Tiffany's Blog SueGreggCookbooks Internship


	Tiffany's Blog 1993-2004 INTRODUCTION My first encounter with Mr. and Mrs. Gregg was at the Arlington, Texas Home School Book Fair when I was 16 years old. On Thursday before the book fair, a friend of our family’s called me and asked if I wanted to bake two recipes of Almond Coffee Cake and bring it to the SueGreggCookbooks booth. There I served coffee cake, talked to people about my experience with these cookbooks, and in turn received a set of cookbooks of my own. I was excited about this. My family had used the SueGreggCookbooks since 1993 – my mother taught me to cook using the Lunches & Snacks book when I was in kindergarten. I enjoyed talking with the families and sharing my story with them while serving the coffee cake that Friday. It was also great to finally meet the Greggs after our family had used their cookbooks for so many years! For the next four years (with support from my wonderful family) I managed the SueGreggCookbooks booth at the Arlington, Plano, and Grapevine, Texas Home School Conventions. It was a great learning experience for me. MY INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE MARCH 2008 When the opportunity came up to visit the Greggs in their home for a hands-on Internship, I was not sure what to expect. But I was eager to learn and was also curious to see Southern California :). I arrived at Ontario Airport near Riverside in early March 2008 with two other girls from Texas, Emily and Mary’beth. Meeting us there at the Greggs’ home was another girl, Stephanie, from Virginia. The four of us were excited to learn. During the Internship we prepared countless recipes, learned about menu planning and planned and served two Guest Dinners. The Guest Dinners were a wonderful experience for me! I loved seeing what all went into an elegant dinner and seeing that it really is possible to put together an enjoyable meal in an appropriate amount of time. I love blessing others with meals when they are sick or have a new baby. This produced new creative thinking for hospitality, though. While taking a meal to a family is serving, it seems that serving a Guest Dinner to a certain audience would be just as much of a blessing. It really opens up the doors for fellowship, discipling, and showing God’s love. AFTER MY INTERNSHIP I was able to take what I learned and apply it directly into my family. I am the oldest of five (ranging from 4-21 years old). I felt more prepared and experienced in producing well-balanced meals for our family. I was more time-efficient, which is priceless in a big family :). The Lord really opened my eyes during the internship to see that He cares about food and our health. And that I have a responsibility to help those I care for by serving nutritious, great-tasting meals. SERVING A GUEST MEAL WITH AN INVITED SPEAKER Not long after the Internship had come to a close, the opportunity came up to put into practice what we had learned about serving Guest Dinners. Alex Krutov was going to be in DFW, Texas (my hometown) speaking to some churches about his ministry, The Harbor, which equips Russian orphans with the skills they need to survive and thrive in their culture. The four of us girls couldn’t let this chance slip by. We contacted Alex and asked him if we could host a dinner for some families in our church who had adopted Russian orphans if he would come and speak to them. Alex agreed, and the plans started coming together. We all met at my home the morning of the dinner (including Stephanie, who stopped in on her way back home to Virginia). On the menu was Boeff Chandelier, Golden Mashed Potatoes, Carrot Salad, Borsch (a Russian soup) and Dessert Crepes for the finale. Alex was the “Master Chef” and instructed us where instruction was needed. It was a great experience! There were over 40 people in our home that evening. Alex shared a video with all of us and then spoke to the parents and their children on a more personal note – sharing his story and taking questions. The day was a whirlwind of excitement. Creating the atmosphere for something like that to come together was a joy. A BLENDER BATTER SLUMBER PARTY In the midst of planning for the Russian Dinner, Stephanie and I had also been planning our first ever Blender-Batter Slumber Party for girls. We had six girls come to my home (bringing their blenders!). We divided them up into three teams and each team chose a different recipe (Almond Coffee Cake, Pancakes or Banana Muffins). Stephanie and I then instructed them on starting the first stage of their chosen recipe. That evening we played games and we all watched a movie before going to bed. The next morning we had arranged for the mothers to come a bit early and join us for breakfast. Stephanie and I coordinated the girls as they finished the second stage (see the Two-Stage Process) of their recipe and set an elegant table. The final presentation was beautiful. Moist Almond Coffee Cake, sunny Scrambled Eggs, warm Banana Muffins, smiley-face Pancakes and fresh fruit adorned the bright red table cloth on our over-sized family dining table. What a feast we had! These girls ranged in ages from 8 years old to 14 years old. And they had done a wonderful job preparing a healthy and delicious breakfast! JOHN ENTERS MY LIFE The following summer was a busy one in my family. Working for our church (Heritage Family Church in Watauga, TX) as the Administrative Assistant, helping with my family and participating in our church’s annual mission trip to Mexico kept me very busy (with not as much time for cooking, unfortunately). With permission and encouragement from my parents, I also started a correspondence with a young man named John that I had met briefly the year before. That August came our season of “courtship”. He had been away at training (as an Officer in the United States Marine Corp) and came home to Texas for a short couple of weeks. In that time he asked my dad’s permission to pursue a relationship with me with the intent of marriage. My dad happily gave his consent. Two days later, he moved out to his station duty at the Military Base in Twentynine Palms, California. We corresponded by phone, snail-mail and email over the next few months. I also was able to visit for the yearly Marine’s Birthday Ball that we attended together in November. MY FIRST THANKSGIVING DINNER During that time, the Greggs extended a unique invitation to me, which I couldn’t pass up. Since my relationship with John had been mostly long-distance since we met, I hadn’t had the chance to cook a meal for him (although I had been shipping him cookies and other baked goods :)). I would be in town over Thanksgiving while I was there for the Birthday Ball – so the Greggs offered to let me commandeer their kitchen and prepare and serve a Thanksgiving Dinner to John and 8 other guests. It was a great opportunity, as I had never prepared a Thanksgiving Dinner on my own. Mrs. Gregg assisted me and we prepared nearly a dozen recipes – from Thanksgiving Turkey to Four-Vegetable Stir-Fry to Apple Cheesecake. The evening was enjoyed by all – and now I know how to prepare a Thanksgiving Dinner for next year :). MARCH 2009 A WEDDING Christmas came before I knew it – along with Christmas leave for John. On December 19^th, he came back to Texas for 17 days. But he wasn’t there for more than a couple of hours before he popped the question I said yes! We were engaged, to the excitement of both of our families :) Over the Christmas holidays a date was set and March 7, 2009 came very quickly! With the help of countless friends, family, church family and of course my mom, the wedding was beautiful. MY OWN HOME John and I live in Twentynine Palms, California now, in a brightly painted house that John bought in September. I’ve been so thankful for the training that I received from my mom and from the Greggs over the years. It has been a joy to be able to cook healthy, tasty meals for John. It certainly is a treat for him! I am thankful that I have such a good understanding of nutrition to start our marriage on! TEACHING AN INTERNSHIP In April 2009 a new Internship started in Sue Gregg's kitchen. This time, however, I was the kitchen leader. It worked out well for me to participate in this internship because John was on a short-term training deployment. So I packed my things and headed for Riverside once again. We had been planning this internship since my visit to the Greggs' home in November, so there were just a few things to get in order before the new interns arrived. As the study text, we used a new book: An Introduction to Whole Foods Cooking. In the book are 13 menus, all of which were prepared and served throughout the two week course. Each day, Jory and Amanda were assigned one to two menus to prepare. I supervised their preparations and we all participated in reading through the Nutritional Basics section of the book. During each meal we rated the recipes (from 1-10) taking into account the taste, appearance, smell, texture, color, etc. I also had the opportunity to lead the Group Bible Studies three times a week. There were six studies from the books of John and Luke, each having a unique tie to food or hospitality. As the two week internship with Jory and Amanda came to a close, they continued to work hard. Thursday night before the internship ended was the big event! We started preparing some recipes several days in advance. I plotted out the scheduling and made sure we were all on track. This wasn't just any dinner - this was a Russian dinner! Jory and Amanda served Boeff Chandlier, Golden Mashed Potatoes, a Russian soup called Borshch, Carrot Salad and Yogurt Pie with coffee and hot tea for dessert. The objective of the evening was for Sue Gregg to update everyone on her recent trip to Russia. There were eleven guests total and the evening was a wonderful time of fellowship and praying for The Harbor and other Russian friends of Sue's. That next morning was the last day. We made several Almond Coffee Cakes, as an extra part to the Internship, and took them to neighbors along with the new book and a magnet with the verse, "I am the Bread of Life..." as an Easter gift. It was a great ending to the Internship! RECIPE TESTING For the rest of this year John and I are spending our time in Twentynine Palms, at our home. I will be preparing menus for us, and at the request of Sue, I will be adding in some specific recipes for testing. This will be a great opportunity for me. I hope to become more confident with recipe ingredients through experimenting with these recipes and documenting the changes in texture, consistency, taste, and appeal. The only down-side is we may have way too much food for ourselves!! One thing I've learned though is that people never turn down food! If we have too much I plan to give it away :)