8 - Morrisvitle and Preston Progress, Thursday, Dec. 18,1997
Finks Mexican theme dinner
party a hot and tasty time
Church
restarts
program to
help kids,
mothers
The Mom’s Morning Out pro
gram will be starting again at
Morrisville First Baptist Church
after a new teacher joined the
church and volunteered to get it
started.
Carrie Willson will lead the pro
gram, with a curriculum called
“Wee Learn,” centered on Bible
stories.
“One week we will have
Discovering Winter,’ another
week we’re going to do staying
healthy, and bring some oranges in
and make some orange juice. We
will do crafts and hands-on stuff,”
Mrs. Willson said.
The classes, held Tuesday and
Thursday mornings from 9 a.m. to
12:30 p.m., will feature an hour of
play, an hour of lesson, snack time
and music time.
But the main purpose of the pro
gram is to give moms a break.
There will be 10 slots available.
Registration will be held Jan. 6
from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., and class
es will begin on Jan. 8 and go
through May 28. The tuition is
$85 per month.
People may pre-register by call
ing Mrs. Willson at 363-9988.
The Mom’s Morning Out
Program at First Baptist began in
1995, but did not operate during
the fall of this year.
Mrs. Willson and her family
moved to Morrisville from
Richmond in May. She had
expressed an interest in working
with the program, but was busy
having a baby in September.
“I taught some preschool at ray
church in Virginia, did child care,
and worked with children doing
social work. This is a good chance
for me to work part-time and help
the children.”
The co-teacher will be Alice
Wrenn.
“She’s taught some preschool.
She stays home with children, and
wanted part-time work, too,” Mre.
Willson said.
The former teacher quit at the
end of last year.
Mrs. Willson is excited about the
challenge. “We’ll see how it goes,
we’ll grow with it. It’s good for
the children to have something so
they don’t go into kindergarten
without familiarity with the school
setting and socialization,” she
said.
If December is the month for par
tying, Preston residents Jim and
Nancy Flink must be busy indeed,
for the very word “party” seems to
get their creative juices flowing.
Once, the Flinks sent out invitations
for a “Creative Black Tie” party.
The result was that their guests
arrived in attire such as suspenders
attached to a barrel, their grand
mother’s old cocktail dresses, old
bridesmaid dresses, or a tux with a
tool belt in place of the cumberbund,
with a stud-finder as the most
important tool in tow, of course!
Another time, the Flinks invited
guests to dinner...but “forgot” to tell
them that they were going to have to
prepare it themselves! Just a few
short weeks ago, it was my good
fortune to be invited to one of those
dinners. Guests were told that the
party theme was Mexican, and that
they should dress accordingly. They
entered a house that was decorated
with a Mexican motif, complete
with Mexican H’oerdoerves topping
a table, and Italian music playing
softly in the background, (...sorry,
just couldn’t resist the opportunity
to see if you were paying attention!)
Jim, a partner of Goodman, Segar
Commercial Real Estate, paired his
people skills with Nancy’s flair for
creativity, and divided their guest
list into two teams: “Salt” and
Jt
Preston wood
Gourmet
By
Roxanne Powers
“Pepper" Using the tools of
Decipher, Inc., (Menu, spinner,
aprons, chef hats, and a cassette tape
that explains the rules of the “game)
and pre-purchased groceries, the
Flinks and their guests got to work.
First, Nancy introduced her
kitchen and the staple items that
everyone would have access to:
flour, sugar, brown sugar, butter,
vegetable oil, vinegar, salt, cinna
mon, vanilla, oregano, garlic cloves
and coffee. Then, and executive chef
was chosen for each team, and a
chef’s hat placed on their heads,
before each team was sent in sepa
rate directions to “strategize” (plan
their menu for an appetizer, main
Habanero
pepper relish
2 onions
2-3 red bell peppers
1 cup vinegar
6-8 carrots
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 colander Habanero peppers!
Dice everything together and !
cook until done. Simmer until!
carrots are soft. Heat jars in j
oven @ 350 degrees, boil lids.
CREATIVE COOKING—Jim and Nancy Flink divided their guest list
into two teams; “Salt” and “Pepper” Using the tools of Decipher,
Inc., (Menu, spinner, aprons, chef hats, and a cassette tape that
explains the rules of the “game) and pre-purchased groceries, then
they and their guests got to work.
dish and dessert) before the playing
began. I had the unique privilege of
eavesdropping on both teams at this
most educational time. The
“Pepper” team guessed that it would
be best to go for their core ingredi
ents (rice, chicken broth, black
beans) first, while the “Salt” team
bantered that they were just so col
lectively creative that it didn’t mat
ter what they ended up with... it was
bound to be delicious!
Soon, both teams were back in the
kitchen with the spinner; each team
would be exuberant when their spin
landed on “choose an ingredient,”
only to be deflated when their oppo
nents got the opportunity to swap
and ingredient with them!
Then...they were off and cooking!
The competitive natures of the
“players” were soon exposed in a
steady stream of back-and-forth
bantering: “Hope that chicken is
done over there!” “What are
those???” You just went Italian with
that Mexican...you know that, don’t
you?” guest Peanut Shupe of Cary
sang over to husband Don,
“Oh...Master Chef, Oh...Master
Chef...let’s see you cooking dinner
tomorrow!”, and from one whose
teammates were on the patio smok
ing cigarettes: “My trophy is out
there in a cloud of smoke!”
The real fun began when Nancy’s
parents, Wayne and Barbara
Gramling of Shreveport, La., started
sneaking ingredients into their
respective team’s pots... Wayne
sneaked a little of his habanero salsa
into a simmering pot of ground beef,
and Barbara’s team waltzed out with
green colored sugar to roll their
limes in (for a better presentation),
saying, “Well, it said sugar...it did
n’t specify what kind!”
Soon, the meal was prepared and
ready for me to judge...(I love this
job) The “Salt team presented
“Habanero El Nino” (fajitas), “Corn
bread dc Mexico (Appetizer), and
“Bandita Banana” (Dessert-sauteed
bananas); the pepper team presented
“Chicken Yucatera” (Main Dish),
“Mexcala Wild Pizza” (appetizer)
and “Cafe Zucar Senorita” (ice
cream blended with Kaluha.
Now, I’m not totally stupid, so I
announced that 1 would have to have
seconds to decide. The desserts won
hands down.
Well, they haven’t had their
Chinese party yet, and when they
do, they might be in need of a
judge!
Town engineer resigns to take Wake County job
Morrisville’s first town engineer.
Jay Gibson, will be leaving his post
on Jan. 2 to take a position with
Wake County, after less than a year
on the job.
This follows the resignation last
month of Town Planner Leisa
Powell, who had been with the town
for several years. Mrs. Powell
resigned to take a part time job and
spend more time at home with her
young daughter. Town Manager
David Hodgkins was hoping to hire
her replacement early this week.
Gibson, who started the depart
ment from scratch last February, has
helped set up an infrastructure
inspections department, has started a
GIS mapping plan for water and
sewer services for the town, and
brought to the town’s attention the
need for a long range plan and a
Capital Improvements Program.
Since his arrjval, development plans
have been marked by long lists of
suggestions, including water and
sewer and road building require
ments.
‘Jay has done a good job building a department
from the ground up. He’s accomplished a lot in
a short time. Certainly we wish him well and we
will move with due haste to fill his position. ‘
—David Hodgkins,
Morrisville Town Manager
“I hope I have helped the elected
officials and citizens understand the
importance of having a strong pro
cess for development review and
infrastructure construction,” Gibson
said, “that what we build today is
what we have tomorrow, so we bet
ter get it right the first time around.”
He said it was a hard decision to
leave the town, but the opportunity
with the county was “very attrac
tive.”
He will be heading up a division of
a newly established department
effective Feb. 1, the Environmental
Services Department. Rick Rowe,
who will head the new department,
has been both a friend and a mentor
since the two engineers met six or
seven years ago when they both
worked for the state.
“I had long hoped for a chance to
work with him and am very excited
about that,” (jibson said.
Gibson said he would return to the
town if needed to make the transi
tion easier for a new engineer when
hired.
“Jay has done a good job building
a department from the ground up,”
Hodgkins said. “He’s accomplished
a lot in a short time. Certainly we
wish him well and we will move
with due haste to fill his position.”
Gibson had worked with the N.C.
Department of Transportation and
with the Raleigh Public Utilities
Department before taking the job in
Morrisville. He earned his degree in
civil engineering from N.C. State
University in 1988.
Andrew Carter Gibson, his first
child, was bom Nov. 18. His wife,
Jill, who had been a CPA, will be
staying home with the baby.
—By Mary Beth Phillips
Fax your news brief to
The Progress at
362-1369.
Know a good
recipe?
Send your interesting
recipes to Roxanne
Powers at The Progress,
P.O. Box 1539,
Apex, NC 27502.
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