Love, Serve, Connect & Cooking with Pat: December 2009

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Christmas Bake Art Project

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to share some cute pictures of my
granddaughters making ornaments for Christmas. I had given my first two classes this recipe. It is fun and easy and can be done for any occasion.

Please take notice in one of the pictures who is in the kitchen doing the dishes! My husband is truly a doll and supports me totally in my cooking projects. Hali and Miriah worked for hours

and the ornaments came out great. What a great way to express your love to another family member or a friend. Labor of love that keeps giving!

Bake-Art Dough

4 Cups Flour

1 Cup Salt

1 1/2 Cup Water

Blend flour and salt, add water and stir. Work dough into a ball and knead for 5 minutes until smooth and pliable. Add more water if dough is dry or more flour if dough is sticky. Roll out on floured surface. Cut out and place on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

We used a straw to make a hole in dough before we baked them so we could use ribbon as a hanger. You can make flower arrangements or anything that has to do with an event or time of year. This is a fun project and very rewarding! Enjoy

Monday, December 28, 2009

Cooking together with Greg (my husband)

Greg had ordered me two cookbooks for Christmas. One of the books is Perfect Pasta and the other is Julia Child, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Needless to say I am thrilled. Infact, I received lots of goodies for my kitchen.

On our way home from church Greg and I decided to make fresh pesto and pasta. Our grandsons gave us a basil plant which is growing like crazy and I quickly cut all the leaves for this dish. We worked as a team in the kitchen, Greg used the food processor and I prepared the ingredients. It was absolutely YUMMO and very easy to make.

I encourage you to step out and try something new. Go through your cookbooks with the family and ask what they would like to eat then work as a team. This is a great opportunity to teach your children how to set a table and help out with the process. It doesn't matter if they are male or female, they should learn about the kitchen.

Enjoy a meal together soon.

Pat

Friday, December 18, 2009

A Blessful visit at Ocean View Nursing Home!

Hi Everyone,
I wanted to share some pictures and a brief story of our experience at the Ocean View Nursing Home. I was asked by the Activity Director to do a cooking class for a small amount of residents who wanted to be involved in the process. On Wed. Nov. 25th. I went to the home with my granddaughter Hali who is 13 and met Marianne and Sandy there also. We proceeded to make two apple pies and two pumpkin and had a wonderful social time with the residents who participated. I have a heart for the elderly and so many residents at the home are part of our community, unfortunately they are often forgotten. It was a great time of sharing and the lesson that my granddaughter Hali learned is so valuable. To serve is to love, to give of your time is to love, to smile and hug is to love and lastly to break bread together is to love.
Hali was taking the pictures so she is not in them but you will see myself, Sandy and Marianne.

We all left feeling blessed and rewarded. It was a great experience!

Our First Cooking Christmas Workshop with Pat and Friends

Hi Gal's,
I wanted to share some pictures from our Dec. 11th. workshop on "gift giving". It was a wonderful evening and I enjoyed sharing with all of you. Gosh, you all successfully made "Gram Jam" and many other items to take home. Congratulations! I have spent days in my kitchen preparing gifts to be sent to family members because nothing shows more love than a gift made from our own kitchens. In fact, we were at our connection group last night and exchanged gifts. Linda received ours and it was gram jam and hot cocoa. She was thrilled!

Since our workshop I have made the chicken soup in a jar. This is easy and fun.

Today I will make a chocolate chip cream cheese coffee cake to try out.

The recipe makes 2 large loaves or 3/4 mini loaves.

1. 1/4 lb. butter ( 1 stick)                  6. 2 cups flour                         1/4 cup sugar
2. 8 oz. cream cheese                       7. 1 tsp. baking powder           1 tsp. cinnamon
3. 1 1/4 cups sugar                           8. 1/2 tsp. baking soda            1/4 cup pecans
4. 2 eggs                                          9. 1/4 tsp. salt
5. 1 tsp. vanilla                               10. 1/4 cup milk
                                                       11. 6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
Mix 1-5 in large bowl and beat until creamy. Combine 6-8 in separate bowl and blend slowly into large bowl. Stir in milk and chips with wooden spoon.
Grease pans and fill w/batter 1/2 to 3/4 full. Combine 3 topping ingredients and sprinkle on top of each loaf. Bake at 350 for 50-55 min. Test by sticking a knife in loaf and if it comes out clean, it's done.

Don't forget to release air from your zip lock bag containing your starter and you can bake on Sunday Dec. 20th. A friend of mine sent along a recipe for Friendship Cake. It requires 1 1/2 cup of starter and is a 30 day process adding fruit every 10 days. This will definitely be a labor and love and something you can all do with 1 1/2 cup of your starter this Sunday. If you want to join me on this project then reserve 1 1/2 cup starter and add 2 cups of sugar and one 16oz. can sliced peaches. Stir together in a bowl (remember no metal bowl or metal spoons) and cover loosely. This will sit on your counter. I will give more instructions as the days follow.

Merry Christmas to you and your family. I am planning the next workshop for Jan. and will release a date in a few days. We will start out the new year with "Cooking on a Budget". Please remember to keep a notebook with all your recipes. One of my goals is to help you create your very own personal cookbook that you are comfortable with and can enjoy. Looking forward to an exciting year cooking all together and loving the Lord.

John 6:35

I'm the bread of life, whoever comes to me will never be hungry again.

Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.