I’ve blogged about our family’s annual White Elephant party before here and here. And yes, we’ve just had another one last weekend. Guaranteed to be a fun get-together. We have a pot luck dinner, gag gift exchange and then our notorious cookie exchange. We had two 6 foot tables of cookies for our cookie exchange. Let me tell ya, we have oodles of cookies for gifting (and eating if your waistline can handle it) once we’re done. The tradition is great as we get opportunities to taste different recipes. And our family has to be the kindest by letting allergy sensitive relatives go through the line first to prevent cross contamination. We don’t want our fam to be miserable. It’s a party for cryin out loud.

I decided to try out a new recipe this year for the cookie exchange. I chose the following book the hubster and i found at the VA hospital military canteen (a mini shop for veterans). I mean how can you go wrong with Amish cookies?

After cooking gluten free foods the past 9 years, I have been delighted with the new 1 to 1 flours available. I find they convert regular recipes into very near likenesses for my husband and daughter. And yes, they have been diagnosed. They don’t choose to exclude wheat from their diet. The hubster had a biopsy and daughter saw digestive specialists for a good year. They are legit. So save your G-free jokes for someone else. Not funny to those of us watching our loved ones suffer. ** Soap Box Finished**

I made mine mini-sized to allow plenty to share. No I’m not chintzy. What if the recipe wasn’t very good?! Luckily these were perfectly fine. Real orange rind in the recipe along with orange juice had just the right hint of flavor to set these apart from your regular sugar cookies. And they just seemed festive enough for a Christmas party. Does anyone remember getting oranges in their Christmas stocking on Christmas morning? ….the recipe’s next.

A few pics of the family follow. And I’d like to say thanks to everyone for lending my mother a hand in the planning, set up and clean up of the event. Especially after the year she’s had with her leg pain. Thanks to all for walking through the ‘doors’. Thank you to Norm 2.0 for tolerating this ‘different’ version of Thursday Doors. Please visit him and all the wonderful door participants from around the world by clicking here.