Aroma of creativity wafts through Chestnut Ridge
A handful of East Holmes Schools middle school students are hard at work creating their own aroma-filled Christmas ornaments as part of a project hosted by Kate Shumaker of Ohio State University Holmes County Extension.
A wonderful fragrance emanated throughout the gymnasium at Chestnut Ridge Elementary on Nov. 7, and a group of students were enjoying making that happen.
Kate Shumaker, Ohio State University Holmes County Extension family and consumer sciences educator, visited with seventh-graders and eighth-graders from Wise, Mt. Hope and Chestnut Ridge schools recently to offer kitchen-safety insight sprinkled with an opportunity to create a holiday gift for the olfactory sense.
Shumaker’s presentation of the program Kitchen Safety for the Holidays was in cooperation with the annual MyPlate Poster Contest and the Dram Bedroom Contest hosted for all three schools, and while the girls waited for the judges to declare the winners in each contest, Shumaker was dishing out kitchen-safety information.
However, what really captured the girls’ attention more so was being given a chance to create Christmas ornaments filled with dried herb dip mixes they could either keep in the family for the holidays or give them as gifts.
“These are four really easy mixes that they can make themselves at home,” Shumaker said. “It’s fun to do this around this time of the year because they do make neat, little gifts for Christmas as party favors, ornaments or gifts.”
The four mixes included ranch mix, dill dip, fiesta mix and an Italian mix. The girls assembled around a series of tables and went to work filling each of their four ornaments as prescribed, presenting a chance to chat while having fun creating their work.
The girls received instructions and ingredients to make all the mixes and were encouraged to take them home and make more, preferably making it a family effort.
This is something they can make and have in reserve ahead of a gathering so that they can easily grab one of the mixes; stir it into something like yogurt, mayonnaise, cream cheese or sour cream; and create a fun party dip in just seconds.
Shumaker said by preparing these mixes, as well as cookie mix in a jar or a premade soup mix where you add water and heat, is perfect for holiday-season preparation where time can easily slip away.
“It’s pretty common for someone to realize they need something to take to a party or gathering at the last second, and these types of ready-made items are really handy, so I encourage everyone to explore perhaps investing some time prior to the holidays to make some mixes,” Shumaker said. “They’re fairly simple, and dried herbs are fairly inexpensive, and most of them can be combined with other ingredients, and they have a pretty good shelf life.”
She said doing so also can add some quality time for families with children who love getting into the kitchen and being creative.
She also said while there are recipes out there, being creative and making something unique is always part of the fun.