Cookie Baking Musings

Tonight is an off Cookie Baking Night, but I thought I would share a project we worked on last Cookie Baking Night. 

When I think of information I learned when I was a child that has greatly benefited me as an adult, learning the books of the Bible would be in the top 10. I learned the books of the Bible (their names and the order they are listed in the Old and New Testament) and even used that information long before God regenerated my heart.  Now, as an adult Christian I'm grateful to know the names of the books within the Bible and where each book is located. I use that information daily. 

One of the most effective learning tools I can remember in this process was during my summer on a Teen Missions trip. Part of Teen Missions training was a two-week Boot Camp. Part of Boot Camp was a daily obstacle course our team had to run. One of the "obstacles" on the course involved taking large wood blocks with the books of the Bible written on them and lining them up in order as fast as we could (as a team). This was a timed obstacle course. Teams coming in with a low time in the morning had to run it again in the afternoon. That being the case, knowing the books of the Bible and working together as a team became very useful tools in this process. 

I came up with a variation to this that I think will be a useful learning tool at Cookie Baking Night. I bought large brightly colored plastic cups. Ethan used the label maker to type out the books of the Bible (Ethan loves the label maker). 

 Carissa and I pasted the labels on each cup (later we will add the author of each book to the other side of the cup, as that will also be useful information for now and the future).

When we finished labeling the cups, we lined them up in the order that the books appear in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. In Cookie Baking Nights to follow, we'll spend some time learning the books of the Bible, their authors, and the order they are listed in the Bible. Following that we'll run some fun drills with the cups that will give us a hands-on opportunity to put our knowledge to practice. Stay tuned for more on the "cups" in future posts.

Cookie Baking Night 04/22/13

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Ethan and Carissa. In following with our theme of "2013: The Year of the Cookie", we slated this late April day for our Spring Flower Cookie. 

This was the scene outside the kitchen window as we decorated our "Spring" Cookies (18 inches of snow greeted us on Friday morning and melted with yesterday's Springtime rainfall--6 more inches are predicted overnight--it has been a snowy April in Minnesota). 

But, alas, it was Spring inside our kitchen. The kids did a great job with the pastry bags full of frosting and really enjoyed the activity as well.

I pre-baked the cookies and pre-filled the pastry bags due to time constraints, but the decorating was pure kid power.

Yummy!

Tonight we read our fourth lesson from God's Names by Sally Michael. We learned the name El Elyon, meaning The Most High. I enjoy the way this book incorporates the names we previously learned into our most current lesson. The repetition is helpful and reinforces what we're learning about God's character through His names.

As usual, a fun time was had by all.

Cookie Baking Night 04/08/13

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Emily, Ethan, and Carissa. Following along with our theme in 2013: The Year of the Cookie, tonight we were scheduled to make "Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies". 

I found this recipe online: 

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE BROWNIE COOKIES
 Preheat Oven to 350F degrees
Ingredients:  
1 c unsalted Butter, softened
1 c white Sugar
3/4 c dark brown sugar
2 whole eggs
1-1/4 c Hershey's special dark cocoa powder
1-1/2 c all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 c chocolate chips
Directions:
In a medium bowl; whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and soda. In a large bowl cream together the butter and both of the sugars until light and creamy. Add in one egg at a time until well blended. Gradually add in the cocoa/flour mixture. Gently mix in the two cups of chocolate chips and spoon out onto prepared pans. Bake in your preheated oven for 8-10 minutes. Cookies will be puffed up a bit but will settle as they cool. Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

So we commenced with the baking.

Energy abounded this evening so it was a very lively cookie baking process.

The picture of this cookie does not do them justice (hmm, could very likely be the photographer), so you'll have to take my word for it. If you are a chocolate connoisseur, then this is the chocolate cookie for you. Quite tasty.

We continued in our book God's Names by Sally Michael with lesson 4: El Shaddai: God Almighty. The last paragraph of this lesson summed up what we have learned about God through his names so far:

"There is no god like Elohim, the Creator of the whole world. Only Jehovah, Yaweh, I AM needs nothing and never changes. Only El Shaddai, God Almighty, is the one true God who can do all things. How Great is our God!"  Amen and Amen.