My Favorite Recipes: Meet Monica Meyerhofer

Monica Meyerhofer is originally from Southern California, where she worked for Kaiser Permanente as a senior business consultant for 10 years. In 2006, her husband, Carl, was able to work from home, which allowed them to leave California and move to Nine Mile Falls. They recently found themselves moving to Colfax to enjoy being closer to family.

Monica and Carl are celebrating more than 30 years of marriage that she credits to determination, hard work and a lot of prayers. They are the proud parents of three adult children and have four grandsons. She loves being a grandma, enjoys being near three of her grandsons that live in Washington and looks forward to any time she can spend with the grandson who lives in Arizona.

While living in the Spokane area, Monica had the opportunity to start volunteering at Christ Kitchen and learned so much from the ladies there about different lifestyles, Christ-like service, as well as her own attitude towards others. Christ Kitchen inspired her to pursue what she felt was most important in life, which is to love one another. Monica was also able to serve in Truth Ministries, which is a homeless shelter in Spokane. She would gather the youth group from her church and they would make dinner for the men. Real relationships were developed between the men and the youth. Monica also considers herself very blessed to have been able to travel to Ethiopia twice with International Assistance. They are an organization that gave micro loans to women of Ethiopia. The loans consisted of $200, which is a year's salary, for the recipients to invest in a business and improve their lives. These opportunities to serve had a huge impact on Monica.

After moving to Colfax 18 months ago, Monica knew she needed to find a way to serve locally, not only to help the community, but to continue to make a difference in her own life. She began volunteering at the food bank. Monica finds herself surrounded by people who share her passion for helping others. An aspect that touches Monica is that each day she volunteers at the food bank, the day begins with a prayer, and every prayer includes that they always remember to treat others with dignity and respect.

Monica shares a few ideas to help the homeless, as well as others who are in need at this time of year:

Volunteer at your local food bank. Stocking shelves, sorting food, accepting donations and helping with distribution.

Donate food to your local food bank. Every Monday, food is accepted at the Colfax Food Bank. Simply go to the back of the food bank and knock on the double doors. The immediate needs are spaghetti sauce, Hamburger Helper (or any boxed meal,) Top Ramen and mac and cheese.

Prepare Ziplock bags with a pair of socks, water bottle, granola bar, kleenex, hand wipes, sanitizer and a cup of noodles (just add water style) to give to homeless people.

Be mindful that socks are always needed in the homeless community. Consider doing a sock collection and donating to a charity that assists those without shelter.

Recipes

Orange Scones with Orange Butter

I like to send these with my husband for him and his work.

2 cups flour

3 Tbsp. sugar

2-1/2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. orange peel, grated

1/3 cup margarine or butter

1/2 cup Mandarin orange segments, chopped and drained

1/4 cup milk

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 Tbsp. sugar

Orange Butter

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

2 Tbsp. orange marmalade

Heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease cookie sheet. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup and level off. In a large bowl, combine flour, three tablespoons sugar, baking powder and orange peel. With fork or pastry blender, cut butter/margarine until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add orange segments, milk and egg. With fork, stir mixture just until dough forms. Turn dough out onto floured surface. Knead lightly 10 times.

On greased cookie sheet, roll or pat into six-inch circle. Sprinkle with one tablespoon sugar. Cut into eight wedges; separate slightly. Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Beat butter in a small bowl until light and fluffy; stir in marmalade. Serve with warm scones.

Applesauce Cake in a Jar

I always add extra cinnamon for my husband. I like to add a festive doily and use it as a Christmas gift.

2/3 cup shortening

4 eggs

2/3 cup water

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1-1/2 tsp. salt

2-2/3 cup sugar

2 cups applesauce

3-1/3 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

2/3 cup nuts (optional)

1 tsp. ground cloves (optional)

Heat the oven to 325 degrees F. In a large bowl, cream together shortening and sugar. Beat eggs, applesauce and water. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and cloves, then add to mixture. Stir in nuts. Pour into well-greased pint jars. Use wide mouth jars. Fill jars half full. Bake at 325 degrees F for 45 minutes. Wipe jars clean and put lids on while still hot for sealing.