82-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 21,2001
Join TASTE’ For
Food Ideas, Friendship
LOU ANN GOOD
Food And Family
Features Editor
LANDISVILLE (Lancaster
Co.) Food and friendship
appeal to people of all ages. The
combination forms the basis for
T.A.S.T.E., which stands for
Taste and See Thoughtful
Expressions.
The newly-formed group,
which meets the first Thursday
of every month at 7 p.m. in
Karen Mellinger’s home, Lan
disville, invites new partici
pants. No membership fee or
minimum attendance are re-
quired.
T.A.S.T.E. is an opportunity
to find new recipes, sample fa
vorites, and take home the sur
plus to share with families and
friends.
“I’ve always participated in
cookie exchanges and thought
that the common bond that
forms in these exchanges would
be nice to continue all year,”
Karen said.
Karen remembers the days
her parents operated an upscale
restaurant in Chicago. Her
father was a chef who enjoyed
trying a wide variety of ethnic
foods. Her mother was in charge
of planning seven-course meals.
Denise Hess sets the table with blue willow china, stemware, and gold-colored nap
kins in preparation for a gourmet feast. Her husband Mike restored the antique brass
candelabrum with polished prisms, which he found in Vermont. The Hesses will serve a
gourmet feast to the highest bidder on the date of choice.
Karen has recollections of help
ing prepare stuffed mushrooms
and other appetizers.
Seven years ago, Karen mar
ried Dick Mellinger, a Lancaster
countian, and moved into the
area, where she discovered that
Pennsylvania Dutch cooking is
less seasoned than most ethnic
cuisine.
Karen waitressed for a wide
variety of restaurants. But she
prefers experimenting with
baked goods and appetizers.
A subscriber to several food
magazines, Karen found herself
collecting more and more reci
pes. She thought a T.A.S.T.E.
would give her the opportunity
to put some of those recipes to
use.
“Periodically, I’d like to have
a new recipe night where ev
eryone brings something they’ve
never made before.”
May 3 will be the second
meeting for T.A.S.T.E. “We’re
only in our formative stage. I’d
like to get feedback from other
participants to see what they’d
interested in having the group
grow into,” Karen said.
Participants should bring
something baked for exchange
such as cookies, muffins, bars,
breads, candies or appetizers.
“The first several meetings
are sort of trial and error. Partic
ipants should probably bring
about a three dozen minimum of
cookies or candy, and increase
in a dozen increments if de
sired,” Karen said.
If surplus is left over, Karen
said the group would “bless
others” by giving the baked
goods to public service agencies
such as the police department,
fire department, library, post
office, and community projects.
“At this point, we won’t do
whole cakes or iced cookies, be
cause they don’t pack well,”
Karen said.
She’d love to find more reci
pes for casseroles that freeze
well. “Perhaps we’ll have a cas
serole exchange sometime. It’s
nice to have a casserole in the
freezer to serve to unexpected
company,” Karen said.
“Something I would like to
create in the future is a database
of information on each partici
pant. This database would re
flect the interests of each person
in the group. For instance,
maybe several people would say
they are interested in exchang
ing canned goods, looking for
fondue recipes or vegetarian
(Turn to Page B 3)
Five-year-oid Elizabeth
Hess steals a moment of
play with this handcrafted
doll bed that is available
through a silent auction.
Elizabeth’s dad, Mike,
made the four-poster bed
to fit an 18-inch doll, and
her mother, Denise,
stitched the bedding set
and coverlet. Seams
tresses stitched more than
65 outfits to fit 18-inch
dolls. These outfits and
some other items will be
priced for purchase rather
than auctioned during the
two-day benefit auction
(May 11-12) at the Kraybill
Mennonite School, 598
Kraybill Church Road,
Mount Joy. For more infor
mation, call the school at
(717) 653-5236 or visit its
website at kraybillms.men
nonite.net.
Karen Mellinger displays some of the cookies that par
ticipants brought to exchange during the first meeting of
T.A.S.T.E. The group offers opportunities to sample new
recipes, share the surplus with family, friends, coworkers,
and community, and form new friendships.
Qourmet Feast,
Doll Bed Will Qo
To Highest-Midder
LOU ANN GOOD
Food And Family
Features Editor
MANHEIM (Lancaster Co.)
For those who can’t cook,
don’t have time, or simply want
to enjoy a leisurely five-course
dinner without the time
consuming preparation, Denise
Hess has the solution.
She will prepare and serve a
gourmet feast in her home for
eight guests of your choice.
This unique service will go to
the highest bidder at Kraybill
Mennonite School’s 24th annual
benefit auction, May 12.
Patrons at the school try to in
corporate their talents into do
nating items for the benefit
auction. For Denise, cooking
and entertaining is her forte.
Her husband Mike, owner of
the Furniture Doctor, excels in
furniture making. Mike hand
crafted a doll poster bed in the
Chippendale style that will
placed on silent auction to go to
the highest bidder May 12 at 2
p.m.
Denise sewed a coverlet and
bedding set for the bed that fits
an 18-inch doll. In addition,
Denise and a friend cut out 65
outfits to fit 18-inch dolls. Moth
ers of students at the school
sewed the outfits. These will be
priced and available to buy
during the auction days. May
11-12.
Denise said that her love for
cooking was inherited from her
mother and grandmother
wonderful cooks. When Denise
was in junior high school, she
was responsible for preparing
family suppers because her
mother worked away from
home.
“My brother gave me appreci
ation for foods from beyond
Lancaster County,’’ Denise said.
“He liked to cook unusual
things and we’d eat it.” . '
Today, Denise prefers prepar
ing gourmet dishes, especially
desserts. For the dinner that will
be offered for bid, the menu in
cludes the following:
Asparagus Soup and Rolls
Mandarin Orange Salad
Leg of Lamb/Roast Beef
Buttered/Parslied Red Potatoes
Vegetable Medley (carrots,
snowpeas, yellow squash)
Chocolate Expresso Fudge Cake
“I’d love to be a pastry chef,”
Denise said, “I like to prepare
desserts that require several
days of preparation.”
She gets plenty of practice by
preparing desserts for friends
and church fundraisers. In fact,
for a church fundraiser, she of
fered a dessert of the month.
The highest bidder gets a dessert
each month on a date compati
ble with the recipient and
Denise.
All this cooking requires lots
of time and expense, but Denise
said that she and her husband
believe in the philosophy that a
three-cord strand cannot easily
be broken. The three-cord
strand, she said, refers to school,
church, and home.
The Hesses apply this belief to
laying a firm foundation of
training for children, Brad, 8,
and Elizabeth, 5.
When the school, church, and
home teaches the same (morals
and beliefs), children are
grounded *and strongly influ
enced to follow their childhood
teachings rather than compro
mise from peer and media influ
ence, Denise said.
For that reason, the Hesses
believe a sacrifice of their time,
money, and talents is well worth
it.