{Swap Sketch} - September 2012

This was our 4th swap.  Twelve swappers gathered on a Friday night at the Bellview Winery.  The winery has been such a perfect place to swap with their smaller-sized tables, wine tastings and a nice outdoor area for kids to explore.

This was also the first swap in which we incorporated crafts.  Although the food swapables were still the main focus, we had some neat crafty items such as wine bottle tiki torches, crocheted apple cozies, homemade modge podge, hair jewels, homemade soap and strands of paper cranes.

The food items included:

• Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
• Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Sweet Bread
• Lara Bars (Coconut Cream and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip)
• Maple Pecan Butter
• Irish Soda Bread
• Homemade Breads: Banana Chocolate Chip, Pear, and Blueberry Zucchini 
• Dried Hydrangea
• Candied Pecans and Almonds
• Spinach and Basil Pesto
• Homegrown produce
• Farm-fresh eggs
• Pollinator Garden Plants
• Oil-free salad dressing
• Flax Snax
• Granola

And a really neat idea from April, a first-time swapper, who featured the "Seasons of Swapping".  April brought Low Sugar Strawberry Applesauce (Summer), Homemade Play Dough (Spring), Pumpkin Bread (Fall) and Peppermint Bark (my fav! Winter).

April's "Seasons of Swapping"

We even had mini swappers and a 4-legged visitor!

Please Read:

I know we had a lot of new swappers this past time.  And maybe it's my fault for not doing a better job of explaining how the swap works, BUT I need everyone to abide by the 1-for-1 rule.  This saves everyone a lot of hassle and awkward moments.  Remember this - if you write your name down for an item, it means you are comfortable taking that one item (given it's size and portion) for your one item.  There shouldn't be any signing up for and then negotiating later.  Thank you :)

The next event will be spaced out a little more.  I have a feeling our events were too frequent for some to attend every one.  I'm looking at the first weekend in December.  There's a poll on Facebook to vote for the day/time. Head over there and let me know what works best for you!