Baking for the best of causes

A few months ago I wrote a story for The Weston Forum about a man named Gil Sanborn, who was rallying his friends and neighbors to actively support American soldiers fighting in Iraq. I promised I would spread his story to readers of all the Hersam Acorn newspapers.

In the years since he witnessed the horrors of Sept. 11, 2001 from his office near the World Trade Center, Mr. Sanborn has tried to find “an emotional and moral compass” that could transcend the national upheaval since the attacks.

Gil decided to support service men and women with packages of food and necessities. He sent some through an organization called My Soldier, and then sent some to soldiers related to people he knew. Eventually, he connected with officers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, part of the 1st Infantry Division stationed in Schweinfurt, Germany. In August 2006, the 2nd Brigade arrived in Iraq for the second time during this war for a deployment that is expected to last 12 months. With the brigade stationed in Baghdad, it is a deployment not without peril, and the unit has seen casualties. The strategy is to have soldiers live in neighborhoods - rather than on large, secure bases - mixing with local Iraqis and trying to bring about stability.

Earlier this month, Gil and his son Whit visited the brigade at their home base in Schweinfurt, and they also went to the Landstuhl Military Hospital in Germany.

“The visit to Landstuhl was quite humbling and brought the war directly to us,” Gil wrote in an e-mail. “The first soldier we met had just come off a plane from Baghdad 30 minutes before with a severe leg wound from an IED that blew up his Bradley. Although he was in severe pain, he was only focused on the wellbeing of a fellow soldier in the vehicle who had lost one or both legs and hadn’t arrived yet. Others we met and spent time with were only focused on returning back to their units as quickly as possible.”

Back at Schweinfurt, Gil and Whit met with Family Readiness Groups, who lend emotional and practical support to the military families - spouses and children -left behind after their soldiers deployed to Baghdad. “They face the typical challenges of single-parent households, compounded by the strain of the dangers which their soldiers face downrange,” Gil wrote.

Gil has drummed up enough support that the Town of Weston, along with a variety of groups and organizations in town, now supports the brigade. The town declared March 3 to be “Weston Supports the 2nd Brigade Day.”

Everyone, however, is invited to join in. Anyone interested in contacting Gil, may e-mail him at gsanborn@optonline.net. Mr. Sanborn is in contact with Lt. Col. Robert Whittle in Schweinfurt, who said he can line up platoons for people to adopt very quickly.

There are a number of ways people may contribute. They may make financial contributions and/or they may put together packages to send to troops. Packages may contain food items or non-perishable goods. Soldiers are particularly happy to receive sauces they can use to spice up their MREs, wet wipes, and mosquito coils, which are more useful than insect repellents. One unit, Mr. Sanborn said, asked for cans of compressed air to spray the dust from their computers. I’ve also heard instant drink mixes are popular. Suggestions for items that are most appropriate to send may be found at http://www.adoptaplatoon.org/new/pdf/care.pdf.

For those who wish to do something independently, a page on the Department of Defense Web site http://www.americasupportsyou.com/americasupportsyou/help.html offers ways to provide support.

I’ve included the recipes that follow because it appears they would travel well. In my travels around the World Wide Web for tips on sending packages to Iraq, I came upon the following:

• Underbake cookies about one minute to preserve freshness.

• If making chocolate chip, substitute M&Ms from May to October.

• Freeze cookies until you are ready to ship them.

• Be generous with packing material.

• Pack any toiletries in separate boxes from cookies.

• Label anything made with nuts or nut products as “contains nuts.”

• No alcohol and no pork products.

Peanut Brittle

Makes 1 1/2 pounds

This recipe works best when the weather is sunny and dry rather than humid or rainy.

• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, plus more for pan
• 2 1/2 cups (12 oz.) dry-roasted, salted peanuts
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1 Tbsp. baking soda

Butter a large baking pan; set aside.

Combine peanuts, sugar, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan. Set over medium-high heat, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.

Insert a candy thermometer. Continue boiling, without stirring, until temperature registers 295 degrees, about six minutes. When sugar begins to brown, stir nuts gently to ensure even cooking. Remove saucepan from heat, and stir in the butter and baking soda; the mixture will begin to foam up, so mix quickly. Pour onto the prepared baking pan.

As soon as candy is cool enough to handle, use your fingers to stretch the brittle as thinly as possible over the baking pan. Allow the brittle to cool completely, about 45 minutes, then break into bite-size pieces.

Store in an airtight container up to 2 weeks.

Gingersnap Cookies

• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar, plus additional for sprinkling
• 1 large egg
• 2 Tbsp. finely grated, peeled, fresh ginger root
• 2 Tbsp. dark corn syrup
• 1-1/2 tsp. freshly grated orange zest
• 1 Tbsp. fresh orange juice
• 3-1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
• 1 Tbsp. ground ginger

In a bowl with an electric mixer, beat butter with 1-1/2 cups sugar until light and fluffy and add egg, beating until combined well. Beat in fresh ginger root, corn syrup, zest, and orange juice. Into mixture sift remaining ingredients and beat just until combined well.

Halve dough. On a sheet of wax paper, form each piece into a 10-inch log. Chill logs, wrapped in wax paper, at least one day and up to one week.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and lightly grease baking sheets.

Cut logs into quarter-inch-thick slices and arrange two inches apart on baking sheets. Lightly sprinkle cookies with additional sugar and bake in batches in middle of oven 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden.

Transfer cookies to racks to cool. Makes about 80 cookies.

Lemon-walnut Biscotti

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 10 Tbs. (1-1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1-1/3 cups sugar
• 1-1/2 Tbsp. finely grated lemon peel
• 2 large eggs
• 3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 3 cups chopped walnuts
• 1 large egg, beaten to blend (for glaze)
• Raw sugar (also called turbinado)

Whisk flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in medium bowl.

Using electric mixer, beat butter, 1-1/3 cups sugar, and lemon peel in large bowl until blended. Add two eggs, one at a time, beating just to blend after each addition. Beat in lemon juice, then flour mixture. Stir in walnuts.

Divide dough into three equal pieces. Place each piece on sheet of plastic wrap. Using plastic wrap as aid, form dough into 8-inch-long logs. Press logs slightly, flattening to 2 1/2-inch-wide logs. Enclose in plastic wrap and chill until firm, at least three hours and up to three days.

Position rack in upper third of oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Line heavy large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Unwrap logs, leaving on plastic. Brush top of logs with egg glaze. Sprinkle with raw sugar. Lift logs from plastic and transfer to prepared baking sheet, spacing evenly. Bake until golden brown and just firm to touch, about 50 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool completely.

Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees F. Line two heavy rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Using long, serrated knife, carefully cut logs crosswise into 1/3-inch-thick slices. Arrange biscotti, cut side down, on prepared baking sheets. Bake cookies until golden brown around edges, about 20 minutes.

Cool completely (biscotti will crisp as they cool). Store in airtight container at room temperature.