Fundraising Food

It's almost time for the Marine Corps Ball (yay!), which means my husband's unit has been in full-fledged fundraising mode for the last few weeks. They have held a bake sale, a car wash, a cookout, a golf tournament, and now we are doing another bake sale tomorrow! It's a good thing I really like baking--and running--because I have now made huge batches of cookies 3 times in the last 3 weeks, and my workout routine can barely keep up with all that delicious cookie dough. :-) It's funny how much the word 'fundraising' conjures up images of lots of hard work when I was a youth minister trying to organize fundraisers so teens could go to retreats and summer camps. I thought I had tried almost everything: from simple things like selling cookie dough and pizzas from catalogs, to complicated events like a Longaberger basket Bingo. Our best fundraiser (i.e. most profit for least amount of effort) was always our Crab Feast Raffle. We sold raffle tickets during the month of May, and the winner received a bushel of steamed crabs, with corn and soda, on Memorial Day weekend. Total cost was just over $100, so profits were only limited by the number of people we sold tickets to.

Here, I have been very impressed by the Marines' ability to 'do more with less.' They do almost all of their fundraisers without any overhead cost. So yes, each family pays a few dollars out of pocket for baking supplies, or volunteers a few hours of time, but the reward to the group is well worth it. And people on base have been pretty generous. When we had fixed prices on the cookout plates of lunch, people paid for their food and enjoyed a good price for a hot, homemade meal right in front of the Commissary. But when we do the bake sale it is 'donations only.' Most people pay $1 per baggie, or pay $5 and pick up several items. But last time I saw someone donate $5 for just one of my bags of cookies! I was so proud. I believe the Marines have almost reached their fundraising goal, which was several thousand dollars. Hopefully tomorrow's bake sale will put them over the top.

Since I have been baking all day, I thought I would share some of my favorite go-to recipes. These are all from my Mom. I always loved baking, and Mom let me lick the bowl as a toddler and bake on my own by the time I was 10, so somewhere in between I watched her, read her recipes, and learned all I could. Making cookies always reminds me of my sisters, because we loved making a huge batch together and spending hours rolling cookies, watching them bake, and just hanging out and talking in the kitchen. So I have been very nostalgic today... but I had help from my 2-year old son for the cookies and my 4-year-old daughter for the muffins, so they had a great time and I was not lonely. So here you have it, enjoy!

Mom's Blueberry Muffins
1/2 cup butter
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1 pint (2 cups) blueberries-- fresh or frozen

Preheat over to 375 degrees.
Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and whip. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture, alternating with the milk. When well blended, gently fold in blueberries with a spatula or wooden spoon. Spoon into muffin tin, filling cups all the way. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Makes 12 full muffins, or 18 if cups are not filled all the way.

Prosser Girls' Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 cups butter-flavored shortening (like Crisco)
2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3 eggs
1 Tbls. vanilla
2 Tbls. milk
5 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 bag (12 ounces) of chocolate chips)

Preheat over to 350 degrees.
Cream the shortening and sugars. Add the egg, vanilla, and milk and stir well. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until well blended, saving the chocolate chips for last. Try to resist eating the batter as you drop it onto cookie sheets. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Makes 6-8 dozen, depending how large you make them and how much batter you eat. :-)


Danny's favorite cookies (as of today): Oatmeal/Craisin/ White Chocolate Chip
3 1/2 sticks butter, softened
1 and 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
6 cups Quaker Oats (uncooked)
1 cup Craisins, any flavor
2 cups (1 bag) white chocolate chips

Preheat over to 350 degrees.
Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla-- whip. Continue to add dry ingredients, mixing well after each addition. Finally stir in Craisins and chocolate chips. Drop onto cookie sheets, and cook for about 10 minutes. Remove from cooking sheets and cool. Makes 5-6 dozen.