Reindeer Cookies

Here is one of our favorite family baking traditions. The reindeer cookie.

They are lots of fun to make, they look adorable--even the little ones can do it!

First you start with your favorite peanut butter cookie recipe.

Gather a few simple decorative toppings: tiny twist pretzels, chocolate chips and holiday M&Ms.

Roll dough into balls, press flat, then pinch slightly to create the 'reindeer' head shape.

Add a tiny twist pretzel for his antlers,

and chocolate chips (pointy side down)

for the eyes,

and finally an M&M for the nose!

Piece of cake! Well cookie, actually.

Bake as called for in your PB cookie recipe, but watch for the cracking of M&Ms-- it may be a minute or two less.

Ho Ho Ho! 

How to Make Solar Oven

Whether it's for scouts or girls' camp, there is going to come a day when you have to figure out how to do some solar cooking.  

After looking all over Pinterest for solar cooking ideas and showing them to my 11-year-old son,  he took those ideas and ran with them.  Of course having an engineering mind and an eye for detail, he had a few changes that he wanted to make and this is what we came up with.  

Materials Needed:

Medium-sized Pizza Box

Hot Dogs

Aluminum Foil

Wooden Skewers (2)

Staples

Step 1:  Line the box with aluminum foil--using staples to keep it in place

Step 2:  Poke Skewers through one side of the box and into the hot dog(s) 

Step 3:  Poke skewers through the other side of the box

Step 4:  Find a sunny place, partially close the box, and allow the sun to do its thing!

 Optional Step:  

Give your solar oven a super cool name, like the Summer Solar Cookerator 5000!

Elapsed Time: 2 to 3 hours 

Note:  Keep hungry puppies away!