The greatest thing about this time of year-Christmas
As it is the Christmas season and my life gets twice as busy from homemade gifts to baking endless amounts of cookies, to all the crafts and celebrations we do, this time of year so is to me anyway not a time to devote to business.
One of the perks of having your own business is you can decide to put it aside during the holidays for family and making sure I get all the special touches on the season done that are paramount. So the blogs leading up to Christmas will be full of of ways to brighten your own as well as others holidays.
Today’s blog is dedicated to my beautiful Labrador girl Punky as today is her 16th birthday, and as I said in an earlier blog we lost her just short of this day. She loved Christmas and this one she will be dearly missed.
OK so in her memory and in the spirit of Christmas I want to share with you a few things we have done to share the blessings that we ourselves have, with others.
Stop by a retirement home, bring cards, being presents spend the time listening to the stories. My grandparents are gone now, and I still miss them. Where we used to live we had a program that was called adopt a Grandma/Grandpa at our local senior home and it gave us ten times more than we gave to it. So many elderly people have no one to come see them any time let alone at this time of the year. So stop by, make a friend and bring a little Christmas Cheer!
Check your local listings for homes near you.
If you bake you can being goodies to them as well, and you can also send cookies to the troops, they love the cards and letters and little care packages we send but they really love that homemade taste that brings home a little closer to them when they are so far away serving our country.
A few places that are great to know about if you want to send cookies to the troops:
1. http://www.momscookies.org/
2. http://www.hugsforsoldiers.org/node/505
Here are a few things to keep in mind when sending baked goods overseas, for your solder or when sending Christmas cheer to the troops in general:
Avoid Certain Ingredients
Moist, soft surfaces lend themselves to mold growth, so avoiding brown sugar, corn sugar, molasses and honey. Stick to table sugar when sweetening your treats.
Butter makes baked goods taste better. But butter, margarine, peanut butter and nuts have fat in them that can easily go foul in high heat. Don’t worry though. Butter-flavored vegetable shortening can step up as a substitute.
Chocolate is OK for overseas shipping if baked correctly. Chocolate chips, chocolate candies and other melt-prone ingredients such as butterscotch can be used if they are baked into the goodie. Once baked into the batter, chocolate can take in moisture and stay relatively firm.
Package Carefully
Vacuum-sealing baked goods may be your best bet for getting them overseas in tact, but we have also found success with Ziploc bags and Tupperware. Don’t stress too much if you don’t have a sealer. Here are some tips to test:
- To keep them structurally secure and at their freshest, wrap cookies in bundles of two, but wrap bars individually. If you made drop cookies, place two cookie bottoms together and wrap them in plastic wrap.
- Keep firm goods separate from soft. The moisture from the soft treats will spread to the crisp ones and cause them to go soggy and crunch-less.
- Unless you want your sugar cookies and everything else to taste like your banana bread, pack strong-flavored treats separately from the mild.
- Pack your boxes with enough bubble wrap or packing material to avoid any shaking or shifting.
Some Goods Pack Better than Others
Goodies that travel well include brownies, drop cookies and sandwich cookies.
Tips for Packaging
Some families find Pringles cans serve as a great protector for cookies and other treats. Adding a piece of bread in with baked cookies can help regulate moisture levels and keep cookies soft. And for a final tip, you can try freezing your treats prior to vacuum sealing them to help them arrive as fresh as possible.
Another great idea as I touch one
above is Christmas cards. Showing our troops that someone back home cares
enough to send a card and even better a short note thanking them and wishing
them a safe return can more than brighten a solder away from homes day, but
they share them and so you end up spreading Christmas cheer all though the base
Cards for Soldiers
5 Spicebush Circle
Litchfield, NH 03052
2. http://adoptaplatoon.org/site/
More next week
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Take Care
Sandy Metcalf
