Cookie Club Begins Great Holiday Bake-Off

Cookie Club Begins Great Holiday Bake-Off

Dec 10, 2021 | Community, Culinary

Get the recipes:  Mexican Wedding Cookies  |  Peanut Butter Blossoms  |   Holiday Rice Crispy TreatsTM

The “Great Holiday Bake-Off” has begun at MMC with the Health Center Cookie Club literally rolling in the dough!  It’s all in preparation for their upcoming cookie exchange on December 14.  Baking enthusiasts gathered together this week to bake traditional Mexican Wedding Cookies.  Each baker had the opportunity to measure, mix and roll…so it was truly a group effort. The group will bake again on two more dates to make two other types of cookies and then meet once more to bag cookies for an exchange with other residents.

Commonly served at Christmas time or throughout the winter, Mexican Wedding Cookies are a buttery and nutty sugary cookie. The exact origin of the Mexican wedding cookie “biscochitos” is unknown, but for centuries the cookie has also existed (just in other shapes) in other cultures around the world. You might know the delicious cookie as Italian Butterballs, Russian or Swedish tea cakes, Spanish Polvornes, Pecan Balls or Southern Pecan Butterballs, Snowballs, Pecan Sandies, Danish almond cookies, Finnish butter strips, Napoleon hats and more. Despite their varying names, these cookies all share the same basic ingredients and are prepared the same way, making it a special universal treat!

Mexican Wedding Cookie Recipe

Makes 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 – 1/4 cups sifted flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
  • Powered sugar (for rolling baked cookies in)

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 400°
  • Cream together butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy; stir in vanilla.
  • Whisk together flour and salt; add gradually to butter mixture; stir in chopped nuts.
  • Chill dough if it seems too soft.
  • Form dough into 1 ¼” balls and place onto parchment-lined or ungreased baking sheets.
  • Bake at 400° for 10-12 minutes or just until the cookies start to turn light golden-brown; remove from oven and allow to cool slightly; while cookies are still warm (but NOT hot) remove them from the baking sheets and roll, a few at a time, in powdered sugar until evenly coated; cool cookies completely on wire racks.
  • Cookies may (optionally) be rolled in powdered sugar a second time once cooled to room temp.
  • NOTE: Forming dough into 1” balls will increase yield to 48 cookies.
  • Store cookies in an air-tight jar or tin (they will last longer if stored this way).

Classic Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies

Prep: 60 minutes
Total: 60 minutes
Servings: 36

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1 egg
  • 1 – 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • Additional granulated sugar
  • About 36 Hershey’s® Kisses® Brand milk chocolates, unwrapped

    Directions

    • Heat oven to 375° In large bowl, beat 1/2 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, peanut butter, butter and egg with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon, until well blended. Stir in flour, baking soda and baking powder until dough forms.
    • Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll in additional granulated sugar. On ungreased cooking sheets, place about 2 inches apart.
    • Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Immediately press 1 milk chocolate candy in center of each cookie. Remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack.

    Holiday Rice Crispy TreatsTM

    Ingredients

    • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 10 cups mini marshmallows
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 6 cups Rice Krispies® cereal
    • 3 cups Rice Chex® cereal
    • 1 cup Christmas M&Ms®
    • 2 teaspoons holiday sprinkles

      Directions

      • Pre-measure all ingredients before you begin. Line a 9×13-inch baking sheet with parchment paper and coat with non-stick spray; set aside.
      • In a large saucepan, melt the butter, salt, and 8 cups of marshmallows together until smooth.
      • Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla, remaining 2 cups marshmallows and cereals until fully coated.
      • Quickly and gently fold in the M&Ms and sprinkles then transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish.
      • Top with extra M&M’s and sprinkles, if desired, and use parchment paper or greased hands to gently press the mixture into the pan.
      • Allow to set for 30 minutes before removing from the pan and cutting into squares.

      Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update #44

      Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update #44

      Oct 13, 2021 | COVID Update

      As a health care ministry, Moravian Manor Communities’ priority is the safety and health of our residents, staff, and visitors. One of the key defenses against this pandemic has been the COVID vaccines. As MMC continues to progress to our employee-mandated vaccine date of November 8, it is appropriate to update our stakeholders. 

      • Fully vaccinated and partially vaccinated (first dose) employees: 238 
      • Employees who have resigned or have pending resignation: 18 
      • Employees who have unknown intentions or applied for an exemption: 16* 
        *Nine of the sixteen are either minors or occasional employees. 

      I am grateful for the ninety-four percent of our current employees who have thus far committed to receiving the vaccine. However, I am sorry that we have had to part ways with others who have not elected to receive the vaccine for various reasons. As a result, I anticipate that we will need to temporarily adjust our services in both dining and housekeeping for our residential living residents. We will share more information in the coming days. 

      We are presently experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak in our Baer Center for Assisted Living. MMC residents in the Bear Center are 100% vaccinated. As of this morning, MMC has six residents who have tested positive. Two of the six residents were hospitalized. Unfortunately, one resident passed away on Monday, October 11. Please remember the resident’s family and friends during this difficult time. 

      MMC has also had one resident in our skilled nursing neighborhoods test positive for COVID-19. The resident was quarantined and has moved through the two-week critical period. In addition, MMC has had eight employees test positive for COVID-19 since September 12. No employee has had severe symptoms from COVID-19. 

      I believe these incidents are a good reminder that although we are tired of the virus, the virus is still quite active. 

      The Bear Center for Assisted Living staff serves as the call center for all residential living residents. Effective Wednesday, October 13, we are instituting some changes to those services due to the outbreak in the Baer Center. 

      • Activating your device will alert the Baer Center staff and security. 
      • Security or maintenance will continue to respond to your call. 
      • If warranted, the nurse in the Baer Center will triage the call with you and the security personnel. 
      • Since the Baer Center staff is actively working in a “red zone,” they will be unable to respond to your call physically. However, you will need to call 911 if the triage call determines that additional help is necessary. 
      • MMC does not want to send a nurse working in a red zone to your home. 
      • ALWAYS call 911 immediately if there is a severe health emergency. This part has not changed. 

      I anticipate the above conditions to be in place for at least one month. We need to have two weeks of one-hundred percent negative tests following our last tested positive in that area. 

      Please keep our team in your thoughts and prayers as we continue to navigate unchartered waters. Our team is working incredibly hard to continue to provide excellent service and keep all of us safe. I appreciate your support of these exceptional individuals! 

      For those of you seeking additional information on COVID-19, continuous updates are available at the following websites: 

      Pennsylvania Department of Health: www.health.pa.gov

      Center for Disease Control: www.cdc.gov

       

      Meet MMC Writer Shirley Hershey

      Meet MMC Writer Shirley Hershey

      Sep 20, 2021 | Community, Meet the Neighbors

      Shirley Hershey spent her first year of life on a family farm (304 Newport Rd., which became Forgotten Seasons Bed & Breakfast). Her parents lived on one side of the house, and her grandparents on the other. From age 1-12, Shirley lived on another farm on the Lititz Road in the Manheim Central School district. In 1960, she and her family moved back to the family farm on Newport Road, completing a circle with her birthplace. She and her four siblings, Henry, Sue, Doris, and Linda, graduated from Warwick High School. In 1966, Shirley set out for Harrisonburg, VA, to enroll at Eastern Mennonite College (now University). She tells the story of what it was like to grow up in a plain Mennonite family in her memoir Blush: A Mennonite Girl Meets the Glittering World (2013).

      In college, Shirley joined the newspaper staff and there met Stuart Showalter, the editor-in-chief, who became her life partner in 1969. After two years of teaching high school English at Harrisonburg (VA) High School, Shirley and Stuart set out for graduate school at The University of Texas at Austin, where they both got doctorates. Stuart in Communication and Shirley in American Civilization. In 1976, they accepted positions on the faculty of Goshen College in Indiana. Soon after they arrived, their first child Anthony was born. Daughter Kate joined the family six years later.

      Shirley was called to become the 14th president of Goshen College in 1996 and served for eight years. She still has a special love for that “spot in Indiana where the leafy maple grows,” to quote the opening line of the college alma mater. In 2004, Shirley accepted a position with the Fetzer Institute, a private operating foundation based in Kalamazoo, MI. She led the program division there for six years and had the pleasure of meeting many exemplars of the Fetzer mission to “foster awareness of the power of love and forgiveness” — including the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmund Tutu. She worked directly with Bill Moyers and indirectly with Krista Tippett, supporting their programming on PBS and NPR.

      In 2010, it was time for Shirley and Stuart to choose the place for their retirement. They considered both Lancaster County and Harrisonburg, the places of their roots, but chose Harrisonburg because they fell in love with a house that looked directly over farms to the western mountains of the Shenandoah Valley. Stuart’s large family (six brothers and one sister) living in the area welcomed them, and Stuart accepted a part-time job as a development officer at Eastern Mennonite University, thus completing two circles: family and college. Shirley continued her writing and speaking avocations and served on the board of the Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community (VMRC).

      When friends began to look at retirement communities, Shirley and Stuart put their names on the wait lists of both VMRC and MMC’s Warwick Woodlands Campus. They thought they would be ready to move in about 2022-25. But this past winter, two things changed their minds. First, their daughter Kate, husband Nik, and granddaughter Lydia decided to move from Pittsburgh to Lancaster. And then, the Bonfield house at 201 Osprey opened up. Becoming “roof mates” with their friends Jack and Gloria Rutt seemed like destiny. So, they took the plunge, sold their beloved mountain view home, and moved to the Warwick Woodlands Campus in May.

      Shirley has written six blog posts, starting with this one, about the move so far. She and Stuart are telling everyone who asks about how much they love this community. They have enjoyed meeting many people here and hope to make many more friends as time goes on. Shirley is working on the final proofs of her new book written after Covid struck. It’s co-authored with Marilyn McEntyre and is called The Mindful Grandparent: The Art of Loving Our Children’s Children. Shirley and Stuart are grandparents of Owen (age 10), Julia (age 9) and Lydia (age 4). All of them love the Warwick Woodlands Campus too!

      It is now 55 years since Shirley first left Lititz. To return home, all she has to do is get on her bike or walk to the Dean Saylor/Linear Park. She can visit the old homestead, now owned by her first cousin, or her sister Doris who lives on the hill. Her favorite walk is in the woods along the Santo Domingo Creek. That’s where she used to call the cows home to the barn, where she and her siblings splashed and picked mint, and where they would sled from the top of the hill to the creek in the winter.

      There’s something very satisfying about the shape of a circle. Shirley loves to tell her grandchildren the stories of the circles in her life. And so loves to hear how other grandparents pass along their stories to the next generations also!

      To learn more about Shirley and her writing, visit shirleyshowalter.com or www.facebook.com/ShirleyHersheyShowalter.

      Wearing vintage spectacles and dress that belonged to her Grandmother Anna Mary Hess, Shirley stands in front of the Hershey Homeplace (Forgotten Seasons). For Lititz and Moravian history buffs — this house, built between 1735 and 1742, was Jacob Hoober’s tavern and was one of the places Count Zinzendorf preached during his trip through the colonies. After this visit, George Klein donated his land on which the original town of Lititz was built.

      Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update #44

      Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update #43

      Sep 13, 2021 | COVID Update

      As a health care ministry, Moravian Manor Communities’ priority is the safety and health of our residents, staff, and visitors. One of the key defenses against this pandemic has been the COVID vaccines.

      Since their Federal Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) in late 2020, MMC has encouraged residents, staff, volunteers, and visitors to get the vaccines. Currently, over 95% of our residents and 76% of our team are fully vaccinated, significantly higher than County and State norms. I thank you and most of our staff for taking this vital step to keep loved ones and the community safe. 

      As the newer and highly contagious Delta variant has shown locally and globally, we now need to take further measures to protect the health and well-being of residents and staff. On Monday, August 23, the Food & Drug Administration gave full approval for the Pfizer vaccine (the one most of you received here on March 5 and 26). And recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) clarify that community-wide immunization is a crucial next step to overcoming this pandemic. 

      Therefore, MMC has required all staff and volunteers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by November 8, 2021. In making this decision, we are joining a rapidly expanding group of retirement communities and health care providers across the country who recognize the importance of COVID vaccination to protect those in their charge as well as the broader community. Locally, Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health announced similar steps this summer. MMC is pleased to be part of a group of eight Life Plan Communities now complying with these CDC and CMS recommendations.

      COVID vaccination will now be a condition of employment, just as vaccination against other dangerous health threats has long been required for MMC employees. In addition, our policy will recognize authorized medical and religious exemptions, and unvaccinated staff can receive the vaccine through our pharmacy provider (Phoebe) or at a provider of their choice. 

      Along with the vaccine mandate, MMC will continue to take extra precautions to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, including supplying employees with appropriate personal protective equipment and following the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid screening measures. We will continue to protect residents and staff proactively through masking directives, social distancing measures, frequent cleanings, and visitor precautions. In addition, we regularly test staff and residents for COVID-19 based on current protocols. 

      I realize this announcement will be difficult for some of our staff to absorb. However, this is a crucial step to keep our residents and coworkers as safe as possible. Moravian Manor Communities’ Vision Statement is “To be a unique Community within a Community that excels at anticipating and accommodating the changing lifestyles, expectations, and the needs of the people we serve.”  This statement drives our decision-making. 

      We sincerely hope and expect that most unvaccinated staff will understand the urgency and take comfort in the knowledge that the Pfizer vaccine has now received full and final approval by the FDA.  In addition, hundreds of millions of individuals have used the vaccines under the Emergency Use Authorization.  However, there may be a few individuals who choose to seek employment elsewhere due to our decision. If so, I ask for your patience while we work quickly to address staff shortages. 

      For those of you seeking additional information on COVID-19, continuous updates are available at the following websites: 

      Pennsylvania Department of Health: www.health.pa.gov

      Center for Disease Control: www.cdc.gov

       

      MMC Serves as Founding Organization in The Colligo Group

      MMC Serves as Founding Organization in The Colligo Group

      Sep 9, 2021 | Community

      MMC is pleased to announce its collaborative partnership as a founding member in The Colligo Group. As one of six regional nonprofit senior living communities joining this enterprise, MMC will benefit with opportunities to collaborate on solutions that may include shared recruitment and staffing, billing services, therapy services, and development to name a few.

      “I’m excited for MMC to be part of this venture,” stated David Swartley, CEO. “One of the greatest advantages is that while MMC continues to independently carry out our historic mission here in Lititz, we can tap into a broader base of knowledge and experience to meet industry challenges. This isn’t a merger of any kind. Rather, it’s a way to jointly problem solve with likeminded organizations while stretching each dollar wisely to serve our respective communities. It’s something that can help support our sustainability as an individual organization as we look to the future.”