Conference turris::cooks

    
    Kathy,
    
    I have found that almost all cookies are "shippable" in this fashion:
    
    get bags of marshamallows, (get them off the "marked down" shelf in
    the supermarket, it's okay if they're a bit stale) little ones and
    big ones, and use them to cushion the cookies.  They keep them fresh
    and whole!  Alot of times I use old coffee cans to ship my cookies
    in (I send them to friends in the service overseas, so the sturdy
    container helps) 
    
    Good Luck!
    
    Danielle Marie

    Every Christmas I bake a couple loaves of hard black rye.  They
    ship well since they start out hard as a brick.  They soften with
    age. 

    One can always use popcorn for packing instead of the marshmellows.
    It might be cheaper and it also acts as a cushion and keeps the
    goodies fresh.
    
    /MK

    Last year I sent three tins of home made gingergread boys to
    Australia. I wrapped each cookie in tissue paper and wrapped
    the tin in buble wrap. One tin arrived with almost every head
    broken off but the other two arrived safely. I was told that they
    were still very good after the long trip (from MA) but then again
    they might have just been being nice to me. There are a few recipes
    for gingerbread and decorating ideas in this conference.
    
    Linda
    

Any baked item that contains lots of dried fruit (raisins, prunes, dates,
apricots, etc.) is a prime candidate for shipping.  They retain moisture and
remain fresh for a long time - some even improve with age!  Avoid using
too much butter as it may become rancid in over-heated mail rooms.....use
margarine (corn oil or safflour oil type is good) or butter flavored
crisco.  My winners are:

prune bread and/or cake
date bread and/or cake
apricot pecan bread
pineapple apricot bread
oatmeal raisin cookies
mixed fruit drop cookies
peanut butter cookies
california fruit cake (dried fruits - NO green thingies)

recipes are available for free.

			D
    

		PINEAPPLE APRICOT BREAD



    	3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
    	1 tsp. salt
    	1 tsp. baking powder
    	1/2 cup margarine or butter flavored crisco
    	3/4 cup sugar
    	2 eggs, lightly beaten
    	1 cup diced, dried pineapple (don't use fresh!)
    	1 cup diced, dried apricots
    	1 cup buttermilk
    	1/3 cup pineapple juice
    
    Soak fruit in juice for approx. 1 hour
    Sift together flour, salt and baking powder
    Cream shortening and sugar in large mixing bowl
    beat in eggs and mix well
    add fruits and pineapple juice
    Alternately sift in dry ingredients and buttermilk. 
    Stir batter until just blended.
    place in greased loaf pan.
    Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour or until knife inserted
     in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan.

>    And the Apricot Pecan Bread recipe?

I make a variation of a date nut bread, substituting the apricots for
dates.  I will post it here within the next two days.

>    California Fruit Cake made like the traditional fruit cakes?  I
>    hate those green "thingies", too.
    
California fruit cake is made only with dried fruit, no candied stuff
at all (no cherries unless you can get dried cherries).  I have a recipe
for that as well, but it makes lots of cakes, and it COSTS an arm and
a leg to make due to the cost of the fruit.  I figure fruit cake should
be just that....fruit held together with very little cake.  My friends
who HATE fruit cake love this stuff, especially lightly toasted with
some cream cheese on it for christmas morning breakfast while unwrapping
the goodies.

I will post the recipe with the warning that it will not save money to
make this for your friends....

    I haven't tried this yet, but what about making miniature muffins.
    I tried making some this weekend and they are really a nice size
    about that of a cookie.  You could make many different flavors using
    your favorite muffin recipes and they would fit in many different
    sizes of containers.  
    
    Addie

    My brother-in-law is away at school.  I send him brownies, toll
    house cookies, blueberry coffee cake.  He gets the stuff the next
    day - fortunately.  But I can't think of too many things to make
    for him that can be sent through mail (ie. no cake with frosting,
    no pies).  And I have to send things he can just eat without any
    effort because he is in a dorm (no silverware, etc).  But once in
    a while I throw in a bag of Doritos (his favorite).
    
    He appreciates what I send him no matter what it looks like!  (He
    weighs over 200 pounds).
    
    
    

    re .7
    
    I would like to make the pineapple apricot bread recipe in .7. 
    However, I have found dried apricots, but I have not found dried 
    pineapples (I've checked Purity Supreme and Shaws in Nashua, Shaws 
    in Londonderry, and Market Basket in Hudson NH).
    
    Would it be possible to use canned pineaples drained well and soaking
    the appricots in half the specified pineapple juice?
    
    Could I substitute dried apples for the pineapples?  If so, would I
    want to use apple juice instead of pineapple juice?
    
    I'd also appreciate the recipe for apricot pecan bread mentioned in .5

    
    Try looking for dried pineapple in a health food store or in one
    of those nut shops in a mall.  I believe the moisture content of
    even well drained canned fruit will be too high.

    re .13
    
    The Shaw's in Worcester has dried pineapples.  They're in the with
    the bulk snacks.  I believe they're made by Nature Valley Snacks
    or something like that.  Our Shaw's keeps them near the vegatables
    but if you ask them where they keep the bulk snacks I'm sure they
    probably have it.
    
    Mike

    I did find some dried pineapples at Shaw's in Nashua in the bulk 
    section.  I was looking in the wrong place before.  
    
    I also tried the natural food place on DW highway (just north of
    Shaws). They usually carry them.  However, they are currently out of 
    them and said it would be a week or 2 before they got more.
    
    I plan on trying the recipe this week.  Thanks for the help.