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Happy birthday Gavin Michael Venesky!

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<p>It&#8217;s likely more than 30,000 cookies will be sold over the weekend at various cookie walks throughout the Wyoming Valley.</p><p>While many families may be in the midst, or finished, with their holiday baking, there are probably just as many folks who haven&#8217;t started. If you&#8217;re in the latter group, four holiday cookie walks are taking place Dec. 17. Organizers promise more than 30 varieties of cookies at an affordable price and the proceeds benefit local organizations, church groups and an ambulance association.</p><p>What&#8217;s a cookie walk?</p><p>&#8220;In our church hall we have tables set up. We have cookies set up on trays all along the tables and people walk up and down picking the cookies they want,&#8221; said Maria Calogero, one of the cookie walk organizers for St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church in Old Forge. &#8220;We have Styrofoam containers and you can pick out how many cookies you want. There are weigh stations in the middle so you can keep track of how much you&#8217;re buying.&#8221;</p><p>In Old Forge cookies will be weighed and customers charged $8 per pound.</p><p>In Hanover Township, at Exaltation of the Holy Cross Church, empty cookie trays will be sold for $9 each; customers then can pick their favorite flavors.</p><p>Members of the Youth Ministries from Exaltation of the Holy Cross Church will have baked more 20,000 cookies by Saturday. Ministries director Dominick Costantino Jr. said their cookie walk is in its fifth year and features more than 35 varieties of cookies.</p><p>&#8220;We have everything from the popular chocolate chip, snickerdoodles and sugar cookies to anise, ricotta, banana and orange flavored cookies,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Costantino Jr. said the money raised during the cookie walk helps to fund youth ministries programs within the parish and the community.</p><p>&#8220;Recently we did a food drive and we purchased bags and all the supplies and were able to make a donation,&#8221; Costantino Jr. said. &#8220;After the cookie walk we&#8217;ll write out Christmas cards for our home-bound parishioners. We&#8217;ll also fill stockings and bring them to a local nursing home. We&#8217;ll spend some time there, sing Christmas carols and give some gifts. All the programs that we do, they don&#8217;t only benefit the kids but the community at large, too.&#8221;</p><p>Costantino Jr. said the cookie event has become a tradition for members of the youth ministries as well as their families.</p><p>&#8220;Youth ministers and their families look forward to it every year,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s also become a tradition for the community. Year after year our fundraiser has become a part of their tradition now and that&#8217;s really exciting.&#8221;</p><p>Here&#8217;s recipe number eight along our 12 Days of Cookies journey.</p><p><strong>Chocolate dipped coconut macaroons</strong></p><p>1 cup egg whites</p><p>1/2 cup flour</p><p>8 oz. chocolate chips</p><p>1 1/2 cup sugar</p><p>1/4 tsp. salt</p><p>2 tsp. vanilla extract</p><p>1 3/4 cups sweet coconut</p><p><strong>Procedure</strong></p><p>Preheat oven to 350 degrees.</p><p>Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.</p><p>In a heavy sauce pan combine all ingredients, mix and place over medium heat to cook. Stir constantly while scraping the bottom until the mixture is dry and fairly stiff (about 10 minutes).</p><p>While mixture is still hot, dole out 1-2 tbsp. of mixture on the cookie sheet and place them about 1 inch apart. Bake 20 minutes or until golden brown. Rotate tray for even baking.</p><p>After the cookies are baked, melt chocolate and dip half the macaroon. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until chocolate is hard.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Helen Oschal, left, has her cookie selection from St. Michael&#8217;s Byzantine Catholic Church Cookie Walk as she talks with Marge Brozzoski, Exeter, and Michael Moran, Dupont, on Sat., Dec. 11. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_St.-Mikes-Cookie-Walk-1-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Helen Oschal, left, has her cookie selection from St. Michael&#8217;s Byzantine Catholic Church Cookie Walk as she talks with Marge Brozzoski, Exeter, and Michael Moran, Dupont, on Sat., Dec. 11. </caption0><photoCredit0>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_St.-Mikes-Cookie-Walk-2-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">St. Michael&#8217;s Byzantine Catholic Church, Main St., Pittston, volunteers, Joe Halat, Dupont, left, and Irene Cigan, Dupont, give a helping hand to shopper Gerard Francik, Pittston. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_St.-Mikes-Cookie-Walk-2-2.jpg</photo1><caption1>St. Michael&#8217;s Byzantine Catholic Church, Main St., Pittston, volunteers, Joe Halat, Dupont, left, and Irene Cigan, Dupont, give a helping hand to shopper Gerard Francik, Pittston. </caption1><photoCredit1>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_St.-Mikes-Cookie-Walk-3-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Ricardo Olmedo, Old Forge, holds a pot filled with raffle tickets being picked by Linda Hando, Exeter. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_St.-Mikes-Cookie-Walk-3-2.jpg</photo2><caption2>Ricardo Olmedo, Old Forge, holds a pot filled with raffle tickets being picked by Linda Hando, Exeter. </caption2><photoCredit2>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_IMG_5973-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">If you&#8217;re a fan of macaroons these chocolate dipped coconut ones won&#8217;t last long if you easily give in to temptation. Enjoy. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_IMG_5973-3.jpg</photo3><caption3>If you&#8217;re a fan of macaroons these chocolate dipped coconut ones won&#8217;t last long if you easily give in to temptation. Enjoy. </caption3><photoCredit3>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Day 8 of cookie recipes features chocolate dipped coconut macaroons</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Sarah Haase</p><p>shaase@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>WHERE TO BUY COOKIES:</strong></p><p><strong>&#8226; <strong>Plains United Methodist Church, </strong></strong>133 North Main St., Plains, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, more than 20 different homemade varieties, $8 a pound.	570-200-5040. (Snow date, noon, Sunday Dec. 18).</p><p>&#8226; <strong>Swoyersville Ambulance Association,</strong> 99 Scott St., Swoyersville. 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 17, $25 tray; $10 per tin.</p><p><strong>&#8226; Holy Trinity Orthodox Church,</strong> 401 E. Main St., Miners Mills section of Wilkes-Barre. 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 17, $10 per pound.</p><p>&#8226; <strong>St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church,</strong> 320 Vine St., Old Forge. 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 17, $8 per pound.</p><p><strong>&#8226;Exaltation of the Holy Cross Church Youth Ministries,</strong> 420 Main Road, Hanover Township. 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 17, $9 per container.</p></factboxMeta></div>

12 Days of Cookies: Day 8 - Chocolate dipped coconut macaroons