Christine Pfaff, a Graduate Student and Dietetic Intern at Kent State University, provided a great demo on healthy baking for the staff and community at Jennings Center for Older Adults on Monday, April 29. In pursuit of her master’s degree, Christine spent time at Jennings working with the dietitians and dining services staff. Her internship culminated in creating “Healthy Baking” mini taste testing and education with recipes and delicious samples. Attendees found out about healthy substitutions for some of our fatty favorites; for example how black beans can replace flour for brownies, or when Greek yogurt might replace canola oil.

Try some of the delicious recipes that Christine shared (see below). You might be surprised at how delicious healthy baking can be!

Recipes:
Banana-Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookies (courtesy of Health.com):
Click here for recipe at http://www.health.com/health/recipe/0,,10000001854047,00.html

Pineapple Upside-Down Muffins (courtesy of Eating Well):
Click here for recipe at http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/pineapple_upside_down_muffins.html

Peanut Butter Cookies (courtesy of Eating Well):
Click here for recipe at http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/peanut_butter_cookies.html

The newest exhibit on display is artwork from local college student Hillary Kursh. Hillary’s collection offers a wide style range in a variety of mediums including oil, watercolor, printmaking, and drawing.  “Art has always been a huge part of my life,” says Hillary. “Now I want to push myself further by traveling to Italy.” Hillary will be traveling to Italy in the summer, thanks in part to two generous research grants, private donations, and her own funding. She’ll be living in the medieval walls of Todi, a city in the heart of the Umbrian valley halfway between Rome and Florence for six weeks, where she  classes, meet local historians and discuss the culture, travel to see medieval masterpieces, handle ancient artifacts, and take part in restoring paintings. Hillary’s work will be on display from Thursday, March 21 until Thursday, May 9, 2013.  The gallery is supported in part by the residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.

Hillary Kursh grew up in Eastlake, Ohio. She decided to travel south to Roanoke, Virginia to attend Hollins University where she is currently studying studio art, creative writing, and film. This summer Hillary will be traveling to Italy where she will live and study painting in the small town of Todi for six weeks. She has received the Hobbie Trust Grant and the Janet McDonald Grant as well as exhibited her work in the 2013 Exchange 81 Juried Art Exhibit. For more about her work, visit http://hkursh16.wix.com/hillarykurshart#!protfolio/cvh5.

Our fish fries are complete for 2013. Thank  you to everyone who came to eat at our three all-you-can-eat fish f ry events!  We hope you’ll join us next year throughout Lent.

May love and laughter light your days,
and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours,
wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world
with joy that long endures.
May all life’s passing seasons
bring the best to you and yours!

(islandireland.com)

The 20th Florence Cellar Conference on Aging explores the relationship between physical activity and mental acuity to achieve vitality in aging using the theme “Gray Matters: Healthy Body, Healthy Mind, Healthy Aging.”  This conference features the latest research findings as well as demonstrated successes for healthy aging through keynote addresses and lively panel discussions with prominent researchers and mythbusting active elders. Approximately 250 healthcare and social service providers, administrators, researchers, students and educators, informal caregivers, and older adult consumers regularly convene for this daylong, biannual conference.

Visit the web site at http://fpb.case.edu/centers/ucah/conference.shtm for details on the conference schedule. Highlights include:

Keynote speaker is Leonard W. Poon, PhD, University of Georgia Distinguished Research Professor. Dr. Poon is the principal investigator for The Georgia Centenarian Study, a remarkable 20-year research program on the oldest old—individuals who live to age 100 or beyond.

Morning speaker is Gay Hanna, PhD, MFA, Executive Director of the National Center for Creative Aging (NCCA). Dr. Hanna is an arts administration leader with 30 years management experience in the arts, education, and health related program services.

Luncheon speaker is the Honorable Louis Stokes, U.S. Representative (Retired). As the first African American member of the U.S. Congress from Ohio, Mr. Stokes played a pivotal role in the quest for civil rights, equality, and social and economic justice throughout his 15 consecutive terms.

Early Bird Registration Fee: $150
After March 15: $175

Register now

For you my soul thirsts. Ps. 63

Just as the wasteland symbolizes desolation of spirit, water symbolizes restoration and life. Jesus was baptized in the flowing waters of the River Jordan and was tempted in the hot, dry desert. Lent invites us to look within and to be aware of our desert places, our fears and our great thirst to be in the presence of God, now and forever.

The roads Jesus walked were hot and dusty. Once, walking through the region of Samaria, tired and thirsty, Jesus sat down by Jacob’s well. He asked the Samaritan woman who was there to draw water to give him a drink. He was tired and thirsty and not afraid to admit it. He revealed his vulnerability. Their intense conversation encouraged the woman and her neighbors to be open to God’s presence among them. He was among Samaritans and did not reject them. He knew the woman’s history as a sinner, and he welcomed her service. He opened the door to her transformation. In return for water from the well, Jesus offered her the water of eternal life.

At the wedding feast in Cana, when the wine had run out, Jesus saved the day for the bridegroom’s family by the miraculous sign of turning the ordinary water in six stone jars into fine wine. As a result, his disciples began to believe in him and to recognize through such signs the power of God’s presence active in their lives.

For caregivers, water is always needed—as a cleansing agent, an essential part of the healing process, and to satisfy thirst. Pediatricians caution anxious parents of sick infants to keep the child drinking to avoid dehydration. Very old patients who can no longer drink without choking are provided thickened liquids. Wounds must be cleaned to be treated. IVs must be constantly monitored to keep patient fluids optimal. Even the sound of a fountain’s running water helps anxious people to be calm.

When we thirst for meaning, God is with us. When we search for eternal life, there God is also—the Good Shepherd, Loving God and Holy Spirit. God leads us by the still waters and refreshes our souls.

You set a table before me …

You anoint my head with oil …

My cup overflows …

I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

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Restore my joy in your salvation. Ps. 51

This is one of those years when Easter comes early. It feels like we are moving very quickly from Advent to Christmas to Epiphany to Lent. Maybe everything happens more quickly these days—as we grow older, meet ever shorter deadlines and follow a 24-hour news cycle. Weren’t we just singing hymns about the Three Kings coming from the Orient? How can we turn ourselves around this quickly from the joy of the birth of Christ to the somber time of Lent? Yet here we are, taking on the ashes that remind us that our worldly life is short and our life in God is forever.

It was just such a startling turnaround that brought the disciples from Jesus’s baptism in the Jordan River, to the heady days of his ministry, when crowd control was one of their job descriptions. It carried them forward as they witnessed Jesus healing people who came to him, and they heard a new message of mercy from the lips of one whom they began to understand to be divine. From the triumphant entry into Jerusalem when their leader was hailed as the Messiah, they found themselves committed to Him and to one another. Then they were confronted by the horrifying experience of seeing their beloved Jesus tortured and executed. Deep in their fear, desolation and despair, they received the glorious, stupefying news that the tomb was empty and Christ had triumphed over death. It was more than they could comprehend. How then can we take it in?

Life changes very quickly. We who work in the delivery of health care witness the whipsaw changes that life delivers to everyone. We are present as babies are born and welcomed into the world by ecstatic parents and families. We are present in emergency departments where the suddenness of injury or illness tests one’s emotions and rationality. We are present in hospice when the long, certain and painful goodbyes are Lenten Reflection taken. Along the whole range of human  experience, in joy and suffering, we are there as witnesses and servants.

Lent slows us down and prepares us, individually and in community, for the great message of salvation through Christ’s Resurrection. During the period of Lent, leading to Holy Week, and ultimately the glory of Easter, we practice together what it means to be Christians professing belief in the One Creator God. Through ritual, fasting, penance, prayer and reflection we enter the mystery of faith.

On Monday, Feb. 11, Catholics around the globe observe the 21st annual World Day of the Sick. Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA) reminds us that since 1992, the Catholic Church has celebrated World Day of the Sick on Feb. 11 — the day on which the church commemorates the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes — under the sponsorship of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care. World Day of the Sick has three consistent themes. First, it reminds the faithful to pray intensely and sincerely for those who are sick. Second, the celebration invites Christians to reflect on and respond to human suffering. And third, this day recognizes and honors all persons who work in health care and serve as caregivers.

In 2013, the liturgical memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes, the 21st World Day of the Sick will be solemnly celebrated at the Marian Shrine of Altötting in Germany.

In a message for the 2013 World Day of the Sick, Pope Benedict XVI calls on everyone to be a good Samaritan and concretely help those in need. Thanking those who care for the sick and elderly, the pope underlines the church’s fundamental role in “lovingly and generously accepting every human being, especially those who are weak and sick.”

source: Catholic Health Association of the United States
http://www.chausa.org/Pages/Events/Programs/World_Day_of_the_Sick/

Click here to visit the CHA web site  for CHA’s 2013 World Day of the Sick Prayer Card

Click here to visit the Vatican web site for the message of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI’s in commemoration of the 21st World Day of the Sick

Pew Research Center(http://www.pewsocialtrends.org) released a study noting that “nearly half (47%) of adults in their 40s and 50s have a parent age 65 or older and are either raising a young child or financially supporting a grown child (age 18 or older). And about one-in-seven middle-aged adults (15%) is providing financial support to both an aging parent and a child. With an aging population and a generation of young adults struggling to achieve financial independence, the burdens and responsibilities of middle-aged Americans are increasing.” For more data and trends, read the entire report by clicking on this link: http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/01/30/the-sandwich-generation/1/.