Cookie to the Rescue!

Ready for a cookie adventure?

Yesterday was the first day of Vacation Bible School at our church. Since my son would be attending this year and has a peanut allergy, I decided to go ahead and bake some cookies for him to have during the nightly snack time.

I also knew there would be a newly married guy in the band, Tom, who is gluten free... so I thought I would throw a few cookies in a baggie for him to snack on, as well.

I whipped up a batch of Toasted Coconut Oatmeal Cookies and put 2 cookies in a baggie for my son and 3 in another baggie for Tom.

As the kids gathered in the sanctuary for the opening part, a mom approached me with a small baggie of cookies, explaining that her daughter was gluten free, and asked if I would make sure these got to her during snack time. Wanting to be proactive (meaning, being terribly afraid I would flake out and completely forget), I immediately brought the baggie of cookies over to one of the leaders in charge of the little girl's age group.

There. Taken care of.

Fast forward about 20 minutes. I was down in the dining room, photographing the game time with groups of kids. There was a plethora of yelling, cheering and screaming as the kids raced to and around a hazard cone with frisbees on the heads.

Suddenly, a man who also was volunteering as a helper at VBS quickly entered the room and announced he had just received news that lightning had struck his home and it was on fire. He grabbed his things, his wife and grandkids who had come to be part of VBS and left.

It hit me about 3 minutes later. His wife was the woman I gave the little girl's cookies to... and who probably still had them somewhere on her person as she sped to her lightning-struck house.

Oh, dear.

I raced around to key people - kitchen staff, other teachers - asking if anyone knew about the little girl's cookies.

Nothing.

Then it occurred to me... the cookies I had given to Tom! I ran back up to the sanctuary, quickly explained the situation to him and his wife and before I could even ask, Tom volunteered a cookie. What a guy!

I grabbed a cookie on a tissue and got down the snack room just as they were handing out cookies to the kids in the little girl's age group.

Whew!

Who knew a cookie could come to the rescue at Vacation Bible School?

PS - Tom declared this was, hands down, the best oatmeal cookie he had ever had. So now you understand the true sacrifice he made in giving up 1/3 of his cookie stash. Thank you, Tom!

Gluten Free Toasted Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

3/4 cup toasted coconut
1/2 + 1/8 cup ground gf rolled oats (or oat flour)
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1/8 cup gf all-purpose flour (I used King Arthur)
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp coconut extract
2 1/4 cups gf rolled oats (I used Bob's Red Mill)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a mixing bowl, cream together butter, sugar, egg and extracts until light and fluffy.

In another bowl, mix together dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients (except coconut and rolled oats) to wet mixture and beat until just combined.

Stir in coconut and oats.

Using a medium cookie scoop, drop on parchment paper-lined cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 13-14 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool on cookie sheet for a few minutes before moving to cooling rack to finish cooling.

Makes about 2 dozen large cookies.

It's All About Priorities

Summer is here.

You'll notice I didn't end that statement with an exclamation point, as one would do if saying this with some sort of joy or excitement.

No, I ended it with a plan ol' period... because the fact that summer is here is just an obvious observation... one, I should mention, that I am not thrilled about.

I loathe summer.

As a side note, I love the word "loathe"... it's so much better than "hate". Loathing consists of more of a burning hate... it says it all and then some.

Back to summer.....

My friends and family know that the arrival of summer also means the arrival of my hibernation period. I do not sunbathe... mostly because I do not enjoy being burnt to a crisp or uncomfortable sweaty.

Thus, I usually spend the summer working on home projects... reorganizing closets, rearranging and reorganizing the homeschool room... things like that.

This summer, however, has been slightly different. By slightly, I mean completely.

Yes, I have a plethora of projects I should be working on. But really, all I want to do is read. I have a stack of books lined up that I have been meaning to read all year and just haven't gotten to... so all I aspire to do is sit and read.

One does not cross things off one's To Do List whilst sitting on one's tushy, reading.

It's rather easy to get caught up in a good book. Fortunately, my daughter is exactly the same way. So the other day, it was quite the normal afternoon... with the two of us couched out in the living room, reading. My 4-year-old son was happily entertaining himself with some Legos.

Have you ever noticed how time slips by much faster when you are caught up in a good book? Frankly, I think it's an insult to an author to stop reading at the climax of the story just because, say, it's time to make dinner. Consider this... the author poured him or herself into this story, spending countless hours getting the facts straight and the plot perfect. Who am I to put that book down at its peak just because I have a family to feed?

It is at times like these, friends, when you need to have a plan. A dinner-on-the-table-in-30-minutes plan.

I've got one for you.

With this recipe, you can make hot sticky rice, steamed broccoli and the main dish in 30 minutes. I kid you not.

It's summer. It's time to pick up that book, sit that tushy down in your most comfy chair (in the air conditioning!) and get engrossed in your favorite book.

Oh, but first... you may want to print out this recipe. Might just come in handy later today... around 5:00 PM.


















Gluten Free Barbecue Smoked Sausage

1/2 of a medium onion, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp butter
1 lb smoked turkey sausage (or kielbasa), cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 cup ketchup
1/3 to 1/2 cup brown sugar
1-2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, lightly brown sausage. Lower heater to medium and add sliced onion and saute until onion is soft. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a light boil. Lower heat to low and simmer for 5-10 minutes until sauce is thickened and all flavors have combined, stirring occasionally.

Serve over hot rice. Makes 4 servings.