In October, I collaborated as the FCS agent with Amanda, the Horticulture Agent for the first program in a holiday series called Pumpkin Bash.  The program consisted of an educational lesson, a recipe demonstration and samples, as well as a hands on component, which we presented as a series of festive crafts.  The Pumpkin Bash program presented 22 participants with a lesson about growing and harvesting pumpkins from the Horticulture Agent, Amanda.  She, also, provided seeds for everyone to take home and plant for the next growing season.  As the FCS agent, I talked about pumpkin in recipes and shared two fun pumpkin recipes with the group.  The first was an easy pumpkin butter recipe and the second was a limited ingredient vegan pumpkin cake, presented by Victoria, one of our Champion Food Volunteers.  The group tasted samples of both and thoroughly enjoyed them.  

The final component of this program consisted of a time of leadership and fellowship with the participants, where they engaged in crafts led by Amanda and myself. The class learned how to recycle household materials and repurpose them into cute holiday crafts.  They made Halloween lanterns using mod podge and tissue paper in mason jars, pumpkins out of scrap material and toilet paper, and re-using socks around the house that may have lost their mate, to decorate over plastic pumpkins.  

The program was received very well and 100% of the group noted that they learned something new. 95% of the group noted that they planned to attempt a new technique when working with their pumpkins seeds for next year.  100% of the group reflected that they enjoyed the recipes and planned to go home and try them for themselves.  100% of the group enjoyed the class and noted that they enjoyed being able to come out, meet new people and socialize with those they might not have seen in a while, and learn new things that they can take home to their families.

In November, we regrouped and served another 21 individuals with a follow up program to the Pumpkin Bash, called Turkey Crafter noon.  In this session Amanda presented a lesson about growing/ storing/ and working with herbs, as Jessica presented a recipe to help families recycle their left over turkey from thanksgiving into a new delicious dish with Turkey Broccoli Casserole.  The participants got to work together after to make a reversible no sew table runner that would be festive and reversible for Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday decorating as well as a mason jar centerpiece exploring various lighting options and stuffers such as with pinecones, candies, wire bound mesh, etc. 

This recipe was received with about 50% acceptance, as about half of the participants noted that they would prefer the mustard alternative over the curry that was used in the samples this particular day.  100% of the participants noted that they enjoyed the crafts today and several sent Amanda and I pictures of their products being used in their home.  A few of them noted that they planned to use this project as a gift for Christmas and would like to make more now that they know how. 75% of the participants did not have previous sewing experience and noted that the activity enhanced their skill set.

The final session to this series of programs was maybe the most popular, as word was catching on, and we served 30 individuals for Sprinkles and Sparkles in December.  For this session we packed the program time with a recipe and a plethora of crafts and projects from recyclable or household materials. For the recipe in this session, Jessica introduced and demonstrated Sorghum Gingerbread Pear Muffins from the Plan Eat Move website.  The participants engaged in a discussion about sorghum versus molasses and got to taste the difference in this recipes.  The recipe was very well received and greatly enjoyed. Some of the projects the participants learned or created were sock snowmen, yarn Santa/gnome ornaments, pinecone bird feeders, mason jar snow globes, and paper snowflakes.

100% of the participants noted that they enjoyed the program/ series and that they were already looking forward to new offerings in the spring. 90% of the participants noted that enjoyed and plan to make this recipe offering again on their own. 100% of the participants reported that these classes have helped them to see materials already laying around their homes to inspire them for new projects.