Welcome Home Matt!!

Sunday night was fantastic. My boyfriends brother, Matt, finally returned from Afghanistan after 6 1/2 long months. Matt was our team's Round 25 and 26 recipient. The time changed a couple of times through out the day but once we got the final time, the excitement really set in.

Matt's son, Tyler, and cousin Amy decided to make Matt a "Welcome Home" sign. They were having a little trouble with the bubble letters so my inner-Martha came out and I drew the bubble letters for them. Tyler is 11 and Amy is around 10. So, because they clearly know everything at that age they instructed me on how to do the letters.

Amy: We want a red and blue pattern
Me: So every other letter?
Tyler: Yeah yeah and it has to say 'Welcome Home Sergeant Moon'. That's 'S' 'G'...
Me: haha yes I know what the abreviation is
Tyler: ok but it has to say Sgt Moon, not Matt

 After they were done decorating the sign, they had everyone in the family sign it.

Matt arrived at MCAS Miramar around 9:30pm. Their plane was greeted by a large group of cheering family and friends. Matt's son, Tyler, was beside himself excited. He kept saying to his cousin Amy, "Is that the plane? No! I bet it's that one!" It was cute. It was a very exciting and unforgettable night. We are so thankful he made it home safely. Thank You, Baking GALS, for your support, prayers, baked good, dedication and love. Here are a few more pictures from the evening:

Here's the whole group!

Me and my love

Matt's mom. Think she is excited?

Matt seeing his son for the first time!

The ginormous plane

Round 27 Goodness

I had a blast baking this round. Well, every round. I spent an entire day baking. My guy was working and I was actually caught up on laundry and housework so I dove in. I had big plans. Peanut Butter M & M Bars, Snickerdoodles, homemade Oreos and Monster cookies.

I was especially excited to try out the Oreos recipe from Bake at 350.  I even added the little heart that she did. To give it a little extra flare, I rolled the filled cookie in red sugar crystals.

 

          

              

It is Valentine's Day afterall. What kind of baker would I be if i didn't throw in some festive Valentine's Day sprinkles and M & Ms.

I tell you, every time I bake for Baking GALS it reminds me just how big this world is and how much of a difference one organization can make in the lives of people who sacrifice so much for our country.

Homecoming!!!!

We have a couple of our guys coming home!!!

As I mentioned before, Matt, is scheduled to come home at the end of the month. 10-12 more days. Almost there. His family and I are chomping at the bit to give him big hugs.

I just found out tonight that our Baking Blessings Round 26?27 recipent, Josh, will be coming home in two weeks. Please join me in praying for him and all of the people he will be traveling with. I know Josh's family is beside themselves with excitement.

To everyone that sent Josh some baked love, Thank You!

Recipes From Susan

I can't even tell you how excited I am that team members are starting to email me pictures and recipes. Of course, it is not required but boy is it fun!! We all have so many different things to bring to the table.
For your baking pleasure:

Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk
1 C Butter, softened
1 C firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 C granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 C all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 C Oatmeal
1 bag (11.5 oz) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunks
1 C taosted pecans, optional

Preheat Oven to 350
1) Bat Butter and Sugars until creamy
2) Add eggs and vanilla, beating well
3) Lightly spoon flour into a measuring cup, level off with a knife
4)Combine flour, baking soda, salt in a bowl. Stir to combine
5) Add oats to flour mixture. Stir again
6) Add flour/oat mixture to the butter mixture, mix well
7) Gently stire in chocolate chunks (and pecans)
8)Drop by rounded tablespoon onto baking sheets lines with parchment paper
9) Bake 10 minutes, cool on pan 2 minutes then remove to cooling rack


Ginger Cookies
4 3/4 C Flour
3 Sticks Usalted Btter, at room temperature
2 Tbsp Baking soda
1 3/4 C Sugar
3/4 tsp Salt
2 large Eggs
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 C Molasses
2 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Vanilla
1 1/2 tsp Ground Ginger

1) Combine dry ingredients and set aside
2) Beat butter and sugar in a mixer and beat on low, increasing to high about 2 minutes until fluffy
3) add eggs, one at a time
4) add Vanilla and stir until combined
5) Mix in Molasses
6)Slowly add in dry ingredients mixture
7) Divide dough into approx 6 pieces
8) Roll into  1 1/2 in logs, wrap in wax paper and refrigerate 1-2 hrs until firm
9) Preheat Oven to 350
10)Unwrap, slice logs into 3/8" thick slices
11)Place on ungreased cookie sheet and sprinkle with sugar
12) Bake 10-12 min

Pictures from Stefanie

I L-O-V-E getting pictures from team members! That's what this blog is all about! Stefanie emailed this to me this morning. The cookies look incredible! I don't know about you but these were some of the thoughts that went through my head when I saw it:
1) My address is...
2) I seriously need to work on ym "flooding" skills
3) I'm drooling, good thing I'm home alone
4) Those are some lucky guys inAfghanistan
5) My address is...
6) How in the world to people make the picture collages on their blogs?!?!
7) I'm still drooling, I have a problem
8) My address is...

Thank You Stefanie! I am so happy you sent this to me and that you're on the team again!

Check out Stefanie's Blog. It's really cute!

And on a side note... I really love the friends I have made through Baking GALS! What a blessing all of you are!

A Giveaway!!

Hello fellow bakers! A friend of mine has a Giveaway Blog and I thought I would share this particular giveaway with all of you. The prize includes a scented eye pillow and a chocolate scented candle. A little bit of  heaven, if you ask me! All of us Baking GALS do so much for others. Take a moment to follow the link and enter win this giveaway. You only have until February 4th so you better hurry it up!

P.S. It is almost baking time!!!

Coming Home!

To everyone that has baked for Team Fire and Icing during Matt's deployment, thank you. From Matt, his family and myself... Thank You , Thank You, Thank You.

You all made a huge difference in the lives of MALS 16 during their stay in Afghanistan. You brought light to the darkness and joy when it felt like there was none.

I am happy to say that Matt is coming home!!!! They should be home around the last week or so in Februray.

The shipping dates for the next round are later than what they would need to be for us to send them packages so they will not be recipients this round. Please continue to remember them in your prayers while they are getting ready to come home.

Round 27 info!

YEAH!!!! It is finally time to start baking again! Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. It always amazes me how quickly it goes by.

Here's the info for our next round:
Teams Open: January 22
Shipping Starts: February 1
Shipping Ends; February 12

I would love to start posting recipes from team members on here so please email me some of your favorite cookie/bar/goodies recipes! jcskiddo@hotmail.com

Also send me pictures of you and your friends/family baking!!

I will be hosting 2 teams again this round. "Fire and Icing" and "Baking Blessings".I am excited about blessing these two guys with boxes and boxes of good stuff.

Welcome Back everyone!

Pictures From Cheryl

One of the team members emailed me some pictures of the goodies she made. My mouth is watering...

 And my personal favorite:

Round 26: Final Stats

First of all, I am a slacker. I apologize for that. I've been meaning to writing about "Operation Christmas Blessing" on this blog but time has just gotten away from me. Somehow I managed to write it on my personal blog but not the Baking Gals blog. I think I got my wires crossed. Oh well.

Here's the blog about Operation Christmas Blessing.  I hope you enjoy reading it and looking at the pictures. I had a good time writing it.

So do you want to know just how many boxes we sent between the 2 teams?

Between "Team Fire and Icing" and "Team Baking Blessings" we had 32 team members. Of those 32 team members I've heard from 23 people. Are you ready for the grand total?

I am.

Are you?

Are you sure?

Have you been good this year? Oh wait, that's Santa's gig.

ok ok I will tell you.

maybe.

OK for realsies...

Drum Roll Please.....................................

47!!!!!!

I am shocked and blessed and overwhelmed by your generosity. I hope you realize what kind of impact we have just made on the lives of those we sent boxes to. 

Take a moment to imagine being in a desert, away from your family and friends. Freezing cold temps. Thanksgiving has passed, Christmas is coming. Probably no Christmas Lights. No tree. No (or very little) Christmas music. Then you get a box in the mail. A box from a total stranger. They have sent christmas cookies, much needed toiletries, hot chocolate, apple cider packets, hand warmers and kind notes, among other things. Can you imagine how you would feel? Humbled, blessed, joy and thanksgiving. Take a moment and think about how you would feel and multiply it by atleast 2 or 3. That is probably what they are feeling.

Thank you , from the bottom of me heart, for taking the time during this busy season to be part of such an amazing organization! Hope to see you all in the next round!

It has begun!

Round 26 Shipping has started!! Some of you over-achievers have already shipped your boxes. Wow! I am impressed. I am putting together stockings on sunday night and (hopefully) shipping my boxes out bright and early monday morning. I am soe xcited about the Christmas round. I think we will be making a huge difference in the lives of Matt, Josh and all of their co-workers.

Thank you so much for being part of Teams "Fire and Icing"  and "Baking Blessings!"

Hopefully some of your will email me pictures of you, your baking friends and all of the goodies being sent. I would love to post some on here.

Thank You Notes

Matt wrote thank you notes to everyone he recieved boxes from for the last 2 rounds. It sounds like everyone is starting to get the notes in the mail. I am excited to hear the reactions of our team members. No one involved with Baking Gals really expects to hear back from the people we send to but it is nice when we do.

If any of the team members read this and have gotten a note back from anyone we have sent to, please leave a comment and let the rest of us know! It is always fun to hear your reactions.

Meet Josh!

Here are a couple pictures of Josh that I ummmm borrowed from his sister's facebook :)

Josh and his sister, Amy:

Josh and his other sister (and my good friend) Angie:

Doesn't he just look like the nicest guy?

The Spirit of Giving

Each round I am continually amazed by the generosity of everyone involved. I've received many emails, from people on both teams, telling me about everything they have/will send. It is just blows my mind.

Eventually Matt will be my brother in law so basically, he is my family. Josh's sister, Angie, is a good friend of mine that is more like family than a friend. Therefore Josh is family by association. Follow me? I hope so ;)

I want to thank all of the members (past and present) for taking care of my family. I know the men/women that are deployed appreciate it far more than words can say but don't forget that those of us that have loved ones over there also appreciate your generosity. It is comforting to know many other people, from all over the United States, are doing everything they can to take care of our family. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

Ok.. Now I am getting all mushy. I need a tissue.

Cookie Ideas

Each round I try to find a new cookie recipe to try out. I myself am a good ole fashioned chocolate chip cookie lover. And avid cookie chocolate chip cookie dough eater. Now, before you get on my case about salmonella and all of the nasty things associated with such an illness, I want to assure you I do not eat bucket loads of raw dough. We are talking about is the smallest of small itty-bitty tasting of the dough. I am just as scared of salmonella as you are so I resist the urge to plunge my face into the bowl of raw dough and eat up.
What I cannot resist? The fresh from the oven, piping hot, barely removed from the cookie sheet and put onto the cooling rack perfect chocolate chip cookie. But that addiction is a whole other story for another day and another blog.

This round I am going to try out two recipes I found on the Pioneer Woman blog. Have you ever heard of her? If not, take some time to check out her blog. It is amazing. Life changing really..
Just a warning: Your baking time may seriously reduced due to being sucked in by the Pioneer Woman's antics. I could spend days reading her stuff!
Here are the links to the two recipes I found on her site:
Everything Cookies
Monster Cookies

Even now, I got side tracked by looking at even more recipes on her blog. SO many good treats on there!!! Take the time to look through her dessert recipes. Lots of stuff!

Once you're done baking for our troops, give this recipe a try. It is to die for. Absolutely unbelievable! You deserve a little reward for all of your hard work!

Round 26: CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

Here we are folks! The Christmas round. I love this round. I love Christmas and the spirit of giving. There's something extra special about blessing someone at Christmas, isn't there? Imagine being thousands of miles away from your spouse, kids, parents, friends, and extended family. I think I would shrivel up and die. Honestly. My family is everything to me.

I've always loved to bake so when I heard about Operation Baking GALS I was all in. What a great way to combine my love for baking and my love for giving. I'm not sure how many rounds I have baked for but I never tire of it. It is just as fun each time. I'm not sure who it blesses more: me or the recipient.

I am excited to be hosting 2 teams this round.
1)Team Fire & Icing. Reciepent is my boyfriends brother, Matt. We've already sent him packages the last 2 rounds. They are having fun with it for sure. Matt was in Iraq when I first started dating his brother so I didn't meet him right away. Shortly after his return we found out he would be deployed to Afghanistan in 2010. Now here we are. I've emailed Matt back and forth and he is definitely missing home right now. I hope we can make this round extra special for him and his unit.

2) Team Baking Blessings. Recipient is the brother of someone I met in college. I believe this is Josh's first deployment. He is a christian and has a huge loving heart. This shouldn't surprise me because his sister and my friend from college, Angie, is one of the sweetest people I know. Their family is close-knit and I know he will really be missing home this holiday season.

I am encouraging everyone on my teams to make/write our christmas cards to each of the recipent. I am also hoping they will get their friends and family involved by having them write out some cards too.  I've started Operation Christmas Blessing through my other blog. I have high hopes for this round!

Matt's Promotion

Recently Matt was promoted from Corporal to Sargeant. We are all so proud of him! I'm sure they still had some cookies and goodies around to celebrate!

Here are a few pictures from his promotion. A couple of them are just of him thanking people for coming. The other is a friend of his that he's known since his training in Pensecola. She's also married to another friend of Matt's that he has deployed with.

She was smart enough to snap some pictures!

Round 25! Baking for Matt

Well its been a while since I wrote anything on the team blog! I took a break from hosting a team but good news:

I'm baaaaaaaaaccccccckkkkk!

My boyfriend's brother, Matt, was just deployed to Afghanistan in mid august so guess who is the recipient for the next few rounds? ;). Don't worry, I save a few of the cookies for the boyfriend. He still gets some of the cookie love. Matt and his unit are pretty excited about the packages they have been getting. Matt says they all appreciate more than we will ever know.

Every time I get an email from one of my team members, I am blown away with the generosity people have in their hearts. First of all, some of these ladies are packing machines! They list everything they have put in a box and I wonder to myself "how in the world did they fit all of that into one box?!" simply incredible!

Thank you Team Fire & Icing for showing Matt's unit so much love! You are all amazing!

Coming Home!

Just wanted to update everyone that Crystal and the 335th Fighter Squadron "Mighty Chiefs" are heading home soon. They will be leaving Afghanistan on January 3rd. Crystal asked that I pass along a big "thank you" from the entire squadron for the goodies and everything that was sent! They were much appreciated.Please pray for safe travels for all of them. I will coordinating with the squadron taking their place and we will possibly start sending goodies to the 494th squadron "Panthers". Thank you everyone for sending the boxes full of items!

Round 15 Info

It is coming up fast folks! Here's the Round 15 info!

Sign up for Teams: Nov 23 thru Nov 29
Addresses Mailed to team members: Nov 30
Shipping Dates: Dec 1-16th

If you want your package to get there by Dec 25th, you MUST have it in the mail no later than Dec 11th!
Please do not feel obligated to get them in the mail by the 11th. They will be more than happy to receive packages after christmas too!

It's Christmas package time!!! Let's bless the socks off of Robert and Crystal and everyone they work with.

Thanks again to everyone that joined Fire and Icing for Round 14 :o).