Holiday Celebration and Baking Contests

Every year in the building where I work, they have this HUGE Holiday celebration. The day begins with carolers roaming the hallways singing songs of the season. Judges taste yummy morsels of cakes, cookies, candies, and pies to determine the best of each category. Judges also determine which office decorated their door and part of the hallway the best and most festive. There is an auditorium program where Santa comes and carolers sing and the winners are announced for the different contests. Then at 11am, each organization eats a potluck lunch together. These potlucks are set up in the hallways near the main doors of each organization. Then at noon, the masses can graze one another's tables and meet and mingle around the building for an hour. To give you perspective, the building where I work is HUGE! They say it is the biggest Army building in the world. Thousands of people work here. So when everyone is roaming the hallways...you get the picture.

So that was my day today. But it was a lot more than that too... First of all, I was one of the carolers singing in the hallway and in the auditorium. This group has been singing together for about five years now. Each year we sing for this Holiday Celebration. It's always fun to have the Commanding General get up and lead us in one of our most rowsing numbers. This year it was "Go Tell it on the Mountain", and the general even danced a little to our music. She is a really good sport. Every year people really seem to enjoy our songs. And we enjoy singing for them.

Second, I entered three of the baking contests....Cookies, Cakes, and Candy. This year, there was only one winner for each category. In years past, there was 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners. I knew it would be harder competition this year, since it was winner take all in each category. I really wanted to enter the contest, but I couldn't decide which was my best baked goods, so I entered three of the categories. I am no good at making pies, so I didn't need to worry about that category. I've been baking all week in preparation for this contest. I couldn't decide which cookie was my favorite, so I made two kinds. Actually, a friend of mine and I were talking recently about chocolate chip cookies. He is on the hunt for the best recipe and I told him I think I found it. That conversation has been going through my brain, and I wanted to see if anyone else felt the same way about these cookies. So I decided to enter these chocolate chip cookies and also another favorite...Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip, Cherry cookies. I made a Buttermilk Marble cake for the cake contest. And very yummy and extremely easy Saltine Cracker Toffee for the candy contest. When I brought my stuff to the cafeteria where they had everything set up for the judging, I saw A LOT of cookies and cakes, but not very many candy selections. I thought my candy had a good shot. I also thought my cake would do well. I wasn't sure about the cookies because there was so many really tasty looking ones on the table. But I was hopeful.

So how did it go? Did I win anything? Yes I did! Tyler...I am not alone in claiming I found the best chocolate chip cookie recipe. That's right!! The chocolate chip cookies WON!!! Thanks Christy for that recipe!! You have an award winning cookie there!!

It would have been interesting to see how my other cookies, cake, and candy placed. But I know they are good, so I won't be bitter that a Rum Cake beat my Buttermilk Marble cake or some fudge beat out the most interesting combination of salty and sweet in my Saltine Cracker Toffee. I am just really excited that I am a baking contest winner! YAY!