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Use the recipes on packages of chocolate chips and oats. If you don't have time to bake from scratch, use cake mixes that are extra moist or contain pudding to make your cookies. The basic recipe is 1/2 cup vegetable oil and 2 large eggs per box. You can be creative by adding raisins, chips, M&Ms, etc. Bake at 350(F) for 9-10 minutes.
Underbake cookies about 1 minute to preserve freshness.
In humid environments, add 1/2 to 1 tsp. of baking powder per batch.
Freeze cookies until you are ready to ship them.
Avoid sending moist breads such as banana bread during humid summer months, as they mold quickly.
PACKING:
Use regular fold-top sandwich bags, no zip-locks. Put 6 cookies front to back in the bags and twist-tie them. Be generous with packing material: stryo peanuts, bubble wrap, shredded paper, etc.
You can pack other food items, such as cocoa mix, tea bags and hard candy in the same box.
Items other than foods should be packed in separate boxes.
Once the box is full, shake it to make sure nothing is moving and add more packing material if necessary.
Include notes to the soldiers thanking them for their service!
SHIPPING:
You must have the name and address of a specific soldier.
You must fill out a customs form. In the space asking what you want to happen to the box if your soldier is not available, check "abandon" and write in "Do not return." The USPS can help if you have questions about this.
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USPS says if you send packages overseas by parcel post they should be mailed by Nov 12th. If you ship by priority mail it takes up to 14 days to reach some areas.
Priority mail is your best value.
Great tips, Pam! May I add one more: Keep the box out of reach of any nosy dogs before mailing.
In 1990 my daughter was in Desert Storm. She loves Oreo cookies and I had bought her six large packages of the double-stuffed ones...60 cookies per package, 360 cookies total.
I had boxed them up, addressed the box and left it on the kitchen table when I went to work the next day, intending to take it to the post office on the following Saturday.
Imagine my surprise when I came home from work and found little pieces of cellophane on the living room floor. I had no idea where they came from -- until I walked into the kitchen and saw the box torn open and all the cookies gone.
I called my doberman and he came out of the bedroom very slowly and awkwardly. He had eaten all 360 cookies and then drank every bit of water from the large bucket that I kept out for him. His abdomen was so swollen I could have thumped him like a watermelon.
I called the vet but Oreos (even that many) arent that dangerous for a large dog -- and the time for doing anything medically had passed anyway. He was pretty miserable for a few days, though, and you can imagine what cleaning up my yard was like during that time.
Location: I never said I was perfect so no refunds here sorry!
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Great tip Pam!
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