For those involved in Cookie Drop- got this recipe from my cousin who used to send her brother

Why are you confused?

The cookie recipe posted by CynUpstateNY was used by her cousin to send cookies to a soldier in Vietnam, not Iraq- Vietnam does not consider nutmeg against any religious values. Iraq does so we just don't use nutmeg or allspice. I think it may be as simple as that.

 
no, of course not, Cyn- but it is a matter of honoring the culture- as in "when in Rome...."

Even though we are fighting a war (don't get me started!) in Iraq we should honor the fact that the Islam nation considers certain spices as aphrodesiacs and does not allow them in their country. We are sending cookies to OUR troops but they are stationed in a "host" country.

 
It got Cyn's recipe confused with the Nestle site recipes, which said not to use it.

I confuse easily these days.

 
You are 100% correct Cathy. I lived in an Islamic country for 12 years and I>>>

always wanted to do as I would want someone living in my country to do. Respect their customs.

 
Marilyn or anyone...the Cranberry Bread only calls for 1/2 cup butter. Would butter flavored>>>

crisco work in place? I'm not a big baker so I don't know if you can substitute.

 
Orchid used a percent sign in the Subject field. Here's the

inside of her message:

"always wanted to do as I would want someone living in my country to do. Respect their customs."

 
Now I'm confused... NO spices, or just allspice and nutmeg?

Makes you really appreciate our religious freedom here in the US.

Maybe the "no nuts or peanuts" restriction is there because of allergies and not the heat factor?

 
Just allspice and nutmeg Dawn. They aren't lawful to Muslims. The nuts, peanut butter and>>>

butter is because they can go rancid. It will be much cooler now but I am going to stay away from them anyway.

 
Thank you Cyn. I just got back from shopping. Went to Penzey's Spice Store (m)

and spent a small fortune. It was so much fun!!!
They have so much to choose from and I needed some new spices. Guess I better get baking!!!!

 
OK ,can I ask a few questions and maybe be of some help here??

Do you have a specific troop that you are sending to? If you do, my suggestion is to get the name and the APO addy of the CO ( commanding officer) and mail it to him/her. Address it with their rank first than their name, last and first, company, and APO #. ( and make sure you write that it is for the entire unit, so they don't think that the Cookie Fairy landed just for them) Another suggestion is to go to whatever branch of the military that you want to send to and find their FRG on line and contact the person in charge and they will give you sending info. When I knew where DJ was going to be, mail only took about a week to reach him by the regular post office because it had a name and address with it. Also make sure you fill out the customs form that is attached to the package, or it will not be delivered.
Now, you won't really have to worry about the spice thing. I, and many others sent DJ things like pumpkin cookies and apple muffins. As long as you avoid the porn and the booze, it's pretty much OK to send anything because they are not out living among the Muslim population, they are at base with other military personal. You might want to avoid chocolate because it sits in the mailroom and can melt and make a mess out of whatever else you ship. Oh, and a note, hand written, is ALWAYS appreciated. They do get very lonely 6500 miles away, even with their buddies right there, it's the family that they are missing over the holiday season.

 
Butter and margarine will give sort of a similar result- butter will give a crisper cookie,

margarine a softer cookie but shortening will give a very different flavor. The texture will be sort of like what margarine will give but, in my opinion, the flavor of a cookie made using shortening as a substitute will be far inferior to butter or margarine.

 
Thanks Cathy. The butter flavored Crisco smells like butter and is used in the cookie>>>

recipes from the Nestle site for shipping to Iraq. I made one of the recipes and they were great, but they were "bars". I wanted to stay away from butter and wanted to make the Cranberry Bread that Marilyn posted. Maybe I'll just skip it.

 
Use it if you like it, orchid- it is just my personal taste that doesn't like it as a substitute

It sure doesn't mean that it shouldn't be used-LOL. The idea of using Crisco as a basic ingredient has been around for a very long time. I just personally don't like the flavor and texture of it. I have used the butter-flavored Crisco and dislike it intensely but again, it is just a personal thing for me.

 
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