McHenry County Blog

Made by the Scrappy Quilters of the First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake, this little wall hanging is of the Three Wise Men on the way to worship the Christ Child.

Labels: First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake, Scrappy Quilters, Three Wise Men, UMW, United Methodist Women

Each year the United Methodist Women of the First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake host an Advent by Candlelight dinner in Wesley Hall.

It's held on the first Friday night of December.

Gourmet cook Don Penn prepares the meal with the help of United Methodist Men, who then, dressed in black pants, white shirts with red bow ties, serve the meal.

This year the meal consisted of apple and walnut wild rice dressing with cranberry raspberry salad and raspberry chicken.

Afterwards, there was scripture reading and songs.

"Quite lovely," my wife reports.

So, how does one make raspberry chicken?

Don writes,

Chicken breasts are marinated with spices and fruit in this easy and very flavorful dish. I pour the marinade over the chicken in a freezer bad, then freeze them from one week to one month for future use.

Take out of freezer the night before you serve them and thaw in the refrigerator. By dinner time, they are ready to bake, making a quick and easy delicious meal.

Incredients:

1/2 cup raspberry preserves,

1/2 cup frozen pineapple juice concentrate, thawed,

1/2 cup soy sauce,

2 tablespoons of raspberry vinaigrette dressing,

1/2 teaspoon chili powder,

1/2 teaspoon curry powder,

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder,

6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves,

1/4 cup whole raspberries.

Whisk together raspberry preserves, pineapple juice concentrate, soy sauce, vinaigrette dressing. Stir in chili powder, curry powder and garlic powder' pour over chicken breasts in a resealable plastic bag. Marinate chicken in refrigerator at least overnight or freeze for future use.

Bake in preheated over to 350 degrees F. Place chicken into a baking disk and pour remaining marinade over the chicken. Cover the dish with a lid or alumninum foil.

Bake in preheated over until the chicken juices run clear, 30 to 40 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter and garnish with fresh raspberries and a twig of parsley.

Serves 6.

Enjoy.

Don Penn

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And, how about the cranberry raspberry salad?

Here are the ingredients:

3 (0.3 ouince) packages of sugar-free cherry or cranberry gelatin,

2 cups of boiling water,

1 (15 1/4 ounce) can crushed pineapple in pineapple juice,

2 table spoons lemon juice,

2 1/2 cups fresh cranberries,

1 large navel orange,

2 cups finely chopped celery,

1/2 cup chopped walnuts,

Lettuce leaves,

Nonstick cooking spray.

And the directions?

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Drain pineapple, reserving liquid. Set pineapple aside. Add water to reserved pineapple juice to equal one cup. Stir in lemon juice. Stir juice mixture into gelatin; chill until consistency of unbeaten egg whites.

While gelatin is chilling, place cranberries in food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Set aside. Trim ends off orange and halve; remove seeds. Place unpealed orange in food processor and pulse until coarsely ground.

Stir cranberries, oranges, celery and walnuts into gelatin and mix well. Spray a 10 cup mold (or bundt pan) with nonstick cooking spray. Pour gelatin mixture into mold. Chill until set. Unmold and server on lettuce leaves.

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I arrived looking for my wife, who was setting up a table with Nancy Bland. They had already finished and headed home to get dressed.

So, I took pictures of the completed tables and some that were "in process."

You can see the layout in the top picture and the photographs third and fourth from the bottom photographs.

Think of what it must have looked like when the room was lit only by candlelight and the Christmas lights.

The kitchen activity was captured at the same time--about 5 o'clock.

I returned about nine, but the festivities were all over but the final putting away of the tables.

This year, leaders asked for volunteer hosts for next year's Advent by Candlelight.

All in all, a wonderful tradition.

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All photos may be enlarged by clicking on them.

Labels: Advent by Candlelight, Cranberry Recipies, First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake, UMW, United Methodist Women

This one is in front of the First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake.

It advertises the fall rummage sale put on by United Methodist Women.

The sign says it will be held Friday and Saturday.

Actually, the days aren’t mentioned, but the dates—September 28th and 29th.

I did my best to organize the books in a first floor room.

We’ve got your romance novels, mysteries, thrillers, classics (including what looks like a not-in-good shape first edition of “Jack and Jill”), cookbooks, sewing books, self-help books, non-fiction, you name it.

And is the price right?

25 cents for paperbacks, 50 cents for hardbacks. I think children’s books are also a quarter.

There are, as you might imagine a lot of video tapes. I found a science fiction one that I’ll watch with my son.

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The inside picture is of some of the ladies beginning the massive task of clothes sorting.

If you would like to see what this spring’s rummage sale looked like, I wrote these articles:

UMW Rummage Sale – Before

UMW Rummage Sale – During

Labels: First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake, Rummage Sale, UMW, United Methodist Women

Sunday I showed various stages of setting up the First United Methodist Church’s spring Rummage Sale.

Today, let’s take a look at the sale in progress.

I went to the wrong door and missed a picture of the line before the 9 AM door opening of the United Methodist Women's sale.

Look how crowded the main room above is.

Shoppers everywhere.

And the community room was packed, too.

Shoppers were crowded around the round tables looking for just the right knickknack or kitchen item.

They paid on the way out.

And, as throughout the church the prices set by the United Methodist Women were quite tempting.

The Linen Room was not as crowded, but there were serious shoppers.

Outside mothers and dads looked for that plastic yard toy that would be just right for their little tykes.

There was a jungle gym, slides, sand boxes, picnic tables, you name it.

I even saw an aircraft carrier that my son would have gone straight for about five years ago.

In fact, we bought a smaller one at a yard sale on the way home from kindergarten one day.

The book room was crowded early.

This must have been a bonanza of week for book lovers, with both the Congregational and the Methodist Churches having rummage sales.

I had stacked the few classics in one corner of the adult fiction table.

I was pretty amazed that all of them were sold.

And kids were playing with the toys in the toy room.

It was like one big playpen.

Ladies took payment for both the book room and the toy room out in the hall near the church's front door.

As I was leaving a little girl came out of the toy room carrying a stuffed pony almost as big as she was.

I didn’t get the perfect shot, but, if you look closely, you can see her new pony’s legs as she and her mother and baby sister or brother head downstairs.

She was delighted and Mom didn't spend an arm and a let like she would have at a department or toy store.

Wesley Hall was where most of the clothing was.

Serious shopping was occurring.

This year, copying Jewel, there was an express line for those purchasing just a few items.

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All pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Top right is a photograph right after the Rummage Sale opened its doors at 9 AM on Friday morning. This is the main room, Wesley Hall, where most of the clothing had been arranged, folded or hung on racks.

Next, down a bit and to the left, are the shoppers who headed to the Community Room, where all sorts of goodies could be found. There even was a Christmas section.

You can see people checking out of the Community Room in the next picture, to the right.

Next is a picture of some of the stuff outside. A lot was plastic in various shapes meant for young children.

Down a bit to the left is the book room shortly after the Rummage Sale opened. I saw John Husmann, the principal for whom the elementary school across from the Crystal Lake Public Library is named. Husmann never wanted to be anything but a principal. When he retired, District 47 appropriately named the school after him.

He was on my Public Affairs Scholarship Advisory Committee when I served in the General Assembly in the 1970's and loved every minute of it. I don't think you can see him in the group shot, but you can here at the bottom looking at an anthology of short stories.

Below the book room shot is the place to pay for books and toys. These ladies were busy.

The little girl with her stuffed pony appears next.

Below that is the main checkout point for all the clothes displayed in Wesley Hall.

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Labels: First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake, John Husmann, Rummage Sale, UMW, United Methodist Women