No Tricks Just Treats

Age:  Over 2
Type:  Baking/Donation

As part of our new holiday giving plan, a Halloween inspired service project was first on our list.  We decided to support the local Ronald McDonald house with a basket of goodies.  Our local Ronald McDonald house hosts 29 families at a time, most of whom have well children in addition to their hospitalized child.  For these siblings, Halloween this year will be very different, so we hoped to spread a little spooky fun with our trick or treat inspired gift basket.  Filled with pumpkin bread, suckers, craft supplies and coloring books, we had a blast assembling it and delivering it to some very appreciative families!

the baking love affair continues...

Imagine my excitement when browsing through a magazine I stumbled upon the fact that next week is National Baking Week!  So maybe not exactly a Hallmark holiday, but something that I think my little ones would love to observe nonetheless.  My love of baking has been blogged about many times including here and here, oh and over here as well, but I have found baking to be the perfect vehicle for my little hearts and I to do something for others.  So in honor of National Baking week,  here are just a few ideas to get you thinking about who would love your homemade confections!

• Take a loaf of bread to a new neighbor
• Send brownies to a new mom
• Make muffins for an elderly person
• Drop off cookies to your local fire department
• Deliver some unexpected goodies to your mail carrier

Once the flour settles send me your ideas of how you observed this special holiday :)

Serving those who serve us



Age:  Over 2
Type:  Baking

I have to admit I am kind of a baking junky.  To make matters worse, my middle daughter shares my affliction, so who am I to deny her darling pleas to 'make something with me momma'!  Luckily they also enjoy giving our baked creations away, because I never met a cookie I didn't like :)

Last week on the eve of St. Patrick's Day, the girls and I decided to whip up some awesome green mint cookies complete with Andie's mints on top.  For the kids St. Patrick's day is an excuse to wear green and go on leprechaun hunts, but for our local policeforce it is a very busy day I am sure as they try to keep us all safe.  So we decided to package up our green confections and deliver them to the local police station, complete with thank you cards.  It made the girl's day when the woman we delivered them to took the time to read each note they had worked so hard on! 

Here is where I would normally insert all the cute pictures of them baking and delivering cookies (complete with some funny poses outside the station).  Unfortunately some little hands got a hold of my camera and somehow deleted the pictures.  So you only get the little cartoon policeman - take my word for it, the other pics were darling!

So next time the urge to bake results in way more than you would ever want to eat, consider delivering some to your town's finest!

Drop In & Decorate

Age:  2 and up
Type:  Baking

As I read magazines I constantly find myself tearing out pages and filing them away as future projects for my little ones.  Recently I broke out the archives and stumbled upon this website, Drop in & Decorate.  The site is basically a one stop shop for setting up a cookie party where kids decorate and the finish projects are delivered to those who could use a little thank you or pick me up.  Baking is a perennial fav with my girls, but I love this site because it leaves nothing to the imagination and gives you great instructions on setting up a party and what type of organization to deliver the cookies to. 

I am thinking perfect for my next playgroup :)  What about you?  If you and your little hearts decide to drop in and decorate, send pics and I will happily post!

Salt Dough Cookie Ornaments

Age:  3 and up
Type:  Craft


A week before Christmas the girls and I set out to make salt cookie dough ornaments to adorn all the gifts for their grandparents.  I had seen this idea several times before, but this was our first attempt.  I have to say, that I enjoyed salt cookie dough way more than real cookies - much less nagging to stop eating the dough :)  The girls happily rolled out their dough below.

 After several LONG hours of baking and cooling, the ornaments were ready for decoration.  In retrospect I would advise doing the rolling/cutting one day, and the decorating the next.  Even I thought the cookies would never be ready - you can only imagine how the kiddos felt!

 We had just received a whole set of new paints for a birthday present several days earlier - so this was the perfect time to put them to good use.  The girls had a great time picking just the right ornament for their loved ones and carefully crafting it for them.  Definitely a successful project!

Baking up a storm

Type: baking, donation

Age: 2 and over

My daughters and I LOVE to bake! It seems every week we are whipping up a batch of cookies, brownies, muffins, bread - you name it! We love eating almost as much, but let's be honest, there's probably a limit on how many cookies one child (or mom!) should be eating. So it seemed like a great idea to find someone else who might benefit from our baking extravaganzas.


I was able to hook up with a local hospice group who was looking for just what we had - baked goods! Many of the hospice patients have lots of family and visitors coming and going, and they thought it would be nice to have some treats available for all those special people. With the help of one of our small groups at church, we enlisted parents and kids age 2 - 16 to help in the baking and decorating of 4 dozen different goodies. The beauty of this activity was that there was truly something for every skill level to participate in from rolling to frosting to adding sprinkles.

So whether a Sunday afternoon at home baking with the kids or an organized group effort, you're sure to find someone in your community who would benefit from some sweet treats!