Cookies for Kyle

It snowed today! Our first snow of the winter season. Fun to look at, not so much to drive in. But I was driving in it because my friend Lauren invited people over to bake cookies for deployed military men and women. Lauren read about the organization, Baking GALS, through Taste of Home magazine and you can read the article here. GALS stands for Give a Little Support and the goal is to send a taste of home to soldiers who are far away from home. Each soldier is "hosted" by a blogger and potential bakers are "recruited" from the blogger's own site and from the Baking GALS website. Each host recruits up to 20 bakers, meaning Lauren and I were not the only bakers making tons of cookies for our military man, Kyle. Kyle is going to be bombarded with delicious cookies! Woo hoo!


As you can see, Lauren and I had a good time making chocolate chip cookies, chocolate chip walnut cookies, oatmeal cookies, and chocolate chip/white chocolate chip/cranberry cookies. (And don't we look cute in our aprons? Mine is brand new - a Christmas present from Mom and Dad!)


If baking is your thing, check out the Baking GALS website! If you know someone in the military, you can even submit their name and have people send them cookies! If you don't like to bake, but you still want to do something nice for our troops, check out Operation Write Home (formerly Cards for Heroes). The aim of this organization is to provide deployed troops with homemade cards that the troops can use to write letters home. You can make birthday cards, thank you cards, holiday cards, general cards - whatever theme you want. (Your talent level doesn't have to be on par with Hallmark, fyi.) Check out the website for mailing locations, card deadline dates, and general guidelines (for example, don't use glitter on the cards - it can make the troops stand out at night). I've been meaning to host a card-making party but haven't gotten around to it! Lauren's baking party definitely got me thinking about making cards for the troops again, and I'm making it a priority in 2010!

Know of any other organizations that support the troops in crafty and delicious ways? Send me your cookie recipes so that I can pass them on to Lauren for her next baking party! I really want to try these vampire cookies - wonder how well they would ship.

Have a great (and possibly snowy) weekend and stay crafty!