Thank You From Soldiers in Rounds 4 & 5

I received this fabulous thank-you card from one of my Baking Gals team's Round 4 soldiers - Deb Davis - who is serving at a M*A*S*H type unit in Qatar. Check it out!

Team Your Place Gourmet has also received a big THANK YOU email from one of our Round 5 soldiers - Alan Scobel - who is also serving in Qatar.

Kim
Hello! Just wanted to thank you for all the goodies! It was pretty nice, especially being around the holidays. Of course I couldn't eat all of it, so usually I'd just leave a box around our shop (which has about 30 people in it), and within a day or two it was all eaten. All of the cookies & snacks were great! The shop really appreciated it. To all who attempted to make the no-bakes, they were awesome. Tasted like they should have! haha. I'm out of here & going back stateside sometime this month (hopefully the earlier part), so I just wanted to thank you for setting this up, and my shop thanks you as well! I tried to e-mail all who sent packages, if they left an e-mail addy, but most did not. If you could thank them for me I'd appreciate it. Thanks again!
Alan Scobel

To read more about these brave soldiers, check out my previous blog entries.

Operation Baking Gals - Round 5 Has Shipped!

Well, here are a couple of the packages being sent out for Round 5. Each round, I include something in addition to the homemade cookies. This round, it was beef jerky and sunflower seeds. The cookie varieties for this round included requests by the soldiers for: No-Bake Cookies, Oatmeal Raisin, Peanut Butter, and Rice Krispies Treats.

I packaged the cookies in the personal chef meal packaging that I use for my clients. Once packaged in the lidded, plastic containers, I vacuum sealed the containers with my FoodSaver.

My soldier from Round 3 is safely back in the States from Afghanistan. Nick said the guys would get excited whenever they'd see a bunch of boxes being delivered. He also gave me some feedback on the cookies/packaging that worked the best and worst. Nick noted that cookies packaged in plastic containers (gladware, rubbermaid), those that were vacuum packaged, and those containing apple peels or bread, arrived the best and freshest. He said the worst were those packaged in recycled food containers (Pringles cans).

I want to thank the bakers on both of my teams for the time, effort, and resources you have donated to boost the morale of these soldiers. I know how busy everyone is around the holidays. You are appreciated more than you know. Merry Christmas!

Operation Baking Gals - Round 5 - The Holiday Round

Your Place Gourmet is again hosting two Operation Baking Gals teams for Round 5. This round is really special since the packages will arrive around Christmas and New Year's Day. Since Operation Baking Gals is designed so that the featured soldier shares all the goodies with his/her fellow soldiers, it helps to get goodies into the hands of soldiers who may never receive letters or packages from home.

Our soldiers for Round 5 are Alan Scobel, deployed to Qatar, and Kathy Miller, deployed to Iraq. Alan is based out of Maryland and Kathy from Phoenix.

Below is a little info about both soldiers as well as some pics. To join one of my baking teams to send holiday goodies to these brave soldiers who are far from home, protecting our freedoms, please go to the Baking Gals website . There, you can register, and then join a team - it is a two-step process. For my past bakers, you should already be registered so all you have to do is sign in and join a team or two! The shipping window for Round 5 will be December 5th - December 19th, so get signed up NOW!

Alan Scobel is a Senior Airman stationed at Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, Qatar. He is in the 379th Expedititionary Civil Engineer Squadron and is an HVAC Technician, which is heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration, there are about 150 soldiers in his squadron, which also includes carpenters and plumbers as well. Alan deployed to Qatar on August 1st and will be there till late January or early February, than he will return to his home base, which is Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland and is part of the Air Force District Of Washington Command. He works the night shift and and for the bakers, the temperature can get to 85 in November. He was asking about no bake cookies and oatmeal raisin.

Kathy Miller is also a flight nurse here in Phoenix and, when not deployed, works for the same company as Deb Davis. Here is some info from Kathy: "I miss everyone back in Phoenix, but really love what I am doing here as well. Deb is about 3-4 hours away by plane. We landed in Qatar, dropped Deb off, then flew on to Iraq. Qatar is a small country that comes off of Saudi Arabia and sticks out into the Persian Gulf. We are in the middle of Iraq north of Bagdad. Would love to receive some cookies for my troop. We have 5 providers, 6 nurses, and 13 med techs. The people I have asked said either chocolate chip, white chocolate macadamia, oatmeal raisin, or chocolate chip with walnut. Whatever you guys want to bake would be great though. The food here isn't that good and anything from home is a big treat!!"

Again, to join one of my baking teams to send holiday goodies to these brave soldiers who are far from home, protecting our freedoms, please go to the Baking Gals website . If you have difficulty with the site, please send me an email to chefkim(at)yourplacegourmet(dot)com with "I want to bake" in the subject line.

Operation Baking Gals - Round 4 Has Shipped!

Round 4 is Done! A huge thanks to all the bakers on my TWO teams this round. Here is a few pic from one of them who also got their local library to donate books and movies. Looking forward to Round 5 - Get your favorite holiday cookie recipes out to share them with our brave men and women serving overseas.

Round 5 will be our holiday round, with our shipping window falling early to mid-December for delivery around Christmas. I'll be posting again shortly with the info on joining an Operation Baking Gals team for Round 5. Stay tuned!

NEW EASIER WAY TO JOIN AN OPERATION BAKING GALS TEAM!

Go to www.BakingGals.com where you can register, check out all the teams, and then join a team. Registering does NOT commit you to baking, you must JOIN a team if you'd like to participate.

Once you register, you will receive an email from the moderator to notify you of your registration. After that, please go back to www.BakingGals.com to join a team!

Operation Baking Gals - Round 4

October brings Round 4 of Operation Baking Gals and Your Place Gourmet is hosting another team. This team will be shipping to two soldiers, one in Iraq and one in Qatar.

Here is some info on each of them:

Our soldier in Iraq is Crystal Sheffield. Crystal is a Weapons Director assigned to the 607th Air Control Squadron. She is in Iraq, serving with another unit, because that unit did not have enough soldiers. The unit Crystal is serving with will be in Iraq through the holidays. Crystal is based out of Luke Air Force Base and is married to a fellow soldier.

Our soldier in Qatar is Debbie Davis. Debbie is a nurse, working with many of our wounded warriors who would absolutely love to receive baked goodies - not to mention all the medical personnel who would love the goodies as well. Debbie has been in the military for 17 years, with the first 8 being active duty and the last 9 in the Air Force Reserve. This is her third deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. In her first two deployments, she worked as a critical care air transport nurse and transported the most critically injured soldiers by fixed wing aircraft. In this third deployment, she is working at a medical squadron at Al Udied Air Base, Qatar. She says, "I can't tell you how fulfilling it is to be able to help men and women who are fighting for our country. They are truly the best of the best."

All these soldiers are a long way from home and family. Knowing there are people who support their hard and sacrifice makes the deployments tolerable.

If you'd like to join Team Your Place Gourmet, please register on this site and email me with your username at ChefKim(at)YourPlaceGourmet(dot)com with "I want to be on your baking team," in the subject line. Once you are registered, you will receive an email from the site moderator. After receiving that email, please come back to the site to join a team.
Feel free to forward the information to your family and friends who may want to bake.

This is how it works: Ship anytime between October 30th - November 10th and use the USPS (Post Office) to ship your package. What can you bake? That's up to you! Just keep in mind that it will take about one week to get to Crystal and Debbie and will be subjected to temperatures over 100 degrees and lots of jostling around along the way.

Just because you baked in previous rounds does not automatically put you on a team. You MUST register for each round in which you want to participate.

*NEW EASIER WAY TO JOIN A BAKING TEAM* Go to www.BakingGals.com where you can register, check out all the teams, and then join a team. Registering does NOT commit you to baking, you must JOIN a team if you'd like to participate.

If you or any of your baking friends want to join my team, please post a quick comment here and email me at chefkim (AT) yourplacegourmet (DOT) com and I'll send you more info and either Crystal's or Debbie's address.

The USPS has special APO/FPO flat-rate Priority Mail boxes. You can fill this box and mail it for only $10.95 ($10.50 for click-n-ship), regardless of how much it weighs. These boxes are available at your local post office and are free of charge.

Thank you for participating!
-Kim
Your Place Gourmet - Personal Chef Service

Operation Baking Gals - Round 3 Photos!

Here are some of the favorite pictures sent by members of Team Your Place Gourmet during Round 3 of Operation Baking Gals!

Hey, Team - Thanks For All Your Hard Work!

As we are about to wrap up the official shipping week for Round 3 of Operation Baking Gals, I want to say thank you! Thank you to all the bakers on my team and all the other teams. Thank you to the non-bakers on my team who shopped for and sent other goodies and necessities. Thank you, everyone!

In about a week or so, our soldier and his company should start to receive packages. Can you imagine being deployed thousands of miles away and suddenly being bombarded by 30-60 care packages from home? I wish I could be there when these guys open the packages and get a whiff of the sweet smells of home; cinnamon, ginger, chocolate, and more.

We received some great photos from team members of themselves, their families, the packages they sent, and even a four-year-old team member, hard at work coloring a special picture to include in a care package. The plan is to have all the photos burned to disk and mailed to the guys who received the packages.

The outpouring of support has been overwhelming and I encourage everyone to participate in future rounds. Just this little effort on our part has brought a huge morale boost to so many who are far from home, protecting our freedoms. Don't forget to check out the Operation Baking Gals Blog to see the teams of past rounds and to get information on future rounds. To participate in future rounds, please contact BakingGals(at)Gmail(dot)com. Remember, the next couple of rounds will be during the holiday season.

See ya for Round 4!

Operation Baking Gals - Team Your Place Gourmet Round 3

September brings round 3 of Operation Baking Gals and I am hosting a team of my own. Team Your Place Gourmet's soldier is my friend Robyn's son, Nick. Nick is a 20 year old LCpl in the Marine Corps, deployed to Afghanistan. He is an infantryman in 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment serving at Forward Operating Base Bala Baluk in Western Afghanistan. Nick and his unit deployed to Afghanistan on April 7, 2008 and will remain there through the month of November. They are headquartered at Marine Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California.

This is how it works: Ship anytime the week of September 27th - October 6th and use the USPS for your package that will be going to a camp in Afghanistan. What can you bake? That's up to you! Just keep in mind that it will take about one week to get to Nick and will be subjected to temperatures over 100 degrees and lots of jostling around along the way.

If you or any of your baking friends want to join my team, please post a quick comment here and email me at chefkim (AT) yourplacegourmet (DOT) com and I'll send you more info and Nick's address.

The USPS has special APO/FPO flat-rate Priority Mail boxes. You can fill this box and mail it for only $10.95 ($10.50 for click-n-ship), regardless of how much it weighs. These boxes are available at your local post office and are free of charge.

Thank you for participating!
-Kim
Your Place Gourmet - Personal Chef Service

Here's Team Your Place Gourmet so far:
Jen Barber of Goodyear, AZ
Brent Evans of Charlotte, NC & Personal Chefs Network
Brenda Bernardi of Goodyear, AZ
Rosa Santiago de Boyd of Goodyear, AZ
Rose Carameli of Lorain, OH
Marianne Qoyawayma of Scottsdale, AZ
Amanda Jagla-Onstott of Hercules, CA
Michelle Roles of Avondale, AZ & Michelle Roles Photography
Jennifer Wolfe of Surprise, AZ
Debbie Burgess of Lancaster, SC & The Hungry Fox PCS
Mike & Robyn Harris of Avondale, AZ
Amy Menousek of Goodyear, AZ
Linnea Cummings of Anchorage, AK & Alaska Dinner Factory
Anne Hanson of Goodyear, AZ
Traci Grisham of Litchfield Park, AZ
Heather of Brooklyn, NY & Sherry Trifle
Cat of The Cat's Pajamas
Anna of Mediocre Chocolate
Amanda Petker of Clermont, FL & The Waterside Novice Baker
Rachel Feinberg of New York, NY & Sweet Tarte
Jennifer Herman of Waddell, AZ
Kimberly Jones of Goodyear, AZ
Ginger Harmon of Goodyear, AZ
Charlene Onstott of Phoenix, AZ
Willa Epperson of Surprise, AZ
Lisa Lanza of Southington, CT

Our team is full! Don't let that stop you! Please send an email to bakinggals@gmail.com and put "Any Soldier" in the subject line.
Check out the article in the AZ Republic!

Operation Baking Gals - Round 2

Last month, my friend Debbie turned me on to Operation Baking Gals (gals = give a little support), where teams of bakers send soldiers baked goodies from home. In August, I joined Team Hungry Fox and sent baked goods to Debbie's soldier; her son-in-law Daryl. Daryl celebrated a birthday during round 2, so we also tucked birthday cards and other surprises into the packages sent to him. Daryl shared the goodies with the 22 airmen he works with. He is deployed to Iraq.

To check out the stories and teams from previous rounds, check out the Operation Baking Gals blog, and see how it all began. You can also find helpful hints on what to bake and how to package your goodies. Photos of Nick, our soldier for Round 3, will be posted there shortly, as well as the growing membership list of Team Your Place Gourmet.

Here is the recipe for the cookies I sent to Daryl in Iraq.

Armadillo Droppings

1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup margarine, room temperature
1-1/2 cups peanut butter
4-1/2 cups rolled oats
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
2 teaspoons baking soda
1-1/2 cups butterscotch chips
1/2 cup sliced almonds, or nuts of choice


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together oats and baking soda; set aside.

Mix sugars, margarine, and peanut butter until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add oat mixture and stir well (dough will be stiff). Add butterscotch chips and nuts.

Roll about 1 tablespoon of dough into a ball and flatten slightly onto a greased baking sheet. Bake about 12 minutes.

Makes about 7 dozen.

Operation Baking Gals - Sweets To Our Soldiers

Earlier this week, a friend of mine turned me on to the Operation Baking Gals organization and blog. Operation Baking Gals recruits volunteers to bake and send goodies to service persons overseas that they can share. What a fabulous idea!
The second round of Operation Baking Gals will be having their mass mailing the week of August 23-30. I have joined Team Hungry Fox for this round and will be sending my goodies to Daryl, who is in Iraq. Next round, I plan to host my own team. Stay tuned and I'll be posting the info to show how you can join my team! To join a team for the current round, head on over to Operation Baking Gals and enlist!

All this baking talk has me craving Snickerdoodles. Snickerdoodles were my favorite cookie growning up. None of my friends had ever heard of them, so I thought my mom was the only one on Earth who made them. When I was dating my husband, one of our conversations turned to cookies and he mentioned snickerdoodles. I was amazed! He was the first person I'd ever met, outside my family, who knew what snickerdoodles were. I believe that was the moment I knew I would marry him.

Snickerdoodles
About 2 dozen cookies

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Coating
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

In large bowl, cream butter and sugars on high speed until creamy.
Add egg and vanilla; beat until smooth.
In separate bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar.
Pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients and mix well.
Refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes.
While dough is chilling, preheat oven to 300 degrees and combine coating ingredients in small bowl.
Form dough into walnut-sized balls.
Roll dough balls in coating mixture and set 1" apart on parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes or until crackly, yet still very soft.
Cookies will look underdone, but will set up while cooling. DO NOT OVERBAKE.