Danielle Bertoli, Project Director of Harriet Eisman Community School & Freelance Writer, kicks off our Wellness Week explaining the benefits of daily journaling. She also shares some writing she has done as well as a worksheet to get our creativity flowing.
Cat Munzing is an Oceanside local, a seamstress and a hard working mother of three, who ordinarily specializes in baby clothing and accessories, as well as repurposing family heirlooms, including fashioning wedding dresses into the most gorgeous christening gowns. However, when the pandemic began to change the needs in society, Cat quickly shifted her focus from adorable baby clothes, to medical masks for first responders.
When Cat heard that a college friend of hers, a neurologist, was running out of PPE and asked for sewing advice to make her own masks, immediately Cat knew that this was something that she could help with. She didn’t do this alone, and she has been overwhelmed by the generosity and outreach of support from people in the community: from neighbors donating money, to cutting fabric, and sewing masks. Cat has made and donated PPE masks for frontline workers and local hospitals including Winthrop, South Nassau, Mt. Sinai, Huntington Hospital, St. Francis, NY Presbyterian, Elmhurst, Wyckoff, North Shore University, DuPont Children's, and St. Johns. She has also donated to police officers, local precincts, EMTs, and other essential workers from Long Island to California. With the help and outreach from the community, she has made over 1,270 masks for frontline workers.
Cat is now making fabric masks for the larger community, and is donating 25% of the proceeds to help with meals for first responders to ensure that our local heroes are being well fed. Just like the fun children’s clothes she normally makes, she delivers a little extra cheer with the bright and colorful prints she choses for her masks. Check out her Etsy page and order your fabric mask to support this local hero helping heroes.
Today, members of The Makeshift Movement give a peak into how we've been coping in recent weeks.
Quarantine Cornbread
From Alex Tucciarone, Co-Founder of The Makeshift Movement
Fresh and warm cornbread is one of my favorite comfort foods. I have baked several batches of this since this lockdown began and it never gets stale. I found this recipe under the name “Spanish Cornbread” in the incredible cookbook: Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking.
Ingredients:
1 ¼ cups of yellow cornmeal
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup of sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup cream-style corn
1 cup buttermilk
1 (4-ounce) can of diced green chiles
½ cup minced onion
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
Directions:
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Step 2: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Step 3: In a separate bowl, combine the corn, buttermilk, chiles, onion and egg. Mix well. Stir in the cheese.
Step 4: Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry and stir together just until combined. Heat the butter in a 10-inch cast iron skillet in the oven until foamy. Swirl the butter to coat the pan, then stir the hot butter into the batter. Pour the batter into the hot skillet. Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.
