Why I'm ditching my Christmas cookie swap

I spent 12 hours slaving away in the kitchen and now all I've got are chocolate-covered pretzel rods and star-shaped Rice Krispie treats

Cookies.
(Image credit: Almaje/iStock)

Baking is how I relax, how I shut out the Twitter trolls and the negative nancies and — most of all — the soul-crushing barrage of the news. When I need to decompress, it's time to turn off the TV, turn up the music, put on my "Let's Get Baked" apron, and start sifting my way to nonpartisan nirvana.

You'd think, then, that I love it when December rolls around and it's time for my annual cookie swap with friends. But here's the reality: I hate it. Because every year, I head into the season more optimistic than Cindy Lou Who, my eyes and heart as big as sugar cookies, but by the end, I'm grinchier than the Grinch.

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Patti Woods

Patti Woods is a freelance writer living in Connecticut. Her work has appeared in many places such as The Boston Globe, The Christian Science Monitor, Health, Wine Spectator, and more. She is the author of Lost Restaurants of Fairfield (The History Press, 2015). Her honors include awards from the New England Press Association and the Georgia Magazine Association.