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!