Operation Baking GALS Anniversary!

As you may recall, I recently posted about participating in Operation Baking GALS for the first time. Well, OBG is celebrating their first anniversary! They are trying to promote the group, as well as celebrating with giveaways and such. Start by checking out the OBG website here.

Now, like I said, the last round was the first time I had participated. I had seen it mentioned on various other blogs, and had even bookmarked the website, thinking to myself "that sounds neat...I should sign up some time." Well, for some reason I was moved to sign up last month, and am very glad that I did.

I'm not sure why I feel so motivated to participate, to be honest. I didn't grow up in a military household. Well, my dad was a Marine (okay, okay, once a Marine, always a Marine!) but he was discharged before he and my mom even met. I don't have any close friends or family that are in the military. But...it just seems like a great thing to do (participating in OBG, that is). I love to bake, and I really like baking for other people, so why not send those baked goods to our troops? Having actually done that now, it gives you a good feeling knowing that you've (hopefully!) brightened a complete strangers day!! You don't have to agree with why the soldiers are there to agree that they could all use some support until they are all safe and sound at home!!!

So...if you haven't already done so, I encourage you to check out the Operation Baking GALS website, and think about joining in. It's really not that hard, and it's a great cause!! You don't even have to bake -- they are tips for what you can send even if you can't send baked goods. The ship dates for the current round will be 8/3-8/12.

Comments

Thick and Chewy Snickerdoodles

I admit, I love snickerdoodles. Cinnamon and vanilla? Yes, please. What’s funny is that I never really had them much as a kid, just occasionally in the school cafeteria. I know, ew. Anyway, snickerdoodles were one of the first cookies that the Munchkin helped make when he was little. He could help dump everything in the mixer (or “loud noise” as he would call it!) and then it was fun for him to roll the balls of dough in the cinnamon sugar before putting them on the baking sheet. Even since then, my go-to recipe for snickerdoodles has been this one by Emeril. It’s a great recipe, baking up a thin, crispy cookie (at least when I make them!). However, I was looking for something different this time, something thicker and chewier. I found this recipe from the blog How Sweet it Is . I decided to try it, and while I did keep the ingredient list the same I changed up the method a bit to suit me better. The result? What I was looking for – thick and

Homemade Cinnamon Dolce Latte

I recently professed my love of coffee and fancy coffee drinks. After the success of the Peppermint Mocha , I decided to tackle the Cinnamon Dolce Latte, another one of my favorites. According to the Starbucks website, it has flavors of "cinnamon, butter and brown sugar". Well, I covered the cinnamon and brown sugar components, but left out the butter. And you know what, I think it turned out quite well, if I do say so myself! I honestly wasn't sure if the cinnamon flavor in the syrup was going to be strong enough, but it was. I will admit to being impatient and not letting it steep for very long, so the cinnamon flavor might develop more if you do actually let it sit and cool off first. If you wanted it to be even stronger, you could always add a tiny bit of cinnamon oil to it as well. But be careful -- a little of that goes a long way! How much to make depends on how much you'll actually use. I just made a single batch this first time, but considering

Hello Dolly Cookie Bars

Several years ago, my mom gave me an old cookbook, it was hers but I'm not sure she ever used it, Favorite Recipes from Southern Kitchens: Desserts . I love this cookbook! I thought it would be great to go through it and pick a recipe or two to use for this year's 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats series. For this week, I chose a super easy one, Hello Dolly Cookies. I have absolutely no idea where the name came from. I'm really not sure I've ever eaten one before, though the ladies I shared the finished product with knew about them! I did an internet search too, and it seems they go by a lot of names, including Magic Layer Bars. Honestly, they are so easy to make. There's no mixing required. Kids could absolutely help with these. The cookies smelled divine while they were baking, and I barely waited for them to cool before trying one. At first I thought "these taste almost like German chocolate cake", then "or definitely like a ca

Alphabet Soup

Search This Blog