My Favorite Recipes: Meet Jennafer McCutchen

Jennafer McCutchen grew up in Walla Walla before the family relocated to the Palouse three years ago when Jennafer transferred over to WSU where she completed her bachelor degree in Philosophy. Jennafer is married to Jordan McCutchen and they are the proud parents of two children, Rebecca and Caleb.

Jordan is currently employed by the University of Idaho, and Jennafer works at Washington Trust Bank. When Jennafer isn't busy with her work and family, she is passionate about volunteering her time with an organization that has taken over a piece of her heart.

The organization that Jennafer has grown to love, and that Jennafer is currently serving as the president of, is called, "iBelieve". This program reaches out in an effort to serve the youth throughout the Palouse.

iBelieve was originally founded by Lynn Kramer. As a single mother, Lynn lost a child to suicide. She decided to start an organization that would support and encourage young people to be active in their communities.

Research done by Dartmouth concluded that young people who are involved in community are less likely to suffer from learning disabilities, ADHD and depression. Depression was the cause of Lynn's son's death.

The goal of iBelieve is to work together to guide young people to be the best they can be, to make the most of their talents and opportunities, teach them to deal with challenges, obstacles, and conflict and know they have a community to turn to on their darkest day that will get them through.

iBelieve strives to coordinate and organize events, involve the youth in the community, help introduce them to new interests and skills, provide mentors and connections to give youth an added support. The foundation has even bigger goals set such as obtaining a permanent location that they can use as a community center to not only continue, but further services offered to the youth including such things as tutoring, occasional meals, mentoring and a general place of refuge and safety.

The foundation has focused on keeping all services that they offer free of charge. Currently, Umpqua Bank has housed all of the activities that were organized on behalf of the foundation. While Umpqua Bank's generosity is greatly appreciated, the foundation is limited to the grants it can apply for until it obtains a permanent residence. iBelieve hopes to be able to obtain a discounted rental space or support from the community to be able to continue and grow their services. They are currently serving 25-35 youth and would like to be able to assist even more youth throughout the Palouse region.

Residents who are interested in helping iBelieve can share a specialty, story or hobby through a seminar or workshop, create a PowerPoint presentation, attend a weekly meeting and share ideas or sponsor/volunteer at an event.

The foundation will sponsor a silent auction at Banyans in Pullman Nov 18. Entry will be free. For further information, donations or to RSVP, contact Jennafer: ibelieveotp@gmail.com or http://www.ibelieveotp.org.

Recipes:

Stewed Taters

(From the Depression Era)

8 red potatoes

1 onion

3 cups chicken broth

1 pkg bacon

Dash of salt

1/4 tsp garlic

Pinch of pepper

Cook bacon. Slice potatoes and onions into thin pieces. Use the bacon grease to fry the potatoes. Chop the cooked bacon, set aside. Put the onions and broth into a sauce pan and boil. Once the potatoes are cooked, add the broth, bacon and seasonings, heat to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and stir often until thickened.

Banana Bread

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/3 cup shortening

1-3/4 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 large, ripe bananas

Mix sugar and shortening in a bowl. Add eggs, mix. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a third bowl, mash the bananas. Add half of the flour mixture and half of the mashed bananas to the egg mixture. Mix together well. Add the remaining flour mixture and mashed bananas, mix well. Pour mixture into a greased and floured loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 to 45 minutes.