Dances, Thank you for the cookie recipe! I no longer have the stamina to mix a big batch of cookies together and then bake them all, but this is doable. Mix, put in fridge for when I want them, bake as many as I want at a time (I even used the toaster oven for a few), and they taste great! SharonG/FL

I grew up where Amanda did, and I didn't see snow until I was 11. It was warmer than usual when I was a child, and we also were having a very long drought. We did sing "Frosty the Snowman" and decorate snowman cookies, however. When we finally did have snow, it was only one or two inches, and my sister and I scraped the entire front yard clean to make a two foot high snowman, which was anything but white because of all the leaves that were in it. My grandmother had a landscape painting in her den that was a scene of a river flowing through a snowy landscape. It was painted around 1927, I think, and was rather dark, with a dark sky and dark rocks at the river. The river was also dark, but there were lots of patches of white snow. As a child, I though the patches of snow were ghosts and had no idea that it was a landscape painting, and it always scared me to see it. I think I was 12 before I figured out what it really was. She had another dark painting from the same period of a vase with tulips in it, and I thought it was a bear wearing a hat - the vase was the bear's head and the tulip blossoms were the hat. That one scared me also. Lars

Terri, I think that this might work... The dough hold it's shape and you could leave out the chocolate chips. They are very good...that much is for sure! Refrigerate the dough and just roll out. WORLD PEACE COOKIES Dorie Greenspan Deeply chocolaty World Peace Cookies will be a hit, either passed after dinner or as a gift. Servings: Makes about 36 cookies \-\-These cookies, the brainchild of Parisian pastry chef Pierre Herm with whom Dorie Greenspan wrote "Desserts by Pierre Hermé," caused Greenspan's neighbor, Richard Gold, to say that a daily dose of these is all that is needed to ensure planetary peace and happiness. You can't eat just one. The salt is important to the taste; don't skimp on it. Ingredients: 1 1/4 cups all\-purpose flour 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1 stick plus 3 Tbsps. (11 Tbsps. altogether) unsalted butter, at room temperature 2/3 cup packed light\-brown sugar 1/4 cup sugar 1/2 tsp. fleur de sel or 1/4 tsp. fine sea salt 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or a generous 3/4 cup store\- bought mini chocolate chips 1\. Sift flour, cocoa and baking soda together. 2\. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add both sugars, salt and vanilla extract and beat 2 minutes longer. 3\. Turn off mixer. Pour in dry ingredients; drape a kitchen towel over stand mixer to protect yourself and your kitchen from flying flour and pulse the mixer at low speed about 5 times, a second or two each time. Take a peek \-\- if there is still a lot of flour on the surface of the dough, pulse a couple more times; if not, remove the towel. Continuing at low speed, mix for about 30 seconds longer, just until the flour disappears into the dough \-\- for the best texture, work the dough as little as possible once the flour is added, and don't be concerned if the dough looks a little crumbly. Toss in the chocolate pieces and mix only enough to incorporate. 4\. Turn dough out onto a work surface, gather it together and divide it into half. Working with half at a time, shape dough into logs that are 11/2 inches in diameter. Wrap logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for at least 3 hours. (The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. If you've frozen the dough, you needn't defrost it before baking \-\- just slice the logs into cookies and bake 1 minute longer.) 5\. When ready to bake, center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats. 6\. Using a sharp, thin knife, slice logs into rounds that are 1/2 inch thick. (The rounds may crack as you're cutting them; don't be concerned, just squeeze the bits back onto each cookie.) Arrange rounds on baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch between them. 7\. Bake cookies 1 sheet at a time for 12 minutes. They won't look done nor will they be firm, but that's just the way they should be. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the cookies rest until they are just warm, at which point you can serve them, or wait until they are room temperature. ................................. Nancy

I don't believe that an open bar is part of the plan at all....and it needn't be. But I do think that it adds a festive touch to have something alcoholic. Orchid, only you and your husband know the "politics" of his workplace. I wouldn't pay much heed to the naysayers. A party like this is an excellent way to meet the spouses of the co-workers...sounds like a great idea to me. Some may live in an environment of 'eye rollers' and treacherous office politics. Most of us don't. After we moved into our new home some years ago, we hosted a holiday party for many of the people who work with Robert (including the boss) , plus our new neighbors, and some very close friends. I was a new comer (we were newly married) to the area and wanted very much to meet people AND welcome people into our new home. It was a rousing success and a great opportunity for these people to truly associate with each other outside of work. It was more of a party than an open house. I'm so glad that we invited people outside the workplace......they added some new blood to the mix. Have a fun time! I hope that we get to see pictures of the decorations when you put them up!