Ingredients for a sweet new year:

1. smiles (3+ a day)
2. patience (unlimited)
3. joy (several cups generously filled)
4. pinch of humor
5. good deeds, evenly distributed
6. practice

Directions:  Mix the first four ingredients together.  Voilà!  You’ve made your own day – enjoy! 

Variations of the basic recipe:  Add ingredient #5 and you’ll spread the sweetness.

Volume: With a liberal amount of #6 included, you’ll enjoy your days for the entire year.

A happy and sweet new year to all!

Every community has a social services agency.  Here on Bainbridge Island, we have Helpline House which provides for those in need all year long.  This time of year, they’re collecting food items for ‘Project Wishbone’ to ensure that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.

My Kids’ Cookies is doing what we can to help.  Bring in some non-perishable food items to our cookie shop and we’ll give you a free cookie as our ‘thanks’.

Project Wishbone Shopping List (these items are sought after at all social service agencies):

frozen turkey, fresh potatoes or sweet potatoes, brown and white rice and rice mixes, chicken broth, yellow onions, gravy mix, fresh and canned vegetables, fresh and canned fruit, fresh or frozen pie, butter and whipped cream, sparkling cider and juices, condiments (olives and pickles, salad dressings), oils, spices and herbs, coffee and tea, special treats (crackers, nuts, dried fruits), traditional Items (candles or napkins).

And, these items are always needed at food banks:

hearty soups, chilis and stews, canned fish and meats, canned beans, cereal, fruit and vegetable juices, pasta, peanut butter and jelly.

The donation of a Grocery Store Gift Card is also greatly appreciated.  My local Safeway has a promotion going on where you can donate $5 and they’ll give a turkey breast to Helpline in time for Thanksgiving. They’ve made it very easy to help out.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all and thanks for being generous in your community.

My Kids’ Cookies promised 10% of cookie sales during October 2009 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.  While the amount of the check we wrote today wasn’t huge, it was something for the worthy cause of finding a cure to this terrible disease.  Every penny helps when you’re donating to a cause that speaks to you.

Whether it’s for cancer research, the local social services group in your town, a pet adoption organization, or your church, everything you give helps.  The loose change and bills collected in a tip jar at the front counter of a cookie shop for Helpline House, the boxes of macaroni and cheese you toss into your shopping cart to donate, the monthly charge on your credit card for Save the Children – they all make a difference to someone somewhere.

Thank you to everyone that ordered cookies during October as a special treat for someone.  Your kindness is appreciated not only by the cookie gift recipient, but by many whom you’ll never know.

This weekend, My Kids’ Cookies is participating in Bainbridge Island Public Library’s first annual Edible Book Festival.

We’re baking up our version of “If You Give A Mouse A My Kids’ Cookie“.  We had loads of fun trying out this cake and a friend’s 3 little boys were my taste testers.  Who got the ear, who got the foot, who got the head?  These were things they all had to negotiate.  Entrance fee donations will be given to Helpline House.

On the next rainy day weekend, pull out your children’s favorite story and bake up a version of it.  They can be creative and make dessert for the family at the same time.

If you have a dog in your life, then this list is important to you and your canine companion.  Thanks to Real Simple magazine for compiling the info.

Things you should NOT give to your dog:

chocolate – it stimulates the heart and nervous system

grapes or raisins – damages the kidneys

garlic or onions – damages red blood cells causing anemia

xylitol (found in sugarless gum) – causes an increase in insulin which lowers blood sugar levels

alcohol – depresses the nervous system (and who wants to give a dog a hangover)

raw yeast or bread dough – the fermentation of yeast causes alcohol poisoning; also forms gas in the digestive track

macadamia nuts - causes muscle and nervous system problems

avocados – they contain persin which damages the heart muscle

So, as much as we all may love to baby our puppies, stick to dog food to keep them healthy.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  It’s a sad fact that we all seem to know someone affected by breast cancer, whether the person diagnosed, their families or friends.  When that phone call comes and we hear the news, we probably all think of what we can do to help.

During the month of October, My Kids’ Cookies will donate 10% of all website cookie sales to
The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.    It’s our way to help find a cure – baking.  The more research that is done, the sooner we can all hope for a cure.

So send someone you know a gift of cookies this month.  Not only will they enjoy the treat, but someone you don’t know will be benefiting as well.

You can feel the crispness in the air. You’ve probably already taken out a fall jacket to keep you warm. Help others stay warm too by donating a coat.

My Kids’ Cookies is collecting coats and jackets to be given to Helpline House on Bainbridge Island so those in need won’t be cold this winter.

So shop the ‘fall sales’ at the mall, clean out your closet, and drop off your donation during the month of October to our cookie shop.   And pick up a cookie on us as a thank you for your generosity. Both your heart, and your tummy, will be warmed.

If you don’t happen to live near us, I’m sure there are plenty of organizations near you that could use a warm coat too.

If you have kids you know that buying school supplies can add up.  X # of notebooks, Y # of pencils, Z # of markers.  Add in graph paper, binders, notebook paper, scissors, rulers, crayons, calculators, the list goes on and on and on.  And, suddenly, your wallet is a bit thinner.

To help those in our community that are struggling in this crazy economy we’re in, My Kids’ Cookies is collecting school supplies for Bainbridge Island’s social services agency, Helpline House.  Anyone that brings in a donated school supply, and buys a cookie, will get a free cookie on us.

It’s our small way of sweetening the incentive to help those in need.

I’d love to be an artist.  To be able to take a brush to canvas and create something is a gift, just not a gift I have.  I have to suffice with hosting an art show and I’m thrilled to be doing just that.

My Kids’ Cookies Shop is holding our first art show featuring the work of Shari Walker Hutchinson. And nothing pairs so well with art as red wine which we’ll be pouring compliments of Victor Alexander Winery.  Of course, you can’t have a glass of red wine unless you also indulge in a bite of a brownie or shortbread.  So, we’ll have that too.

We encourage guests to bring a few canned food items to help Bainbridge Island’s local social services agency Helpline House.

This Saturday, America once again celebrates the birth of our nation, usually with fireworks, parades, picnics and gathering together with family and friends.  But let us always remember the reason for the celebration.

“…We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

As Americans, we have rights that so many people around the world can’t even imagine having; freedom of speech to express our thoughts and opinions on blogs like this with no repercussions; opportunities that are only limited by how hard we’re willing to work.

Read the Declaration of Independence with your kids and remind them of how very fortunate we all are to be Americans.

Have a happy and safe Fourth of July!