Holiday Cookie Party with First Graders

Let me first start by saying that I was not attempting to evoke fear or trepidation with the title of this blog post. A normal person who happens upon this blog might instantly conjure up images of gingerbread men and royal icing being flown and flung willy-nilly by seven- and eight-year old children, while their parents stand by, helpless and without back up.

This was most certainly NOT the case on Friday night. In fact, a great time was had by adults and kids alike.

A bit of background: Back in October, Glen and I agreed to host Holiday Cooking party at our home as an event that could be purchased at a silent auction at the annual fundraiser for David's school, Foothill Country Day School (FCDS). FCDS is this absolutely amazing place. It is a school for kids from kindergarten through eighth grade, with about 20-40 kids in each class level. This year, David is a first grader, and is having the time of his life.

We wanted to offer up an event (or "experience") that could enjoyed by kids and parents. Our house in La Verne, while only three years old (and pretty darned cute, if I do say so myself), is rather small. The backyard is the size of a postage stamp. But the main rooms downstairs, especially the kitchen and family room (which sort of blend into each other) are pretty much the nucleus of most of our parties. The furniture is kid- and dog-proof, the floors can be mopped, and the dining room table has seen better days. We are not at all daunted by parties, and rarely ask a guest to use a coaster for their drink glass. I'm not even sure we have any coasters. I figured a cookie decorating party would be something that could get everyone into the spirit of the holiday season, and could be a nice celebration of many holiday traditions.

So, Glen and I were so happy to see so many families sign up for our cookie party during the silent auction at the FCDS's fundraiser. Most of the attendees were families of kids in David's grade, and a few in other classes, including the new family we are "hosting" during this, their son's kindergarten/first year at school, as well as another kindergartner whose mom was one of my high school classmates.

The rest of October and half of November flew by, and it occurred to me that it would probably be wise for me to make the cookies in advance. I know that cookies made from the both sugar and gingerbread dough from Pillsbury freezes well, so I loaded up a shopping cart with four large-size logs of each one weekend in early November, and began the methodical process of rolling out and cutting gingerbread men and women, snow men and women, snow flakes, candy canes, angels, Stars of David, and Christmas trees. By the time I was done, I discovered several things:

1. I was not cut out (no pun intended) to be a cookie artist
2. The cheap Stater Bros. brand of sugar cookie dough is much easier to work with than the Pillsbury brand
3. Approximately eight large-size cookies fit into a large rectangular Zip Lock storage container
4. My garage freezer could hold eight aforementioned storage containers, and the kitchen freezer could hold another four or five

The other challenged that I was faced with was how best to make large quantities of royal icing in a timely fashion while ensuring it would not harden and become unusable before the party. Royal icing, by the way, is a type of icing that's frequently used for cookie decorating because it hardens nicely and thus stays put on a cookie. There's an option of making it with either egg whites or with meringue powder (both of which make the icing stiffen). I was determined to "kick it old school," and use home-made icings in pastry bags. Store bought tubes of colored gel would not do for me. No, sirree. After a fair amount of web browsing for royal icing recipes, I drove down to the local cake and candy supply store in San Dimas and found that they sold bags of royal icing mix; all one had to do was add water. I was sold; or, should I say, they sold me five bags.

Friday, December 10, arrived, and it was party day! I took a pre-planned vacation day from work so that I'd have time to pick up some finger foods that could double as light dinner fare, make sure the house looked presentable, and allow for time to make the intimidating icing. Unfortunately, the running of errands took longer than I'd anticipated, and by the time I picked David up from school at 3:00, I could hear the clock ticking. Loudly.

"Mommy! Mommy! I am SO excited for my COOKIE PARTY!!!" David proclaimed as he got into the car. The kid's excitement was absolutely palpable. He was grinning ear to ear. "I told Madison that she could look around the house but she couldn't play with any toys." Yep, a good host in training.

I turned my attention to the icing, and got to work. I opened one bag, dumped it into the mixer, and followed the instructions. When it was done mixing, I was dismayed by the small amount of product it yielded. I mean, maybe 2/3 of a cup. I looked at the clock. Four more batches and at least eight more pastry bags to go. I quickly pulled together an improvised batch using powered sugar, butter, corn syrup and water for some additional materials.

"Mommy! Can I put the folding chairs out for you?"my little guy asked enthusiastically as I was ruing the day I'd forsaken the tubes of gel icing.

"You know what, buddy? That would be fantastic!" I briefed him on how I thought the chairs should be put around the tables, and he went right to the task. The kid was amazing. He took full charge of that assignment, and proudly so. In about 10 minutes, he was done. "What can I do now?!? I'll do ANYTHING for you! I am so excited!!"

"See those disposable tablecloths? One goes on each of the tables," I instructed. He hopped to it. They were a tad crooked, but they were on and ready to go!

Eight pastry bags later, two each of red (which was more pink), green, blue and white, and I was starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. The cookies were arranged on plates according to their shapes. It was funny how an hour before I was concerned that there wouldn't be enough cookies to decorate. Heck, there were MORE than enough. It was the amount of icing I was worried about. I had about 10 minutes, so I ran upstairs, changed my shirt and my jeans, ran a comb through my hair, and declared myself presentable.

The first guest arrived just after 6:00, and David could not run fast enough out the front door to meet his classmate. Soon after, a whole bevvy of FCDS kids and their moms and/or dads, and a few younger brothers and sisters, filled the house. The kids seemed so happy to see each other! White aprons were issued to all of the smaller guests, in preparation for the gooey fun that awaited them.

Soon, though, David, rather distracted, went upstairs and started playing his drums. Loudly.

"Excuse me for just a second," I asked one mom with whom I'd been chatting. I went upstairs and walked over to my musician, and whispered sternly into his ear, "This is a cookie party! You get downstairs right now! You have guests!" He complied like a good little guy.

Clearly, it was time to unleash the kids onto their sugary treats. "Okay, everyone, it's time to get our decorating on!" I assured everyone that there was really nothing in the house that I was concerned about getting dirty, stained, or messy. I warned them that all hands would be covered in sticky icing, and that was the fun part. I encouraged them to let their creative juices flow, and to just go with it. And they were off!

Once they chose which cookies they wanted to start with, it was adorable to see how all of the kids wanted to crowd together at just one table. They wanted to all be together. The whole time. Several moms jumped in instantly and helped to start distributing bags of icing, helping the littler kids (a few younger brothers and sisters joined the party), and making sure everyone had an apron. It was silly, loud, laid-back fun. Cookies were decorated with gobs of colorful frosting; decorations were applied in every conceivable way. Works of art were made.

And that all pretty much lasted for about 30 minutes. Then, things got interesting.

"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Can I please, please, please play my drums?! They want me to play my drums!" my little David pleaded, his big green eyes staring at me in their usual irresistible way. I looked around the room. The cookie decorating was clearly starting to wind down. Kids were starting to make their way upstairs where the bedrooms, pool table and, most importantly, toys are.

"Oh, heck. Go ahead," I said.

"YES!!!" He proclaimed, and bounded up the stairs, with several young ladies hot on his heals.

Pretty soon, some of the moms and I heard the kids calling from upstairs, "David's going to do a concert!"

We all looked at each other, made sure we had our cameras (or camera phones) in hand, and followed the kids upstairs. Upon my arrival, I witnessed no fewer than five kids happily dancing on the pool table (which, for the record, I had no problem with), and David was setting up his drums. Several of his girl classmates were hanging all over him, like he was the newest and most recently discovered member of a boy band. He officially had groupies. It was absolutely priceless, and I admit to being sheepish but proud.

An impromptu concert started, with David's friends circling him and cheering him on, and David pounding out some very nice rhythms on his drums. For a little guy who so often is hit with bouts of unexplained anxiety and worry, this was an amazing moment. His confidence level went through the roof. Cameras flashed, kids danced, and a few screamed like crazed fans.

It was at about that time that Elizabeth and Glen returned home, triumphant from her holiday show at CPCC, where Glen said she was just lovely in her Jingle Bell and Rudolph numbers. Elizabeth looked around at the bedlam taking place upstairs, and had a look on her face that seemed to ask, "what'd I miss?" By that time, a few of David's classmates were in Elizabeth's room playing, and when she entered, they were incredibly sweet and kind to her, and thanked her for sharing her toys and asked them to join her. Such lovely little ladies! Elizabeth was all too happy to jump in with her big brother's friends.

The evening soon began to wind down, and I was graciously treated by the unsolicited (but very much appreciated) help of other moms who stayed for a bit to help clean up. Before I knew it, the folding tables and chairs were collapsed and put into the garage, the floor was vacuumed, the first load of dishes were in the dish washer, and my kitchen sparkled. These gals were pros.

As the final guests left, I was filled with such a sense of warmth, and genuine gratitude for several things:

1. David is surrounded by classmates and friends at FCDS who are amazing kids. They are kind, polite, energetic, and clearly all love being together. I was so touched to witness David being part of this community of young, future leaders. These kids are all awesome. The fact that they were so enthusiastic about David's drumming - which really is just sort of a fun hobby for him - was truly special, and made for an evening for my little guy that he will not soon forget and will long cherish.

2. I had incredible fun spending time with the parents of these great kids - who are fantastic people in their own right! Several of the moms wanted to hear all of the latest news of Glen's new job, and about how the commute was working for us; more importantly everyone seemed to be having a relaxed time just hanging out.

3. Glen and I had somehow managed to pull off two major events on the same evening (the party and Elizabeth's holiday show at school) and were left with two happy and content kids.

4. It is true that Foothill families really do comprise a large family; one of which we are grateful to be a part.