Toys for Tots! 750 Toys!

Not long ago our Sunday School Superintendent, Tanya, had a grand idea of raising money for

Toys for Tots. 

Actually, she shared with our congregation the fact that she had been one of those kids who benefited from that program when she was a child. I think that meant a lot to everyone.

So, the plan was put into place.

First, we had a fundraiser. She asked the kids (and their families) to start by getting cookie jars and then filling them up with homemade cookies. After church that week-end, we held an auction. Each kid stood up when their cookies were to be auctioned off, sometimes talking a bit about their cookies. It was not the kind of auction where you try to get a good deal. It was a fundraiser, after all.

Mike doesn't really "do" auctions so it was up to me to do the bidding. It was pretty fun. Toward the end, though, I was bidding on some cookies. Sometimes I bid just to get it going. I'd set our limit before the auction so I knew my limit was $80 for that batch. I thought I was in good shape until some guy across the room started bidding. It was Mike! People thought it was pretty funny so we kept it up a bit, bidding against each other. I did go a bit over budget but it was worth it.

ANYWAY, our smallish Sunday School raised over $5,000 with those cookies!

Part two of the plan happened yesterday morning. Tanya had arranged for the kids and their parents to come on a grand shopping spree at KMart. Since Toys for Tots is a Marine program, there were a couple of Marines there in uniform to assist. I thought that made it even more exciting for the kids.

Cordy gave a salute to one of them. It was adorable! It looked more like she was checking her temperature, but it was very cute.

I couldn't imagine how this was all going to work. Luckily, I wasn't in charge. Tanya had it all worked out. Each child got a shopping basket and 30 minutes to spend $230 on toys! Yep, $230 EACH! I carried Elise while Maria and Eric helped Cordelia. She took her job quite seriously and thoughtfully, as did all the kids. There was a lot of JOY at our KMart today!

Cordelia was allowed to check out first. She put her share of the toys up on the counter herself.

Then posed for me, along with her family.

This sweet girl is one of the students in our high school class. She was so patient and won the honor of being last in line. I bet she waited 45 minutes to an hour!

When all was said and done, those kids had purchased more than 750 toys!

Yes, 750 toys!

Can you imagine?

The kids all had such fun and I am certain

they were proud to be a part of something

so special.

Great job, Tanya!

Cookie Update

Just a quick check-in to tell you I had to try the Hugs with Pretzels.  If you don't know what I am talking about, check here.

They were SOOOOOOOO delicious! They were also beautiful.

I think you would like them!

Sweet and Salty

Don't you just love sweet and salty as a food combination? It is such a perfect marriage of tastes. Mike knows that if I eat something very sweet, I'm likely to need some potato chips to go with it. That's why some cookie recipes that I saw on Pinterest practically shouted out my name! I had to have them!

I didn't exactly use the recipes as written. If you know me, you know that is no surprise. I can tackle a recipe with only two ingredients, such as these, and still manage to change them up a bit. This time was no different.

The first recipe called for Ritz Crackers and full size Rolos. I found mini Rolos and found them to be perfect. They were NOT individually wrapped, which saved a lot of time.

The second recipe called for pretzels and Hershey Hugs. I saw the Hershey Kisses with Amonds as well as the Hershey Kisses with Caramel but no Hugs... no worries....improvise is my middle name! (Not really. My middle name is Ann.)

I preheated the oven to 250 degrees. I didn't bother going back to Pinterest to see what heat was recommended. I probably would have done my own thing anyway. So, first, I started with the pretzels. I added the Kisses with Almonds on some and the Kisses with Caramel on others. I know it sounds kind of whiny but I will admit that unwrapping all those little Kisses got to be a bit tedious.

But I finally got the job done.

I popped the cookie sheet into the oven for only about 4 minutes. Trust me, you don't want to let it melt all the way or you'll have a big mess. Even I knew that. I just wanted the Kisses to get soft enough so that I could moosh the lid on successfully.  When they look shiny and limp, they are just right to top.

I found that the ones with almonds didn't look as pretty because the bulky almond kind of got in the way.

 It turns out that almonds don't melt or moosh. 

They tasted great, though!

The ones with the caramel Kisses were perfect. I bet you wish you could eat one of these right now, don't you?

Next, I turned to the Ritz Crackers. Because I'd found the bag of Rolos that weren't individually wrapped, these were super simple. I decided it was important to be sure that the salty side of each cracker be on the outside of the sandwiched cookie. It only makes sense, really, for your mouth to better experience the salt.

I think I melted these maybe only 3 minutes.

As you see, they were just barely melting when I took them out. I topped them with a second cracker, just giving a little twist as I added the "lid" in order to smear the little Rolo all around the cracker.  Yummmm!

Then, I couldn't stop! 

I tried some with Rolos on the Pretzels.

They were my favorite combo for ease and taste.

You just couldn't make a better little treat!

They were pretty messy, though.

I found that letting them cool and then putting the whole pan in the fridge for a bit was the best way to handle them, taking them off the pan after the chocolate and caramel kind of hardened again.

I then tried the Kisses on the Ritz Crackers. 

Also good and much neater. 

If you are making cookies to take somewhere (I was taking them to church) you might find my last combination to be the best. I used Ritz Crackers with the Rolos (easier) and topped with the pretzels (saltier). That was really good and looked kind of fancy.

There were no left-overs!

Next time, I hope I can find a bag of the Hugs, too,

as I think that will be pretty with the white oozing out.

Sweet and salty..... mmmmmmm good!