Using Food as a Ministry, Part 1

The next two blogposts are interviews that I have done, one with a friend whose mother uses food as a ministry and another from a friend at our church who has personally blessed Andrew and I with her food ministry.

The first of the two interviews I did was with Jackie Shoemaker, whose mother, Nancy Shoemaker, has used food and her cooking skills in an unexpected ministry. The following questions are what I asked Jackie about her mother’s ministry.

• Q: Tell me a little background about your mother and her ministry in your church?

A: My mom knew she wanted to help in the church in any way she could, but felt like she didn’t have other talents, so being to make food for everything. Whenever there was a function with food, she would always have made the best food there.

Soon everyone was asking her to make food for numerous activities. She began talking with people and was asked to do a breakfast for the community to share the Gospel weekly. It was so professional and she spent hours on it weekly. We have had tons of people getting saved every week from her ministry.

• Q: What would you say your mom’s motivation to serve others?

A: She has been doing this for many years. If there has been anyone who needs a meal, she will make food without being asked. She just wants to serve. Her motivation for ministry was because she wasn’t focused completely on the food (other than making appealing), but she was more focused on the point and the people.

• Q: From your perspective what is some advice she would want to give?

A: For cooking: use whole ingredients and don’t skip steps or take short cuts. Always practice! I always expected that my mom would say that to me as I made food! But, more importantly, in ministry: look at the talents the Lord has given and use them. Even if I’s not a typical talent, you can use it in or out of the church.

• Q: Favorite dessert?

A: Peanut butter bars with chocolate on the top. They are soo good!

Nancy Shoemaker has used her talents for making food as a ministry in their church. Not only has the ministry grown to be a help for people’s basic necessities, but also been a great avenue for providing for the spiritual needs of others. As Jackie said, many people have come for food and left having been introduced to Christ. Providing for the physical needs of others is a wonderful way to share Christ’s love and help them know where they will spend eternity.

Temptations

Today my husband locked his keys in the car. I woke up to his phone call at 11:00am, saying that I would need to a find a way to get across town, where he was reffing soccer, and get his keys and wallet out of the car. After this stressful episode today, I decided to feature my husband’s favorite dessert. It actually isn’t a dessert – it’s candy, but I made it into a dessert.

 

Andrew will do nearly anything to get any dessert that includes a Reese’s peanut butter cup. And so, I made one of my Grandma’s most common desserts. It is simple, really. Chocolate chip cookie dough with a Reese’s peanut butter cup. Our family refers to this wonderful dessert as “Temptations”.

Directions:

1. Make your favorite chocolate chip cookie dough recipe
2. Fill a cupcake pan with dough
3. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges begin to brown
4. Take pan out of the oven and insert Reese’s peanut butter cups in the center
5. Bake for another 3-4 minutes.

Thankfully, Andrew loved this tempting dessert. I think was a good ending to a stressful day. And I was also able to give some as a thank-you to the helper who broke into our car and retrieved Andrew’s keys. J

If you ever have some Reese’s on hand, give this recipe a try. I am sure you will love it!

Easy Cream Cheese Danish

Some of the most delicious desserts are breakfast desserts. I have every intention of doing an entire section of breakfast desserts, but in the mean time I will just give you my favorite. :)

This is a recipe that my grandma gave my mom and I. My family loved it, so my mom started making it for breakfast for nearly every visitor we had over for breakfast. The first time my mother-in-law came to visit my family, she had this danish for breakfast. And, of course, loved it just as much as we did. My husband (fiance at the time) asked her to get the recipe and she also started making it as a breakfast dessert for various people. Needless to say, this recipe has made its way around - and quickly! Everyone loves it!

Danish:
2 eight oz. cans refrigerated crescent rolls
2 eight oz packages cream cheese, diced
¾ cups white sugar
1 ½ tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp sour cream
 
Icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp milk
1 tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13 pan. Line bottom of pan with 1 can of crescent rolls and pinch all seams together to seal. In large bowl, mix cream cheese, white sugar, lemon juice, vanilla, and sour cream. Spread on top of rolls and place second can of rolls on top of filling. Bake in preheated oven for 20-30 minutes.

In a small bowl, stir powdered sugar, butter, and milk together. After Danish has cooled, drizzle with icing.

Egg-less Cookie Dough

Who doesn’t love to snitch some cookie dough?? I have discovered that cookie dough is much more delectable than the cookies after they are baked, so this recipe has come in handy many times. This is a great recipe to try with kids because it is easy and can be eaten right away, although it is less messy after is has been refrigerated. It also is a hit because it has no eggs! Woohoo for sweetened condensed milk, instead. J  

1 stick butter
¾ cup brown sugar
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups flour
1 tsp vanilla
Half bag semisweet chocolate chips

Melt butter and brown sugar together. Mix into a large bowl with sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, and flour. Add chocolate chips. Leave in refrigerator until cookie dough hardens and then roll into bite-sized cookie dough balls.

No Bake Eclair Cake

This recipe caught my eye from the get-go. I was so excited to try it that I ran out to get the few ingredients I still needed at nine o'clock at night. I even forgot one item and had my poor husband go back to get the final ingredient.

I made this delicious dessert because we were going to a friend's house for dinner and I wanted to be the best-looking dessert maker I could be. But, of course, humble pie was actually what was going to be on the menu.

Not only did I have too much milk, not enough whipped topping, and the wrong sized graham crackers, but I also over-filled the 9x13 pan and had milk running down the sides and into the back seat of my car on the way to our dinner date. Moral of the story: do not try a new recipe when it is for an event where others will have to eat it.

Overall, though, I do love this recipe. Hopefully next time I attempt it for a special occasion it will work right. :-)

http://www.screencast.com/users/JessicaSolarek/folders/Default/media/942c4601-b908-4f51-9792-89e6af809107

Ingredients:

For the cake:
1 box graham crackers
2 (3 ounces) packages instant vanilla pudding
3 cups milk
8 oz. container whipped topping, thawed

For the chocolate frosting:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup milk
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Line bottom of a 9x 13 pan with graham crackers. Combine pudding mix and milk. Stir in whipped topping to pudding mixture. Spread half of mixture over graham cracker layer. Top with another layer of graham crackers and the remaining pudding. Top with a final layer of graham crackers and prepare frosting.

For the frosting, melt the butter with the cocoa powder in a saucepan. Bring to a light simmer over low heat and let it boil for one minute. Whisk in milk and cook for three more minutes, letting the mixture bubble up around the edges. Remove from heat and beat in the confectioners’ sugar with a whisk. When the mixture is smooth, add vanilla. While the frosting is still hot, pour it over the top layer of graham crackers and smooth with a spatula that has been dipped in hot water. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Pumpkin Chip Cookies

I happened to randomly get a can of pumpkin filling the other day and remembered a recipe my mom told me about last fall that I hadn’t tried yet. This is the wrong time of year for autumn baking recipes, but I couldn’t just let this pumpkin go to waste. Even though spring fever would be more appropriate for this time of year, this yummy pumpkin cookie recipe was worth it! J

1 and 1/2 cup butter softened
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup sugar
15 oz can pumpkin
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups flour
2 cups quick oats
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Cream butter and both sugars together
Beat in pumpkin, egg and vanilla
Combine flour, oats, soda, cinnamon and salt
Add gradually to sugar mixture
Stir in chocolate chips
Drop by spoonful on ungreased cookie sheet
Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or till lightly brown

Whatever time of year, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies sounds delicious! Enjoy! :)

Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate

You can never ever have enough chocolate. I doubt a more wonderful taste exists in this wide world. Dark, white, milk. It’s all great!

Whenever I am bored, the first thing I look for in my kitchen to eat is chocolate. Recently, I have used this recipe for a chocolate topping for many dessert options. I have to give credit to the Steuerwald family for this recipe. Although I have discovered a few other similar recipes, this is by far the best I’ve made so far.  

Chocolate Fudge Sauce

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2 tablespoons margarine

2 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup chocolate chips

Mix. Melt(but do not boil). Enjoy. J

This delectable chocolate fudge sauce can be used on ice cream, cake, brownies, pudding, fruits, or any other dessert option involving chocolate you can think of.

Cupcake = Little Piece of Heaven

One of the first posts that I have planned on doing is about my recent obsession with cupcakes! However, I know nearly nothing about this delicious, wonderfully-sized dessert. So, for an answer to my questions, I was honored to have an interview with Tina Horneck. I found her to be quite an expert on the topic! J

The first cupcakes that Tina decorated were for a baby shower in October 2010, although she has been making various delicious desserts for years. She described cupcakes as ‘the perfect dessert’ – an opinion that I share, also. Over the past year and a half Tina has made various designs for baby showers, bridal showers, birthdays, holidays, and everything in between.

When I asked Tina what major components one would need to know about cupcakes, she summarized basic knowledge of cupcake making into the following two points:

1. Moisture in the cupcake is vital. A tip she gave is to make the cakes ahead of time, wrap, and freeze them until they are ready to be served so they conserve moister.
2. Four basic frostings are used for cupcake decorating. Each of these frosting is used for a different design.

·         Whipped – a light frosting made of cream and sugar

·         Buttercream – thicker frosting used for support designs

·         Royal – dries stiff and can be used for the creation of stick designs

·         Ganache – both used as filling or icing

In the future, Tina will be busy with more cake/cupcake decorating as she is planning to make the cupcakes for her brother and future sister-in-law’s wedding this summer. The theme of this design is Christmas in July. Can’t wait to see how she pulls this cupcake extravaganza off! J