I was very excited to receive in the mail last week a large envelope containing pictures of air craft carrier that we all sent cookies to back in September! Along with the pictures was a great thank you note! (click on it to see it larger) Our cookies fed over 100 hungry men and women! Check out the note, it's super sweet.


To all the ladies and gents who helped make Operation Baking Gals possible that month, THANK YOU!!!

If you are interested in joining on for round 6 check out the site and learn more.

This past weekend I went on a nice girls night out to a new restaurant in town, Good Luck. Micheal the owner of Javas Coffee opened this place recently and I've heard a lot of good things about it. It's a tappa style restaurant (small plates of food to share). Micheal treated us to a bottle of wine which was fantastic thank you again Micheal!

The location is in the old fabrics and findings building and is filled with salvaged windows and doors that add a very distinctive intimate feel to the place. The bar is large and has a very interesting light fixture hanging above it. The kitchen is composed of what looks like white subway tiles and the entire place would fit perfectly in Manhattan, without the stuck up feel. Some restaurants in the area (2Vine) are a bit too stuffy and uninviting for my tastes. Good Luck it eclectic in both it's food and in the clientele, people are dresses up but not over the top or trying too hard. We arrived at 8:30 and when we left at 11 the dining room was still brimming full. The one complaint is the acoustics make everything very loud. I don't think there was any music on but we had a hard time hearing each other just from the shear noise of everyone dinning talking.


We order five different things to share and had a great time tasting and passing the dishes.

• buttermilk fried quail with an orange blossom honey rosemary and red chilies, this was so delicate and the flavor combination was amazing.
  
• roasted eggplant with house made ricotta and basil pesto, amazingly tender and the ricotta was perfectly done.
  
• we also had the french fries with 3 types of dipping sauces, good but nothing special here, I would order something different next time.
  
• trio of cristini, shrimp white bean and avacado tomato. The white bean was a bit bland but the shrimp was fantastic.
  
• house made black farfalle with sauteed calamari arugula. This was my favorite, the farfalle was delicious and the calamari done just right, I would order this as a main dish for myself along with something else as a side.
  

Once all the food was gone we decided on a dessert to share. We had the blueberry and beer beignet. Basically little donut holes with a wonderful blueberry/beer sauce.

All in all it was a very laid back and enjoyable evening. I must say I did go home and eat a bowl of cereal though since I was still a bit hungry... As with most tappas places I never seem to be close to full when I leave. Everything was delicious though and I would go back again and just make sure to order more. For those on a budget... I'd probably say to skip this place since things can add up fast, but as a special night out or for something fun and different, it's a must!

Chow!

It's round 2 of Operation Baking Gals! And I'm hosting this month and recruiting people to send tons of goodies to Eric! You can click on the banner above this to find out how to join in, or you can CLICK HERE!

Hope you can join in on the fun, the deadline to send out your goodies is Saturday August 30th for this round so get baking! And good news we are up to 250 bakers for round 2!!!!! Isn't that fantastic!! Good job everyone!

If you missed the deadline, no worries at all though, you can sign up to bake for round 3 at Operation Baking Gals!

My coworker Niki wanted to join in for round 2 and made zucchini bread from this recipe from Smitten Kitchen. She made one loaf with nuts and one without. She also made another batch for all of us at work to eat... it was DELICIOUS!! I totally kept going back into the kitchen to snag another piece! Eric you are going to LOVE LOVE this zucchini bread! She has a vacuum sealing machine at home so she sealed them all up to make the long trip over to Eric.

I decided to bake up some ANZAC cookies again. I don't have a vacuum sealer so I used a more inventive method... Pack your cookies into a ziplock bag with a sliding lock "easy zipper" on it, slide it so it's almost all the way shut but has enough space to stick a straw in, using the straw suck out all the air in the bag, quickly remove the straw (while still sucking in) and close the bag the rest of the way. That is what I did and I must say it was pretty darn effective! Just don't blow INTO the bag... that would be gross. If you want the recipe for the ANZAC cookies, you can find it here.

Thank you again everyone for making this such a wonderful experience! I know the soldiers absolutely appreciate all the love you are putting into your goodies!

Make sure to check back here to see the round up of what everyone sent! I should have it posted sometime next week once everyone sends me their pictures :) I'm also going to see if I can get Eric to send pictures once he gets bombarded by all the packages :)

Chow!

So as yo may know we didn't make it in the paper on Tuesday... but I just talked to the reporter and it sounds like we'll be in next week! Woohoo! So check back to see! :)

Hey guys! I wanted to let everyone know that the Democrat and Chronicle (the newspaper here in Rochester) is doing a piece on Operation Baking Gals and how we (meaning whoever signed up with me :) ) are baking for a local Navy guy!! Woohoo! I'll make sure to link to the article as soon as I find it online tomorrow (Tuesday- it's going to be in the Living- food section!!) So exciting!! Hope this gets more people to bake with us!!

Chow!!

UPDATE: looks like it's not in the paper :( I'm totally bumming... she said it would be in the Tuesday Food section this week... maybe it will make it in later this week in the Living section... I'm going to keep checking... this is moose.

Hey everyone! It was so wonderful being part of round one and I can't wait for round two. I've known a lot of men and women who have gone over to fight for our country, and sadly not all of them have come home. This is the number one reason I'm so happy to participate in this. If we can bring a smile to someone's face and let them feel our love and warmth... then I think our job is well done.

This month we will be baking and sending cookies to my friend Amie's wonderful husband Lt Eric Olson!
Eric grew up in Syracuse NY and moved to Rochester NY to attend RIT where he received a BS in Mechanical Engineering, and where he met his wife Amie! Eric and Amie now live in Florida where he is stationed. Currently he is working as a Reactor Controls Division Officer on the USS Abraham Lincoln. He is lucky to have family to send letters and packages but has a lot of men and women on his ship are not as lucky and he would love to be able to share all that we send with his shipmates, especially the ones who never receive any packages.

So if you would like to sign up to send Eric (and all his crewmates) some goodies email me at stephaniesnow (at) gmail (dot) com AND bakinggals (at) gmail (dot) com to let them know you've joined Team Steph Chows!! Once you've signed up I'll send you Eric's address!

Lets send some love!
You can check out what I made for round one CLICK HERE

Click here for instruction on how to send the package so it shows up as tasty as you packed it! CLICK HERE

For more ideas of what to bake... here is what people did for round one! CLICK HERE

Chow!

A special thanks to:
Clara otherwise known as CB of I heart food for thought and
April of Abby Sweets
who are the first two to join my team!!

I've got a third! woohoo!
Fran Z from Apples Peaches Pumpkin Pie.

New additions!
Karin Joensen
Marie from http://marieinmaine.com/whoopiepiesandlobster/
Kassie Green
Melissa White from http://dirt2dish.blogspot.com
Jennifer Moore http://www.jamsquared.net/blog/Jennifer_blog.htm
Anna Scheminger
Michele Collins, Harvard MA
Liz C, Bremerton WA, Just Me Eating (http://justmeeating.blogspot.com)
Tracey from http://chocolatechipotle.typepad.com/
Joanna Furtado
Dolores from http://culinarycuriosity.blogspot.com
Jillian http://www.butterandsugar.org/blog/
Niki Landreville, Rochester NY
Paige Welch, Rock Hill, NY
Erica DiRenzo, Rochester NY
Gretchen Roman, Rochester, NY

Hey guys! Just wanted to let everyone know that even if you don't have a blog you can participate in this! Just send me an email stephaniesnow (at) gmail (dot) com and let me know you want to join in! I'll have our guys bio posted no later then tomorrow and then I can start sending out his address to the people who are participating! Here's a quick snippet in press release version! My co-workers sister wrote this up for me to distribute to the local news stations and papers... Hopefully it gets us some positive press!

Rochester foodie rounds up cookies for troops overseas

Aug. 8

Stephanie Snow, a Rochester graphic designer, shipped off her first box of coconut cookies to an army officer stationed in Iraq as part of a newly formed grassroots baking group that’s exploding thanks to other food bloggers.

She’s now looking for other volunteers to help her expand her culinary efforts: Bake cookies and send them off to appreciative soldiers.

Snow, a 27-year-old self-described foodie, learned about Operation Baking GALS, at the end of July. And she was immediately taken with the sweetness and simplicity of the mission.

In this case, Snow’s chosen Lt. Eric Olson to be the recipient of her coconut cookies. She’s friends with Olsen’s wife, and all three attended Rochester Institute of Technology. Olsen entered the Navy, shortly after graduating with a mechanical engineering degree.

“I’m interested in doing this,’’ Snow said, “because I’ve had friends who haven’t come back from war.’’

Operation Baking GALS, http://operationbakinggals.blogspot.com/, was started July 26, by Susan Whetzel, who writes on her food blog, doughmesstic.com, that she was inspired to send her cousin cookies in Iraq after she realized he was lonesome for home, his wife and his new baby.

Other food bloggers, like Snow, picked up Whetzel’s story. There are now five branches, including Snow’s in Rochester, that will be fielding baking volunteers, which as of Aug. 8, numbered about 150. Cookies are being baked in New York, Tennessee and California.

Snow is looking for any baker, professional or not, to contact her about how to send cookies to her friend. Snow baked ANZAC biscuits, which stands for Australian New Zealand Army Corps. These cookies have nothing perishable in them, Snow said, and are made with oats, brown sugar and coconut.

Volunteer bakers are responsible for ingredients and shipping off the cookies. Snow said it’s about $10 a box to send to a military base.

Hey guys! I'm going to be one of the 5 people hosting Operation Baking Gals! this next month!!!


We will be sending cookies to a very special person! I'll be introducing him next week! As for now I'm looking to recruit anyone who would like to bake for the troops! The shipping this month will be a week long, beginning August 23 - 29th. So you basically need to have your package in the mail at some point that week. The post office has flat rate boxes (large and a still large but slightly smaller one). I sent the smaller box and still fit in about 4 dozen cookies! When you pick one up from the post office (the box is free) ask for a customs form. Also when you mail the box make sure they know it's for an APO, it's cheaper that way. Go here to learn how to pack your goodies up so they make it there safe and sound and how to fill out the form!

If you are interested in joining my "team" and sending cookies send me an email to stephaniesnow (at) gmail (dot) com and let me know

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Blog Name:
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Thanks everyone for supporting this!!

Chow!!