Thanksgiving Blessing Mix

Every year around the holidays I like to make some munchies to share with family and friends. For Christmas I love making some Peppermint Bark and Sugar Coated Pecans(recipe to follow).This year I thought I'd look for an easy snack to put together for Thanksgiving too. I came across the "Thanksgiving Blessing Mix" online and found it be very meaningful, it is a reminder of this great nation's blessing. All you need to do is bag this snack which you can put together in 5 minutes into favor-sized gift bags. You can use them as favors for you Holiday party or just share them with your family and friends. You also attach the the Blessing Poem with ribbon/raffia to make it look festive. I found some Thanksgiving themed treat bags with twine from Walmart for $1.99 and ribbon from Michaels (Sale 3 for $0.50). I got the poem printed at Staples on heavy card stock.
Here is the link to the poem-
http://christmas.organizedhome.com/sites/default/files/image/pdf/gift_tags_blessings_mix_thanksgiving_cornucopia.pdf

Ingredients
Bugles-2 cups
Pretzels-2 cups
M&Ms-1 cup
Raisins-1 cup
Peanuts/Nuts-1 cup
Candy corn- 1 cup
Hershey Kisses-16

Directions
1.Mix all of them together except the hershey kiss.
2.Pour about 1/3-1/2 cup into each favor bag and before tying place a Hershey Kiss into each bag.
3.Print out the poem ,useing a hole punch, punch a hole on them and thread a ribbon through.
* I doubled the quantities to make 16 bags and the bags were half filled. I was a bit more lavish on the snack.

Thanksgiving Blessing Mix Poem

Bugles: Shaped like a cornucopia or Horn of Plenty, a symbol of our nation's abundance.

Pretzels: Arms folded in prayer, a freedom sought by those who founded our country.

Candy corn: Sacrifices of the Pilgrims' first winter. Food was so scarce that settlers survived on just a few kernels of corn a day.

Nuts or seeds: Promise of a a future harvest, one we will reap only if seeds are planted and tended with diligence.

Dried fruits: Harvest gifts of our bountiful land.

M&Ms: Memories of those who came before us to guide us to a blessed future.

Hershey's Kiss: The love of family and friends that sweetens our lives.

That's it your favors are ready! A great snack to share this Holiday season.

Hershey Kiss Cookies

It has been a while since I added anything to the blog. The past couple of  months have been busy. In a couple more weeks I'll be more regular with the postings,I hope The blog has been neglected , I know.
I remember making these cookies for a bake sale when I was at Franklin Avenue Elementary School back in the day. The original recipe calls for peanut butter, but I wanted to try making it without it. The girls really don't like PB and it was a spur of the moment thing. My oldest daughter comes homes after school, telling me that it's Diwali-The Festival of Lights and that we Have to Celebrate! This festival is  very common in the northern parts of India and celebrated with sweets and firecrackers. Even though it isn't very significant down south in Kerala especially among Christian households, trying to make a 5 year old understand all that was too much of a hassle so I decided to make some anyway. If you're wondering, that's why the pictures of the cookies are alongside a "diya" or lamp.

Ingredients
Butter-1 cup
Sugar-1 cup
Egg-1
Vanilla extract-1 tsp
All Purpose Flour-1 1/4 cup
Unsweetened cocoa powder-3/8 cup
Baking powder-1/2 tsp
Salt-1/4 tsp
Sugar-1/6 cup (for decorating)
Hershey kisses-20

Method
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.Cream together the sugar and the butter until its nice and fluffy.* Make sure the butter is at room temperature.
3.Next add the egg and vanilla extract and mix until smooth.
4.Now before adding your dry ingredients to the creamed mixture sift them to avoid any lumps.
5.Once all mixed, roll them into 1 inch balls and coat with the sugar and place in an ungreased cookie sheet spaced apart.
6.Bake for 8-10 minutes and cool on a wire rack and place the Hershey kiss into the center while they are still warm. We only did half the batch with the Hershey kiss, but they are delicious either way.
Enjoy!!!Happy Baking!!! The holidays are around the corner too, so Happy Holidays Everyone!!!