No it isn’t about the cookies, or the fudge, or the lamingtons or even about the peanut butter balls, the cookie exchange is about friendship and community and typifies so much of what this neighbourhood is about.

When I was invited by Beth to join the cookie exchange, I guess my first thoughts were of “OMG, somebody actually wants me to bake for them”. My next thought was, what will I bake? After getting some much needed assistance from my friend Anne back home, the task of making 15 dozen lamingtons was set upon. Yes, it took hours, yes I swore on a regular basis because I would burn a cake or forget to put oil in the mixture, but I was part of this group and loved the fact that I was involved.

There were 16 of us in total and we gathered at Susan’s for a night of Christmas cheer and of course the exchange of our goodies. But whilst the table overflowed with beautifully presented and wrapped treats of all kinds, it was the laughter and the sharing that was taking place in the other rooms that gave real meaning to this neighbourhood tradition of a cookie exchange.

Toward the end of the night as I stood marvelling at the array on the table in front of me, Susan leant over my shoulder and summed it all up. "Its not about the cookies you know...”

How right you are.