When I started the Cafe Treats at Platte Woods United Methodist Church this year, they were meant to replace the donuts that the church used to serve in the dinning room along with the coffee that was served in the Cafe area. There were tables and a closed circuit tv so people could hang out down there and watch the live service in the sanctuary. When the Worship Center was built, that all stopped as people were being encouraged to gather in the welcome area outside the Worship Center in the Cafe area that was part of the area. Treats were offered and I remember some of them. I only remember mini-muffins, but there may have been something else.
Then COVID hit and the Bishop said no more in-person services. (March, 2019) And online services were created and everyone had to become technological experts. I learned about QR Codes and even how to plug my laptop into the TV so I could watch the pre-recorded music and sermon on the "big screen". It all seems so surreal to me how a virus could change so much of our lives.
We did come back to having in-person services about 13 months later, (the Sunday after Easter, 2020) but with limited seating and with social distancing between families (6 feet). The Welcome Center was roped off so people were directed to leave without lingering as soon as the service was over. There was no coffee or little mini-muffins in the Cafe area being served.
Eventually we were able to bring back the regular chairs with no more social distancing. Masks were no longer required. People were slow to really "gather" in the Welcome Center though.
In September of 2022 we had a Sunday with an "Open House" in the Welcome Center with tables with representations of different opportunities being offered in the church for people to learn and then signup for. The Hospitality Team had a table for people to sign up for that also included making/serving coffee and offering "treats". I signed up for making treats but wrote that I wouldn't be able to serve them as I attended Sunday school during the first service. A couple of people signed up to make and serve coffee, but no one signed up for treats other than me.
Now coffee was available in the Cafe but still not many were "gathering". I asked a couple of times about the treats since I had said I was willing to bake, but just couldn't serve, but was told no one else had come forward. Finally I was told they really wanted to get the coffee going strong (with volunteers) first and then they would work on getting the treats going.
Well, I didn't quite agree with that logic and so the first week in January of this year, I asked if I could bring something the next Sunday for the Cafe. I made 10 dozen mini-muffins - 7 dozen Heartstone Inn Mini-Muffins and 3 dozen Applesauce Mini-Muffins.
And that's how the Cafe Treats got started. I ended up bringing treats two more times on my own and realized I needed help. I skipped one Sunday and one or two people asked where were the goodies. I asked a couple of friends to help and they said YES. I put out a signup sheet and people actually signed up. I made new friends and by the middle of March, I had five different treats up from the three I started with each Sunday. Each person brings three dozen of their treat and I encourage a variety. Two different "bakers" stopped by, looked at the "spread" and said, "Well, I could do this." My response was, "Would you like to join the group?" So easy. We got started with a gluten-free option because a "baker" came up and asked me if I had anything that was gluten-free. I told her I didn't - I wanted to - but just hadn't gotten around to it. She interrupted me and said she would bring something. I went from doing it alone to having a list of about twenty "bakers" volunteering.
Now guess what! People are gathering in the Welcome Center. There are five or six tables with chairs in the Cafe and each Sunday they are filled with people talking, drinking coffee or hot tea and eating treats. It is a blessing every Sunday.
It really is true when they say - If you build it they will come!
People are so appreciative - all ages. Sometimes they ask me if I made all of the things. I tell them quickly the one or two I made, but that I had a group that helped with the rest. I look so forward to greeting people and telling them what everything is. It has changed my experience on Sunday mornings now at church. I get to church at least 30 minutes before the first service and my Sunday school class and set up the treats in the Cafe. I return as soon as I can after Sunday school to see what is left and replenish the plates of treats and visit with people before the traditional service thirty minutes later. If it is a really busy Sunday, I end up helping during the second service with Hospitality. Then it's clean up time after church. A busy, busy morning, but I love it! I always enjoyed greeting people when they came into the church with the Hospitality Team and I miss that, but I just get to greet them in the Cafe now.
I chose these Gingerbread Cookies to serve last Sunday because they were different from chocolate chip cookies and snickerdoodle (those two are probably the most popular) and I do like to have a variety of treats being offered. They were easy to make and made four dozen. That meant I had a dozen to keep at home since I only ask for three dozen to be brought. And I do love gingerbread.
GINGERBREAD COOKIES
3/4 cup butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup whole grain white flour
2-1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt if using salted butter OR
1/4 teaspoon if using unsalted butter
******
1/4 cup sugar in a small bowl
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2-3 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Cream together the butter and brown sugar until smooth and light.
(Scrape the sides of the mixing bowl.)
Add the molasses, egg, and vanilla until smooth.
Combine the dry ingredients ( flours - salt) in a medium sized bowl.
Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. (Just had to show this picture. lol)
Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.
Using a tablespoon cookie scoop,
scoop dough and drop in sugar and
roll to cover.
Place on cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. (Don't worry if they aren't perfectly round as they will bake out round.)
Bake for 10 minutes. Cookies will be puffed.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet before removing them to finish cooling on a wire rack. After the 5 minutes cooling on the pan, the cookie will flatten somewhat.
Personal tip: As I cooked the first sheet, I filled the second sheet with 12 cookies to bake. I set the timer for 5 minutes when I removed the first sheet from the oven and placed the second one in. When the timer went off for the 5 minutes, I reset the timer for 5 minutes without disturbing the cookies baking in the oven, and started removing the ones from the baked cookie sheet to the wire rack. I had prepared a third cookie sheet with parchment paper so I used it for the third cookie sheet while the first one cooled. I continued with this 5 minutes set time until I had the four dozen cookies baked. It's possible that I could have gotten by just using 2 cookie sheets, but I wanted to make sure the cookie sheet was cool when I filled the third time.
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