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Stephanie's
Blog
MARCH 2008
INTERNSHIP
WORKING WITH MY
FELLOW INTERNS IN TEXAS
On my way home to Virginia I stopped in Texas to work with my fellow
interns. We arranged a party for preteen girls. Six girls ranging in
ages from 8-15 came to our Blender Batter slumber party. We had three
blenders making Kamut®
Grain pancakes,
almond coffee cake, and banana muffins. Tiffany and I
were the team captains and there were two girls per blender. We made a
brochure for them to use and take home along with certificates. The next
morning we invited the girl's mothers to come and eat breakfast with us
at a neatly set table complete with tea and orange juice.
It was a very positive experience for everyone. The Girls were wonderful
and enthusiastic. At the end they all decided they could go home and
make the recipes by themselves. One mother said to us, "I want you
to know how much I appreciate that ya'll are doing this. The vision that
you have makes me want to cry. Usually it's moms that do this kind of
thing but ya'll are so young. That's so amazing you can do this."
We've had good training!
DINNER FOR FAMILIES OF ADOPTED RUSSIAN ORPHANS
More than 40 people came to the dinner we put on with Alex Krutov of "The
Harbor".
He managed the cooking, and we helped out. For centerpieces we spiraled
ribbon down the middle of the table and sprinkled potpourri and tea
lights. Emily and I shopped for napkins at antique stores which we
folded neatly and mixed with the variety of dishes. The families were
very excited and responsive.
I enjoyed my time in Texas with the girls. Tiffany and I made a new kind
of ice cream. Green tea! It was actually edible!
2008 CONVENTION IN VIRGINIA
The Virginia home school convention in Richmond this year was one of
the easiest we've ever done. We just about have it down to a science
now. I designed a new banner and had it printed at Kinko's. I set up my
laptop and played the pancake demo. I felt more confident talking to
people sharing helpful information. My helpers were Emily (15) and Sarah
(12). Sarah took initiative in serving coffee cake, restocking the
table, bagging orders and answering questions. So I gave her a Creative
Recipe Organizer and she was thrilled. Emily especially enjoyed writing
up receipts. She said "We play this a home all the time!"
Thursday night she observed me and answered direct questions. By Friday
and Saturday she was initiating conversations with people. She lives
close by so I proposed that we go through the Sue Gregg Cookbooks
Baking with Whole Grains high school course together this
summer.
MAY 2009 SCHOOL, WORK, CONVENTION
This week is finals after one semester of Bible college, then I will be
on to a community college in the summer to start working on a
nursing/health/medical/wellness/nutrition/fitness degree of some sort.
Still not sure exactly what, but something about the human body! Every
now and then I get together with friends to teach some whole grain
baking. I also sell loaves of bread to curious people (not on a
regular basis, but just as an introduction) and the response is always
positive.
I've been working at the Curves (fitness gym for women) near me
which has been a wonderful experience. I am the
coach/supervisor/cheerleader and the relational aspect has been super.
Every day I talk to people about their health. Right now the owner and
the manager teach the weight management classes but I might be doing
that soon too.
I am all set for the Virginia Home School convention. My Mom isn't
coming this time so it's just me. I have several helpers lined up. All
of them are new. The new Introducing Whole Foods Cooking
book arrived and YES - I would be happy to bring lots of copies to the
convention. I think many people would be interested in it!
March 2010 NURSING TRAINING, ROMANTIC DINNER, TEACHING AT WORKSHOPS,
COOKING IN CIVIL WAR RE-ENACTMENTS
I am almost done with
the prerequisites to apply to the nursing program at my community
college.
All of our hospitality
training is still paying off. A couple weeks ago I
went to visit my friend Sarah (she has helped me at the booth in the
past). We spontaneously decided to make a nice
dinner for her parents, so after taking stock of the pantry and
picking out recipes, we spent the rest of the day cooking and baking
just for fun. The menu was Lemon Baked Pollock, Shrimp
Scampi, Orange Rice, Cooked Spinach, Apple-Walnut-Tossed-Salad, and
for dessert we had Blackberry Pie with Vanilla ice cream. We
set out all the best dishes, folded up the napkins in a fancy way,
turned on the harp music, and lit the candles! It
was a breeze, and the fellowship was delightful. I
am so grateful for all the practice we got under your supervision!
February 26 our church
started a series of workshops called “Back to the Basics”.
I did the first kick-off session on Whole Wheat Bread Baking,
and my Mom followed that up with a session on Green Smoothies.
(This idea came from some library books I checked out.
See www.greensmoothiegirl.com
and www.greenforlife.com
. We have been drinking them daily for four or
five months now, and even the kids ask for it!) About
25 ladies attended, some from our church, some friends, some ladies
from Curves. I spent about 30 minutes talking
through the process of bread baking, showing how the equipment works,
and passing around little cups of grain or flour for people to handle.
Then the ladies could try samples of bread. Mr.
Gregg, I remembered what you said about people not being convinced
until their taste buds are convinced. It was
especially satisfying to see their skepticism over the green smoothies
turn into pleasant surprise. Several of them have
reported doing this with their families – who also appreciate the
green smoothies (everyone except the teenage boys). :)
Some of them are taking baby steps towards baking with whole
grains – some want to learn to adapt their bread machine recipes,
some want to do pancakes, some are interested in gluten free/soaking
method, one just bought a manual grain mill, etc.
We do Civil War Re-enacting with friends and our next food project
is learning to cook over an open fire! In the
past we have cooked up everything ahead of time and just reheated
soups and put breads in a basket, but we want to learn how to
actually start from scratch out in the field. :)
All for now.
With a smile,
Stephanie
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