Cookie Mailing Month continues!  I was pulling these out of the oven when the hubby came home from work the other day. One whiff of the air and he exclaimed, “Ranger cookies! My favorite!”

“These are your favorite?” I gasped. “Why didn’t you ever tell me? I’d make them all the time!”

He shrugged, sadly. “I thought you knew.”

LESSONS IN MARITAL COMMUNICATION, PEOPLE!

And Hubby’s not the only one who likes these cookies:

I’ve tried to find the exact recipe on-line, but I can’t. Here’s the one I use:

1 Cup butter

1 Cup brown sugar

1 Cup white sugar

Cream above ingredients together

2.5 eggs, added one at a time (I know, I know. Two and a half??? The original recipe is double this amount, but it makes about 6 dozen cookies, so…)

1 tsp vanilla

2 Cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

Then, add the goodies:

2 cups quick oats (go easy on this…the dough can get too hearty, and the cookies won’t spread when you bake them)

1   12-oz package chocolate chips (I like milk chocolate)

6 oz coconut

1 Cup chopped nuts (I like walnuts)

1 Cup raisins

Drop by spoonfuls on lightly sprayed cookie sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for about 12 minutes.

This has been a busy week! As part of Cookie Mailing Month, I’ve tried out several cookie recipes (my husband is extremely excited about this, as he gets to eat the leftovers). The recipe for the cookies above can be found here: http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1710,149170-249202,00.html

I used butter instead of shortening, and you really only need one tsp of cinnamon, not two, and if you’re going to dye the cookies, like I did, I wouldn’t use cinnamon at all, just sugar. Oh, and do you see any purple or green cookies in the picture? No? That’s because I tried those colors, and it was a disaster. If you plan on trying green and purple, I’d research your food coloring amounts, and really mix the dye in well. Just sayin’….

And tune in soon — I’ve got another post coming about how I chose to ship the cookies. We’ll see which method works best.

In the meantime, be sure to enter my giveaway! For details on entering the contest, see my post on Cookie Mailing Month!

One of my favorite flavors of Autumn is caramel. YUM. I love caramel apples, and so does my brother on a mission, but you can’t exactly ship that to South America. A cute alternative? Send caramel apple pops! Lightweight and inexpensive, these sturdy hard candies will be able to make the trip. I can get them at my local grocery store, but I’ve heard of others having trouble finding them. Is anyone else in the same boat?

For missionaries serving in a foreign country, audio-translations from General Conference are a cool idea. I  first learned about this when one of my cousins requested some LDS material that would help her with the new language.

You can easily burn a CD of General Conference talks that have been translated into other languages, and this is a great way to help your missionary with the language he is trying to learn.

For instructions on how to do this, click here: CD Instructions

*Note: these instructions are for a Mac (that’s what I use), so it’ll be a little different if you’re using a PC.

Fleece blankets are very easy to make–

–there is absolutely NO sewing involved!

What’s more, you can pick any pattern you like from your local fabric store. Fleece is usually inexpensive, but depending on the size of the blanket, it may get

expensive to ship, so think twice before mailing your missionary a new comforter for his king-size bed. Best to keep the size modest, but still warm.

In case you’ve never made a fleece blanket, I found step-by-step instructions at the following blog:

http://abigcupoftea.blogspot.com/2008/09/cozy-tie-fleece-blanket.html

The Postal System is coming out with new 44-cent stamps. I just found this really fun design: the Thanksgiving Day Parade!

You can order them online by clicking on the following link:

USPS Stamps