Thanking our teachers

In the wake of last week's tragedy I'm still feeling very shaken.   Every now and again something happens that makes me start questioning all sorts of things about this life we live.  It is interesting to be having some (dare I say) existential thoughts while at the same time having business as usual around the house.  The girls are too young for me to talk in anything other than very general terms and since we don't have television it's very easy for them not to find out about such tragedies.  I'm all for facing reality as a child, but they can have their innocence a bit longer.

I do hope something changes in this country so we don't have to feel so uneasy about so many things but I can't help thinking about adults and children all over the world who are surrounded by real threat every single day.  I think about what kind of difference that has on forming their worldview.  I am the last one who has answers, but I have been very in my head these last few days.

I decided I would channel my feelings into some baking with the girls.  Namely CHOCOLATE.  If you know me you know that I don't really consider it dessert unless chocolate is involved.  If you know me well, you know the darker the better.  One of my favorite birthday presents was when my BFF got like 10 different kinds of chocolate and over an evening we blind tasted, evaluated, reviewed, and scored them all.  I think there was even wine involved.  Awesome!  So this year I decided to make all chocolate stuff for the girl's teachers.

Chocolate Crunch Granola- found recipe through Pinterest from Delicious Days  I did rough conversions from metric then was jus approximate since it's granola and you don't need to be precise.  We made 4 batches (each girl made 2) and packaged them in glass jars we had saved whose lids I spray painted silver.

Fudgy Mint Cookies- we used to make these at FHS and I loved them.  I found a recipe through Pinterest on Taste of Home that works well.  I used 1 teaspoon of dough an put little balls into a tray of powdered sugar that the girls rolled around.  This size is the perfect size for junior mints on top!  We made a double batch and ended up with somewhere around 100 cookies.

Chocolate Pretzel Rings- these are just ring pretzels on a baking sheet with a Kiss put in the middle of each one.  We used the dark chocolate kisses.  The girls had fun unwrapping and putting them on the tray.  You put them in the oven at 175 for a few minutes then jiggle an M&M in the middle of each one while they're still hot and melty (I did that part).  They're simple and super yummy.  We used red and green M&Ms to make them festive.

Sorry but I was too caught up in the action to take photos while we cooked but here they are all packaged up and ready to go.

I got to go in for a parent gathering at Ada's school and it was awesome.  The children all sang us songs and then did their favorite works to show us.  Ada decided to do some plant watering and leaf polishing then she traced some metal plates and colored them in.

As afraid as I may feel inside I want the girls to always think of school as a fun exciting place that they want to go to.  I think seeing Ada living life today in her classroom went a long way in making me feel better about the world.