Lucky Us

Like any ward, we have some mighty talented women mingling among us.  While it's nice to simply know these adroit ladies all on their own, it's especially beneficial to my life when I can get them to share their expertise and knowledge with the rest of the women of the ward.  Not only do I get to learn something new, but I also get credit for magnifying my calling.  Pretty sneaky, eh?

Julie Beck, general Relief Society President, wants us to stop being a social society and start putting the relief back into our meetings and activities.  I really couldn't agree more. While it's tempting to nix anything that might be interpreted as "fluff", sometimes, the reasons - the inspiration really, behind the activity, isn't readily obvious.  Last night, we offered a Valentine Decorating class to our Relief Society.  Pretty fluffy, right?

Not at all.  Our teacher is new to the area, newly married and a brand new mom.  They live quite a ways out of town and I know first hand how hard a transition it can be moving to this quaint but convenience-sparse town.  Well, she also happens to be an amazing pastry chef.  Like, has worked on Food Network and for five star/four diamond restaurants after graduating from Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Institute in Scottsdale, Arizona amazing.  She graciously agreed to show us some tricks of her trade, including her recipes.  Lucky us!

She came with the cookies already baked and glazed.  The cupcakes were made and only needed to be filled and frosted.  And the lollipops - oh, the lollipops, filled with cheesecake, caramel and ganache then dipped in chocolate needed a mere lighter applied to the top so that the various sprinkles could attach.   Hours and hours of prep time so that our time could be spent decorating and eating.  Now, that's definitely relief!

We had a great time.  If you've seen my birthday cakes, you know I lack any kind of decorating gene.  However, under her tutelage and working with cakes and cookies that don't crumble upon merely being looked at, I managed to decently frost a few cookies and pipe some cupcakes.  The fillings for the cupcakes were varied and exotic.  Available for use was creme brule, a blood orange something or other (too fancy for me to remember), simple butter cream and chocolate whipped cream.  She showed us how to make them elegant with some simple techniques but, best of all, everything was pure and tasty.  This was NOT your grocery story frosting.

Less than twenty people came to make their own gourmet sweets (what is wrong with people?  Are they anti-sugar?  It's mind boggling, really) which meant we could make lots and lots of treats to take home.  My gluten-free boys got the lollipops and the rest of us get the cookies and cake.  If that's not strengthening marriages and families, than I don't know what is.  Even Dr. Laura would agree.

The cupcakes weren't my strength, but they are every bit as delicious as the prettier ones.




Decorating the cookies allowed the most variety and creativity.

You might think lollipops are for licking, but underneath is where you'll find the surprise.  It's too hard to wait.

Relief, purpose, fun, shared talents, new skills and chocolate.  Sometimes. . . my calling ain't so bad!