A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon Drop In & Decorate, a fantastic concept dreamed up by Rhode Island-based food writer Lydia Walshin. The idea is that you have a party and set up a station for people to decorate cookies for the charity of your choice.

So I had a Christmas potluck last weekend with Drop In & Decorate as a focus. I supplied the booze and blank-canvas cookies, and my friends each brought a dish and their labor. As you can see from these photos, I’ve got some pretty talented friends — all whom have steady decorating hands and imagination to boot. There was a whole smorgasbord of royal icing, sprinkles and edible spray colors. All in all, 30 people dropped in to decorate 120 cookies (and, you know, to eat and booze it up).

Our charity of choice was the Ronald McDonald Family Room and House in Orange, Calif. The programs put in place at the family room and house allow for families to stay close to their children who are undergoing treatment at the hospital, which is just across the street. Some of these children are in there for weeks, and the House acts as a second home to their families.

The cookies would be served at a Christmas party the House was throwing for current and past families who’ve stayed with them over the years. Thanks to my friends who came to my potluck to spread some Christmas cheer to these families. If you’re thinking about throwing your own event, visit this link. It’ll tell you everything you need to know.

Hope you all had a great Christmas, and that the warm fuzzies and love continue on into the New Year!

– Cynthia Furey

This entry was posted on Friday, December 25th, 2009 at 11:36 pm and is filed under At the table. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.