It's All about The Sweet Table

My sister's oldest son celebrated his Confirmation on Saturday night which is one of the seven sacraments through which Catholics pass in the process of their religious upbringing. According to Catholic doctrine, in this sacrament they receive the Holy Spirit in which some can get closer to the Holy Spirit and God.
The receiving of a Sacrament is usually followed by some type of party where family and closest friends all decked out in their finest, get together and celebrate the occasion with a full meal, open bar and complete sweet table. Usually everyone pitches in and spends the week before the party baking. At one time, it didn't matter how good the meal was, if the sweet table or cake was not complete, then the party was a failure!
Being the procrastinator that I am, I spend most of Friday evening (and well into Saturday morning) and part of Saturday baking of few things with my daughter. Usually people only sample the sweets during the party. Most of the time they are given to guests to take home as sort of a thank you for attending and for sharing with co workers the following work day. As a child, I remember some of the older Italian women trying to stash a few of these cookies - discreetly of course - in their handbags.