Last year around this time, my family, like many others, was feeling pretty isolated. We were a few weeks into the pandemic and the reality that life was not going back to normal any time soon was starting to sink in. Our spirits were low.

Then we heard a knock on our door. On our porch was the sweetest treat - a homemade cookie decorating care package.

A plastic pie container was filled with homemade sugar cookies, small containers of sprinkles, and a few piping bags full of different colored icings. We had a blast decorating the cookies and an even better time eating them. It was just the pick me up we needed!

Recently, our 10 year old neighbor had a trampoline accident that landed him in the hospital. I knew immediately I wanted to send over some goodies to brighten his family's day.

His family really enjoys ice cream, so I thought of banana splits. I bought all the fixings- chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla ice cream, bananas, strawberries, pineapple, peanuts, chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and cherries. I loved the ease of buying all the ingredients, but homemade chocolate sauce or strawberry topping would kick it up a notch. I packaged it together in a basket I had on hand from Target for easy transporting.

Since everything couldn't fit in one container, I had my kids design some cover art for another small cardboard box. I'm always looking for ways to involve them when taking food to others and this was a perfect way for them to use their creativity to bless others.

Desserts that are interactive and customizable are an especially fun treat. Some other ideas might include -

Full meals are always appreciated, but just bringing dessert is another good option to keep in mind. Everyone enjoys a sweet treat at the end of a hard day!