Rebuilding Together Day 2013

On Saturday, April 27th the Junior League of Seattle participated in Rebuilding Together! Over 85 Junior League of Seattle Members, family and friends volunteered to help repair the home of a man in the Rainier View neighborhood. In just one day we were able to: remove an old, unusable deck and build a new safe, sturdy deck; redo the siding on the back of the house; remodel the bathroom, making it more accessible for the homeowner; update the kitchen; clear out the basement creating more usable space; and clear the entire yard surrounding the home!

A HUGE thank you to everyone who participated day-of or donated items/services. You made it possible for this homeowner to continue to live independently!

“Miss Representation”

American women have made great strides in leadership in our lifetimes, climbing to positions of power once thought impossible. Four years ago, Hillary Clinton was a leading candidate for the Democratic nomination for President and even though she eventually lost to Barack Obama, she won more primaries and delegates than any other female candidate in American history. In 2007, Nancy Pelosi became the first woman Speaker of the House. Despite these great accomplishments, it might surprise you to know that the United States still ranks 90th in the world for women in national legislatures! 2012 was a record-setting year for female CEOs. Women executives now head 18 of the country’s biggest companies, but that’s out of a total of 500 companies ranked by Fortune. And, one in ten of those companies have no women serving on their boards. Pretty surprising, right?

The documentary “Miss Representation” is a fascinating look at how the media contribute to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in our country. Condoleezza Rice, Nancy Pelosi, Katie Couric, Rachel Maddow, and Rosario Dawson are among the women who lend the their voices and experiences to the film along with dozens of other journalists, and activists.

JLS is hosting a screening of “Miss Representation” this month! Come check it out Jan. 31 at AMC Pacific Place. A reception starts at 6pm, the film starts at 6:30 and will be followed by a panel discussion. Ladies, this counts as a training credit!
Sign up here: https://www.jrleagueseattle.org/?nd=m_event_detail&event_id=1852&return_nd=m_home

One more interesting fact- the film’s director, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, is also nominated for an Oscar for best documentary feature for her current documentary “The Invisible War,” which looks at rape in the U.S. military.

How States are Working to Stop Trafficking

There are a number of states making important strides against sex trafficking and our state was recently recognized as one of the top seven in the country.

The Protected Innocence Challenge Report ranked Washington, along with Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri and Texas as the top seven states that protect against child trafficking.
The report is the first comprehensive study on state child sex trafficking laws across the country and grades states from ‘A’ to ‘F’. It was released by an organization called Shared Hope International, which is dedicated to ending sex trafficking.

Washington and six other states all received a ‘B’ grade for enacting legislation that strengthens laws against domestic minor sex trafficking.

States are graded based on six categories of law; Washington got a “near perfect” score in the category “Criminal Provisions for Facilitators.”

Alaska was among 9 states to get a “C” grade. Oregon, Utah and 17 other states scored a “D” and California and Idaho were among 18 states to get a failing grade of “F.”

According to Shared Hope International, every year in the United States experts estimate at least 100,000 children are exploited in the U.S. commercial sex industry. The average age a child is first exploited through prostitution is 13 years old.

Shared Hope International says since the challenge was issued last year, 240 state and 38 federal bills were introduced and 78 laws were passed.

Learn more about Shared Hope International and the Protected Innocence Challenge: http://sharedhope.org/what-we-do/bring-justice/state-by-state-grades/

Non-profit Partners: Youth Care

Most of us take for granted that we know where we’re going to get our next meal- lunch at our favorite café, pick up some groceries at QFC or meet friends for a dinner out. Hundreds of teens and young people in Seattle- and as many as a thousand- are not this lucky. They wake up each day not knowing where or if they’re going to eat. That’s where Youth Care comes in.

YouthCare is one of the League’s nonprofit partners. It helps homeless young people between 12 and 24 find a place to stay, get a hot meal and continue their education. The center provides 20 futon beds a night for those who would likely otherwise be on the streets or in an unsafe home environment. Teens and young people can also work on a GED, get training as a barista and get help with resume writing; and these are just a few of the opportunities YouthCare provides. Lunch and dinner are served Monday-Friday- and that’s where the Junior League helps out.

In October I joined a great group of ladies and spent part of the afternoon fixing and serving lunch at the Orion Center. First, we went on a quick tour of the facility and learned about the amazing work their staff does as well as the many opportunities and services provided. Then we went to work- chopping onions, slicing tomatoes, and grilling burgers. We even washed dishes and scrubbed the grill! Everyone pitched in right away and in no time we had lunch ready. Homeless teens were elated with a lunch of cheeseburgers with all the fixings, mac and cheese, brownies and satsumas. We started serving promptly at 12:30. I’d say about 20-25 kids came through, although we had prepared for as many as 75. Earlier that week the JLS prepared lunch for near 75, so we needed to be prepared. They were all so appreciative of what we’d done- most thanked us several times. It was such a simple way to really impact a group of people. I think we all left feeling pretty great about or efforts and glad to have been able to provide a meal.

Be sure to look for more opportunities to participate in a nonprofit meeting. I highly recommend it!
If you’d like to learn more about YouthCare, check out the website: http://www.youthcare.org/

Trafficking in the News

The terms ‘human trafficking’ and ‘sex trafficking’ sound very exotic, like something that happens in foreign countries far away from where we live. But it’s a huge problem right here in our neighborhoods. Here are a few trafficking cases in the news recently…

Last week, a 27-year-old Tacoma man was convicted in federal court of seven counts related to the sex trafficking of minors and women.

Alexander Walls was accused of recruiting at least three minors to work for him as prostitutes. Several of them were advertised as prostitutes on Backpage.com, Craigslist and TNABoard.com, according to U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan.

Walls could spend the rest of his life in prison. He’ll be sentenced in March.

You can read the full article here: http://q13fox.com/2012/11/30/convicted-tacoma-man-faces-up-to-life-in-prison-for-sex-trafficking/#ixzz2Dx94XdXD

Earlier this month, a 20-year-old man was charged with second-degree human trafficking/promoting commercial sexual abuse of a minor for allegedly prostituting girls in the Tacoma, Everett and Shoreline areas.

Jevante Taymar McCray pleaded not guilty to the charges.
You can read more here: http://blog.thenewstribune.com/crime/page/5/#storylink=cpy

What is Advocacy?

It sounds kind of intimidating, but think of it this way – you are already an advocate! By being a Junior League member and volunteering, you are advocating for issues that are important to the League and your community! Engaging with your local legislators is helpful, but there are a lot of other really effective ways to advocate without heading to Olympia. Part of the goal of this blog throughout January will be to highlight some of the League’s non-profit partners… so stay tuned!

Halloween Harvest Fare

Not only has one of the best seasons arrived, fall, but so has one of the best holidays, Halloween!  Whether you are hosting a party or want to fill your little trick-or-treaters tummies with a warm meal before their long night of candy collecting, we have paired a few delicious fall-inspired recipes we think you should try!

Northwest Autumn Salad

Salad:

1 head red leaf lettuce

1 head Bibb lettuce

1 cup watercress leaves

2 Red Delicious applies

¾ cup Glazed Pecans chopped

¾ cup blue cheese, crumbled

Dressing:

½ cup walnut or vegetable oil

¼ cup cider vinegar

2 tablespoons shallot, minced

2 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed

1 tablespoon maple syrup

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Directions:

• Tear lettuce into bite-sized pieces and place in a large salad bowl.  Add watercress leaves.
• Cut apples into very thin wedges and place on top of greens.  Sprinkle pecans and blue cheese evenly over salad.
• For Dressing: place oil, vinegar, shallot, lemon juice, maple syrup in a small jar with tight-fitting lid. Shake until evenly combined.
• Drizzle dressing over salad.  Toss gently and serve immediately.

Grammy’s Chicken Pot Pie

Pastry:

1 ¼ cups flour

½ cup butter or margarine

3 ounces cream cheese

1 large egg

Filling:

1 3-pound chicken, cut into pieces

4 tablespoons butter

1 cup onion, diced

1 cup celery, diced

6 teaspoons flour

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

2 ½ cups chicken stock

1 ½ cups carrots, thinly sliced

1 10-ounce package frozen peas, defrosted

1 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled

Directions:

• Chilling time 2 hours.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• For Pastry: combine flour, butter and cream cheese in food processor.  Pulse on/off several times to form coarse crumbs.  Add egg and process until dough forms a ball. Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate at least 2 hours.  (Pastry dough may be made up to three days in advance and kept in the refrigerator, or it may be frozen until ready to use.)
• For Filling: place chicken in large stock pot.  Cover with water and bring to boil, then lower heat to simmer.  Cook until chicken tender, about 1 hour.  Remove chicken from water, cool, remove skin and bones.  Cut meat into bite-sized pieces and set aside.  Strain the cooking liquid, measure out 2 ½ cups, and discard the remainder.  (Canned chicken stock may be substituted).
• In a large saucepan, melt butter; add onion and celery.  Sauté over medium heat for 10 minutes.  Add flour, salt and pepper.  Cook about 5 minutes, stirring constantly to make a roux.  Slowly pour in reserved cooking liquid, stirring to make a smooth gravy.  Cook until thickened, about 8 minutes.  Add chicken, carrots, peas and thyme.  Pour into deep pie dish or round casserole, about 9 inches in diameter.
• On a highly floured board, roll pastry into a 10-inch round.  Using a decorative cookie cutter, cut a shape from the center of the pastry round.  Lay pastry over the filling, fold edges, under and crimp firmly against rim of dish.  For decoration, moisten the bottom of the pastry cut-out and place it next to space from which it was cut.
• Place pie on baking sheet and bank on the lowest rack of preheated oven for 45 minutes, until pastry is golden brown.
• Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes before serving.

Dessert:

Halloween candy of course!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both recipes can be found in Simply Classic: The Junior League of Seattle on pages 82 and 166.

 

Leadership Retreat – Mandatory

ALL INCOMING 2012-2013 JLS LEADERS

MANDATORY ATTENDANCE

Saturday, June 2nd, 2012
8:30am-2:30pm
Amazon Van Vorst Building
South Lake Union
RSVP online

While we are winding down a successful year for the Junior League of Seattle, we are also preparing for the new one! We are holding a mandatory training for all Leaders this coming Saturday, June 2.  Leadership training will cover the items and tools that will help all Leaders be successful. Training includes:

• Clear messaging about our 2012-2013 goals to assist your leadership planning.
• Breakout toolkit session to help new leaders manage their projects efficiently.
• Hands on breakout training with our Digital Cheetah Representative, Colleen Geisler.
• Lunch meetings by Wing to discuss strategic initiatives for the year.
• Carol Scott, AJLI Consultant & Fundraiser extraordinaire, speaking on a variety of topics.

Any questions, please contact JLS Training:

Kellea Williams – kellea@amazon.com
Sarah Rose – sarahrose206@gmail.com
& Michelle Haines – michellejhaines@gmail.com.

Letter from Renee

Dear Junior League of Seattle Members,

The 2011-12 Board of Directors has watched over an extraordinary year in the Junior League of Seattle.  From voting in a new organizational structure to seeing our newest community projects, Kids in the Kitchen and Lifeskills for Women flourish, to overhauling and improving our communication and social media efforts, to serving hundreds and in some cases, thousands of children with our projects and services, we have accomplished a great deal.  We have much to be proud of, not the least of which is the simple fact that voluntarism lives in our hearts and continues to be the foundation of our amazing organization.

Thank you to the 2011-12 Board of Directors.  I have trouble finding words that adequately express my admiration for your thoughtfulness, passion and stewardship.  To all the women who accepted leadership roles, whether chairing a committee, working as an advisor, I am so grateful.  To every Active, Sustainer and New Member who stopped me at an event, picked up the phone or sent an email with a new idea or words of advice, I thank you.

My one regret this year is that I have not had the opportunity to get to know each and everyone of you as well as I would have liked, the year did go by amazingly fast.  Yet on a very real level I do know you.

You are the women who lead and who gladly follow other leaders.  Voluntarism is vital to your lives.  You can be found fitting your personal life around your Junior League life.  You rejoice in the daily victories of the women and children who you serve.  You send emails in the wee hours of the morning.  You work like mad.  You challenge yourself to ask for the dollars that keep our community projects running.  You are positive forces in this community.  You are problem solvers. You are hand-holders.  You have families and friends that are very proud of you.

You are the women of the Junior League of Seattle and I have been so honored to lead you.

Ashley Baerwaldt takes the gavel and I am delighted to pass this on to an incredibly gifted and talented woman, someone I can also call a very dear friend.  Ashley is an outstanding leader and the League is in very good hands.

With my thanks, admiration, respect and love,

Renee

Make Your Favorite Recipes healthier – A Substitutions Guide

For many Junior League members, cooking has been a passion for years and hosting dinner parties has been an easy way to stay in touch with friends and to catch up over good food, wine and conversation.  It’s also a great way to relax at the end of a long day and to try fresh local ingredients.

So many amazing family recipes from our grandmothers and mothers are filled with yummy ingredients like butter, heavy cream, cheese, and did I mention butter? Although these recipes are delicious, when cooking for my friends and family, simple ingredient substitutions can help to make the meals just a little bit healthier without sacrificing the flavor or spirit of the dish.

There are a lot of great websites and resources to help us succeed at making these substitutions. The Mayo Clinic is a favorite resources. They have 5 quick tips on healthy substitutions, and an entire section of their site that focuses on Nutrition and Healthy Eating. Eat Better America is another site that has some great tips and tools and good education on overall health and nutrition.

If you don’t have a lot of time to do research on these sites – here are some key items from the Mayo Clinic that they recommend as substitutions you can make in your meals.

Your guide to ingredient substitutions for healthy recipes
If your recipe calls for this ingredient:	Try substituting this ingredient:
Bacon	Canadian bacon, turkey bacon, smoked turkey or lean prosciutto (Italian ham)
Bread, white	Whole-grain bread
Bread crumbs, dry	Rolled oats or crushed bran cereal
Butter, margarine, shortening or oil in baked goods	Applesauce or prune puree for half of the called-for butter, shortening or oil; butter spreads or shortenings specially formulated for baking that don’t have trans fats Note: To avoid dense, soggy or flat baked goods, don’t substitute oil for butter or shortening. Also don’t substitute diet, whipped or tub-style margarine for regular margarine.
Butter, margarine, shortening or oil to prevent sticking	Cooking spray or nonstick pans
Cream	Fat-free half-and-half, evaporated skim milk
Cream cheese, full fat	Fat-free or low-fat cream cheese, Neufchatel, or low-fat cottage cheese pureed until smooth
Eggs	Two egg whites or 1/4 cup egg substitute for each whole egg
Flour, all-purpose (plain)	Whole-wheat flour for half of the called-for all-purpose flour in baked goods Note: Whole-wheat pastry flour is less dense and works well in softer products like cakes and muffins.
Fruit canned in heavy syrup	Fruit canned in its own juices or in water, or fresh fruit
Ground beef	Extra-lean or lean ground beef, chicken or turkey breast (make sure no poultry skin has been added to the product)
Lettuce, iceberg	Arugula, chicory, collard greens, dandelion greens, kale, mustard greens, spinach or watercress
Mayonnaise	Reduced-calorie mayonnaise-type salad dressing or reduced-calorie, reduced-fat mayonnaise
Meat as the main ingredient	Three times as many vegetables as the meat on pizzas or in casseroles, soups and stews
Milk, evaporated	Evaporated skim milk
Milk, whole	Reduced-fat or fat-free milk
Oil-based marinades	Wine, balsamic vinegar, fruit juice or fat-free broth
Pasta, enriched (white)	Whole-wheat pasta
Rice, white	Brown rice, wild rice, bulgur or pearl barley
Salad dressing	Fat-free or reduced-calorie dressing or flavored vinegars
Seasoning salt, such as garlic salt, celery salt or onion salt	Herb-only seasonings, such as garlic powder, celery seed or onion flakes, or use finely chopped herbs or garlic, celery or onions
Soups, creamed	Fat-free milk-based soups, mashed potato flakes, or pureed carrots, potatoes or tofu for thickening agents
Soups, sauces, dressings, crackers, or canned meat, fish or vegetables	Low-sodium or reduced-sodium versions
Sour cream, full fat	Fat-free or low-fat sour cream, plain fat-free or low-fat yogurt
Soy sauce	Sweet-and-sour sauce, hot mustard sauce or low-sodium soy sauce
Sugar	In most baked goods you can reduce the amount of sugar by one-half; intensify sweetness by adding vanilla, nutmeg or cinnamon
Syrup	Pureed fruit, such as applesauce, or low-calorie, sugar-free syrup
Table salt	Herbs, spices, citrus juices (lemon, lime, orange), rice vinegar, salt-free seasoning mixes or herb blends
Yogurt, fruit-flavored	Plain yogurt with fresh fruit slices