Little girls learn how to bake and give back
SLIPPERY ROCK TWP — Domestic skills are not lost on the next generation of women, at least not on the Little Girls' Baking Club of Slippery Rock Baptist Church.
About 20 girls in aprons and chef's hats gathered Thursday around four long tables to bake chocolate-chip cookies and make mini cheesecakes.
Each table was furnished with premeasured ingredients, a recipe page, a large bowl, utensils and a hand mixer. With a mom in charge at each table, the girls took turns reading the steps in the recipe, pouring in the ingredients and mixing and stirring the dough and batter.
The girls also learned how to scoop even portions of cookie dough, count out dozens, and spread portions of cheesecake batter into mini pie crusts.
Moms helped the girls develop good kitchen habits.
"What do we do before we start cooking?"asked Jamie Hall of Harrisville.
"We wash our hands," the girls responded.
"What do we do after we use something in the kitchen?"
"We wash it,"they answered.
Tiffany Stahlman of Barkeyville, leader of the club, said about a year ago Hall's daughter gave Stahlman's oldest daughter a cookbook as a gift. The cookbook sparked the idea to create a club where little girls could gather with friends and learn valuable skills.
"It's fun to learn about baking," said Josie Hall, 6. "My favorite thing to make is chocolate-chip cookies."
"I have my own cookbook at home," said Allison Milton, 9, of Grove City.
Stahlman said she wants to teach the girls that "cooking is a ministry. It's a blessing to others."
In November, Stahlman and Hall started the Little Girls' Baking Club that meets once a month. The group has grown to about 20 girls, ages 4 to 12. Each girl gets an apron with her name embroidered on it, a cookbook binder with recipes from her fellow club members, a homemade chef's hat and valuable lessons about kitchen skills and spiritual principles.
Since the club began, girls have made special desserts and foods appropriate for holidays and other occasions. For Christmas, the girls put together gifts of hot cocoa and baked goodies for widows in the congregation. They also made graham cracker houses to display at the church. In the spring, they made resurrection cookies for Easter. The cookie was also used as the Bible lesson for that day's club.The resurrection cookie is made with a crescent roll to represent the cloth Jesus was wrapped in after crucifixion, with brown sugar and butter to represent the oils and perfumes used to prepare Christ's body. A marshmallow inside the roll represents Jesus, disappearing after baking to represent Jesus disappearing from the tomb.During each club meeting, Stahlman teaches a Bible lesson that goes along with whatever the girls are baking that day.On Thursday, the girls were treated to a pizza lunch to celebrate raising enough money to buy an oven for the church.Since November, the club had used toaster ovens or made no-bake recipes because the church did not have an oven or a fully functioning kitchen.The money was raised within three weeks of selling Con Yeager spices. The oven now stands proudly in a utility room, baking furiously as the church makes plans for a full kitchen.In the meantime, the girls say they look forward to the club meeting each month.Lauren Gordley, 5, of Butler said she loves coming to baking club because, "I get to learn a new thing about baking."Mekenzie Pflueger, 7, of Slippery Rock said her favorite dessert to make is cheesecake "because it's creamy."Emily Barnhouse, 9, of Harrisville thinks that other churches should start baking clubs so that the girls "have fun."The club meets on Saturdays during the school year and on weekdays during the summer. For more information about the Little Girls' Baking Club, contact Slippery Rock Baptist Church at 724-794-6143.
