Delicious cake recipe from our summer picnic!

/

One of our members, Katherine Brooks, brought an amazing cake to our summer picnic social. The crowd devoured it and begged for the recipe. We learned it was an old family recipe that couldn't be divulged, but Katherine shared another favorite, listed below.  Many thanks to Katherine who is the Senior Event Manager for Enflotra: Events, Florals and Travel. 

million-dollar-pound-cake-x.jpg

Million Dollar Pound Cake (Just 7 Ingredients!)

Ingredients

  • 1 pound butter, softened

  • 3 cups sugar

  • 6 large eggs

  • 4 cups all-purpose flour

  • 3/4 cup milk

  • 1 teaspoon almond extract

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

How to Make It

Step 1

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. (The butter will become a lighter yellow color; this is an important step, as the job of the mixer is to incorporate air into the butter so the cake will rise. It will take 1 to 7 minutes, depending on the power of your mixer.) Gradually add sugar, beating at medium speed until light and fluffy. (Again, the times will vary, and butter will turn to a fluffy white.) Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until yellow yolk disappears.

Step 2

Add flour to creamed mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. (The batter should be smooth and bits of flour should be well incorporated; to rid batter of lumps, stir gently with a rubber spatula.) Stir in extracts.

Step 3

Pour into a greased and floured 10-inch tube pan. (Use vegetable shortening or butter to grease the pan, getting every nook and cranny covered. Sprinkle a light coating of flour over the greased surface.)

Step 4

Bake at 300° for 1 hour and 40 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from pan, and cool completely on a wire rack.

Step 5

Note: For testing purposes only, we used White Lily All-Purpose Flour.

Chef's Notes

For the best results, preheat your oven to 300º before you begin. Also soften butter at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Our first Repair Cafe is a hit!

/

What's a Repair Cafe? It's about getting stuff fixed, helping the environment and building community, all at the same time!  The Silver Spring Timebank hosted our first Repair Cafe on Saturday, May 5 at the Montgomery County GreenFest. There was a steady crowd of people to get a variety of items fixed including furniture, jewelry, clocks and small appliances, and the feedback was terrific!  

  • One woman, who had four chairs repaired, was "super happy!".

  • Another woman arrived with a broken clock, a 20-year old wedding gift, and left with it working like new again.

  • And a woman came with a jewelry box nearly in pieces, and she was thrilled to have it fixed as it carried great meaning for her.

Our first foray into the Repair Cafe scene was a success, and we'll be sure to offer another in the future...stay tuned!

Member Spotlight: Loving the reciprocity of timebanking

/
Princess2.jpg

Princess Clemente helps people in all aspects of her life. She brings that passion to the SSTB, and looks forward to receiving help from others too!

A chance sighting of a Silver Spring Timebank flyer led to Princess Clemente becoming a member of the timebank in December 2017. The idea of a timebank intrigued her. Not only was this fortuitous for her, but it was a boon to the timebank because Princess used her graphic design skills to prepare the program sheet and signs for the recent timebank Skill Share in January.

Born in the Philippines, Princess came to the US at age four. She lived in New York and Illinois before settling in Silver Spring as an adult. Princess now works as a trainer for the Arlington County Department of Human Services primarily designing online training. In that capacity, she creates instructional aids, online modules and tutorials for staff from various divisions in the department.

Princess1.jpg

Asked what she wished to do as she was growing up, Princess always said she wanted “to help people.” She has found her niche doing that, both in her job and as an active member of the timebank. Princess has an undergraduate degree in psychology and a graduate degree in training and development from the University of St. Francis in Joliet, IL. She studied psychology – not with the intention of becoming a professional psychologist, but to learn about people and to prepare for her career.

In addition to family, she credits her teachers for having a major influence on her life – in particular, one psychology professor in college. This teacher was really tough, but emphasized learning from mistakes.  Her mantra was that one does not really learn something until one demonstrates it in real life, i.e., making the changes necessary to improve after a mistake.

Moving to the DC area was exciting for Princess because she appreciates all the civic engagement here. She has been going to local political events and related activities. She also likes to travel and try new places, particularly restaurants, with her wife, Laura Muñoz Lopez, who is also a timebank member.  A favorite non-work interest is their two orange rescue cats, Marley and Barley. In her spare time, Princess plays tennis in two leagues. She previously played tennis in college and coached high school tennis.  

As a timebank member, Princess is available to teach tennis and to advise on graphic design or e-learning projects such as creating interactive PowerPoints. She looks forward to learning some new skills through the timebank, and she has already used the services of a timebank cat-sitter. She is “super-excited to be a part of the timebank community because it has the feeling of a close community and personal touch that one does not always find in a city environment.”

Thanks to SSTB member Donna Sasser for writing this Member Spotlight!

Princess3.jpg

Making Monster Stuffies!

/

A dozen SSTB members came out on a wintry Saturday in February to make monster stuffies to donate to the National Children's Hospital. Monster-makers enjoyed some delicious snacks and visited with other SSTB members while they made their crazy creations.

Many thanks to 8th grader Lana Anderson, founder of Small Things Matter, for her help in leading this SSTB service social. You can read all about Lana's amazing efforts as she was recently profiled as a Silver Spring Cares Superhero in the Source of the Spring.

Check out the video from the event on our FB page!

2nd Annual Skill Share: January 2018

/

WE ASKED ATTENDEES, "WHAT DID YOU LEARN?"

The information at the table for natural household and personal care products was just what I need.  I’m expecting a baby, so I’m very mindful of what I put on my body. —Elisa

I learned about hybrid seeds.  They don’t always grow into the same hybrid plant they came from.  Sometimes they can grow into the different plants that the hybrid was made from. —Diane

I learned about how marbled paper is made and also the A-B-Cs of bike mainentance:  Air, Brakes, Chain. —Madeline

At the frugality talk, she said keeping track of your spending is not about being cheap.  It’s about being honest with yourself and making sure you spend your money on what you really want.  I also went to the Fostering a Love of Reading table.  I have two very young grandchildren who already love to read, but I was curious to learn more strategies. —Emily  

Dale gave some good tips on paring down, like how to part with things that have sentimental value.   —Anna 

I learned the proper way to make a dog vomit if she has eaten something toxic – and that I shouldn’t do that if the thing she ate was caustic.  Also, I didn’t realize how much dogs like marijuana which is poisonous for them. —Dawn

I learned not to use WD-40 on my bike chain.  I made my first greeting card.  And I learned that the problem my monkey is having could be psychological or from an old injury.  —Paphil

If I want to save seeds from cucumbers and tomatoes, I found out that I have to break down the mucous membranes around the seeds first.  I stopped at the Mending Knits table, and I may ask her to help me repair my gloves through the timebank.  —Wendy

I was interested in the book one of the speakers talked about: Your Money or Your Life.  I already read How to Retire Happy.  It’s important to think about these things.  —Sue 

I found out how to recycle and save materials by using part of an old sock to patch another sock.     —Mei Mei 

I saw some homemade books at the Bookbinding table, and I would like to learn more about how to do that.  —Olivia

We already do home exchanges when traveling, but I was glad to learn about the other options – like Servas --  that Emily told us about in her talk.  —Jonathan 

I went to the talk on frugality where she shared tips, some of which I already do, like keeping track of every bit of money I spend.  I asked about a repair at the knitting table.  I have a nice sweater I want to give away, but it has a small hole on the front.  I hoped I could take wool from another part of the sweater and use it to patch the hole, but that wouldn’t work in this case.  —Kathie

The host traveling handout will be extremely useful.  I also learned that I can make my own detergent and deodorant.  It doesn’t seem so complicated, and it’s cheaper and healthier.  I also talked to Jessica who was demonstrating power tools.  She will help with some of my home repairs through the timebank.  When I learn how to use the tools, maybe I will invest in some of them myself.  —Oswaldo

I found out about the timebank today, and it really is a good idea.  Everyone has something to offer.  Today I went to the bike talk, and my wife attended the seed saving talk.  My daughter has rescued a few injured squirrels, so she was interested in the animal first aid presentation.  —Robert

Thank you to the Silver Spring Civic Building for offering us wonderful space to hold our second Skill Share!

Skill Share 2018 Promo Video

/

On January 21st, 2018 the Silver Spring Timebank will host our 2nd Skill Share! Learn more about what the event is like in our video below.

We have all NEW talks and topics for our January 2018 event. See below for the line up of speakers and experts:

2018 SKILL SHARE SPEAKER SCHEDULE

2:00pm Mini Silver Spring Timebank New Member Orientation
2:15pm Dale Brown on Frugality/Living simply
2:45pm Dana Wise on Bike tune-ups
3:15pm Kathy Jentz on Seed saving
3:45pm Barbara Henderson on Animal first aid and CPR
4:15pm Emily Glazer on Host/Traveler opportunities in the U.S. and abroad
4:45pm Seth Canada on Bikepacking/Bicycle travel

2018 SKILL SHARE 'ASK THE EXPERT" TABLING ROOM --available from
2-5pm

Cooking instruction and meal preparation---Sam Rosenbaum
Tango---Charlotte Schoeneman and Eugenia Park
Fostering a love of reading and learning in young children---Vandana Purohit
Using power tools---Jessica Arends and Jeff Sutton
Tending and mending winter knits---Mary Campbell
Bookbinding and carving wood/lino blocks---Simon Mauck
Making a bamboo walking stick or cane---Win Allred
Techniques for making stand-out DIY greeting cards---Christy Batta
Home repair (all aspects)---Karl Kosok
Natural household products---Eve-Marie Devaliere
Make -it and Take-it fancy book marks---Tina Slater

Krav Maga, a self-defense system---Sandra Elvin
Timebank help desk---Connie Bevitt & Anne Hardman

To RSVP & learn more about presenters visit the Facebook event page!

Krav Maga, a self-defense system---Sandra Elvin and Divya Mathew

Timebank help desk---Connie Bevitt & Anne Hardman

To RSVP & learn more about presenters visit the Facebook event page!