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.