be home made, and not store bought!!!)   Maybe you could assign out a specific kind to each woman, so that each soup that is brought would be different.  Make up a batch large enough to produce 5 quarts.
4.   Each of the woman should put her soup in five - quart containers that can be frozen such as plastic or freezer containers, that would hold one quart of soup per container = 5 quarts of soup. (1 quart is for tasting, and the other 4 quarts are for exchanging. It might also be a good idea to bring a bag to carry the soups in other than a plastic grocery bag as the soups will be heavy.
5. Write up and print off 4 recipe cards or papers with your recipe on it to give with the soup you exchange. 
6.  Gather together at a specific set date. Give your Visiting Teaching message to your sisters over the table while you enjoy tasting each others soup.
7.  Make sure that each sister that leaves, goes home with 4 different kinds or soup in quart containers.

I was thinking of this idea today to do in my neighborhood, with my Lunch bunch.  If you do it with neighbors or more women, you could still have each bring  5 quarts of soup, and they would still go home with 4 quarts of soup.  I like this idea because it helps me with my winter cooking... you know, just go to the freezer, pull out a home made soup, and heat it up and serve with a loaf of bread or rolls!  Yum!  I like the idea of not having to cook all the time too.

My daugher has a freezer meal exchange with friends in Park City.  They actually have more women in this group but they all come home with as many complete meals as there are Girls in the group.  Now how nice is that?   I found a great blog as a resource at this link http://www.lynnskitchenadventures.com/2009/05/freezer-meals-tips-and-storage.html  Here is another link to things to consider when starting out a freezer group.... http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2009/11/23/how-to-start-a-meal-exchange/

I know that this idea is early, but if I don't post it  now, when December rolls around, I could very easily forget.  For December, make sure to do a cookie or homemade candy exchange.  Very easy way to get all the yummy holiday treats and a great variety without you having to make each one.  Bring 5 - 6 dozen of either cookies or Christmas Candies.  Make sure that they are home made, and not store bought, and bring the recipe too. 

Enjoy!!!  Katie G.

Here are the rules that I found online for the cookie exchange.  I found them at http://www.cookie-exchange.com/

The Rules of the Cookie Exchange

1.      All cookies should be homemade, baked and main ingredient must be flour.
2.      No plain chocolate chip cookies, cookie mixes, no-bakes, meringues or bars.
3.      Please bring 6 dozen total cookies.
4.      The theme is "Christmas Cookies" (You can make any theme you like.)
5.      Arrange cookies in a basket or platter and be creative! 
         Bring a large container to carry away your cookie, 
         or the hostess can provide a take away container.
6.      Email a copy of your recipe before the party (or bring recipe to the party)
7.      Christmas attire is encouraged!
8.      RSVP as soon as you can and let me know what type of cookies you are planning on baking
         -- no duplicate recipes are allowed.
9.      There's a prize for the best Christmas outfit. (Give prizes!)
10.     If you don't have time to bake, or have burnt your cookies, 
          but still want to attend, you must go to a real bakery and buy 6 dozen yummy cookies. 

Copyrights notice:
If you use the "Rules of the Cookie Exchange" offline for your personal use, no acknowledgments are needed. If you make an online webpage using
The Rules of the Cookie Exchange and have use in whole or part of my rules, please place a link on the bottom of the same page that says: 
"Some content courtesy of Cookie-Exchange.com."
Thank you,
Robin Olson
Here is a site for an invitation for a Cookie exchange that you can print off and fill in the blanks...http://www.razzledazzlerecipes.com/christmasfun/invitations.htm  There are others online so just google Cookie exchange invitations.