Welcome!

[reactoss]

Hi everyone and welcome to the Australian cookie swap community. I would just like to spend the next few days spreading the word and letting everyone get to know each other a bit before the first swap. If you're very interested in participating in the first swap in June feel free to start sending me your details (see "About" section on community

Comments

[beigeist]

messaged! :) how exciting!

[beigeist]

oh i'm in melbourne. i'm vegetarian but keen on trying more vegan stuff. never participated in anything like this before, but it sounds fun. right now my mail is mostly ebay/etsy purchases and mag subscriptions (worn, lula, anyone?). suspect cookies would make me feel far less guilty money-wise!

greatest baking success so far has been the ppk's magical coconut bars

they're fool-proof and my go-to homemade birthday/christmas present. too bad they need refrigeration :P

[reactoss]

Ooh, they sound delicious! Maybe the swap is just the incentive you need to adapt the recipe to become a magical coconut cookie :)

[memorysong]

This sounds very exciting, and I'm very tempted to join. I was just wondering if this is open to people who love to bake but are still relatively new to it (aka me). =)

[perseph0nes]

I'm in this boat too!

[reactoss]

Yes definitely! It's a great excuse to do more baking and the great thing about it is that everytime you participate you get an awesome new recipe to add to your collection. All we ask is that you have a little taste test before you send off your cookies and make sure they taste ok (although this applies to everyone, even the best of them have accidently used salt instead of sugar at some point or another!)
Either way, please do sign up and I hope you enjoy the swaps :)

[psyc2321]

Haven't participated in a cookie swap per se, but have mailed biscuits before (over considerable distance, to a friend in the armed forces) - bar biscuits do post better (especially in the tin, but that's not necessarily advisable), but a carefully wrapped stack in a wine-bottle postage box will usually survive Australia Post's best efforts. Tissue paper or flattened cupcake wrappers between biscuits will help shield them from crushing.

[reactoss]

Great ideas, had never thought about using the wine bottle boxes!

[pyrrha17]

This sounds like fun!

However I just wanted to ask, as we have allergies in our family (dairy/eggs, so we're vegan) - are these taken into consideration in the swap?

Also, when is the swap likely to take place?

Thanks.

[reactoss]

Definitely! Take a look at the profile page and it has a list of info that is shared with your swap partner so that they know what to put in your cookies. Over half of the members so far are vegan so there won't be any problem pairing you up and it's a great way to find new recipes that fit your allergies. :).

First swap will be June. I'll put a post up around the 1st asking who is in for the month (so make sure that you've added the community so you get the message) and then everyone has until the 5th to respond. I'll pair people up and notify by email who your partner is and you've got until the 20th of the month to send your delicious cookies to your partner!

[elleuba]

I've mailed baked goods before. It doesn't cost much. you just have to make sure that its safely packed. I normally put the items into a plastic takeaway container then into a postpak box. There's also a layer of bubble wrap to make extra sure that its semi water and air tight.