Features

Be A Light

Sherman Mom Offers Fun, Creative Business

"I try to be a light wherever I am," are the words of Danielle Keith of Sherman. "I tell my kids 'you could be the only Christ someone sees.'"

She has attended Sherman First Baptist Church since she was about seven years old, where she directs Awana Club Sparks, is in charge of tot's church and is a former Sunday School teacher and has helped with VBS. She serves on the missionary committee and along with her husband and another couple, leads the church's youth group. A monthly fellowship dinner, which she organizes, was started because of the fond memories she had of church dinners as a child and now her children are enjoying them as much as she did.

"We're at church all of the time," says the mother of three.

She grew up in the house where she currently resides. Her home sits in the middle of 48 acres that are owned by her parents and used for hunting deer by her husband, grandfather, brother, cousin and son.

"My neighbors have always been my neighbors," she says while smiling.

When she isn't busy momming and doing what it takes to keep her family going, she is working on a fun, new small business with the help of her husband, Steve. She is excited about her new venture, Prickly Pear Home Decor and Crafts, named when she was looking for a Biblical name for her business and read that it should be named after something with meaning. She remembered a time when she was about 12 years old and when her grandparents, who traveled back and forth from Arizona, were bickering, something she rarely witnessed. She has never forgotten when her grandfather told his wife to "stop being a prickly pear."

The business provides a fun night out for friends, couples and groups either in her building, a host's home or in a church or hall. The attendees make wooden signs with holiday, inspirational or everyday sayings or pictures.

"People can host parties. I encourage them to have seven guests who will choose whatever sign they would like to make. Snacks and beverages are suggested."

Those who don't wish to host or don't have a group, may attend an open class at Mrs. Keith's home Saturday, Oct. 27 from 9 a.m.-2 p.m.. A snack will be provided. Prices depend on the size of the sign they would like to make. A three-foot one-sided sign is $35, a three-foot double-sided sign is $45. A double-sided sign may represent two different holidays, one on each side, or two sayings or two verses. A thirty-five dollar 17 3/8-inch round sign can be made into a serving tray for an additional five dollars. The couple works together to make frames for those who desire them. These pieces are priced according to size.

The business is a perfect fit for the creative woman who sees a use for objects which many people may take to the local landfill. For example, an old barn door salvaged from a shed by her husband, now covers the couple's pantry. Their bed's headboard was made from a vintage wooden door and when she needed an island for the kitchen, she found a buffet with a curved front and had her husband attach a butcher block with an overhang allowing the placement of a few stools to provide an added place for her family to eat.

Her husband shook his head when she brought home an old grape cart, but after placing it between two chairs and adding a lamp, she had a cozy reading area.

When she had her heart set on finding a wooden spool for holding electric cable to use for a kitchen table, but could not find the right size, she bought an old table with a pedestal on Craig's List. She removed the tabletop and attached a top resembling the end of a spool made by Walt Covert, a man at her church.

"I love this. He did a great job," she says while gesturing toward the round table.

"I have my hands in a lot of things. I am busy!"

She enjoys catering for friends and family and says she likes to make people happy "and food is one way of making people happy." Her daughter enjoys helping with some of the small details involved.

"I don't even know how I first started to cook. My mother is a good cook and all of my grandmothers were entertainers. Every time we visited my Grandma Sal in Homer City, Pennsylvania, she had a table full of food.

The busy homemaker refers to her recipe box as "a hot mess." Many recipes are written in the handwriting of the couple's grandmothers and several have notes added by the women. She cherishes a note found in the box that was written by her Grandma Winnie and hopes her daughter will one day feel the same when it is in her possession.

Both sides of her family come together for dinners.

"We mesh really well. It's not your family or my family, it's our family."

Besides having an interest in cooking, she is an avid reader and painter. She recognizes that she is a "clean freak" and says it is a curse. She is very organized and has a folder for everything.

"I'm a shopper and I like being with my friends. We enjoy camping but we only went once this summer. We do a lot of family stuff."

She also belongs to the Stanley Hose Ladies Auxiliary.

Mr. Keith works at Jack's Repair Shop in Findley Lake, a business owned by his in-laws.

The Keiths have three children. Their son, Bailey Weeks, is nearly 19 years old. Daughter, Erin Keith is 14 and Andrew Keith is nearing his ninth birthday. She refers to Mia, their red, long-haired Dachshund as their fourth child. A second dog, Ollie, a frisky, young Australian Shepherd-Golden Retriever mix from Northern Chautauqua Canine in Westfield, was rescued from a kill shelter in Indiana. They also have Sam the Cat, a 19-year old Siamese.

"This is the first time I have shared Grandma Sal's Sugar Cookies recipe. These cookies are a family tradition. My grandma has Alzheimer's and hasn't made these in years. I make them every year for Christmas to keep her tradition going. They are the best cookies on the cookie tray."

"I have made breakfast pizza the night before and baked the next day. I always make this for Christmas morning. It is the kids' favorite."

"I have never written Grandma Alice's Poor Man's Vegetable Soup recipe out and wish I would have before my husband's grandma passed away. Every time I made it, I would call her and ask her if I was doing it right and what else it needed," she says. "She made this for him when he stayed with her on bowling nights."

A video showing some of the signs and how they are made can be found at Prickly Pear Home DÈcor and Crafts by Danielle Keith on Facebook. To schedule a class or to reserve a place in the open class call Danielle at 269-4624.

Jalapeno Corn or Dip for the Crockpot

8 oz cream cheese

1 stick butter

4 - 5 jalapenos (seeded and sliced)

16oz frozen corn

Put cream cheese, butter, and jalapenos in crock pot on high for about an hour. When melted, stir in corn and turn to medium heat. Serve as a side or with tortilla chips as a dip. Note: I have used canned jalapenos in a pinch. I leave my corn in refrigerator while cream cheese and butter are melting. I have added it all at once to but didn't like the way it turned out.

Breakfast Pizza

2 packages refrigerated crescent rolls

6 eggs

1 lb breakfast sausage, browned

2 c sharp cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 375∂. Lightly spray cookie sheet. Unroll crescent rolls while spreading them on greased sheet. Beat eggs. Add sausage and cheese to eggs. Spread evenly on dough. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Slice and serve.

Grandma Sal's Sugar Cookies

1tsp soda

1 c sour cream

4 eggs

1 c shortening

2 c sugar

4 c flour

1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven 350∂. Dissolve soda in sour cream. Set aside. Beat eggs, shortening and sugar. Add sour cream mixture, mixing well. Add remaining ingredients. Combine. Drop with small cookie scoop on parchment paper. Cook 8-9 minutes.

Frosting

1 c shortening

7 oz marshmallow creme

3 T flour

1tsp vanilla

2 lb confectioners' sugar

¢ c milk

Stir shortening and marshmallow crËme together by hand. Add flour and vanilla mix well. Add sugar and gradually add milk, mixing well by hand. Beat with mixer until fluffy. Frost cooled cookies store in air tight container.

Grandma Winnies Amish Baked Beans

48 oz northern beans

1 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

2-3 strips crispy bacon

¢ c onion, minced

3 T bacon grease

1tsp mustard

2 c vegetable juice

¢ c brown sugar

¢ c maple syrup

Combine all ingredients in Dutch oven. Bake at 325∂ for 6 hours, stirring every half hour or so.

Grandma Nancy's Ditalini

2 c ditalini pasta

1 tsp yellow food coloring

2 tsp salt

2 tsp mustard

1-1¢ c mayonnaise

¢ block mild cheese, diced

1 green pepper, chopped

1 small jar pimientos

1 onion, chopped

6 eggs, hard-boiled, separate yolk from white

Cook pasta in boiling water with food coloring, according to directions on package. Combine salt, mustard and mayonnaise with cooked pasta. Add cheese, pepper, pimiento, onion and chopped egg whites. Sprinkle chopped egg yolk, parsley and paprika on top.

Grandma Alice's Poor Man's Vegetable Soup

1 lb stew meat or hamburger (I prefer stew meat)

2-16 oz bags frozen mixed vegetables

1 head cabbage, diced

28 oz stewed tomatoes

1 lg can tomato sauce

6-7 beef bouillon cubes

Salt and pepper to taste

Cook stew meat in oven with water for a couple hours. Fill a large stock pot half full with water. Add remaining ingredients and beef when it is cooked. Cook on low all day.

Sweet and Spicy Stuffed Peppers

9 large green or red peppers

1 jar favorite spaghetti sauce

1 medium onion, chopped

2 T olive oil

1¢ lbs ground beef

2 Lipton Spanish Rice mixes (Cheating, I know but it tastes so good.)

2-10 oz cans Rotel tomatoes

2-14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes

1-29 oz can tomato sauce

™ c + 2 T brown sugar

¢ tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

™ tsp black pepper

1 c hot pepper cheese, grated

1 c sharp cheese, grated

Bring large pot of water to boil while preparing the rest of recipe. Cut tops off peppers. Chop to add to filling. Clean seeds out of peppers. Add to boiling water, cooking until softened, not mushy. Set in a 9-inch by 13-inch pan that has a thin layer of spaghetti sauce in it. Meanwhile in large deep skillet add brown ground beef in olive oil. Add diced onion and pepper tops. Cook until tender. Mix rice as directed on package but don't cook. Add rice mixture to ground beef, onions and peppers.

Add rotel, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, brown sugar and seasonings. Stir and heat through. Add Hot pepper Cheese. Fill Green peppers. Top with a spoon full of spaghetti sauce. Cover dish and either cook for a few hours at 300∂ or cook 1 hour at 350∂. Sprinkle peppers with sharp cheese and put back in until cheese is melted. I like to cook it on low for a few hours.