Relief Society Potluck Picnic

Our first Relief Society Activity for the year will be a Potluck Picnic. We will meet at 6:30pm on Thursday January 14, 2010 at the church. Please bring a salad or dessert to share. We will start the evening with a Mingle Bingo. After we eat, we will be participating in "Speed Friending". It is a fun and easy way to get to know one another. This is for all Relief Society sisters. Please come and join in the fun.

Walk to Zion

2010 will be an exciting year in Relief Society. One of our first activities will be Walk to Zion.
We have been trying to think of ways for all sisters participate in an activity. This is a walking (or wheeling as needed) activity. We found some information from another ward about this activity. When the Mormon Handcart companies walked to Zion, they walked across Iowa following an existing road about 275 miles to Council Bluffs following a route that is close to the current U.S. Route 6.

After crossing the Missouri River, they paused for a few days at a Mormon outpost in Florence, Nebraska (modern day Omaha) for repairs.


From there they began the remaining 1,030 mile journey along the Mormon Trail to Salt Lake City. So they walked a total of 1,305 miles.

We are blessed as we begin our Walk to Zion.

• We can walk at our leisure
• We can walk in better weather conditions
• We can walk by ourselves or with friends
• We can go home after each walk
• We can walk with good clothing
• We can walk with sturdy shoes
• We can walk with water and/or food
• We can walk in air conditioning/heat if we have a treadmill
• We have no time constraints - unlike the pioneers who had to make it to SLC before the winter weather set in
• We are not going to die on the trail

We are going to take good care of these wonderful bodies we have been given. We would like to collectively walk 1,305 miles as a Relief Society. We would like to reach our goal before Pioneer Day in July. So lace up your walking shoes, grab a friend, put on a pedometer, and start walking. We will place a poster on the Bulletin Board for sisters to add their miles. Even if you only walk or wheel one mile (and it doesn't have to be done all at once either!!!) you can contribute to our Relief Society Walk to Zion. Join us as the Patuxent Ward Relief Society begins our Walk to Zion.

We hope that each sister will participate in the activity. You would be surprised how much walking you do in a day. It all adds up and it all counts. Set a goal for yourself for our walk.

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More Cookies

Here are the rest of the cookie recipes I have received from our Cookie Exchange. I hope to receive more recipes to post here :-) The first three cookies here I have the recipe, but I don't know who brought them to the cookie exchange. Let me know who the baker is and I will give you credit. It is not too late to get your recipes to me to share.

Coconut macaroons

Makes 2 1/2 to 3 dozen
4 egg whites
2 and 2/3 cups sweetened flaked coconut
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Directions:
Separate egg whites and discard the yolk. Add vanilla and almond extract and beat slightly with a fork. In a separate bowl mix coconut sugar, flour, and salt. Add egg mixture into the coconut mixture and stir until well moistened. Drop by teaspoons onto a well greased cookie sheet (parchment paper can be substituted for grease). Backe at 325 degrees F for 18 - 20 minutes. Drizzle with melted chocolate if desired.


Double Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup stick margarine
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
1/2 cup semi-sweek chocolate morsels
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a large mixer bowl, beat margarine and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until blended. Beat in eggs. Add melted chocolate and continue beating until mixture is smooth. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate morsels. Cover and chill 1 to 2 hours or until easy to handle.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll balls in powdered sugar to coat generously. Place balls 1 inch apaprt on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are set and tops are crackled. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool. ]
Yield: about 3 dozen cookies
Tip: To keep hands from getting sticky, coat with a light dusting of powdered sugar before forming balls.


Butter and Jam Thumbprints

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp fine salt
3/4 cups unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cups sugar, plus more for rolling
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup raspberry or strawberry jam
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper
Wisk flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl.
In another bowl, whip the butter and sugar with a hand mixer until fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla until just combined. Slowly beat in the dry ingredients, just until incorporated.
Scoop the dough into 1 inch balls and rool in sugar. Place about 2 inches apart. Press a thumbprint into the center of each ball. Fill each with about 3/4 tsp jam.
Bake cookies until the edges are golden, about 15 minutes. Cool cookies on the baking sheet. Serve.


Brownie Christmas Trees by Sis Colleen Martines

1 brownie mix
follow directions according to package; let cool
cut into triangles
break tiny candy canes to use as trunk of tree
Use icing and candy to decorate


Gingerbread Cookies by Sister Colleen Martines

Single batch:
3/4 cup of Crisco
1 cup of packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
Mix above ingredients

Sift together the following:
2 1/4 cup flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
Mix dry and wet ingredients together. Form a ball. Dough can be chilled in fridge before rolling out to cut into shapes.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
On floured table, roll dough 1/4 inch thick. Cut into shapes.
Bake 5 - 8 minutes. For chewy cookies, a little less time.
For icing: sift powdered sugar to take out the lumps. Mix with water until thick but slightly runny. Put into a sandwich sized freezer Ziplock bag. Cut tiny corner off to make disposable icing bags. Have fun decorating.

Book Group

The book group will be meeting at Amy Henderson's home on Thursday January 21. The book we will be discussing is Life of Pi

Patel Pi, a God loving boy, and son of a zookeeper has a fervent love of stories and practices not only his native Hinduism, but also Christianity and Islam. When Pi is sixteen, his family and their zoo animals emigrate from India to North America aboard a Japanese cargo ship. Alas, the ship sinks - and Pi finds himself in a lifeboat his only companions a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and a 450-Bengal tiger. Soon the tiger has dispatched all but Pi. Can Pi and the tiger find their way to land? Can Pi's fear, knowledge, and cunning keep him alive until they do?

Our Relief Society Cookie Exchange

We had our Relief Society Cookie Exchange last night.
We had lots of fun.

Everyone enjoyed just relaxing and visiting with one another.

Everyone brought an appetizer to share and Sis Martines brought wassil for us to drink.

We all brought 6 dozen cookies for the exchange.

Yummy!

I'll be posting pictures of all of the cookies and the recipes. If you didn't leave your recipe or if your name wasn't with the recipe, please let me know so I can let everyone know who made all of the delicious treats. It will take me more than one post to get all of the recipes typed, so check back for more goodies.

Oreo Truffles from Sis. Whipple

1 pkg (1lb 2 oz) Oreo chocolate sandwich cookies

1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, whipped

2 pkg (8 oz ea.) bakers semi sweet baking chocolate, melted

Crush 9 of the cookies to fine crums in a resealable plastic bag using a rolling pin. Reserve for later use. Crush remaining 36 cookies to fine crumbs in the same way. Place in medium bowl with cream cheese. Mix until well blended. Roll cookie mixture into 42 balls about 1 inch in diameter. Place on wax paper covered baking sheet. Refrigerate for 15 minutes until hard. Dip balls in melted chocolate, place on wax or parchment paper covered baking sheet. Sprinkle with reserved dookie crumbs. Refrigerate until firm and set 1/2 hour. Stor in refrigerator. Makes 3 1/2 dozen or 42 servings. Note: Melt chocolaet as indicated on box or use fruit dip found in produce section of grocery. Use 2 forks to lift truffle from chocolate - this allows excess to run off.

Holly from Sarah Aina

30 large marshmallows

1 stick margarine

2 t. cinnamon

Bright green food coloring

3 c. corn flakes

red hots

Melt together the marshmallows and margarine. Remove from heat; add cinnamon and food coloring. Mix well. Gencly stir in cornflakes. Drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper. Add red hots immediately - 2 or 3 red hots for each piece of holly.

Cream Cheese Christmas Cookies from Debby Mitchell

1 c. butter, softened

1 8oz pkg. cream cheese, softened

1 c. sugar

1/2 t. vanilla

2 1/2 c. flour

1/2 t. salt

1/2 c. pecans, chopped

red and green sugar crystals

pecan halves

Cream butter and cream cheese together. Add sugar and vanilla - at medium speed, beat untill light and fluffy. Combine flour and salt. Gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in pecans. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate dough for 15 minutes. On 4 sheets of foil, shape dough into four 6" logs, 1 1/2 " in diameter. Wrap each roll tightly in foil, refrigerate overnight. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line cookie sheetswith foil. Remove logs of dough from refrigerator one at a time. Coat each log with red or green sugar. cut in 1/4" slices. Place on foil lined cookies shees and top each cookie with a pecan half. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until bottom of cookie is lightly browned when lifted. Cool on wire racks.

The dough can be made ahead and the logs can be frozen. I put 4 logs in a ziplock bag and freeze until I am ready to bake.

Santa's Whiskers from JoAnn Henrichsen

1 c. butter

1 c. sugar

2 Tb. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

2 1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. finely chopped pecans

1 16oz jar maraschino cherries, drained and chopped.

1 c. coconut (or more as desired)

Cream butter, sugar, milk, and vanilla. Add flour and then nuts and cherries. Shape into three 7" logs. Roll in coconut, then wrap and chill. Cut into 1/4" slices. Bake at 375 degrees F. for 10-12 minutes.

Cookie Exchange

Take a break from the holiday rush and share some Christmas spirit with your Relief Society sisters.
On Thursday December 10, we will be having a Relief Society Cookie Exchange. We will meet at 7pm at the church.

Bring 6 dozen cookies for the exchange and your recipe.

Please bring an appetizer to share. Wassil will be provided. Hope to see you there.

Create!!

I truly love this message. It helps me feel empowered and excited to juice up my brain, to dream, imagine, and receive inspiration. I hope you too feel the energy of the gifts from our Loving Heavenly Father