QuaranTreat Fairies Be Fluttering About

Since November, I’ve embarked on a Covid winter project to bake a little something new each week and distribute these treats among my friends and neighbors. The idea was born upon contemplation of a new year’s resolution following a 2020 that pretty much sucked all the joy out of life. The prospect of giving something up as a resolution for 2021 seemed ridiculous to me, since we had all lost so much already. Instead, I liked the idea of doing some small act of kindness for the people I care about. I know very few people who do not like baked goods, and what’s better than surprise baked goods delivered to your home mid-week during a shitty ass pandemic?

My first week of treats consisted of pumpkin cream cheese muffins, a recipe I hadn’t whipped up in years. It was a great excuse to make these calorie bombs again, knowing I wouldn’t sit at home and eat them all, yet I’d be able to have one with my coffee. Okay, maybe I had two . . . Still, I was able to give them away and not have them sitting at my house tempting me all day. At the time I didn’t know what to call this little project. My 5-year-old William and I drove around south Minneapolis and delivered muffins with a note calling ourselves something like the “Covid Treat fairies,” realizing later that Covid treats sounded less than appealing. I reached out to a creative friend for ideas and she suggested QuaranTreats instead. And thus, the QuaranTreat Fairies were born. Thanks Cori!

Cream cheese filled pumpkin muffins, a.k.a. calorie bombs

Facing a long, cold Minnesota winter trying to do distance learning with a 10-year-old while entertaining a bored 5-year-old during a pandemic is less than ideal. But this project has been nothing but positive and fun and it is helping us get through the Covid winter of our discontent. William likes to help me out in the kitchen, so it’s a good way to occupy him and get him involved in a hands-on way. I really enjoy baking and have taken this as an opportunity to challenge myself a bit in the kitchen. I’ve tried baking macarons and baklava for the first time ever, along with decorating sugar cookies with royal icing. The baklava was one of the tastiest things I’ve ever made and will definitely be revisited. The royal icing was a big learning experience and pain in the ass, but the results were very pretty. I’d like to do it again, but when I have a whole day to set aside to work on it. I do hope to revisit macarons again, too, and see if I can get my colors to pop this time.

 

Incredibly delicious baklava

At the moment, delivery mode is pretty basic and not elegant. I am hoping to develop something slightly more sophisticated than the plastic ziplock bags with twine handles we’re using now, mostly because adding the twine handles is a pain in the ass. I recently ordered some white gift bags with handles that I’d like to have William decorate with his best 5-year-old artistry. It’d certainly save me some time to not have to add the twine to the bags.

QuaranTreat Fairy William in action.

Overall, there’s really nothing not to love about this project. William and I get to bake together, I get to experiment a bit, and ultimately we get to spend an afternoon together driving around, listening to music and dropping off surprise treats to people who need a little pick-me-up. I usually grab a coffee from Caribou while we deliver and William gets a little lesson on basic kindness. Meanwhile, I get to satisfy my sweet tooth without devouring way too many calories and it just feels really good to do something nice for people and put out some positive energy.

 

Raspberry white chocolate Motherlode scones

This past week I went a bit nuts with basic chocolate chip cookies. I made a lot of cookies and we ended up doing 15 deliveries. It took awhile, but we made it. The experience of doing this many deliveries and looking at the list of friends we didn’t get to this week, really makes me realize how lucky I am to have this many friends. Each week I try to figure out who hasn’t been hit in a while and is due up for a visit from the QuaranTreat Fairies. I also make an effort to pay attention to what’s going on in people’s lives. Who recently had a baby? Who recently posted about losing a loved one, having a sick kid or just a shitty ass day? I try to pay attention and remember and then make sure they’re on the week’s delivery list or on deck for the following week. So, I guess in a way, the project has made me more empathetic and aware. I’m also a sucker for teachers and nurses. I really like to throw treats their way, as it is not an easy time to be either.

It may not change the world, but I’m very happy to have the opportunity to spread a little joy right now with butter and sugar, under the QuaranTreat Fairy moniker. It’s all very simple, but sweet. Literally.