Women's Ministry

During this season, we are featuring holiday memories from some of our staff women and pastor’s wives, along with their favorite recipes. Enjoy!

Some of my favorite holiday memories are of my family going to my dad’s hometown of Montell, Texas, over Thanksgiving. I remember the smell of the perpetual campfire that burned under the ancient oaks whose limbs stretched long and high overhead. We’d wrap ourselves in blankets as we sat in metal chairs around the fire and stare up into the sky. Those huge ancient live oaks growing around the house my dad grew up in in south Texas always fascinated me. Dad said those oaks were already growing when Santa Ana was a private (That’s Texas-speak for “they’re really old”).

South Texas hardly ever sees snow, so during the fall and winter holidays my brother, sister, cousins and I would run down the hill behind my grandparents’ house and play by Montell Creek. We were free to roam just about anywhere. Countless hours were spent down there watching the clearest, cleanest water I’d ever seen run over fallen limbs and river rock. We were pirates, cops and robbers, river royalty, and a host of other amazing characters as we delved into the depths of our imaginations.

Our parents had a special yell to call us up to the house again. I remember big breakfasts, simple lunches and big family dinners. Neighbors forever stopped by to drink sweet tea with my grandparents. I don’t think I understood until much, much later how connected they were with their community. They loved their neighbors and their neighbors loved them. Holidays were full of feasting and friends.

My grandfather Papa Tom had cattle so we’d go check on the cows after breakfast. I never could understand how he didn’t get lost driving through the cedar-infested pastures of their part of Uvalde County. One cow path looked the same as the next, but not to Papa Tom. He knew that land like the back of his hand. My grandparents worked hard all their lives and I will be forever grateful for their influence on my life.

My grandfather passed away in 1992 and my grandmother’s health declined greatly over the years afterward. We lost her in 2012. But all throughout those years my aunts Liz, Rebecca and Alice did the lion’s share of meal planning for these big family gatherings. As my sister and I grew up, we were inducted into the rhythms of kitchen life. It was there that we really started to hear the details of what we’d been missing in each other’s lives. It was during one of these times that my aunt Rebecca Jane got me to help her make this crazy recipe for Jalapeño Sweet Potato Soup we were all quite unsure of.

Turns out it was a big hit and has since become one of my husband’s favorite fall/winter soups. The recipe credit goes to Cynthia Collins Pedregon and can be found in The Peach Tree Tea Room Cookbook. I’d like to share it with you.

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Jalapeño Sweet Potato Soup

3 slices bacon, finely chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
3 cloves garlic, sliced
4 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
8 cups chicken broth
¼ cup pickled jalapeños, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons jalapeño juice
1 teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup cilantro leaves
1-1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground

1. In large stock pot, sauté bacon and onion in butter until just tender. Add garlic and cook about two more minutes.
2. Add sweet potatoes, chicken broth, pickled jalapeños, jalapeño juice and cumin. Cover and cook until potatoes are tender, about 20-30 minutes.
3. When done, add soda, cilantro and milk. Coarsely mash potatoes with a potato masher.
4. Stir well and taste for salt and pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes stirring frequently.

Makes 14 cups.

Garnish with sour cream and 3-4 jalapeños, cut in thin lengthwise strips-pepitas are good, too!

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Jodi LaFrance and her family came to Harvest in 2008 and says she’s “dug in like a turnip.” She currently serves as a worship leader and life group leader at the Plainview Campus.

During this season, we are featuring holiday memories from some of our staff women and pastor’s wives, along with their favorite recipes. Enjoy!

One of my favorite holiday memories actually comes from my first year of marriage.  Lyle and I were living in Budapest, Hungary. As missionaries, we were keenly aware of the generosity of believers stateside who made our life possible, and so it was important to spend that money wisely. We wanted what little Christmas budget we had to give gifts to our families stateside (and the postage to get the gifts there!).  We debated over purchasing a tree, but real trees were relatively cheap, and since we were spending Christmas without family, we splurged for the tree, hauled it up the five flights of stairs (no elevator!) and set it up.

Then came the dilemma: what to put on it?  Some generous Hungarian church members had given us a few Christmas ornaments they’d decorated themselves. I think we had 5 of those. Our tree, though green and fragrant, looked slightly bare with only 5 ornaments. But we got creative.  Some thoughtful American soul had sent us popcorn. Now this wasn’t the Orville Redenbacher pop-in-the-microwave kind, and we didn’t have a microwave anyway. This was your 1960’s Jiffy Pop over-the-stove-flame popcorn, the kind with the metal handle that forms a ring around the pan (Some of you are too young to know what this is but Google it. It’s still available at Walmart, even).

So we strung that popcorn, and Lyle, his creative juices REALLY flowing, took the metal ring/handle and fashioned it into a star. We covered it in aluminum foil and voila! We had a beautiful topper for our tree. We were pretty proud of our work, but the best part came on Christmas morning.  We had each budgeted $5 to spend on the other, which was a lot of money for us back in 1992 (Now, if you know the story The Gift of the Magi, ours may sound vaguely familiar, but there were no pocketwatch chains or hair combs involved)! He got me a beautiful pair of blue enameled earrings, and I found him a novel in English (a rare treasure in those days).

We have spent 24 Christmases together since then, all with a larger budget. We’ve accumulated many ornaments and decorations and had beautiful trees, presents piled high underneath many years. But when I think of a Christmas where we truly experienced “peace on earth,” I think of that year when Jesus had blessed us through the sacrifices of others first so we, too, could give.

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Pumpkin Dump Cake

1 15 oz. can pure pumpkin
1 10 oz. can evaporated milk
1 cup light brown sugar
3 eggs
3 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted
1 cup coarsely crushed graham crackers and/or pecans

Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a 9×13 baking pan with nonstick spray and set aside. In a large bowl combine the pumpkin, evaporated milk, sugar, eggs, and pumpkin pie spice. Stir to combine and pour into pan. Sprinkle cake mix over pumpkin mixture, followed by graham crackers and/or nuts. Pour melted butter evenly on top. Bake for 45-50 minutes until center is set and edges are lightly browned. Serve warm.

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Shelli Jarvis is wife to Life Group Pastor Lyle and a willing volunteer at the HCF Amarillo Campus.

During this season, we are featuring holiday memories from some of our staff women and pastor’s wives, along with their favorite recipes. Enjoy!

The holiday season.  It’s a season full of activities, family, friends and memories.  And, of course, yummy food. 🙂 While I have many wonderful memories from growing up, one Christmas stands out above the others.  When I was in college, my family decided to go on a ski trip together instead of doing gifts.  Now, it should be said that I LOVE to ski.  I’m there early, and time it appropriately so that I can catch the last lift up to the longest run in order to maximize my time.  On top of that, lunch is normally a protein bar, because I don’t even have time to waste eating.

My family made many memories on the ski slopes that year, but some of the even more precious memories that we made were off the ski slopes.  We didn’t know anyone in the area, so we were just with each other for days on end.  We played Rock Band, watched movies and plenty of football, cooked all of our meals together, and even went sledding together on a small hill outside of the home we were staying in. Then, on the way home, there was a massive snow storm that had all kinds of roads closed, so we had to backtrack, and traveling home took an extra day.

Needless to say all this time in the car afforded us more time to make even more memories—although at the time, we didn’t feel like they were happy memories. This also happened to be the last Christmas we had together before fiancés and husbands were added to the family.  It was the last Christmas that was just myself, my parents and my sisters.  I will remember this Christmas trip forever, and I will always treasure the bonds that we built as adults and friends on this trip.  The memories will last much longer than any gift that could have been given that year. Now that I have children of my own, I try to remember that during the holiday season.

We do gifts for our small children, but we also have traditions, and we try to give them experiences, so that long after the toy breaks, or the book is torn up, or the movie is no longer interesting, they have the memories of growing up and enjoying Christmas with their siblings.  I want my kids to have something to hold on to, something to remember when the holiday seasons aren’t easy, or when they are grown with families of their own.

One thing that we like to do together is to make gifts for our friends at Christmas time.  This also happens to be one of my favorite recipes—because it is so easy and absolutely delicious.  Make memories with your family this Christmas. You won’t regret it.

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Crockpot Christmas Candy

1 lb. dry roasted salted peanuts
1 lb. dry roasted unsalted peanuts
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 oz. German’s sweet chocolate
2.5 lbs. white chocolate almond bark

*I like to add one bag of Reese’s peanut butter chips, but this is completely optional*

Layer all ingredients in the crock pot with the peanuts on the bottom.  Cook on low for 1 hour and then stir.  Continue cooking until completely melted.  When the mixture is completely melted, stir and then spoon onto a cookie sheet (covered in parchment paper), or into mini muffin cups.  You can leave them out to harden at room temperature, or freeze them.  Either way is delicious!

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Brooke Kellum is the Director of Special Events (Kid City Summer Camp, Catalyst Camp, Men’s Retreat, Women’s Conference, etc.) for Central Ministries.  She also volunteers in Kid City and with the Catalyst youth ministry in Plainview.