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| Tuesday, February 05, 2008 |
| The Latest Batch Of Cookies |
We'd like to say a big thanks to all those at Pohanka of Salisbury who generously and selflessly donated over $300 towards supplies and shipping for the latest batch of cookies.
Also--a huge thanks to Iva, for allowing us to use her kitchen. And thanks to Joy, Fredd, Jared and Laura who help form the one hundred and forty-six dozen cookies that are being shipped out to the troops today.
Thank you ALL for your help. We know the fruits of your labor will be appreciate by many. |
posted by Porkchop @ 7:27 AM  |
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| Monday, February 04, 2008 |
| Someone Who Is Enjoying The Fruits Of Our Labor And The Generosity Of Your Donations |
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| posted by Porkchop @ 1:23 PM |
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| Sunday, February 04, 2007 |
| Best Recipies To Send |
We try to send a nice variety of familiar favorites to the troops, the following recipes are the most requested, as well as our secret, delicious recipes. Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter, Snickerdoodles, Molasses, Pecan Sandies and Oatmeal Rasin.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter flavored Crisco
3/4 cup granulated [white] sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups (12-ounce package) chocolate chips (when multiplying the recipie, add an extra cup of chips for every 2 batches.)
COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large mixer bowl. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
BAKE in preheated 375-degree oven for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks/newspaper to cool completely.
Snickerdoodles
1 cup butter flavored Crisco
1 1/2 cups of white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons of vanilla
2 3/4 cups of flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon of salt
sugar and cinnamon for rolling.
Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, until the mixture is fluffy. Sift flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Fold into creamed mixture until just mixed. Create inch sized balls, roll in cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 400 degrees until slightly golden.
Tasty Molasses Cookies
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1 1/2 cups of butter flavored Crisco
1 cup of molasses
2 teaspoons of vanilla
2 eggs
4 1/2 cups of unbleached flour
3 teaspoons baking soda
2 tablespoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground gloves
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon nutmeg
sugar for rolling
Cream butter, sugar and molasses until light and fluffy. Cream in eggs one at a time, beat in vanilla. Mixture should be pretty fluffy. Sift all dry ingredients. Mix it into the creamed mixture one spoonful at a time. If the mixture is soft, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour. If the mixture is rollable, proceed to the next step.
Shape one inch balls, roll in sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for about 8-12 minutes. The cookies will puff up and flatten during baking. Let cool on the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to counter to cool. (Allowing cookies to cool on the pan allows them to continue baking on he bottoms without letting the tops bake. Creating a softer, chewier cookie.)
Peanut Butter Cookies
2 1/2 cups of flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup of butter flavored Crisco
1 cup of white sugar
1 cup of brown sugar
1 cup of peanut butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
sugar for rolling.
Cream Crisco and peanut butter. Add both kinds of sugar, beat until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, add vanilla. Gently stir in the sifted dry ingredients. Shape into one inch balls, roll in sugar, bake on ungreased cookie sheet. Crisscross press with fork tines. Bake at 375 for roughly 10 to 12 minutes. Cool in the same manner as the other cookies.
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
3 beaten eggs
2 cups of raisins
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup of butter flavored crisco
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 1/2 cups of flour
3 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups rolled oats
Beat eggs and vanilla together. Add raisins, let soak for an hour, if you have the time. Or, while you mix up the rest of the cookies. Cream together crisco and brown sugar and white sugar. Strain what you can of the egg/vanilla mixture into the crisco/sugar mixture--DO NOT ADD THE RAISINS. Cream. Add sifted flour, cinnamon and baking soda to creamed mixutre. Add rolled oats. Then add raisins.
Drop by teaspoonfuls on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake until lightly browned at 350.
Pecan Sandies (this is one of my favorite cookie recipes, people love these things and devour them like wolves whenever you make them)
1 cup of butter flavored Crisco
1 cup of vegetable oil
1 cup of white sugar
1 cup of confectioners sugar
2 eggs
3 teaspoons of vanilla
4 cups of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups chopped pecans
sugar for rolling
Cream together the crisco and vegetable oild. (Be careful! This sloshes easily over the edge of the bowl.) Add confectioners sugar--cream. Add white sugar, cream. Add eggs one at a time and vanilla. The mixture won't be fluffy, but you should be able to pinch it between your fingers and feel the majority of the sugar dissolved. Sift flour, bakign soda, cream of tartar and salt. Stir into creamed mixture. Mix in the pecans. Roll dough into one inch balls, roll in sugar. Bake at 375 until golden. Remove from cookie sheets, cool. |
| posted by Porkchop @ 1:31 PM |
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| Monday, January 30, 2006 |
| Thanks From A Soldier |
Dear Sarah,
I want to thank you for sending those cookies. I was stunned when I received the package, but even moreso when I opened it. I'll bet your hands were more sore than on my hardest day of training. I took them (after reserving a few for myself) down to the ROTC building for all of the Officers, NCO's and my fellow cadets to enjoy. A thank you note should be in the mail in the next day or two from everybody. Your kindness will not be overlooked. Thank you.
Sincerely,
A Soldier
Justorum animae in manu Dei sunt.
PS. Stale cookies they are not, but even if they were, they'd be more enjoyable than some of the grub that we are subjected to! |
| posted by Porkchop @ 3:07 PM |
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| Thursday, January 19, 2006 |
| The End Of The Postal Story |
This morning I decided to lug all the packages to our friendly local post office. They know me by name there and are normally quite helpful.
It was a bit crowed this morning. Lots of little old ladies picking up their mail, people standing in line for two cent stamps and a few college students in line with questions about mailboxes. I trotted in and out, bringing in my packages and stacking them up against the wall. A friendly lad with a ARMY shirt on continually kept the door open for me and made the whole ordeal a little easier.
I deposited all my boxes in a rather large pile against the wall and waited in line. Everytime I was about to go up to the counter a wee old lady would come in who just needed a stamp or someone with a very simple problem. I really didn't want to keep them waiting through the mailing of eight whole packages, so I let them in front of me. As I waited, I chatted amiably. People asked, of course, what the packages were, where they were going. I let the lad in the ARMY shirt know once he got out of boot camp (he was leaving in two weeks) to send me his address and I would happily mail him cookies.
I finally was able to start weighing the packages when the postmaster stopped me cold. When addressing the packages, I had mistakenly thought that they could put postage anywhere on the packages. It also happened that the most convenient spot to address the packages was the upper right hand corner. Who was the woefully ignorant one now?! That's right. The homeschooled one standing balefully in front of the counter. So I had to readdress all of the packages in the lower righthand corner. Now, please understand this is the very same post office that allowed my sweet blue-eyed and blonde-haired sister to mail a snickers bar AND a coconut. ARE THERE EVEN UPPER RIGHT HAND CORNERS ON COCONUTS?! How dare he reject my packages! But I meekly comply.
This gave the audience of patrons and the postmaster much time to inspect the artwork of my little brother who had attacked the cookie boxes with a sharpie. To put it lightly, his sense of humor is a wee tad dark and twisted. The proclamations on the sides of the boxes included:
Guns are cool
Violence IS the answer
The south may rise again but we'll be sure to wait for ya'll to get back and party
Tips for befriending Christian infantrymen. 1. Do not say 666 is your lucky number. 2. Avoid tattooing genitalia with pentagrams and swastikas (pictures included). 3. Avoid referring to yamalukes as "Jew hats".
That was just a sampling of his handiwork. As I scrawled out addresses, they LOUDLY read them off the sides of the boxes. I scrawled faster.
"That's really not funny."
"Yes, sir. I know. But you see, my little brother got ahold of it..."
"Ahem. I see."
I receive various gun control arguments from the patrons of the lobby.
I finally finish readdressing and THEN he hands me the customs forms. My hand is a blur at this point and my writing beyond illedgible. I finish everything and quietly wait for my total.
OH WAIT! One of the boxes is too big. WTF?! HELLO! THIS IS THE POST OFFICE! WHERE WE MAIL THINGS! BUNCH OF COOKIES NAZI'S.
I pay and collect my rejected oversized package and try to leave as unobtrusively as possible. No more questions regarding decorations please! Let me just send my cookies in peace! I realize my brother is a little crazy, but I like him that way! HOW ABOUT YOU JUST SHUT YOUR WORD-HOLES AND STOP CONDEMNING ME! Next time YOU send cookies you can feel FREE to lecture me then.
As I left, an elderly gentleman touched my elbow and winked. "I wouldn't have minded cookies from a pretty thing like you when I was over there. Wouldn't have cared what the box said or how crazy the little brother was. As long as he wouldn't have shot me when I came back to properly thank you and take you out to dinner." |
| posted by Porkchop @ 3:07 PM |
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| Wednesday, January 18, 2006 |
| If I Had To Wear A Uniform That Ugly, I Might Be Grumpy Too |
This afternoon I slipped out of work to deliver the several boxes of cookies that are filling the backseat of my car to the post office.
I dropped by one of the smaller post offices at 4:20. After standing in line for five minutes, I was told by the overweight and very unhappy man behind the counter that he would not process my order since I had eight packages. You know, because he closed at 4:30. I wanted to say
"NO, I do NOT know. I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT IS LIKE TO GET HOLIDAYS OFF AND HAVE FANTASTIC HOURS. Furthermore, do you have any frickin idea what the phrase 'customer service' means?! NO, I DIDN'T THINK SO! And do you have ANY IDEA WHAT YOUR REFUSING HERE?! Cookies! FOR TROOPS. Troops fighting to keep your fat ass employed. THAT'S WHAT! I hope you sleep well tonight knowing that you got home to your big screen TV a full ten minutes faster and deprived troops of cookies for godknowshowmuch longer. FYI- If YOU were to come buy a car for me, I would probably have to stay a HOUR late, since you were too lazy to come in on time. HAVE FUN WASHING YOUR UGLY UNIFORM!"
But I didn't. I simply said "thank you" and walked out. Oh yes. Somehow I managed to work in a apology. I'm not sure what I was apologizing for. Asking him to stay late? Cluttering his air space with my presence? Offering to contribute to the TRADE AND ECONOMY OF THE UNITED STATES?! I did politely ask directions to the nearest post office that might be open a little later. He directed me to another quite a bit out of my way.
I left, simmering. (That's right Mr. Overweight Postal Worker, if you discover a dead goat on the threshold of your place of business with a pentagram drawn in blood, it wasn't me--I promise.)
I went to the next post office, pulled my eight boxes in with me and stood in line for another ten minutes waiting for three surly women to deem me acceptable to service my shipping needs. Unfortunately, that day never arrived. I waited. Waited. Watched them go on the lunch/dinner/pieholestuffing breaks and even sprouted a few grey hairs. I finally dragged myself and my packages out of the post office. Angry that I had wasted an hour. Angry that I had accomplished nothing. Angry that apparently no one knows what customer service is.
Now I have eight very large boxes of cookies sitting in the back of my car. I am quite afraid I will be jumped for the eatables. I came quite close while getting lost on the way back to work in the sketchy section of town behind the post office where vanfuls of "handicapped" people creep along and stop up traffic.
I really think the Unabomber was on to something. |
| posted by Porkchop @ 3:04 PM |
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| Monday, January 16, 2006 |
| If I Had Eaten Breakfast, I Would Have Fallen Asleep In It |
In short, I am exhausted.
Actually, I am not ready to say "I wish to never see another cookie again!" I simply wish for a better back and shoes that wouldn't leave my feet swollen. (And yes, I was wearing sensible shoes. I did not feel the need to be someone's fantasy and bake a thousand cookies in my high heels and underwear.)
All in all, I spent about 30+ hours gathering supplies and baking this weekend. Tonight, I go back for another round of baking and boxing them up.
I'm not complaining! I'm just very tired. Very, very tired. I am having trouble stringing together coherent sentances. I sort of drift off in the middle of asking questions. "Did you, um, ever... find..." And then I forget what I was saying.
I feel like a Keebler Elf who was run over by the cookie truck. |
| posted by Porkchop @ 3:03 PM |
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