COOKIES!!!

Ok-It seems that every Senior Sister that comes to the Philippines ends up, at some point, being the cookie fairy.  Filipinos  LOVE cookies--especially up here in Laoag where they are not readily available.  The majority of homes here do not have an oven so that makes baking a little difficult.  They do a lot of cooking on stove tops and over wood or charcoal and they love to eat and share what they make.  Most gatherings, baptisms, activities, whatever include some kind of "merienda."  "Merienda is any sort of dish or snack in a portion smaller than the traditional "full meal" which usually includes rice. Common fare may be sweet or savoury, ranging from breads and pastries (notably pandesal), desserts and sweets, street food, to noodle dishes." (Wikipedia)  But, when available, cookies seem to be a real crowd pleaser for young and old alike!  Because both Sister Robinson and I like to bake--we jumped right on the cookie band wagon!  We've taken cookies to baptisms, to our neighbors, to ward members and most recently to all the missionaries we visit as we do our cleaning checks throughout the mission.  Sister Robinson calculated that we have made over 1300 cookies thus far and that is probably on the low side. Wow!  That'll make you tired.  But it is so much fun to see how excited they get when they see cookies on the merienda table. 

This past Saturday, we held a Cookie Baking Activity for our Ward Relief Society at our place.  We had about 11 of all ages in attendance, including our Landlady's two grand daughters.  We were really pleased with the turnout and had a lot of fun doing it.  We demonstrated four different kinds of cookies with some hands on participation which  they really enjoyed. We gave each one a booklet of recipes and sent everyone home with a plate of cookies. We took the remaining cookies to a baptism that was being held later that day.  I have this wonderful vision in my head (from a previous baptism) of our cute little Relief Society President (who is a grandma) holding up a cookie in each hand and doing a happy dance. I was able to recreate that at the activity and hope to be able to download it here!

Couldn't get the video to work so this cute picture will have to do!  Sister Calautit-Laoag Ward 2, Relief Society President!

One of our mission assignments (more on this later) is to travel throughout the mission doing cleaning checks on the missionary apartments/houses.  At first we were going to those apartments that are closest to Laoag but then Pres. and Sis. Peterson asked us to include the Northern side of the mission which would involve some overnight stays.  While we enjoy sharing our thoughts and expertise on keeping a house of cleanliness and order, being the grandmas (in my case-Baba) that we are we wanted to also take them a little grandmotherly love and what better way to do that than with COOKIES!!! Because we had to make the cookies in advance, this weekend has been a cookie making marathon!  From Friday to Monday we made over 30 dozen cookies!  No small feat given the tiny oven that we have to bake in.  I think I have eaten enough cookie dough and cookies since I have been here to last me a lifetime--Ha Ha!

Loading up the cookies in our hotel room!

This just warmed the cockles of our hearts!  Elders each with a cookie in hand giving us the thumbs up!









The tune Tidings of Comfort and Joy just popped into my head with these words and it just seemed appropriate--Ha Ha Ha!!
Cookies of blessings and joy, blessings and joy!  Oohhh cooookies of blessings and joy!