Mom's Cookies, Ready-to-Eat

Sherrett, who worked as a cook aboard the USS Kitty Hawk, said the ship provided chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies to the troops. "But they were from a mix. Homemade is so much better," he said.

Parker agrees. She and her sisters make all the cookies from scratch from both old and new recipes. The molasses cookies, for example, come from a recipe Goebeler remembers their mother baking when the five sisters were children. The coconut-lime cutouts are something new Parker tried this summer. Newman likes the traditional oatmeal cookie recipe on the Quaker Oats box, "except we substitute Rice Krispies for the raisins because we don't like raisins."

Baking for sons in the military is a family tradition. Parker remembers her mother baking for her brother when he served in Vietnam. "She used popcorn to fill the box, but we use bubble wrap," she said.

Parker and her sisters have learned how to ensure that their care packages arrive intact. "Early on, Marie sent Daniel a box of cookies, and by the time it arrived, there was nothing but crumbs," Parker said. "There's such great anticipation when they see a box from home, and you hate to disappoint them. We learned how to pack [the cookies] so even if the box gets crunched, the cookies are protected."

The secret, she said, is to use plastic containers to hold the cookies snugly. The sisters have used so many 64-ounce Glad containers, Marie Sherrett said, that the manufacturer sent them discount coupons.

Wax paper is put between each layer of cookies, "and only one kind of cookie per container so the flavors don't mix," Parker advised.

The plastic containers are then placed in a sturdy cardboard box filled with bubble wrap. "The boys have received boxes that look like they've been crushed, but the cookies inside were in perfect condition," Sherrett said.

And what does Parker's son think of getting the baked treats? Parker-Vaughan tells the story of when he was waiting to ship out to Djibouti, Africa.

The troops had been told to pack the military's meals-ready-to-eat for the flight, "but I had all these cookies from home. There wasn't enough room for both, so I threw out the MREs and filled my backpack with cookies," he said. "My buddies and I ate cookies for hours. The sugar high really kept us going."