November 1 ~ Food drives beginning

Photo courtesy of Bart Baldwin @ Still Image Productions

 

Help fill up the shelves of your local food bank!

I just read on Facebook the some friends of mine at Still Image Productions have been selected to photograph behind the scenes on an upcoming Extreme Makeover: Home Edition that will be filmed in Savannah Georgia. In conjunction with the filming, there will be a food drive for the Savannah Food Bank. Just the other day I noticed a large box in the lobby of my office building to collect food for our local food bank, Harvest Hope. This is the time of year that food drives begin to help needy families enjoy holiday meals. So, while you're out doing your weekly shopping please pick up an extra can of string beans, or an extra box of cake mix...all donations to your own local food bank are needed and greatly appreciated.

Cookies ~ September 23

Now is a good time to start testing out some new cookie recipes.  The last thing you want is to wait until Christmas baking time to find out you really don't like a recipe.  I have some good traditional recipes that I know I'll be using and I will share them with you as we progress, but for today I'd like to give you one that I found.  I haven't made these yet either so we can experiment together.  I purposely chose this recipe because it uses sugar coated corn flakes.  Why?  Well, my Grandchildren in NJ are the NJ State Champions for the Children's Miracle Network this year.  They have already had some wonderful adventures this year, including meeting the President in Washington, DC.  But, I'm sure that story will come up again some time in the future.  For right now, Food Lion (a grocery store here in the south) is selling special boxes of Frosted Flakes that feature four other CMN Champions from around the country.  Food Lion is donating $1.00 for every 4 boxes sold...so of course I had to buy a few boxes.  The promotion runs through the 28th if you'd like to help support Children's Hospitals.  This recipe doesn't specify Kellogg's Frosted Flakes, but why not use the best!

Tiger Cookies

• 3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups sugar-frosted corn flakes, crushed
• 1 (6 oz) package semisweet chocolate morsels

Cream butter in a large mixing bowl; gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, beating well. Stir in vanilla.

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt; add to creamed mixture, mixing well.  Stir in crushed cereal.

Melt chocolate in top of a double boiler over simmering water.  Swirl melted chocolate lightly through dough, leaving streaks of chocolate.

Drop dough by heaping teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake at 375 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.  Remove to wire racks to cool.  Yields about 5 dozen.