January & February with the Rangers

January was a very busy month outside of Guiding for all of us, so we didn't me again until February.

Our first meeting of February was spent planning activities for camp the following weekend.

On Friday, February 14th, we were off to Winter Camp! See the post - Guide/Pathfinder/Ranger Winter Camp 2014.

Tuesday, February 18th was our town-wide Thinking Day celebration. See the post - World Thinking Day 2014

Congratulates to Allison and Sarah who were presented with their Chief Commissioner's Bronze Awards!

Our next meeting was held that Friday, February 21st, and we continued working on the UK Chocolate Badge (started at camp by making Truffles and Bark). Our treats tonight included White Chocolate Covered Pretzels (some with sprinkles), Toblerone Fudge, and White Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies (some topped with grated chocolate).

The White Chocolate Covered Pretzels were made by melting white chocolate wafers in a double boiler, then dipping the pretzels into the chocolate and laying them on wax paper to harden. Sprinkles should be added before the chocolate sets.

The Toblerone Fudge is made by melting a 400g Toblerone bar with a can of Sweetened Condensed Milk in a double boiler. Once the chocolate is melted and the ingredients blended, remove from heat and add 2 tsp of Vanilla. We poured the mixture into mini cupcake holders to make bite-size fudge, but you could also use a parchment paper-lined pan.

The White Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies were made by melting white chocolate wafers in a double boiler, then dipping shortbread cookies into the chocolate and laying them on wax paper to harden. The grated chocolate was from a square of bakers chocolate and grated over the cookies using a mini grater.

The chocolate theme was continued at our last February meeting, where we made Chocolate-covered Peppermint Patties and Cinnamon Roasted Almonds.

The Peppermint Patties were made by mixing a 3/4 cup of Sweetened Condensed Milk with 1.5 tsp of Peppermint Extract, then mixing in about 4 cups of Icing Sugar to form a stiff dough. The dough was then rolled into balls, flattened, and placed on waxed paper to set. We should then have been able to dip the patties into the chocolate (made by melting chocolate wafers in a double boiler), but as the patties weren't quite set we improvised by using a spoon to pour chocolate over the patties on the plate - the result looked a bit odd, but still tasted really good!!

The Cinnamon Roasted Almonds were made by beating 1 Egg White and 1 tsp of Water until frothy, then adding the almonds (we had about 2 cups, the recipe called for 4 cups). In a separate bowl, 1/2 cup Sugar, 1/4 tsp Salt, and 1/2 tsp Cinnamon were mixed together and then sprinkled over the almonds. Mix and toss everything until all the nuts are well-coated. Spread the nuts out on a lightly greased cookie tray and bake at 250F for 1 hour. (These were a huge hit and disappeared very quickly! It is important to grease the tray - the nuts are sticky)

We also started sewing the toothbrush/toothpaste holders made from washclothes that were started at our crafting afternoon over the Christmas holidays.