Cooking for Kids' School/Club Parties

Day 40.

Forty days and forty nights is a concept that appears frequently in the Bible. Did you know that? There is something spiritual about doing something for forty days. Here are some biblical events that took forty days:

• The Great Flood. 40 days and 40 nights of rain.


• Moses on the mountain with God -- 40 days.


• Goliath - he was around for 40 days before David killed him.
• Elijah had a meal that sustained him 40 days.


• Nineveh, the city in the Jonah & the Whale story? They had 40 days to change or else.


• Jesus had a 40 day fast in the wilderness.

There is a scientific significance of the number 40, too. Every 40th day marks the end of a solar year or something or other which I don't really understand so won't try to explain. ;)

Anyway, no, there's nothing spiritual about my 40 days of cooking, although sometimes I do utter my thanks to the Good Lord for my wonderful creations, sometimes quite verbally and with great enthusiasm. I just wanted to share the significance of 40 days of doing something with you. A little trivia for you to store away, if you will.

I'm told that my daughter needs something tasty to bring to her club's Valentine's Day Party, which is this afternoon. Of course, I was only just told an hour ago, as she was kissing me goodbye in the doorway of her school. Never to fear! Mommy is here! And Mommy is always, always armed with real butter, sugar, and flour. And thanks to Daddy's hard work in the Army, Mommy can stay home and bake up a delicious something for the club. (I love my wonderful, hard-working husband and am thankful to be able to do what I do.)

So as I was running my dishwasher, I softened my butter on the counter above it. Try that trick. It works really well on days when you lack a sunny windowsill.

And then it took me about five minutes to whip up a batch of Alton Brown's Sugar Cookies dough. (I love Alton, don't you?) Then I put it in the fridge for a couple hours and went about my business.

>>>Fast Forward Two Hours>>>

When you roll out your dough, use powdered sugar, not flour, to keep the dough from sticking. This will keep your cookies from tasting floury when they're baked. Also, keep your rolling pin dusted with powdered sugar. Don't over bake your cookies. You want them to have lightly browned edges and that's all. Over baking causes burnt cookie taste and brittle or rock-hard cookies. None of those are pleasant, especially for the baker who just invested several hours into her work.

I made my dough into heart shapes, and decorated them to look like conversation hearts. I had fun choosing the sayings from my memory and from the internet. I hope the kids have fun eating them. :)