Good giveaway food

[minoanmiss]

I am working on an Essay for the Snowflake Challenge but it's not done yet. So, a quick question.

Today I finally got out of the house to give the local Post Office the cookies I made for them (because they aren't being paid due to Cheeto Benito's tantrum the government shutdown. Next week I plan to send some packages (meant to this week but got derailed by a few things) and when I do I want to bring something else (even if we get this resolved tomorrow they won't have their back pay by then yet).

Now, whatever I bring needs to be CHEAP, good at keeping, and have relatively few and familiar ingredients. I brought chocolate chip cookies and raspberry cookies this time, with some fudge for gluten-free people. I could bring more cookies, or something savory.

What do you think? ETA I did NOT write this entry well.. It's actually a request for recipes and ideas, believe it or not! So, please may I have recipes and specific ideas? Thank you. :):

Comments

[rachelmanija]

I love that you're doing this. What a kind and thoughtful idea!

I had no idea the post office people aren't getting paid. For some reason I had thought they were not in that category. What the hell. I'd bake them cookies myself but I don't mail stuff often enough to be recognized and they might think I'm trying to poison them.

If you're doing more than one thing, I'd do more cookies plus a savory. I personally love savory things but it depends on the ingredients, while pretty much everyone loves almost any sort of cookie. Best of both worlds. What savories were you considering?

[minoanmiss]

Oh goodness *blushes* Thank you. It seemed something I could do, so.

I didn't write this entry accurately (being sleepy) -- I meant to ask for recipe ideas. My only idea for a savory item is a cheese cracker, and well, not everyone likes cheese. OTOH, I definitely have the ingredients to hand!

[ororo]

If you successfully make crackers, please get me a recipe. I tried chick pea flour and sesame once but they did not quite work.

[catdetective]

Oh, that is a lovely thing to do. I think a savory might be appreciated-- back when I was doing a lot of baking for people at the college/theatre, I had some folks who just didn't do sweets for whatever reason, and had to mix it up with the occasional savory thing.

(now you've got me wanting to bake for my post office... I don't go down often but when I do I tend to have a lot going on...)

[minoanmiss]

Hey, I bet they'd appreciate it, if it won't be too much trouble for you.

What savory items did you make? I didn't write this post accurately because I was sleepy -- I was actually trying to ask for specific recipe ideas..

(And, thank you. :)

[catdetective]

Oh, I wish I had the recipe on hand with the modified baking instructions...

I did little baked egg things that were similar to a mini quiche thing-- I can find the recipe I modified, but having moved house, I don't know what I did to take it from one big dish to a bunch of mini-muffin sized ones...

http://www.recipesource.com/main-dishes/casseroles/11/rec1109.html

They were a hit with people who weren't big on sweets or who were trying to go more protein than not, I'm just not sure about the bake time once the mix is poured into smaller cups rather than a single torta.

I've been to try doing this, though-- somewhat similar in terms of being a little egg thing:
https://mycrazygoodlife.com/copycat-starbucks-egg-bites-recipe/

[minoanmiss]

Little egg things! Brilliant! Thank you :)

[catdetective]

You're very welcome!

[acelightning]

How sweet of you to do that! And Post Office workers get screwed in so many other ways the rest of the time.

Most people don't think of savory items as snacks. But here's a recipe from the 1950s for Cheese Pennies (it looks just like the one my mother had cut out of a magazine and scotch-taped into the front of her Fanny Farmer Cookbook). They are vaguely cookie-like, but they're made out of cheese. They're made with a slice-&-bake dough, which you can prepare ahead of time and bake whenever you want to. I think a little white or black pepper, in addition to the cayenne, might be a good idea.

[minoanmiss]

Eee, Ace, thank you! Those cheese pennies are exactly the sort of recipe I was trying to ask for (I didn't write this entry very well *blush*). I wonder how I can vary them? Paprika on some? Would olives be too wet?

[kore]

That's so lovely and so you. <3

I am always PRO MORE COOKIES myself, maybe biscotti? Do you do biscotti?

[minoanmiss]

I actually don't like biscotti. *laugh at myself* Maybe I should make them, though, so at least I won't eat any! Seriously, though, thank you. :)

[cmcmck]

Love your userpic! :o)

[minoanmiss]

*beams* How did I go so long with a Minoan themed journal and no octopuses?

[sabotabby]

That's awesome; I love that you're doing this!

From my experience doing picket line support, savoury is usually appreciated since people tend to live off donuts and pizza here.

[minoanmiss]

I am blushing at you. :)

I didn't write this entry well -- sleepy MM was and still is sleepy -- I actually meant to ask for savory recipes, since not everyone likes cookies. And gluten-free ideas (although right now I can't make gluten free baked goods because SOME FOUR LEGGED FREELOADRRS ate or peed on ALL MY GLUTEN FREE FLOUR.)

[amaebi]

I didn't know that post office employees weren't getting paid: the relationship between the PO and the federal government became arcane indeed when the PO was made partially sort of independent of the federal government. :(

And how kind to take them treats!

[minoanmiss]

The PO's relationship to the gov't seems to be like that of housecleaning staff who are listed as "Contractors" by the hotels who employ them. :(

The least I can do is make a couple of things to eat, you know?

[amaebi]

I knew that POs had moved toward part-timers, and I'm not surprised if they're classed as contractors. :(

What I was thinking of, though, was the insistence that the PO should make a profit rather than operating as a more conventional public service, though with some payments for service, its removal from a Cabinet position, yet its continuing high level of being regulated.

You could do a lot less than make posties a few things to eat! I am doing less! :D nd of course plenty of conservatives have been steadily attacking and whittling away at the PO for decades.

[minoanmiss]

You're not doing less, you're doing other things. :)

[vettecat]

So sweet of you! I'm thinking maybe peanut butter cookies, oatmeal cookies, brownies... comfort food that's easy to make.

[minoanmiss]

*nod* These definitely make sense. Thank you. :)

[killing_rose]

Peanut butter fudge was, for years, my go to. I worry more now as nut allergies become more prominent and it's why we don't make it in the house anymore. (Teenager does not react well to the smell, and we're not pushing that one.)

Pecan tassies, if you have a tassie pan, are amazing (and I can grab the Family Recipe if you want; it's evolved differently than every other one I've ever found, and boy howdy, that was fun this year when I grabbed what I thought was the Right One. It was not. The texture was strange). They're basically tiny pecan pies. (I keep meaning to try a pumpkin version that I've seen, but I keep forgetting.) They're also easily made gluten free, and if you do it right, you can even make it vegan.

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

Another family recipe is peppermint cheesecake cookies, which is basically "several blocks of cream cheese, some form of flour, mint, and butter" and another one I've never seen on the internet. If I recall correctly (it's been 10 years since I did serious rounds of candy making), that one doesn't even need baking.

My other one, which was super fun when I was a child (it's one that lends itself well to family participation) was cottontails. Which is basically take marshmallow, dip in caramel, roll in rice krispies.

[I can provide recipes; I just don't know if any might tempt you.]

[minoanmiss]

You are full of awesome ideas! Thank you so much! (And I would love the recipe for the cottontails)

[bironic]

Are you sure they're not being paid? I was under the impression from various shutdown-explanation articles that the USPS is funded through mechanisms separate from the federal government.

Regardless, that's a really nice thing to do, and I vote savory option for your next round.

[minoanmiss]

That's what one of the guys at the PO said. Either way I've owed them something nice for awhile (I mail things a LOT). :)