And Now for Some More Numbers

There were a ton of people in my apartment last night. A ton. It was the brunch club gang and more, literally. People I didn't know were in my house.

I feel crowded in my place when there are four people in it. I live in a traditional loft, no walls. My bedroom is separated in that it is upstairs with my bathroom.
On the first floor is my kitchen and living/dining area. It is very narrow.

My couch seats four people. I have four dining chairs. Eight people can sit down.
There are 2 chairs up in my bedroom and my king size bed. I think eight more people can fit up there, sitting down.
My toilet seat fits one.
My kitchen counters can hold about five.
With all that seating, I'd say four can sit on the floor upstairs and down. That's another eight.

But that's not how everyone was last night. We survived and the party was a hit.

The party, oh boy, let me tell you how I was Martha Stewart on speed yesterday.
My co-host for this shindig left the country unexpectedly. The party was to be at her house; where there is tons of room. It was too late to cancel, so we just moved it to my humble small loft apartment.

The party was a cookie swap. The rules were simple; but there were a lot:
1. All cookies must be homemade. "No-bake" cookies, meringues or bars are allowed.
2. Please bring 2 dozen total cookies.
3. Arrange cookies in a basket, platter, or container and make sure to bring an empty large container (i.e., Tupperware) to carry away cookies.
4. Bring one copy of your recipe—we provide recipe cards for all to use for copying all your favorite recipes.
5. RSVP as soon as you can and be certain to note on the eVite what type of cookies you will be baking so that we donÂ’t have duplicate recipes.
6. If you don't have time to bake, or have ruined your recipe and but still want to attend, you must go to a real bakery and buy yummy cookies.

And with as many people that showed up, I was shocked that there were nrepetitionsns in recipes. Only one person bought store bought cookies.

We voted on "ugliest", "prettiest", "tastiest", and "most hodgepodge" cookies. It was mad fun.

But, if I can say so, the most fun was my special hot cocoa, made from scratch.

Last Friday while I was out of office, I watched 'Martha'. I love her show. When I am off from the office this is my pleasure, I like to play the role of unmarried housewife and take on projects. Martha made white chocolate bark with broken up peppermint candies.
Before I saw this show, I had been dying to mash up some peppermint and sprinkle on a cupcake. A la the Queen.

After watching Martha show us how it's done. I did so. I made those cupcakes Sunday afternoon. Mashing peppermint with a hammer is the best stress releaser during the Holidays, I found out. I made plain old vanilla cakes because I am not a chocolate fan, then used buttercream frosting dyed pink. They looked super cute.

After one mashing, you just want to keep on. Try it. Plus, it makes your kitchen smell all pepperminty, which is a good thing.

As I was searching for a signature drink to serve at the cookie swap, my co-worker told me about this recipe:

4 cups of milk
4 cups of whipping cream
1/3 cup of sugar
---stir together in a pot and heat on medium heat, constantly stirring. When hot enough, pour into a bowl w/ 12 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate bars ( I used choc. chips. Its so much easier and y'all know how I hate melting chocolate)
Add 1/3 cup of Peppermint Schnapps. Stir well.

Serve in an Irish coffee like mug. Top with whipped cream.
Here's the cutest part: Top whipped cream with crushed peppermint.
And can it get cuter? Yes, it can: Make swizzle stir sticks with a candy cane poked through a peppermint patty candy---to use as stirrer spoon.
UH HUH.
UH HUH.

And I did as Oprah would have and greeted each guest with a drink. There was also noalcoholicic apple cider. But, who wanted that?