812-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 14, 1991
National 4-H Contestant Learns
Food Skills At Early Age
GAY N. BROWNLEE
Somerset Co. Correspondent
BERLIN (Somerset Co.) —
Michele Countryman says, “When
I was little, I liked to put seeds in
the ground and come back a cou
ple of weeks later and they would
be growing. I loved it.”
Her involvement with foods
began when she was six years old.
Recently returned from the
National 4-H Congress in Chica
go, Michele, 16, was the Pennsyl
vania State winner in food conser
vation, preservation and safety
program.
Because she has developed a
strong fondness for homegrown
vegetables, the Berlin-Brothers
Valley High School junior confes
ses while grinning shyly, “Lots of
times I don’t eat the vegetables
served at school,” adding that they
lack the good flavor she is used to
having in her vegetables.
Michele says, and her mother,
Linda Countryman, agrees, that
when Linda gets called out to the
bam during the middle of some
cooking project they’ve got going,
Michele takes over and fmishes
the job alone. The women grow,
can and freeze their own veget
ables. They also put up lots of fruit
during the season.
Linda says she knew nothing
about canning until her marriage
to David Countryman, following
which his mother taught her all
about it. When Linda looks at her
daughter’s accomplishments at
such a young age, one can see
pride beaming from the mother’s
face.
During her 4-H years with the
Milksquirts, Michele has com
pleted 12 food projects from can
ning hundreds of quarts of food
for her family, to mall promotions,
donating her baked goods to agri
culture, civic events, walk-a
thons, and fairs. She has taught
classes on breads. Her pupils dis
tributed the fresh loaves to area
elderly persons. During the last
year Michele has won numerous
“firsts” and “seconds” in various
baking competitions.
Michele is exchanging recipes
with the 4-H Minnesota exchange
guest from last summer and has a
favorite recipe she likes to make
for her family. Find it at the end of
the story.
Getting her driver’s license last
September was a plus for the fami
ly. No longer a chauffeur for
Michele, Linda says I can just say
“Goodbye” when she (Michele)
has to go some place.
Michele is very active in the
Dairy Bowl, Farm City Week,
Junior Holstein Association, Stu
dents Against Driving Drunk, loc
al and county 4-H council, Ski
Club, Forensics and Youth Traffic
Safety Council. Oh, yes, she likes
to go hunting and has bagged both
a buck and a doe deer.
Following her own attendance
at Vacation Bible School, she
became an assistant during the
sessions. “I like working with
little kids,” she says. She reported
that one time she took a live lamb
to show the children. “I was
scared. I thought he’d take off run
ning through the church.”
”1 would like to stay with the
4-H program and combine it with
agriculture,” says Michele, when
discussing her future with the
hope of attending Penn State Uni
versity from which her bother,
Michael, recently graduated.
She also has one sister, Mindi,
Michele might be young, but that doesn’t keep her from
being an expert at canning food.
who is in the fourth grade.
When preparing for competi
tion at the state level, Michele
says she was initially over
whelmed by the information
requested on the white form with
regard to the history of her 4-H
projects. She says it was much
more detailed than she expected.
But she had kept good records.
and, by taking it step by step, she
managed to complete it on time.
Michele was one of 43 4-H’ers
in the state to attend the 4-H Con
gress. They were selected from
117,000 state members.
Time to send Christmas greet
ings. As I go over my mailing list
and delete the names of those who
have passed on I am glad that it is
only a few. To mail 100 cards, I
must spend almost as much for
postage as for the cards.
When you find a letter with a 1-
2- or 3-cent stamp you know that
you’ve found an old one. My
mother-in-law received many post
cards and she kept them. Now
when I look through the book that
I’ve put them in, I see that most
Christmas cards from 1905 to
1910 had one cent stamps. And,
they mostly pictured angels and
holly on die front.
It appears that communication
was mainly carried on by mail.
The messages on the front and on
the back often say, “I’ll meet you
at the trolley Friday night” or
“Come for Sunday dinner.” Now-
Here is one of Michele’s favo-
rite recipes:
SPECIAL K BARS
Bring to a light boil: 1 cup
white sugar, 54 cup light Karo syr
up, Vi cup dark Karo syrup.
Add: 1 cup creamy/crunchy
peanut butter, stir until melted.
Add: 4-S cups Special K cereal
and stir until coated.
Press into 9x13-inch cake pan
(well-greased).
melt over a double-boiler; 1 cup
each of chocolate chips and but
terscotch chips. When set, use
mixture to frost the candy.
Ida’s
Notebook
Ida Bisser
adays we do write letters but more
often we pick up the telephone to
deliver a message.
Keeping records of address
changes of far-flung relatives and
friends is a job. And, then there is
the decisions to be made about
sending to those who never return
a card. One must take into consid
eration their age and health as they
probably would like to receive a
card and a note. Writing notes in
the cards is what really takes time.
This year 1 should send ours early
so as to give people our new
address.
It is not only time to send cards
but also time to hunt the Christ
mas decorations. It will be a chal
lenge to decorate our new home.
But since we’ve invited all our
relatives again this season, I think
that I’d better get started.
See your nearest
I\EW HOLLAR
Dealer for Dependable
Equipment and
Dependable Service:
LVANIA
Annvllle, PA
BHM Farm
Equipment, Inc.
RDI, Rte. 934
717-867-2211
Carflalc, PA
R&W Equipment Co.
35 East Willow Street
717-243-2686
Oavidaburg, PA
George N. Gross, Inc.
R.D. 2, Dover, PA
717-292-1673
Elizabethtown, PA
Messick Farm
Equipment, Inc.
Rt 283 - Rheem's Exit
717-367-1319
Gattyaburg, PA
Yingling Implements,
Inc.
3291 Taneytown Rd.
717-359-4848
Halifax, PA
Sweigard Bros.
R.D. 3. Box 13
717-896-3414
Hamburg, PA
Shartiesville
Farm Service
R.D. 1, Box 1392
2164861025
Honey Brook, PA
Dependable Motor Co.
East Main Street
2162763131
2162763737
Honey Grove, PA
Norman 0. Clark
& Son, Inc.
Honey Grove, PA
717-734-3682
Hugh Seville, PA
Farnsworth Farm
Supplies, Inc.
103 Cemetery Street
717-584-2106
New Holland, PA
A.B.C. Groff, Inc.
110 South Railroad
717-354-4191
Olay, PA
C.J. Wonsidler Bros.
R.D. 2
215-987-6257
Pitman, PA
Schreffler Equipment
Pitman, PA
717-648-1120
Quakertown, PA
C.J. Wonsidler Bros.
R.D. 1
215-536-1935
Tamaqua, PA
Charles S. Snyder, Inc.
R.D. 3
717-386-5945
West Grave, PA
S.G. Lewis A Son, Inc.
R.D. 2, Box 66
215-869-2214
MARYLAND
Churchvllle, MD
Walter G. Coale, Inc.
2849-53
Churchvllle Rd.
301-838-6470
Frederick, MD
Ceresville
Ford New Holland, Inc.
Rt 26 East
301-662-4197
Outside MD,
806331-9122
Hagerstown, MO
Antietam Ford Tractor
301-791-1200
NEW JERSEY
Bridgeton, N.J.
Leslie G. Fogg, Inc.
Canton & Stow Creek
Landing Rd.
609-451-2727
609-935-5145
Washington, NJ
Smith Tractor &
Equip., Inc.
16 Hillcrest Ave.
201-689-7900
Woodetown, NJ
Owen Supply Co.
Broad Street &
East Avenue
609-769-0308