Crop Party for Operation Write Home

I can't think of anything more fun than getting together with others who have the same interests as you do. Cooking is one of those for me and crafting is another. Well, on Saturday, February 20th, five of us did both! At the home of Fabre Sanders, a former shipper for Operation Write Home, Diane Wiswall, Laura Crawford, Rebecca Dosick Bernsweig, and I enjoyed making cards for troops of all branches of the military, serving overseas in the Middle East, to send back home to family and friends for all occasions. It is such a rewarding feeling to be doing something to help out our service men and women while also sharing time with friends, old and new! 

 A hearty pot of sausage-minestrone soup made by Fabre. Perfect for a cold, snowy day!

Homemade rolls I made that morning. See recipe below.

Avocado and apple boats made by Rebecca. Perfect to go with the soup!

And yummy scones, warm and buttery. No pics of dessert, because we ate it before it could be photographed!

We didn't even take pictures of the cards, LOL! We made about 100 cards, done and ready for Fabre to send to OWH by the end of that weekend. But the fun continued.

Here's Diane making piles of beautiful cards!

Diane has a really cool story. A close friend of hers was recently deployed overseas. Knowing how much she would miss him, she wanted to have something that would remind her of him during difficult and lonely times. Along came Eddy!

Eddy goes everywhere with Diane. Here he is having lunch with us.

Here's adorable Laura! This was her first time making cards - she's a scrapper. WOW, did she catch on quickly.

Here's our pile of paper that Fabre provided for all of us. Beautiful colors and patterns!

For anyone wishing to make cards or a donation to Operation Write Home, please check out this link to their website. There are so many things you can do to help out. They also have a blog hop coming up and all kinds of fun challenges.

As a little treat, here is the recipe for the dinner rolls. It's from Heirloom Cooking with the Brass Sisters.

This is a WONDERFUL cookbook of collected heirloom recipes. I met these lovely and unique sisters at a lecture they gave at the Johnson & Wales College Culinary Museum in Rhode Island. This recipe is from the 1930's.

Clara J. Warren's Refrigerator Rolls

Yields 2 dozen rolls

For yeast sponge
1 package of dry yeast (not Rapid Rise)
1/4 cup warm water - 115F degrees
1 teaspoon sugar

For dough
1/2 cup butter, cut into 8 pieces
1 cup boiling water
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
4 cups flour

Melted butter, for brushing rolls (2 tablespoons)

1. For the yeast sponge, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar. Set in a warm place for 10 minutes to proof.
2. For the dough, whisk butter into boiling water to melt. Add salt and sugar and mix well. Let cool.
3. Mix cooled butter mixutre, eggs, and yeast sponge in the bowl of a mixer with the paddle attachment. Add 2 cups of the flour and mix well. Add the remaining 2 cups flour and mix to form a soft dough.
4. Coat a medium bowl with butter or veg. spray. Place dough in a greased bowl. Coast a piece of plastic wrap with vegetable spray and place it loosely over dough. Place in refrigerator and let rise for at least 2 hours or overnight (my favorite)!
5. Coat the cups and top surface of 2 12-cup muffin pans with butter or spray. Turn dough out onto a floured work surface. Pat or gently roll to a 10 inch by 10 inch square. Cut into 24 equal pieces with a floured knife. Roll dough piece into balls, place in prepared muffin pans, and let rise in a warm place for 60 minutes, or until double in size.
6. Set the oven rack in the middle position. Preheat the oven to 400F degrees.
7. Brush rolls with melted butter (you may sprinkle with a bit of kosher salt or poppy seeds, if desired) and bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until light golden brown. Turn rolls out onto a metal cooling rack. Store rolls wrapped in wax paper at room temp.

Bon Appetit!